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Cell Phones In The Air?
jumbledInTheHead writes "Are you ever annoyed when someone near you talks unnecessarily loud on their cell phone? Or even worse, when it is in a tight, enclosed space and you can't walk away? The problem is about to get worse the next time you take a flight; the FAA is considering removing the ban on cell phone use on airlines."
Well the difference is that when someone is talking loudly to the person next to them they are both in the same location and receiving the same information. They can both see the annoyed faces on the people. The person behind them can kick both of there seats. When a person is using a cell phone there is one party that is in a different environment. And he leads the conversation which can keep the person loud because the guy in the plain is imagining himself in the same environment. And forgets to use his inside voice. Also if there is any interference in the line our natural responce is to speak louder while in reality if we talk softer we would probably get a better transmission.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
They only have two people next to them on the plane to talk to, and if they are talking loudly, that's going to stop pretty quickly.
With a cell phone, they can talk loudly to anyone they can reach by phone.
So instead of maybe an hour before their seatmate gives them a hint that maybe it is time to shut up, they can conduct "business" in a loud voice for 8 hours straight (or as long as their battery lasts).
Long-distance air travel is already annoying enough, this is going to crank it up a notch!
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I hardly ever use my mobile, but on a plane I imagine it would be really useful (Hi Honey - I'll be in late, or booking rooms or whatever)
True: I use mine regularly to advise my wife of my train time---by text message, not by talking.
There is a difference.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3643477.stm for details.
Basically, people get more annoyed when they can only hear one side of the conversation.
Manta
First, engine and wind noise provide natural noise masking. It will only be the few closest people that you'd be able to hear talking
Or, they'll just speak a lot louder because of the noise...
I can't remember the last time I went on a flight and didn't hear a phone accidentally ring in flight
I suspect there's a big difference between a brief transmission while it rings and a dozen people yapping away for the entire flight.
And finally, a huge number of people bring on laptops and although they might not be actively attached to a wireless connection, the computers are still sitting there probing the airwaves looking for connection points
1. The laptop doesn't actually need to actively probe for networks, it can just listen for an access point broadcasting it's BSSID (unless it's trying to find an ad-hoc network).
2. 802.11 will usually be transmitting at under 100mW (probably 35mW actually on most hardware), a GSM phone will transmit at up to about 4W.
http://blog.nexusuk.org
well, if it's such a problem, do what the japanese do... on the shinkansen (bullet train) which is essentially a slow airplane on wheels, the vestibule near the toilets is the required spot for all mobile conversations... if your phone rings, you leave your seat and have your conversation back by the loos, not in your seat
it works because everyone respects not being an ass to others... whether or not this would work on airplanes is another matter, but the idea of a mobiles section in the same sense as smoking sections would be a step in the right direction