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Mobile Phone Abuse and AbUsers
Doctor Hu writes "The Economist has a story ("Think Before You Talk") describing a new range of mobile phone prototypes designed by Ideo to discourage antisocial usage - devices ringing in concert halls, loud proclamations that the caller is on his way home, etc. The first of the series uses electric shocks to condition the user to talk at a non-intrusive level; the others are similarly ingenious. Not intended to be commercially produced, just to provoke discussion (and provide publicity for Ideo, presumably). Nice comment at the end from one of the designers that for devices like mobile phones, "user-centric" design needs to take the needs of people nearby the user into account as well."
... come with a way to zap anyone with a ringtone of 'Mambo #5'?
"Powers. I have them."
AARGGGHHH! *sizzle*
*cheers*
but in a truly perfect society, all phones would cut out after two minutes of monologue.
Oh yes, I will voluntarily buy a cell phone that zaps me. . . sure. . .
These features may be great for the people standing around the caller, but no one, other than perhaps a sadistic corporate purchasing department, would buy one of these.
(damn, I had mod points this morning and I used them all!)
If someone is bothering you with their cell phone chatter in a place such as a movie theater... "accidently" spill some of your cola on them. If cell phone users start to have some mild(?) public backlash, maybe they'll get the message. Too bad snacks and pop are so expensive at the movies... :(
Can you hear me now? Good.
"They are not for commercial use, but to stir discussion" (not a direct quote). Yup, just like a bad piece of performance art.
Seriously, the only cure for bad mobile phone habits is common courtesy.
I don't mind people using them in public places, but I regard those with loud ring tones and those who feels like the entire restaurant *must* know of them closing a million dollar deal, the same way I regard those who don't mind picking their nose of spitting in public.
No sig
I didn't know America was that old damn!
I live to gib...
Can I have the shocker button?? PLEEEEEASE!!
1. You may think yourself important, but you are a loser if you are only claiming this on /.
2. Is it also free speech if you yell fire in a crowded theatre?
3. There is such a thing as a vibrating ring, instead of an audible one (so only YOU know someone else is calling). Then you can step out for a minute to take the call.
4. DON'T YOU DARE USE MY SAVIOR AS AMMUNITION IN A /. TROLL.
5. We've banned use of explosives in public, but should we just deal with them?
You sir, are too uneducated to make a good post
Support Israeli punk bands. Man Alive.
The First Amendment isn't there to give you the right to be obnoxious, it's there to ensure you have the right to express your views without fear of government censure. If your intepretation were correct, noise ordnances would be unconstitutional.
People forget the lesson of the man who died on the cross to preserve the American way of life.
Oh, silly me. I thought you were serious until I read this part. Still, there are people who do think the First Amendment gives them a legal right to be annoying bastards, so I'll post this reply anyway, even though IHBT.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
... setting up licensed cell-phone free zones (such as concert halls etc) where phones cannot ring. The zones could have a small very low-power transmitter/scrambler that would inform/interrupt the cell phone so that it just wouldn't ring in those areas.
xxxxx HELLO?!
xxxxx
xxxxx HELLO?!
xxxxx
xxxxx NO, I'M READING SLASHDOT.
xxxxx
xxxxx SLASH... DOT...
xxxxx
xxxxx NO, IT'S RUBBISH.
xxxxx
xxxxx OK... OK...
xxxxx
xxxxx CIAO!
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
It's a system for expressing "Shut that fucking cell phone off or I'll shove straight it up your ass".
Patent pending
Seriously, when it comes to movies, theatre, and such, it's supposed to be the ushers/managers job to kick out nuisance patrons. They'll eject a noisy teenager, but the 40 year old exec who decides he needs to conduct his business meeting in the middle of a movie is left alone.
"Throw the bum out". We don't need a technology, we need less ignorant people. Go yak it up in the lobby.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Are Belong To Us
Ok maybe old, but still funny.
Northern New York Hot Or Not.
My favorite prototype is the Clarinet phone. What kind of idiot would blow on a clarinet to make a phone call? A bored idiot, with lots o money.
Maxwell Smart's shoe was the first mobile phone that i remember seeing. Or maybe it was the evil stepmother in Jerry Lewis' "Who's Minding the Store".
All I know is that now it's damned annoying when you've got a driver acting like he's drunk, and you get closer to get his license plate number to get his ass arrested, and you see that he's just talking on his cell phone. (I often the drunk line anyway on my cell phone:)
"I believe in everything in moderation. Including moderation." -Dean DeLeo, Stone Temple Pilots
I guess then if I want to kick you in the back of the head because you're yapping on the phone, I can. Sure I admit, it's not the most polite thing to do, but as an important man sometimes I just have to kick when other people are around. Deal with it! Sometimes things people on cell phones in theatres annoy us. But it is far better to just KICK those people that annoy us than it is to ban them!
No, a zero for commericalism here. These are discussion pieces more than anything else. None of these will ever head to market, nobody in their right mind would buy any of them.
I can understand the frustration when folks talk in a movie theater during the show, or in an art gallery. At those times it should be right to express frustration and tell them to STFU (if they are or are not using a cell phone it doesn't matter).
But a grocery line? A bus? A train? What the hell is wrong with using a cell phone there?
