People travelling on the London Underground (known as ‘the tube’) will soon be able to obtain a wi-fi signal on their phone or other electronic device.

What might be the benefits and costs of this?

A good thing on the whole, or not?

This could make for an interesting discussion under the heading of ‘the effects of technology’. The first phase of the programme will involve getting the wi-fi established on some, though not all, parts of the network. Eventually, people will be able to access information in real-time whilst travelling. That would have been handy for some people this morning when a announcement came over the train’s speaker that Westminster Station had just been closed. If you didn’t know your way around London, that could have proven very difficult, even with the tube map available.

So, what are the potential benefits, and what might be the potential costs?

And in which category would you place the situation depicted in this cartoon strip?