Smart Phones: Batman's Greatest Gadget

While teaching, I created in my head a new kind of villain-The Grammarian. A cruel fiend that, like the Riddler, would like leave clues behind. However, his clues would all be something that only a true linguist and language commander would ever have a chance to decipher. I pictured Batman screaming in the night, "Why didn't I learn to diagram?" I realized that all of Batman's gadgets are created and designed for very specific functions and he always must return to the lab for a lot of the tough stuff.

Why doesn't Batman have a smartphone? Is Gotham so outdated? Is Batman too proud? I thought of the later scenes of The Dark Knight when Bruce Wayne utilizes cell phone technology to plug his eyes and ears into the heart of the city. Had he a smartphone, he probably could have checked Twitter, seen that The Joker was trending, and tracked him down just as quickly. Think of all the riddles he always has to figure out, the time wasted wracking his brain. Just run a Google search. Riddler apprehended in no time. Apparently, Batman is a digital immigrant.

But really, maybe this is Batman's real super-power. In a world where technology rules and controversy explodes over the overuse of said tech, Batman lives and relies on it, but doesn't seem to demonstrate a short attention span, he has an excellent memory, and he lacks the impulses to update his status.