Good idea or not? Discussions

Malka · Mar 16, 2015

It has been announced by organizers at this year’s South by Southwest Festival in Texas that a fleet of St Bernards will be patrolling the site with emergency batteries for festival goers to re-charge their smartphones.

What a world we live in when people A) cannot remember or make arrangements to make sure that their phones are charged themselves and B) we live with the anxiety that our phones may run out of battery.

There are good and bad points to this idea. It does bring harshly into light that we are so heavily reliant on technology, to the point where we cannot bear the thought of being without it. Also, St Bernards are working dogs that are used to helping people in the mountains but it’s sad that they are reduced to helping city-dwelling humans feed their technology addiction.

There are of course, many great points of this system. It’s clear that the whole message being sent by digital accessory manufacturer Mophie, who are running the system, is that the whole experience of being at a festival can be enhanced through social media. That is of course only possible with a charged device. There is also the safety aspect of being able to maintain contact with friends at the festival. No one likes to lose their group and this should mean that this is less likely.

Mophie are using this opportunity as a great viral campaign using Twitter. To summon one of the St Bernards at the festival, you will have to Tweet a screenshot of your mobile which is low on battery, along with the hashtag #mophieRescue. You will then receive a link to a map which shows the location of the nearest dog and be able to use it to navigate your way to them.

You have to admit, this is an extremely clever idea from Mophie. The system is fun to use and you get to meet an adorable St Bernard who will help you to re-attach your third arm. Anyone who uses the service, and has a positive experience will associate that good service with the company and that leads to a potential new customer and good word of mouth from them. Happy days.

Mophie are also very keen to point out the dogs serving festivalgoers have been provided by The St. Bernard Rescue Foundation and some of the fleet will also be available for adoption afterwards.

The system seems great, if a little exploitative but it does bring into question how much further our reliance on technology will go.
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http://www.musictalkers.com/editors...ovide-emergency-phone-charge-at-festival-3099

Azz · Mar 16, 2015

Dogs around drunk people and very loud music? Hmmm not a great idea imo.

Bulldogs4Life · Mar 16, 2015

People don't have extra battery for their phone & portable charger?

6JRT's · Mar 16, 2015

Someone is going to get bitten, by a very scared dog.

lovemybull · Mar 16, 2015

Me see stoopid people

Bulldogs4Life · Mar 16, 2015

Why will some one be bit?
Anything can happen with dogs but I'd hope the people doing this would have common sense to use good temperament, socialized dogs.

LMost · Mar 16, 2015

Saint's I can see being fine with the people and music.
Well bred Saint's, EM's and Newfies all are extremely great dogs in large loud crowds as long as correctly socialized.

My biggest issue is the heat, none of the dogs stated deal with high heat well..
It takes a lot of water, rest and a cool down area for them, and close monitoring of them.

I see to many issues that could happen, and only the poor dogs will be held accountable.

manydogz · Mar 16, 2015

Nope. Bad job for any dog. Too many crazy people out there either fear dogs or dislike dogs or want one so bad they'll steal it.

Good idea or not? Discussions

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