It would almost be an insult to Michael Jackson and his influence on the music industry to not acknowledge his extraordinary life. When the news spread about his fatal death, people were astonished and in disbelief. Since people were unable to access a television during work and school hours, most received texts instantaneously from friends and confirmed this alarming message by going to mobile news sources for the latest information.

My colleague recollects that he was at his sister’s graduation when he received a text about this astonishing occurrence and did not even believe it. So in order to make sure that this actually happened, he texted in the wapsite Cha-Cha the question of “Did Michael Jackson die?” and immediately received his answer with another users post stating, “Michael Jackson died today at the age of 50 due to cardiac arrest.”

 

An article in Mobile Marketer titled “Michael Jackson passing spikes mobile traffic, sparks SMS turf war” suggests that the mobile phone web traffic escalated and went through the roof this past Thursday in comparison to its normal traffic trends. As my colleague’s personal anecdote proves, due to the shock factor of this event, people went straight to the resource which would give them immediate information, the mobile phone. The article even sites a battle between the supporters of the paid SMS answers service kgb and its free rival Cha Cha as news hit the public on Thursday. I guess my colleague was not the only one who jumped to ask Cha Cha the question of the day.

 

Several mobile sites have been delivering creative yet informative commemorations including the online radio application Slacker, which dedicated an entire mobile station to Mr. Jackson.  Since mobile is so easily accessible, people can listen to their favorite hit by just opening the slacker app on their cell. With all this information streaming to the palm of their hand, it will be hard for the world to ever be out of the loop. Moreover, Michael Jackson’s surprising death has struck a special place with the Out of Hand International Festival. Bob Giraldi, a founder of the Out of Hand International Festival, directed several of Michael Jackson’s distinguished productions including “Beat It’” and his Pepsi commercials. Michael Jackson definitely will always be remembered as his music and achievements will live forever.