I mean really - I never saw a parent staple their annoying brats mouth shut to stop it from yammering about how it wants that candy bar by the cash register - I don't see people duct taping their mouths on a train instead of conversing.
If a cell phone user keeps it quiet, what the hell is the problem?
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
The SoMo4 (the knock-knock phone) is a great idea, though. By being able to communicate not just that I want to talk, but the importance I place on the conversation, it makes it much easier for the other person to decide if it's a good time or not. Even for me, as a call receiver.
"Caller ID" phone numbers are a bad method of determining priority. People call for multiple reasons, and people call for all sorts of devices... including devices owned by another person. Any method of letting me know that someone who I trust is there and wants to talk to me is good. The "secret knock" would be tremendously functional, so that someone could get my attention regardless of where they're calling from.
Not that we explicitly need the "knock-knock" style, but if my cell phone provider always asked the caller "Select a Priority" before ringing me, and then letting me see that priority, it could enhance the experience for me. So when I'm just sitting around I can take those Priority-5 "Hey what's up?" calls, but when I go into the theater I could set my phone to reject everything but Prioirty-0 calls (which I would leave the theater take).
There are all sorts of "permission" issues for things, but this can be handled with passcode-type answers (where anything above a certain level requires a code to be accepted) or automated system permissions (calls from hospitals would always be allowed to go to a higher level than other calls), without requiring me to identify based on phone numbers.
So, just wait for them to use it, then walk up next to them and scream, yell...whatever!
You: "Hey, Joe!!!!"
Them: "Wha? AAAARRRRGH!"
You're happy, they're dazed, and all is right with the world!
Drink blood - 50 trillion mosquitoes can't be wrong.
people who set their phone to 'vibrate' or 'silent' should be aware that the incoming call will disrupt hearing assistance provisions set up to aid the hard of hearing. Switch'em off.
Yeah, if someone's bothering you, spill shit on them. Real smart!
You could, you know, just ask them to shut up.
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
My mate was watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in the cinema and this guy asnwered his mobile phone. People were throwing popcorn and such at him, and he goes "But it's me Mum!"
He's lucky to have got out alive.
Environmentalism is the new Victorianism. Everyone ties on a green corset and pretends we're virtuous.
Electric shock it too tame, they should be castrated. During LOTR:TT, someones phone went off. You ever seen a couple of hundred geeks get pissed? It wasn't pretty.
*ring*
"Oh no. It's Master. If I answer, I get shocked, but if I don't answer Master will punish me."
*ring*
"here goes nothing"
*ZZZAAAAAAPPPPP*
"Hello, I'm with Capitol One Visa and I'd like to talk to you about..."
The World's Worst Webcomic!
Admittedly, pestilent ringtones make me wince with annoyance. However, more of a concern is people using their mobile phones without a hands-free kit whilst driving. Particularly in the UK, where we have a lot more manual gearboxes and a greater need for two hands whilst driving! I have lost count of the number of retards I have seen driving dangerously whilst chatting to somebody on the phone. It should be made illegal to drive whilst holding a phone to your ear.
I just can't imagine anybody voluntarily using a phone which is going to give them an electric shock!
~~~~~~~~~ "I must create my own system, or be enslav'd by another man's." William Blake, Jerusalem.
Just think of the possibilities if they take over /.. Everytime a story is posted with typos, CmdrTaco gets a shock! The whole moderation system could be loads of fun and cut down on "First Post", "All your ...", "In Soviet Russia ..." posts. That's right, just giving a user -1 isn't good enough any more ;)
"Sorry for jerking like that, but for some reason I do that whenever a cell phone rings and I have no idea why. For some reason that started after dictating my mail replies to my secretary during The Two Towers. Funny that I can't remember anything before the nurse woke me the next day."
Nice thinkin' there bud. I suppose you'd bring your cell phone into church too?
... No, I can talk now. The pastor is just babbling about some guy that's not as important as me."
[Ring! Ring!] "Hello?
Cause everyone wants a free Xbox360
Are you a Troll who realises the original post was a joke? Or do you really believe the original post was trolling? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the latter.
:)
Maliciousness is better than stupidity any day...
Free iPods - now in the UK!
If the antenna doubles as a Tazer, it could be triggered by anyone with remote car door opener. Reminds of The Simpsons episode where the whole family submitted each other to electric shocks during group therapy.
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
I was once on an interview panel (does that make me responsible?) when the interviewees mobile phone wrang.
... great ... ... look, I'd better better call you back later, I'm a bit busy right now".
He answered it.
Then gestured to one of us to give him a pen!
He then proceded to write down a phone number and said something like:
"so then 7.30, is John coming?
He then hung up and said:
"Sorry, what was that last question"?
Did he get the job?
What do you think?
Finding a security hole in this would be great. It'd be like having a voodoo doll that actually worked.
There\'s no place like ~
No, but do-gooder liberals may push to mandate them "for the children."
It is the user! Zapping the annoying Cell phone user in the theater wont stop them from A) letting their annoying screaming child run amok during the movie B) chatting at normal volume with the person next to them C) loudly snoring D)
being generally obnoxious with their squeaky straw or nearly empty soda.
