FINALLY...doing something about #$@! cell phones

[Cetecea]

It's rude.

I remember this same discussion about cell phones at the driving range at the golf course. People adamantly stated that they "needed them for emergencies". They never turned off the ringer. They talked loudly.


Not once did I hear someone answer their cell phone and have and ACTUAL emergency. Bread and milk from the store? Sure.

Convenience is not necessity.

 

[Luke T.]

Phones beeping alot at work: irritating. Use quieter ringtones, or vibrate only.

Does their landline phone ring bother you? What's the difference between someone talking on their cell phone at work and talking on their landline phone at work?

 

[Katana]

Does their landline phone ring bother you? What's the difference between someone talking on their cell phone at work and talking on their landline phone at work?

The volume of the person's voice (cell phone = louder).

 

[toddjh]

I don't see why talking to someone via a cel-phone should be considered more of a bother than talking to someone who is physically near you.

I saw a paper a while ago (wish I could find it now) about how people dislike cell phone addicts because hearing only one side of a conversation triggers our instinctive defense responses -- a person talking to himself must be either crazy or talking with a conspirator who doesn't want to be heard!

I'm not sure how much I believe that, but it might help explain the irrational aversion many people have to the constant yappers.

 

[toddjh]

The volume of the person's voice (cell phone = louder).

Cell phone also = lots of repeating yourself because of bad quality and lag. And incredibly annoying ringtones.

ETA: Or else one person will talk for a long time at a stretch, and then the other person will talk for a long time at a stretch. Cell phone conversations often sound like endless monologues to me.

 

[Katana]

Cell phone also = lots of repeating yourself because of bad quality and lag. And incredibly annoying ringtones.

Regardless of the reason, end result = loud and annoying

 

[Art Vandelay]

And paper, in order to hold a significant amount of information, must have a large surface area.

So must a cell phone.

 

[toddjh]

So must a cell phone.

A C D A B A D D A

 

[Luke T.]

So once the technical glitches are worked out, a cell phone in the workplace will be no different than a landline phone.

I've actually considered getting rid of my landline phone. I don't use it any more. My wife wants to keep it, so there's 40 bucks a month being wasted. For what? By law, all cell phones in our state now have a chip in them so 911 can pinpoint your exact location. So you really don't even need a landline for 911 purposes. The cell phone wins even on that level.

My personal cell phone pet peeve is people talking on their cell phone while driving.

 

[Miss Whiplash]

So before cell phones, when you had to get ahold of someone in an emergency you did what? What magical methods did you use to get ahold of someone sitting in traffic? Or, in the case of you being stranded/lost/broken down in the middle of no-where what magical methods did you use to get help?

(1) Walked to the nearest pay phone and called AAA.
(2) Walked to the nearest populated area and asked to use a phone.
(3) Radioed for help with an emergency CB. (It was magical!)

ETA: (4) Sticking out your thumb and hitching to the next gas station, etc. Equally magical.

 

[NobbyNobbs]

So... these teachers are so unobservant that they don't notice students HOLDING a cell phone, but they are able to somehow see cell phones hidden in backpacks? If a teachers can't come up with a good testing procedures, that's their problem. It's unfair to take away students' rights because of it.

Since when is having a cell phone a student's right? I don't recall reading that either in the Consitution or in our school handbook.

Our school has a problem with cell phones. Kids are allowed to have them, but they are supposed to be off during school hours. They never are. As a result, some time is spent disciplining kids, some time is spent taking phones away from them, some time is spent getting the attention of the class again after a cell phone rings, etc. Meanwhile, some kids have been caught cheating with their cellphones. Two rang up an $800 bill text messaging each other.

There is absolutely no reason the students need to have phones. It is not a necessity. If they need to call home, there is a landline phone in every classroom. If their parents need to call them, they know the number to the school.

 

[Tony]

(1) Walked to the nearest pay phone and called AAA.

