The Cell Phone Has Changed — New Etiquette Needed

CWmike writes to share a recent manners-rant that has some great gems about how not to be "that guy" on a cell phone. What rules of engagement are absolutely necessary and what social penalties should become standard practice for repeat offenders? "It's easy to be rude with a cell phone. A visitor from another planet might conclude that rudeness is a cell phone's main purpose. Random, annoying ring tones go off unexpectedly. People talk too loudly on cell phones in public because of the challenge of holding a conversation in a noisy environment with someone who's not present. Cell phones need their own rules of etiquette, or we'll descend into social barbarism."

Comments

Look at Japan

[corsec67]

Japan seems to have this issue solved.

Everyone texts on their cell phone, voice conversations in public are fairly uncommon. On a train, they have announcements to silence your phone, which most people do.

Even the crappiest prepaid phone has unlimited messaging/email for 300 yen a month, taken out of the 1,500 yen monthly fee, while voice is very expensive on that phone (90yen/minute).

Re:You don't need to yell into your phone.

[CAFED00D]

Most landline phones echo your voice into the earpiece. Cell phones do not do this, so many people raise their voice to compensate for the fact that they can't hear their own voice coming from the phone. Still, it's very annoying.

Re:Rules 1 through 7 of using a Cell Phone

[Gr8Apes]

Honestly, while watching some people talk by

A) turn their head to watch the person they're talking to
B) release steering wheel to emphasize a point with both hands
C) close eyes and shake head when listening

all indicate that some people can't do more than one conscious act at a time. They can either talk, listen, or chew gum, but not 2 out of the three. (FYI: talking is the conscious act - the rest are uncontrolled unconscious learned responses)

These are probably the same people that were talking on cell phones while walking into a telephone pole so hard they wound up in the ER.

Re:You don't need to yell into your phone.

[ericfitz]

Misdiagnosis.

It's not because people underestimate noise cancellation. It's because cell phones lack sidetone.

Telephone manufacturers have known for a century that sidetone is necessary for people to regulate their voice volume effectively.