JOANA DRAGHICI
NEWS EDITOR
He may have soiled his squeaky-clean image and lost the trust of his wife, but Tiger Woods’ sexcapades have at least one use – they are being used to market a new technology which may make it easier for cheaters to get away with their infidelities.
Though it seems applications like iPhone’s TigerMail, created to make infidelity easier to hide, will make the idea of a monogamous relationship increasingly unrealistic, it can’t be all bad.
This app could have come in handy not long ago, when I made a mistake that changed the way I use text forever.
I had typed out a two-page text intended for my girlfriend, venting about all the things that bothered me about this new guy I was dating, except I didn’t send it my girlfriend – I accidently sent it to him.
As soon as I pressed the ‘send’ button I realized the mistake and immediately started pressing cancel in desperation, but it was too late, cyber world had swallowed it up and within seconds it would be on his phone ready for him to read.
As expected, my phone rang within a minute and the conversation that followed was not pleasant.
Now imagine I had the option of setting a timer on the life of that message – it could have disappeared within 30 seconds and the whole fiasco could have been avoided. Or at least diminshed by preventing him the ability to reread my harsh words.
The app – which sports that slogan “tigers don’t always leave tracks” – allows a message to be sent and once the receiver reads it, the message can be set to erase itself within five to 30 seconds, depending on the settings chosen. It is then removed from the phone’s history on both the sender’s and the receiver’s phone, living up to its slogan.
Though the app’s creator insists TigerMail can be used for more important things like covert operations, undercover work and clandestine meetings, the main focus of its advertising campaign has been to hide what happens ‘under covers.’
I agree the application can be used for things aside from being unfaithful, like hiding a white lie, or avoiding a mistake similar to the one I made, however; the problem is that TigerMail, and other similar technologies, are being advertised specifically to promote cheating.
When the details of the indiscretions of public figures like Woods and more recently Jesse James are publicized and whose mistresses made proof of their affairs through saved texts – intimate and slightly pornographic conversations transcribed for the world to see – it creates a demand for applications like TigerMail.
Unless you have a conscience and your guilt gets the better of you, the allure of being able to sneak around virtually without a trace may prove irresistible – perhaps we’ll create an application for guilt too.
Hi Joana,
I loved your article. We have all experienced moments where we wish we could put the words back in our mouths. There are other instances where the words were intended to come out, but were not intended for others to hear or see. As the developer and designer of TigerMail, I envision an environment in which we can all talk in private. We don’t record our telephone conversations. Can you imagine the backlash if these were available for all to hear? Why would we record our text messages? Yes, there are instances where it is convenient to look back at what was said. I would venture to guess that we would not Twitter at least fifty percent of our texts. There is no need for the world to be privy to them. Wouldn’t it be great to have a safe environment within which we have some control over both ends of the communications tunnel?
There will always be cheaters and those with nefarious intentions that will use TigerMail, but there are many other reasons to use this application. How often do we gossip about a friend? Vent about our boss? Plan a surprise party? We usually express our feelings and ideas to one person at a time, because that is our intention. The over-riding intention is that the dialogue is ours alone, never to be displayed to the world. TigerMail ensures this. With TigerMail, I look forward to care-free texting in a wired world that is becoming less and less trustworthy.
To keep track of TigerMail’s progress, please visit us at http://www.TigerMailSystem.com. There are daily updates that will keep you informed. Email me anytime if you have questions or comments!
Sincerely yours,
Sherman Su
sherman@tigermailsystem.com