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Cell Phone Headsets?
stm42 asks: "I drive 45 miles to and from work each day and I have found that a great way to spend the time productively is to use it to make the phone calls I have to make to employees, co-workers, bosses, etc. I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones (with a regular headphone jack) that works and is fairly comfortable. I currently use a Plantronics over the ear style and it will stay on my head but I usually have to push the earphone to my ear to hear the other person and that pretty much eliminates the usefulness of the headset. Any suggestions?"
"Should I wear white or green socks with these pants?"
"Oven ranges: Olive or Off-white?"
Must be a really slow day over at Slashdot HQ...
I forget what 8 was for.
I like the earbud one that I have that came w/my Nokia phone. It's just a simple earbud with a mike on the line, and a clip so i can clip it to my shirt. I tried the jabber ones, but didn't really care for the gel earpiece... much too hard to get in and out of my ear. This simple little nokia one works great for me.
:)
(personally I like to be unproductive during my 45 min - hour drive in though. I like to take the time to relax and enjoy the drive rather than working every second of the day. but that's just me
oh yeah... FP?
Place sig here.
Using a headset does make using your cell phone safer (it frees up a hand) but the real danger lies in the fact that you're attempting to have a focused conversation while driving at 60 mph.
I wouldn't have piped up at all had you not said "I wanted to be safe." But based on that, my best advice is to use the cell phone as little as possible while in your car.
I drive 45 miles to and from work each day...Any suggestions?
Yes, move closer to work or work closer to home.
I drive 45 miles to and from work each day and I have found that a great way to spend the time productively is to use it to make the phone calls I have to make to employees, co-workers, bosses, etc.
I hate you.
I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones (with a regular headphone jack) that works and is fairly comfortable.
So you're one of those people who think that the problems with cell-phone driving are solely because of not having both hands on the wheel, eh? Or maybe you are just tired of holding that little gizmo up like that for 45 minutes straight and are just using the safety angle as an excuse. Here's a tip, bub: using cell phones makes you a menace to us all. It has nothing to do with how many hands you use to hold the phone. It has everything to do with not paying attention to driving.
Any suggestions?
Sure! Here are some alterntive ways of using your commuting time productively that don't involve increasing the danger you pose to the rest of us: listen to books-on-tape or music, brainstorm about problems at work, carpool with someone from your office and get to know them as something other than "CubicleDrone #038A", fanasize about Pamela Anderson, etc.
I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones
Let's be clear. Part of the danger of using a cell phone while driving is the distraction caused by having to juggle the phone, having to look down at it to dial, and having to take at least one hand off the steering wheel to hold it.
Getting a hands-free headset will mostly remove these distractions.
But the majority of the distraction is caused by having the conversation in the first place. That the degree of distraction is similar to that caused by talking to someone physically in the car is often offered as a justification of using the phone while driving, but even if both equal distractions, the cell phone conversation is an additional and unnecessary distraction.
So don't fool yourself: headset or not, you'll be distracted, and you'll be driving less safely. Drive this way once or twice, and your number probably won't come up. Do it every morning, five mornings a week, 50 weeks a years, and eventually your number -- or the number of some kid darting across the road on his way to school -- will come up.
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
check out the Bluespoon if your phone supports Bluetooth. Glorious.
I don't know how anyone can call this parent link "Informative" or in any way appropriate.
I clicked on it expecting to be taken to something germaine to this discussion, and ended up wanting to throw up at what came across my screen.
If I still had my mod points from this morning, I would mod this down by -2 for disgusting and unhelpful and troll.
As others have mentioned, studies indicate that the fact that you are concentrating on something other than driving is the real safety factor, not the fact that you are holding a phone.
t ml
Studies also indicate that cell-phone use is unfairly singled out as it is generally less of a safety factor than other things drivers are known to do. (IIRC, adjusting the radio/changing tapes or CDs was #1. Others included eating, checking maps, shaving, getting distracted by kids or pets.) Cell phones aren't worse, just more visible.
Having said that, my sister has a very nice speakerphone that attaches to the rods on the headrest. It is a horizontal rod with a speaker on each end and a flexible microphone holder. I generally can't tell that she is in the car (well, except for the squealing tires, screaming passengers, shattering glass and other side-effects of Cell Phone While Driving Syndrome). I don't know if this is the exact model but it looks similar:
http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/m112.h
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"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
Shut up and drive.
ABSTRACT
Background Because of a belief that the use of cellular telephones while driving may cause collisions, several countries have restricted their use in motor vehicles, and others are considering such regulations. We used an epidemiologic method, the case-crossover design, to study whether using a cellular telephone while driving increases the risk of a motor vehicle collision.
Methods We studied 699 drivers who had cellular telephones and who were involved in motor vehicle collisions resulting in substantial property damage but no personal injury. Each person's cellular-telephone calls on the day of the collision and during the previous week were analyzed through the use of detailed billing records.
Results A total of 26,798 cellular-telephone calls were made during the 14-month study period. The risk of a collision when using a cellular telephone was four times higher than the risk when a cellular telephone was not being used (relative risk, 4.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 3.0 to 6.5). The relative risk was similar for drivers who differed in personal characteristics such as age and driving experience; calls close to the time of the collision were particularly hazardous (relative risk, 4.8 for calls placed within 5 minutes of the collision, as compared with 1.3 for calls placed more than 15 minutes before the collision; P<0.001); and units that allowed the hands to be free (relative risk, 5.9) offered no safety advantage over hand-held units (relative risk, 3.9; P not significant). Thirty-nine percent of the drivers called emergency services after the collision, suggesting that having a cellular telephone may have had advantages in the aftermath of an event.
Conclusions The use of cellular telephones in motor vehicles is associated with a quadrupling of the risk of a collision during the brief period of a call. Decisions about regulation of such telephones, however, need to take into account the benefits of the technology and the role of individual responsibility.
Also many employers are prohibiting employees from using cell phones on business related calls while driving because the employer can be held liable if the employee has an accident.
Just google for Cellphone+drunken+driving and this story comes up a few times.
PARK CITY, Utah, July 22 (UPI) -- A new study says if you are given a choice of talking on a cell phone while driving or driving while intoxicated, you would be safer driving drunk.
And the University of Utah study says it makes no difference whether the telephone is hand held or is being used hands-free.
Newsday says the study, presented Tuesday at an auto safety conference in Park City, Utah, was based on the performance of 41 test subjects on a driving simulator. The subjects "drove" on a multi-lane highway, with and without hand-held and hands-free cell phones and with and without a 0.08 percent alcohol level
Researchers said they found a 50 percent reduction in the processing of visual information when people drive and talk on a cellular telephone.
Researchers said, "When drivers were conversing on a cell phone, they were involved in more rear end collisions