Which could be miles.

(2) Walked to the nearest populated area and asked to use a phone.

Which could be miles.

(3) Radioed for help with an emergency CB.

How many people had emergency CB? And isn't CB range extremely limited?

All in all. This isn't a convincing argument for why cell phones are bad.

 

[PogoPedant]

Cell phone also = lots of repeating yourself because of bad quality and lag. And incredibly annoying ringtones.

This will change once the US upgrades to a mobile network that actually works. The rest of the world is two or three generations ahead of you. Are you not supposed to the leader of the free world?

ETA: Or else one person will talk for a long time at a stretch, and then the other person will talk for a long time at a stretch. Cell phone conversations often sound like endless monologues to me.

Do people really talk differently when using a cell-phone? Different than when using landlines? I can only think of one person I know that still uses a landline, but then she's a self-professed technophobe...

What is needed, instead of a ban, is for people to start treating their (and others') mobiles as mobiles. They're not luxury items or status symbols. Rather, they are gizmos that you can, amongst other things, talk to people with.

 

[Tony]

Since when is having a cell phone a student's right?

Since forever. Where in the constitution does it grant the right of government to keep students from bring cell phones?

 

[luchog]

How many people had emergency CB? And isn't CB range extremely limited?.

I had one, as did anyone with any brains, as part of a standard emergency kit. They only cost about $20-$30 bucks. Range wasn't really an issue, since it used a carrier that carried for a considerable distance (miles), would generally plug into the car electrical, so power wasn't an issue, and most police and fire departments would monitor the emergency CB channels.

Even though I have a cell phone, it's still part of my emergency kit.

 

[jj]

How many people had emergency CB? And isn't CB range extremely limited?

1) Lots.

2) CB range is only severely limited in areas where the radio traffic causes congestion. In such places, you will find somebody closer to hollar help to. What's more, police monitor CB.

3) CB frequencies can skip a LONG ways under the right conditions, too, but no, I wouldn't want to depend on it.

4) A lot of places monitor FRS nowdays, too. Another bit of too-crowded spectrum.

 

[Dark Jaguar]

Right around the part where the government can say what people can and can't bring onto government owned property. If they can require a dress code or ban entire human beings from being on the premises, they can ban what hardware they want as well.

Cell phone bans have many reasons in many places. If there's top secret data, no cameras allowed in the "bulding"! Sure a camera no one's even using is no danger, but just plain "no cameras allowed" is enough.

If there's a test going on in a large classroom, no cell phones, and for that matter you aren't even allowed to bring in scraps of paper. I've been in tests that force you to leave any bags you have lined up against a wall, and I accepted that. It's not that cell phones are "new fangled". If anything I'm a tech junkie. But I get why restrictions are needed.

By the way, if your cell phone or camera or whatever is locked safely inside your backpack, you are exempt by the "it's not a crime if you don't get caught" clauss . No seriously, if your cell phone is never discovered, it isn't a danger at all and you really don't have anything to complain about anyway because they aren't doing anything to you, the undiscovered jackarse. I suppose if you keep it hidden, you're fine on all accounts so you don't have anything to be upset about.

And why do hands free sets exist anyway? Is it really that hard to hold a phone up to your head? Last I checked, anything that requires both hands should probably have your brain involved in the task as well.

 

[Tony]

I had one, as did anyone with any brains, as part of a standard emergency kit.

How many people had CB's in their car? You make it seem like they were ubiquitous.

 

[jj]

How many people had CB's in their car? You make it seem like they were ubiquitous.

Find me this:

1) a part of the country without trucks and truck drivers
2) a truck driver without a CB

I wonder, Roadtoad, if you're listening, what's the penetration of good CB sets among truckers?

 

[Tony]

Find me this:

1) a part of the country without trucks and truck drivers
2) a truck driver without a CB

I'm not talking about truck drivers. I'm talking about regular consumers/citizens.