Franco Stronach, Hytera

There’s a scene in the latest season of White Lotus where the hapless guard Gaitok is pistol whipped by two thugs fleeing the eponymous luxury resort in Thailand, where they’ve just robbed the gift shop. It’s a pivotal moment, because he is then given a gun, the better to guard the boom gate, which he then uses to shoot another of the show’s principal characters. But as transparent as the plot device now looks, Gaitok’s performance as a guard has raised the ire of more literal minded viewers, some of whom started the, “Is Gaitok the worst security guard on the planet?” thread on Reddit. He could, of course, have just pulled out his push-to-talk (PTT) device, which security guards all over the planet use to instantly communicate with their control rooms.

Two-way radio technology allows instant communication; no need to dial or wait for someone to pick up. It’s been around since at least 1933, when it was used in a professional mobile radio setup by the New Jersey police department.