I've been to a couple of restaurants that have those while-you-wait paging systems that let you hang around in the lounge while you wait for your table to be prepared. When the restaurant staff has room for you, the pager does a little dance and flashes, letting you know (or the staff know) that it's your turn to be served. These are known as Table Paging Systems, are an innovative way to communicate.

It's amusing how we take for granted many of the communications systems we have in place in the world today. Whether it's our cellular phones, our pages, two-way radios, PDAs, or other long range systems, we utilize the technology no differently than if it were a simple tool. On-board satellite systems provide us with maps, laptop computers allow us to send messages to the other side of the globe, and cellular phones allow us the freedom to communicate and be mobile at the same time.

But the way we are able to integrate communication technologies into our everyday lives is one of the most fascinating aspects. That we are able to find new methods to communicate, and create new solutions to more unusual communication challenges, such as notifying a restaurant client through an electronic device is a credit to our species. These developments have help us make our homes safer, our vehicles drive smoother, and certainly thanks to modern communications systems, we don't have to wait for our food any longer than necessary.