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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.
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
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
Maybe Slashdot should develop a keyboard that zaps people who obviously don't read the article before they post their thoughts.
Agreed this is a start, but the problem isn't holding onto something, try going down the road holding the phone up to your ear. For the most part, people only have/need one hand on the wheel anyway.
The dangerous part is the lack of concentration. 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...
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.
*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!
"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."
Why not ask first, call the usher second? They're clearly breaking the rules of the theater ("No Talking" is displayed rather prominently on the screen before each and every movie I've ever seen.)
Instead of taking the law into your own hands, vigilante-asshole style, just get the fuckers kicked out. It's a much more satisfying feeling, and the chance you'll get your ass kicked severely is much lower. Also, you'll be acting much less like a 12-year-old.
- 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?"
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?
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.
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....
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.
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.
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.
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]
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
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
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).