Technology at the expense of patience

During the primary season, I signed up on each presidential candidate’s listserv – just as a way of being informed of the speaking engagements (not that any are in Sudan) and each candidate’s campaign in general. For the most part, the candidates have been using this forum to raise money for their campaigns. As one would imagine, my inbox is becoming cluttered with e-mails from various campaign organisers of both Senator McCain and Senator Obama.

I was fascinated by a recent notice I received. You could pay $5 to the Obama campaign and be the “first to know” of Obama’s VP nominee. Before the person is outed to the press and public, you would recieve a text message notifying you of Obama’s choice. Very clever. (I wonder if you have to donate more for an international text?) I like the fact that the campaign has kept up with the times both through the use of technology and by capitalising on our increasing impatience and sense of urgency.

In the meantime, I’m working on increasing my patience. For me, I’ll wait out the VP nominees and continue to rely on my CNN / BBC news feed.