We went to my son's 4th grade chorus recital last night. The family perched behind us A) let their 3? 4? year old child spend the entire half hour screaming to his (presumed) relative on stage, they carried on a conversation that came out louder on my camcorder than the singing, and when the kids did "hard knock life" with the snapping part, they got into a rampant (and loud) discussion of how to snap, and proceeded to practice throughout the rest of the show.
Yes, I politely asked them to quiet down. No it didnt do any good.
Its not the phone, its the jerk using it, and those same jerks have ALWAYS A) worn hats to theaters, B)jammed their knees into your seat (partially the theaters fault for building seats for 5' 100 lb people) and C) insisted on sitting dead center in a row of people and getting up three times during the movie.
I would much prefer the devices be in the SEATS and controlled by a consensus of people in the theater.
Maeryk
Feminine Protection? What is that? A chartreuse flame thrower?
Has to be a prank.
They'd have to be Ideots to think they can make money with that.
Perhaps new phones could listen for a local signal that said "no noise"? Then, phones that could vibrate could do so. People who REALLY need to take the call can do so. And text messages would quietly get through. I also like the idea of charging a fee to get through. Combine the two ideas, and you'll get a situation where if people call, and they pay the fee, the person who needs to get the call gets the call.. but doesn't unduly disturb his neighbor. Instead, he can quietly get out of the theater or whatever.
- David A. Wheeler (see my Secure Programming HOWTO)
Dear Mr Knee-jerk,
Just as it is common courtesy to not behave like an ass on a cell-phone, it is also common courtesy to read an article before commenting on it.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
The problem, of course, is making sure you always have the phone's ringtone set that way. Forgetfulness is the most common reason for ringing phones in movie theaters, I imagine.
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
an nationwide cell phone protest! Its easy when ever you see one of thease ignorant idiots in a movie theater or in public take the phone and throw it in the nearest toilet! However it would be funny to watch some loud mouth get zapped at dennys. or we could figgure out a way to play with the air waves so that we can remote-zap someone!
I'm looking forward to the day when I walk into a resturaunt and am asked "Would you like the Cell section?" instead of asking about the smoking secton.
Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but copyright will always protect me.
We could try and figure out why some people just have to have their phone on the ring mode instead of the vibration mode during every single important event where a phone call would be unappreciated.
I had a friend in college that would never turn his phone to silent mode. He interrupted the teacher, students, presentations, and exams with that stupid thing.
How can someone not know they are irritating everyone with their annoying phone? Or is it a ploy to show how 'popular' or 'important' you think you are?
For the most part, I'd say the accidents that were "caused" by cell-phone users were not "caused" by cell phone users. It may have been a corollary, but not a causality. They were caused by morons. Just because you are using a cell-phone doesn't make you a danger. Its the moron that's a danger. Doesn't matter if he has a cell phone, cuz these are the same people I see on my way to work who:
Put make-up on while driving, looking into rear-view mirror whole time, instead of where they are going.
Shave while driving.
Floss while driving, steering with knees.
Has kid sitting in lap, steering the car for them, while driving.
Holding a drink in one hand, Big Mac in the other, and steering the car with their knees.
Reading the newspaper while driving.
Reading a Book while driving.
Head turned around, scolding their kids in the back while driving.
Drops cigarette in their lap, and are franticly searching for it, while driving....
etc, etc, etc...
PS: Who the hell looks at their cell phone while they are talking? I don't know about you, but I can't see my ears....
Who the hell do they think are going to buy these? IT's not like you can force poeple to get something like this and who cares enough to want to not be rude, can just, well, not be rude and doesn't need conditioning.
BZZzzzzzzzt!
...
...
er...Good!
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
It could work like this: You get call. You hear it on your bone conduction headset and see on head up display. You type replies with twiddler and synthesizer converts text into sound and sends it to the person at other side.
Other people might not even realize you have wearable phone and are 'talking' on it, see modern wearable computer example here.
Downside: Don't see anybody with above like product out ... yet.
Dude, she queefed!
I have had a cell phone for 6 years or so. My first one was one of those giant Nextel walkie talkies. Man that thing was a pain to tote around. I was in great shape, though, from the arm curls with my mega-talkie. It was annoying and embarrassing when someone would beep in, or if the phone would ring in a restaurant. It was for work, though, and when you are on 24/7 support it's hard to get away (especially when you are "the dog")
From there I moved on to the smaller flip-phone nextel. Better to carry. That was when my midsection started to go downhill, but I had more energy. The accessibility was still annoying, though.
Now I am on a motorola v60 with a different service. no more beep-beeps demanding my immediate attention and pissing off everyone within 30 feet that doesn't care what my drive-through-clerk sounding co-worker has to say or why they are stupid tonight.
I have always been self conscious about using my phone except when I need to. I don't chat on it, I take care of work items quickly, and beyond that try only to use it to coordinate meeting times and so on.
Other people yak away all day long about whatever, trying to squeeze all the lemon juice out of their "whenever minutes" or whatever minutes they might have.
And still others hate cellphones to the point where they refuse to own one. My girlfriend fits into this category, which forces me to never be late to meet her because I can't call up with an excuse, and most of the time to have to gather her up and bring her places because of her challenged sense of locality. Not that these things are bad, I like treating her like an important person and not an extension of my electronic self.
