SiliconBeat

Like many air travelers, I followed in bewilderment last week the strange tale of the Northwest Airlines pilots who inadvertently overshot their destination of Minneapolis by 110 miles, or so. Were they drunk? Was it terrorists?

At last, this week the pilots explained the mystery: They were looking at their laptops and just got so wrapped up, they forget about that whole landing thing. No harm, no foul.

Now, let’s not judge them too harshly. Because let’s face it, we’ve all been there. If not in our planes, then at least while driving our cars.

Distraction by technology while traveling is becoming a plague on our busy, modern day lives. I’m not just referring to gabbing on your cellphone or texting while driving. That’s kids stuff. I’m talking about the large scale distractions that cause us all to do our share of bone headed moves.

In solidarity with the beleaguered crew of Flight 188, I wanted to share my woeful tales of techno distraction in the hope that we, as a society, can collectively learn some important lessons and make the world a safer place.My first inkling that I had a problem came earlier this year while commuting home to Oakland from San Jose. Traffic was heavy, so as usual, I pulled out my iPhone and cranked up YouTube.

Well, I just couldn’t help myself. I pulled up the “Charlie Bit My Finger” video and watched it. Over and over again. You know, the one where the British baby chomps down on his brother’s finger, causing his older sibling to howl in his best Queen’s English:

“Ouuuuch! Charlie! That really hurt Charlie.”

Oh, those Brits. It’s sidesplittingly hilarious. I could watch that lovable, bald -headed rapscallion chew on his brother’s digit all day. No wonder the 56-second clip has been viewed 129,535,963 times since being posted in May 2007, making it the second most viewed video in YouTube’s history.
Well, sure enough, after watching it about 200 times, I looked up from the iPhone and realized I was I pulling into Sacramento. D’oh!

Talk about egg on my face. Not only had I overshot Oakland by 80 miles, but I was in the state’s capital after dark, surrounded by people who seemed oddly serene but only wanted to talk about old trains.

A few months later, we left for a family trip to Lake Tahoe. We piled into the car and headed up I-80. After about 30 minutes or so, we pulled out the portable DVD player and put it on the dashboard. I pulled out the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Extended Edition) and popped the first disc into the DVD player and put the car on cruise control.

I tell you, I’ve watched the whole trilogy about seven dozen times now, and I just get lost in it every time. And sure enough, about 12 hours later, as Frodo (spoiler alert!) was boarding the ship for the Grey Havens and I was once again getting all choked up (It’s such a weeper!), I looked up and saw a sign that said, “Welcome to Dodge City, Ks.”

What the…! Boy, was I embarrassed. Instead of enjoying a nice weekend hiking around Lake Tahoe, we spent three days eating fried baloney sandwiches while staring at creepy, life-size figurines of Calamity Jane and Wyatt Earp at the Gunfighters Wax Museum.

The latest mishap came this summer en route to Yosemite. After passing through Pleasanton, I once again hit the cruise control (which never seems to lead to any good) and plugged in the Xbox 360. My wife popped in Guitar Hero: Metallica, and we grabbed our guitar controllers.

Well, one moment we’re wailing away down Hwy 120, and the next thing I know, we’re in Albuquerque shopping for turquoise jewelry.

Fortunately, no one was hurt through all my little escapades. You’ll be happy to know I’ve disabled the cruise control, which I hope will cut down some of my worst abuses. I’ve also opted not to install the high-definition plasma screen in the car, nor the cable television, nor the high-speed Internet.

I’d like to say it’s because I’ve reformed my distracted ways. But really, it’s just because Comcast couldn’t find a cable long enough to make it practical.