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t is time when we should ban camera phones! While we cannot force the
phone companies to stop putting cameras on mobile phones, the law can
put a stop to that. The ease of taking quick shots and sending the
clips around the world is so damaging in serious cases that it
overshadows the fun part of having an integrated camera.
“On the night of April 13, two Domino’s employees engaged in an act of
food violation posted their acts on YouTube (putting cheese in their
nose, blowing mucous on a sandwich etc). The videos went viral online,
viewed by millions of people until blocked.
The next day, the employees were fired and warrants were issued for their arrest. Domino’s has also posted a statement on its corporate website.
“The opportunities and freedom of the internet is wonderful, but it
also comes with the risk of anyone with a camera and an internet link
to cause a lot of damage, as in this case, where a couple of
individuals suddenly overshadow the hard work performed by the 125,000
men and women working for Domino’s across the nation and in 60
countries around the world” .
On an interview with Domino’s spokesman he says: “Nothing is
local anymore, that’s the challenge of the Web world. Any two idiots
with a video camera and a dumb idea can damage the reputation of a
50-year-old brand.” The company decided not to issue a press release. Dominos
spokesman was interviewed on that: “the company can deal with tens of
thousands of impressions, but a strong response from Domino’s would
alert more consumers to the embarrassment.”
The company shared an apologetic e-mail from the employees: “It
was all a prank and me nor Michael expected to have this much attention
from the videos that were uploaded! No food was ever sent out to any
customer. We would never put something like that on you tube if it were
real!! It was fake and I wish that everyone knew that!”
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This is not the first case, and will not be the last. It is often too late to apologize without causing embarassment to the company, and endangering the livelihood of thousands of other good and hardworking employees.
Anyway, how often do we use the camera on the mobile phone. It does come in handy at times, esp. when in an emergency. However, it is often not required at work. Companies should considering banning camera phones from being brought into their offices, factories and facilities.
If the phone companies do not wish to remove the cameras permanently, they should consider the camera as a detachable module rather than integrated. In this way, it will be easier for companies to enforce no camera phone at work or office. And after work, the employees can pickup their camera module from safeboxes at the company main gate / guard house, if any.
Whatever that control may be, we still think that it is a matter of time when camera phones are banned in various places – including public places, e.g. shopping centers. Some shops are so worried about people taking pictures in their shop that they put up posters to warn customers not to take pictures.