You do have to wonder when and how the cell phone will successfully integrate itself into our collective social senses. Probably not before there are as many laws governing the use of phones as there are defining when and where the poor sods that smoke can prepetrate their slow demise.
There are laws against excessive noise coming from your car, and from carrying around a boombox with the volume cranked allt he way up, in most places. It is a public disturbance and thus should nto be allowed in a public place. You want your ultra-annoying ringtone at home, fine, listen to your ringtones there, but not in a public place where other people dont want to hear it.
Oh, and back to my smokers rant too! They also need "outhouses" for smokers - you shouldn't be allowed to smoke anyplace thats public, ESPECIALLY sidewalks and infront of doorways where the smoke just builds under the canapy.
Loads of technologies we accept every day are more obnoxious than cell phones. Gas lawn mowers, for one: there's a 50-year-old design, and a travesty against peace and quiet -- not to mention modern emissions standards. If a bunch of designers want to be clever about something, they could identify everyday stuff like that for which their might be a technological answer, rather than just cooking up supposedly clever ways to shock the slow drivers in the left lane. Designers who fix the problem have a little something over the ones who just spoof it.
The only example of real cell phone abuse in my presence was a drunk fool at a Bruce Cockburn concert. Like a few awake people have said, the problem there isn't the technology, it's the lack of common consideration and just general stupidity of the user. News break: we always had drunk idiots at concerts. Before they had cell phones, they found ways to get on your nerves. (Granted, I don't go to crap movies, but it's never happened -- maybe your problem is that you're going to MIB II, the audience for which is 15 years old?)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
There should be a law to prevent moaning whining bastards from coming out in public...>:~|
...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
I have often thought that it would be a good idea (and I mention in here lest someone patent it sometime in the future and make ludicrous amounts of money), to have ones phone monitor the background noise and alter the volumne of the ringer based upon it.
i.e.
In a quiet theatre, on a long distance train journey, there would be little ambient noise and the phone would ring quietly.
In a noisy bar, or whilst walking near heavy traffic it would ring loudly.
It would be trivial to implement - all phones have built in microphones after all.
If I were able to write my own firmware and UI for my phone (i.e. If the APIs were available, and everything didn't have to be signed). This would be one of the features I would add.
Of course there would be complications - what volume should be used if the phone were tucked away in a thick coat, or in a ladies handbag?
Example: I was with a friend at a large home improvement center, and he phoned home to the wife to check on her color preferences for some mini-blinds. A lady nearby did the big, exaggerated sigh and shook her head.
We're standing in the middle of a noisy, cavernous store big enough to have an independent weather system, and she's upset someone is using a phone. What's the difference between that and him talking to one of the store staff, or talking to me? I mean, the resident birds in this store have evolved into their own sub-species, sparrowus homedepotus. This store is big!
I looked back at the woman and quietly asked, "What do you do when faced with a real problem?" She walked off in a huff, the big fat bitch.
On the flip side, the same friend, who always claims talking on the phone does not distract him from driving called me from the road last week. In the middle of the conversation, the call is cut off. He phones back a minute later and said he had to drop the phone because he turned the wrong way down a one way street. Fortunately the nearest traffic was two blocks away. Doh!
--- Ban humanity.
What about the car exhausts? I get more annoyed at the guy whos driving a jalloppy that hasn't seen a smog test in years, and instead of perpetual temp-tags.... Either that, or the putrid exhaust coming from the bus....
Reminds me of college. This one guy smoked in the bathroom of our quad al the time. People use to yell at him, until one day, he said, "Would you rather smell my sh*t or cigarette smoke?"
... and instead has perpetual temp tags.
Imho, no matter how hard is the social pressure or satire , cellphone users will keep on forgetting to turn off their cellphones or to use the much forgotten "silence" mode (check your phone, you probably have it, 99% of modern cellphone have it). The phone doesn't ring anymore but it just vibrates, so that you can have both : silence and a warning that somebody is calling you.
liberal
Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
Not strict or literal; loose or approximate: a liberal translation.
That is something I have never understood...when people talk about liberals, they are always engaging in activities that are against the very defitition of liberal. Liberals are supposed to be open to new ideas, and they are supposed to be for the open expression of speech, but they are often cited for squelching freedom of speech and such.
Perhaps the people who bitch about liberals have the wrong target in mind. It seems that these people don't fit the "liberal" definition, but more closely correlate to moron. Being decent to your fellow person is one thing, but making laws to that effect is counter-productive. That will only breed more animosity against what they are trying to protect. Does anyone here feel the same way?
>> The first of the series uses electric shocks to condition the user to talk at a non-intrusive level
Gee, now if we could only get higher energy densities in rechargables. Heh, heh, heh...
These technological solutions are blunt instruments; they prevent some valid (legal and/or moral) use, and they don't prevent some invalid use. Regardless of the morality of applying such blanket solutions, they simply don't solve the problem, even though they may help to mask the symptoms in some cases.
The problem of inappropriate mobile phone use is little different from that of people speaking to each other loudly, playing digital watch tunes, or any other disruptive activity. As many others here have said, the problem isn't the phone; it's the user who allows the phone to sound and/or takes a call at such a time. It's entirely possible to set most phones so that the ring tone starts silently and slowly increases in volume; combined with a vibrating alert, I usually answer my phone (or reject the call) before anyone else was aware it was ringing. If only most other users applied similar consideration, I doubt options like this would be considered for a moment.
