Read it again. The real message is when meeting with a friend you haven't seen in a while, make sure you set it up so you get a lot of calls, emails, and texts. Then when you go to airplane mode you seem super important, yet considerate.
And then when you go home, make sure to thank your mom for the messages.
Yes, it's funny. But I really hope you were only being funny, because I hate when the people of the Internet tries to make me more cynical than I already am.
Other trick to make the other person feel special when getting a phone call: pick up the phone and, after identifying who it is, say "hold on, I need to get rid of someone on the other line", put on mute for a few seconds and come back.
It has already been done. I can't remember exactly, but I believe a Samsung phone came out in Korea recently that lets you hold a button on the side that fakes a phone call to you. No iPhone app yet though.
Back in the early 90s when portable cellphones were still not particularly common, my uncle used to get his secretary to call him whenever he was in a meeting with a potential client to both make him look busy and, supposedly, important enough to carry such a phone.
Say what you will about the technique but he's now barely 50, retired and buying up woodland like there's no tomorrow..
My sister once told me a story from those days. She was on a ferry and noticed this obviously important man walking around speaking loudly holding one of those new cellphones to his ear. She was very amused by his bewilderment when his phone suddenly rang.
Jeez, you guys are harsh! He didn't call him the bloody Dalai Lama. He simply felt in awe of his friend's power and influence and was correspondingly honored to be treated with attentiveness uncharacteristic of the stereotypical high-powered Person of Import.
It's so easy to be sarcastic about blog entries like this. I think there is little to be gained from ridiculing such a personal anecdote, voluntarily shared with the world at large.
...or take notes, or reference my calendar, or use app X (that remains useful without a live internet stream), etc.
What Airplane Mode says (in this context) is: I don't want to be interrupted but I still want this increasingly important pocket computer to be available.
I've been doing this myself quite a bit; though more-so with my iPad. What I'd really like to see for this, is some sort of device-wide "Do Not Disturb". Something that doesn't turn off the radios, but does suppress the various 'interruptions': rings, buzzes, reminders, push notifications, etc. Because sometimes you want to focus on an app that requires a data connection.
There is a notifications profile on BlackBerry that is not visible by default but can easily be turned on that does exactly that- it's called "All Alerts Off" - WAY more silent than the "silent" profile which still blinks the little red light and pops up calendar alerts.
I have seen similar notifications profiles on other mobile OS as well, perhaps called "Do Not Disturb." In any case it would be a good one to create yourself and have.
The lesson is more that technology frequently plays an interruptive role in our lives and that sometimes it's just a sign of respect to turn everyone else off and focus on the person you're actually with. He was honoured to be treated that way and it's something we might all consider doing at times.
The alternate use of airplane more was more of a subtext.
Turning the iPhone off is a pain. You have to hold down the button and wait for a while, then select the Power Off button. Turning it back on takes a while too. It's certainly possible that most people don't even know how to do this. Airplane mode is the obvious choice as it's faster to both enable and disable.
The lesson I've learned is not to turn my phone off, in case I want to show someone pictures stored on it.