Indonesia's Satellite of Love

If you want to know just how pervasive wireless phones are becoming in Indonesia, just ask the country's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. No, seriously. Ask him.

On Saturday, Yudhoyono gave out his mobile phone number to a gathering of farmers in his homeland and invited them to call or text-message him with complaints any time of day or night. The media broadcast the number nationwide and within minutes the president's cell phone lit up with the first of thousands of complaints.

Yudhoyono's gambit made two miscalculations: He not only underestimated the discontent of Indonesians, but also their ready and increasing access to wireless phones. ...