The bottom line is that you can't force people to be considerate/moral/caring, neither with technology nor with the law. People must want to behave like that.
Here endeth the lesson.
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
The Verizon commercials will say:
"Can you smell me now?...Good!"
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
Ok, I had a couple ideas for cutting down on annoying cell usage. In areas like theaters, restaurants, whatever where owners want no cell phone usage, make it so they can buy some kind of area jammer. Ok so the argument against that is, what happens if I'm a doctor on call and I get an emergency call/page (or something to that effect). Well, section off a portion of the cell frequencies for emergency uses like that. Hospitals (in this case) would provide phones that operate on those frequencies to staff who are on-call. Does anyone have any ideas how hard this is to implement? I agree something needs to be done, but I don't think electroshock therapy is the solution.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
I wish they would sell it. This is a great gift for the insensitive fool in your life.
Does any one watch Trigger Happy TV on comedy central (or other networks)? This reminded me of the guy with the gigantic mobile phone....
I think being other-user friendly is a great idea. There are tons of possible ways to improve the phones:
The perfect phone would:
- Adjust the volume of the ringer depending on the ambient volume of the room.
- ONLY Vibrate if it is being worn. - Maybe through a motion sensor or via the use of the clip.
- AUTOMATICALLY not ring if in certain types of venues (movies, etc) This would be possible with a simple 802.11 signal.
- Notify the user if he is talking too loudly (but, preferrably without a shock)
- NOT ring when in a roomful of people with their own phones.
- Easily transfer calls to a nearby landline.
How about making all new cell phones communicate short-range with other phones nearby... and adhere to 'popular vote' of the group? If enough people in an auditorium specify on their phones that they 'vote' for silent rings, all phones will be forced to go with majority.
Electric shocks are kinda funny, but I think there are probably many more effective ways to affect the 'intrusiveness' of cell phones.
The idea is this: establish a protocol whereby if a certain signal is received by a phone it suppresses the ring. Theaters and other public places could then install small short range transmitters to broadcast this signal. It wouldn't have to cost more that a few $. Nobody would be forced to do anything. Phone users would be glad that they don't need to remember to switch off so they'd buy these phones. Theaters would buy them because they'd become more attractive if they're likely to have fewer phones ringing in them. The only catch would be that you'd have to license the transmitters so you couldn't have just anyone transmitting the suppression signal whenever they wanted. But that's no big deal, you already have to get licenses for many kinds of transmitter.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Too bad the mods didn't get it. I have friends that are in to that (s&m) and I know they would love the joke. Damned funny vignette!
Don't need a shocker. Just program the phone to start the vibrator when the speech level is too high. Gives the user the necessary tactile feedback without requiring an additional mechanism.
It would be useful in general, too. The Nokia phones that my wife and I use don't provide enough "sidetone" - the playback of your own voice in the earphone which helps you regulate your voice level. So my wife tends to talk so loudly into the phone that her voice becomes distorted. (I'm probably doing something similar, though I have experience with ham radio, which has no sidetone, and thus tend to err in the other direction.)
Of course the proper solution would be for the handset manufacturers to put the right amount of sidetone into the phone in the first place.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
They do have devices that can locally block a cell phone by blocking the frequency with garbage. In many places (concert hall, public lib, etc) these could be used, but I'm not sure about the legality of them.
For anyone that speaks Japanese, you might want to listen to the song by Ayumi Hamasaki entitled "Endless Sorrow". Much more convincing, however, is the music video. Try to find it on a P2P network, or email me for it ... it's a really powerful piece about big brother and laws exactly like this.
[insert witty comment here]
"You do have to wonder when and how the cell phone will successfully integrate itself into our collective social senses"
Wow, you haven't been to London!
Last summer I came here from a small city where a maximum of 5 of my friends have cell phones. Imagine my shock upon arriving here and EVERYBODY of every age has one. I have to agree with you; I keep mine on Silent Vibrate unless I am in a pub or a similar setting, and I try to keep my conversations short and to the point. Text messaging is a must, especially on a train where I am surrounded by cranky commuters who cannot get away from someone's phone playing that abominable Christina Aguilera shite.
Cell phones have become like any other technology, in that 33% of the people who buy them do so for the "cool" factor. How often does some asshole on the bus who looks like he is wearing the clothes he slept in pull out his loudly-ringing polyphonic uberphone, stare at it as his latest ringtone plays so that everyone can swivel and look at him, and proceed to bellow loud enough to be heard without the phone.
And there is NO need for 10-year-olds to have cell phones. You don't let your daughter pierce her ears or stay out past 10pm, then you don't buy her a phone.
Sorry about the rant!
Finally, doctors generally rely on pagers. Not cell phones. Pagers have fantastic in-building penetration and coverage area where cell phones do not always.
And, most hospitals will NOT allow cellphones inside. At least here in Canada. Cell phones generate some level of radio interference that can mess with some medial equipment. The cell phones you see people walking around with in hospitals are not cell phones - they're like an advanced version of walkie talkies - and a completely self-contained system to within a few hundred meters of the building.
.
I used to work at a defense contractor that did lots of RF testing. They had entire rooms with Copper mesh beneath the paneling to block radio frequencies! Obviously, this was to protect the neighbors and secrets, but if it can't get out it can't get in right!
This would create dead spots without jamming or otherwise messing with the phones. We don't need to create more electronic "noise".
People forget the lesson of the man who died on the cross to preserve the American way of life.
I imagine the "American way of life" round about the time that Christ was crucified consisted mostly of planting maize and hunting down the occasional buffalo. Cell phone use was pretty limited back then.
I mean, come on -- even in Europe I don't think cellular caught on until like the time of the Third Crusade or something. And I'm almost positive that up until 1812 the Cherokee were still known to take any hunter whose ringer caused a buffalo herd to stampede and stake the guy out over an anthill after covering him with honey.
A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
Good point, but I think part of the problem should also be placed on the shoulders of our society, as well.
Why are people so rude? What do you see people do when others are rude? I know when I have been in a theater, and a cellphone rings - everyone just ignores it, maybe a few groans are ellicited - but no one does anything. I don't know exactly where or when this sort of behavior among groups of people in public started up (I have a sneaking suspiscion that loud and obnoxious children being ignored by their parents may have something to do with it), but instead of those around the annoying stranger publically telling them to "get off the damn phone, moron!" - they are "pussyfied", and would rather sit and stew about it, looking the other way.
Do we really want this issue to stop (and it isn't just this issue - same with loud people, loud kids, in general - unchecked, obnoxious, and sometimes dangerous - behavior)? If so, we as a society need to quit being subserviant, docile sheep and instead loudly proclaim our displeasure (in public) over the acts we witness. If enough people did this, over time people would realize that society frowns upon this behavior, and would not engage in it.
After all, you don't see people running around willy-nilly punching people in the nose, do you (well, most of the time)...?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
People forget the lesson of the man who died on the cross to preserve the American way of life.
i was unaware that jesus was a part of the American Revolution, fighting along-side the founding fathers in the struggle for freedom. was he crucified at valley forge? please don't be an asshole and bring religion into a discussion that CLEARLY has no place for it.So would this be an application of Micropayments? Damn, i can be an asshole for $1.50/shot? I can already do that now, for free! :)
How quickly you all are willing to trample freedom for a little less annoyance. I hope you all come to your senses and realize that the being annoyed by other people in public is your problem.
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
"Mr Bush, here is a free phone."
.....
"Well thank you."
"My fellow Americans, I am si --aaaaaaaeeeek- and ti --aaeeeeeeeeekk-....my phone is ri --aeeeeeekkk- I'm done now."
-------------
Last night, the president gave his shortest, and perhaps, most popular speach of his presidency.
They stuck me in an institution, said it was the only solution, to...protect me from the enemy, myself
The biggest problem with these devices is that the offender would have to have purchased them. "Yes, I'd like the phone that will shoot electricity into me when I'm rude". ;-)
Personally, I have no patience for people who are rude with their phones:
I know very well that I would never remember to put my phone in "vibrate" mode when walking into a movie theater. So, I just *always* keep my phone in vibrate mode. Problems solved. Why can't others do this? I don't know.
Most phones have Caller ID, so the argument that you always have to be available to answer emergency calls is bogus. Yes, if you get a phone call that is likely an emergency, just answer it. But if its not a likely emergency, ignore the vibrate. Or just give a quick "can I call you back?" to check that its not an emergency.
No matter where you are, it is usually (not always) easy to find a spot where you can talk without annoying people.
Manners 101.
As for whether or not it should be a law... The libertarian in me opposes any law against cell phone rudeness. Every business has the ability to eject customers that are rude to other customers -- and cell phone use is no exception here. Let the free market figure it out.
Throwing your drink at a fellow movie-theater-goer would be vigilante justice, and very, very wrong. So, please refrain from doing that while I'm looking the other way. ;-)
I want a phone that can detect if it is in a movie theater with the film running, and instead of playing any sound whatsoever, it just detonates a charge of C4 small enough so that it only horribly disfigures the trying to use it.
that way you can see the mangled people about you and go "ahhh, you're one of those people" and spit on them.
I do that now - but it is largely guesswork.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable. It may soon be, however.
"Uncopyrightable". That word has no meaning. Just as Lexmark or the garage door opener guys.
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
Could I get one of these for my irritating teenage sister?
The aforementioned zone-warning system for cellphones would be cool: have the phone automatically tune down or go on vibe mode when entering a "silent zone"
But as mentioned... that doesn't solve other idiot user problems. Personally, I'd like a theatre with an "audience poll" options. Have little voting controls on the chairs like on certain game shows... if >10 people click on A-10 (row,seat)... it could:
a) Give the person some form of friendly jolt, allowing them a reminder
b) Notify an usher of a idiot in immediate need of disposal
c) Ejection seat? Nah. Maybe just a seat that retracts the cushion
d) All of the above.
Oh, and realistically... I can't see anyone buying a zap-me-if-I-talk-too-loud cellphone for himself/herself, but I could think of a lot of people *I* would be one for.
Handsfree adapters don't help this, if anything, make it worse, people have a subconscious tendency to look at the source of the audio when speaking...
How is this different from talking to a passenger in the car?
In fact, if you are driving with your constantly nagging wife in the passenger seat, you might actually be more inclined to deliberately steer into a telephone pole.
-CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
its' the fact that people, especially americans iwth cell phones, are extremely self centered egotistical and people who take phone calls in movies aren't thinking about how much better they are than you they're not even thinking about you at all.. total self-absorption and total lack of compassion or respect for the people around them (and this does'nt just apply to cell phoens this applies to traffic/elevators/any other public situation) is the biggest problem we have... think about it, would compassionate people smirk and make jokes about teh legless vietnam vet asking for change? or weave in an out of traffic at 95 mph in 6 ft of snow because they think their 4-wheel drive suv will save them from physics? its more than cellphonse people its just a symptom of a bigger problem; no one follows the golden rule "DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU"
my $.02
I wish they would all make it very easy to get to vibrate mode. One or two buttons at most. When my wife bought her cell phone she wanted easy access keypad lock and silent mode.
Most, if not all mobile phones in Japan have a "manner button" where it temporary disables ringing and goes in vibrate mode. You can also let it vibrate only if the caller is in your "ok list", meaning it won't even vibrate if your mother in law calls you.
But first thing is that people need to auto-educate themselve (ie: use common sense)
-- Leeeter than leet
I've read through the posts here and I think I see what is confusing everyone:
.45 Malt Liquor, it works every time.
Most people, no matter their class or station, can only learn manners at the point of a sword. It has always been thus, and isn't likely to change in the future. This is why I believe in bringing back the Code of the Duel. It would also go a long way towards clearing out the frivolous lawsuits in the court system.
All that being said, I think the proper way to handle especially rude cell phone users is to whip out your digital voice recorder and start recording their conversation. Consider:
"So then I told them that Uncle Roy's sores were healing up fine. Wait.. Hold on, Betty... What are you doing?"
"Just recording the ambient noise here for a music project I'm working on."
"Recording?!? This is a private conversation!"
"You're having a private conversation on a wireless phone in a public place?"
"Why, I... Uh... I gotta go, Betty. This really rude person is standing behind me in the checkout line."
Just like Colt
Speaking from an American point of view, I think it has something to do with our sense of personal space and what things invade that space
Think of all the distances we have in day to day life. There's bank line/teller distance, ATM distance, (for men) Urinal distance (Different at a football game from at the mall) , elevator distance (which changes per number of people on the elevator), bar room distance, and so on.
Cellphones invade some American's sense of space. Not everyone's, and perhaps not just Americans, but certainly we are high on the scale.
Perhaps YOUR phone bothers you (if you even have one), but that does not equate with most cellphone owners necessarily being annoyed by their phones. That's fine if you don't care for them, but don't be so presumptious as to speak for the rest of us. I think they've been around long enough that it's clearly not a fad and the only thing that'll replace cellphones will be other devices that integrate those features with other functionality in a compact form factor. Get used to us, we're not going anywhere soon.
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
Questions about whether "uncopyrightable" is a word aside, I found another one that fits your criteria:
dermatoglyphics
The study of the patterns of ridges of the skin of the fingers, palms, toes, and soles.
"People forget the lesson of the man who died on the cross to preserve the American way of life."
W.T.F.?
Do you have any idea what the american way of life represents, compared to anything you might find a Jew dying for?
I suppose some people can't use vibrate because the phone is in a purse or something. I suggest they get smaller phones and/or clothing with useful pockets.
If their phone annoys me, I often make a point to annoy/rebuke them.
"DRM is a mandatory buggy whip in every car." MadAhab (40080)
Theaters should take it upon themselves to block Cell phone signals. Clearly mark it, and even use it as marketing strategy. Sounds like after reading this board most people here would go to a theater that advertised this way. Anyone, such as doctors, who is on call can avoid these theaters when they have to and enjoy them when they aren't on call. In the Philadelphia area we have a chain of theaters that cater to a more mature audience, buy not allowing children in and showing more intelligent movies (i.e. nothing with Martin Lawrence in it) The audience is much more well behaved and respectful of each other. I drive an extra 10-15 min for this luxury. Maybe this is a solution.
I do a lot of running, and notice how drivers behave.
The trouble is not talking on the phone, or talking, but that in a business call, there is a power relationship that you may be at the bottom of. You have to think several moves ahead, and this distracts you from driving.
Moreover, the person at the other end cannot shut up when he sees that you need to concentrate on the road.
I have seen drivers yakking on the phone, shifting and at once, but fail to signal. Cell phones seem to make pedestrians invisible.
The reason why runners run against traffic is so that we can see you. Let me tell you, I see plenty of people staring at their steering wheels as they drive in order to concentrate on their phone conversations.
Lastly, let me mention that I am also a race car driver. I am a better driver than you. Take a tip from a pro: driving requires concentration. CONCENTRATE.
all of this 'technology' to prevent what? a series of beeps emiting from a device that apparently drive people 'crazy'? If you got a problem with some jackass and his cellphone make an example of him/her..
And, most hospitals will NOT allow cellphones inside. At least here in Canada.
Nor here in the US, now that you mention it.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
The kinds of people that would do this are the exact same kinds of people that would have obnoxious phone conversations in public places themselves.
Thus arises a paradox.
I was on a long distance train and the guy ahead of me made call after call after call in a loud voice. I started taking notes and later made a call to a friend where I talked about some new "story ideas" I had. I related about 90 minutes of the guys conversations in pretty good detail with some snyde comments about quality of life and shallowness of characters. He ended up making more calls, but moved to another seat to do so.
His description of such a system is here. and includes a link to a company that now makes such a thing.
If this idea (or another idea) works commercially, my only concern is that the government might try to jump on it and make it mandatory. The government has the tendency to ruin good ideas. Eventually, our technological advances and our own self-interest in making our own cars safer will solve these kinds of problems (without coercion).
Maybe what I should have said was just for people around them to tell them to control themselves (or their kids, etc) - a public rebuke, but not necessarily one that causes as much disruption as the original issue...?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Cinemas here in Hong Kong proposed to do that -- cell phone abuse is probably about the worst in the world here. But the telecommunications dept refused to give them permission. The usual moronic justifications -- "what if there was a nuclear war and I needed to say goodbye to my wife", etc.
I'm not the one who said that. Perhaps you should have replied to the post which I was quoting.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
No one has any manners any more. I don't even like to go to theater movies because of all the idiocy, but it does help to find a theater in a cool neighborhood where people don't act like asses.
People abuse the hell out of cell phones. I am old enough to remember before they existed (except maybe as 30-pound units in CEO's limos) and it was a LOT quieter in public. I can stand in just about any enclosed public space in Manhattan (where I work and go out) and hear at least 3 cell conversations.
People that have to SHOUT into their phones or that don't answer or turn it off when it RINGS AND RINGS AND RINGS in FUCKING AWFUL FM synth square-wave 1980 Casio ringtones are the worst. The idiots that don't know how to not answer are almost as bad. It's a fucking leash if you can't not answer it.
My personal favorite: people in my gym who talk on the cell phone while working out. Yeah, some intense workout with a phone stuck in one of your hands...
I'm afraid that I can see no reason why, if you are carrying the phone on you, you should not be required to be considerate enough of others to put it in vibrate mode. I hate wearing seatbelts but the law says I have to and I'm not even annoying anyone else when I don't do it, therefore you shouldn't be pissing and moaning about the possibility of having to shush your stupid phone so it doesn't annoy others. Your personal freedom ends at my eardrums!
If you there are enough IR equipped phones, just focus the infra red beams from all the units on the person with the offending ring.
yes
Seems as if we are stuck in a rut here, as a nation. What to do with the cell phone abusers? Pounce on them like a pack of wild dogs to teach them a lesson (tempting sometimes) or outlaw them to death? The enforceability of cell phone laws would effectively be nil, because "everyone" has a cell phone and there are legitemate reasons why some cell phone users would need to interrupt a group activity. Doctors as a group are the example that spring to mind. Still, the vibrate mode could be turned on in theatres and concerts, then your cell would act like a pager. But, in a true emergency (for instance, a doctor sees the number of the hospital he's affiliated with), you would still have to pick up. I think we have enough laws on the books, and I also think we can refrain from riot mentality. I think the most effective approach would be to shun individuals who abuse cell phones in public places. If you are on a date with someone and they flip out the T-Mobil, flip out of that date! Give them an utterly disgusted look. Unless they are a doctor or something, of course. Eventually the dateless and friendless masses who wave their cell phones around like magic money wands will come back to the real world.
which is exactly why you make it optional, if you are in fear of a nucler war, medical emergency, etc.. stay away fom the theaters that block signals. For those of us without electronic leashes, we will choose theaters that block cell signals. (By the way, i own a cell phone, and eat up well over 1000 min/month, but i have never felt the need to use it in a theater, or a restraunt, or in situations that will annoy others)
Ideo is the most innovative company I have ever seen. First, they say so right there on their web site, so if it's written on their web site, I'll assume it has got to be true. And second, instead of designing products that consumers want, they're designing products that consumers would _never_ever_ possibly want. Frankly, if that's not innovation, I don't know what is.
But you live in the third-most populated country on the planet! Are you telling me that New Yorkers have a strong sense of personal space? Maybe the ones that drive their SUV's everywhere, but what about the few million commuters that take the subway to work? Of course some people are sensitive to it, but some people are also claustrophobic :-)
We Canadians have double the land area and about 1/10th the population as the US, but we don't need 20 times the personal space! So the issue isn't as complicated as varying sense of personal space. I think it is just a reaction to anti-social behaviour. If you are next to a bunch of squealing yelling wrestling teenagers you feel a need to get away from them, but this need has nothing to do with your sense of personal space. I guarantee that if you take those kids and drop them in a bus stop in Tokyo you will get the same reaction as you would in Tulsa.
OS/2 Skyways:
The terminal is almost empty, with only a few prospective passengers milling
about. The announcer says that their flight has just departed, wishes them a
good flight, though there are no planes on the runway. Airline personnel
walk around, apologising profusely to customers in hushed voices, pointing
from time to time to the sleek, powerful jets outside the terminal on the
field. They tell each passenger how good the real flight will be on these
new jets and how much safer it will be than Windows Airlines, but that they
will have to wait a little longer for the technicians to finish the flight
systems. Maybe until mid-1995. Maybe longer.
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