The Cell Phone Has Changed — New Etiquette Needed 585
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."
Look at Japan (Score:5, Informative)
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. (Score:5, Informative)
It's Their Fault Not Ours (Score:1, Informative)
social barbarism
Barbarism, or, more pointedly barbarians we so named by the ancient Greeks because the language(s) of said barbarians were thought by the Greeks to sound like "bar,bar,bar...". Barbarians and others with even understandable languages were enslaved by the Greeks because they were seen, perhaps perceived is a better word, as Other. Those not members of the tribe and therefore rightly enslaved. "Social barbarism" is a bit of an oxymoron in light of it's xenophobic origins. Norbert Elias [wikipedia.org] did a brilliant job of tracking what power elites termed civility as a means of excluding others from power and resources. Language is highly contextually bound, as are manners. Screaming into your cell to be heard over a live symphonic performance is one thing, screaming into your cell to be heard over a roaring crowd at a football match is another. Disciplining yourself to shut out fleeting annoyances is one thing, appointing yourself the watchdog of social norms is another.
Re:Rules 1 through 7 of using a Cell Phone (Score:2, Informative)
Of course it can be quite a distraction for many drivers to try and hold a phone to their ear or type out a text while driving, What about hands free, e.g., bluetooth headsets? A quick poke of a button on your ear to answer a call shouldn't be any different than pushing a button to change the channel on your radio. If the phone is set to auto answer, it's not much different than having a conversation with a passenger in the vehicle.
There is a (maybe not so) subtle difference between a cell phone conversation and one with a person in the car. Passengers in a car tend to have at least partial awareness of what is happening in traffic and can adjust accordingly or even warn the driver (maybe that is worse, in some cases) Fiddling with a cell phone certainly can't help one's driving, but I think it's the conversation (with a non-present party) that is the real problem. Link below is a study... http://www.psych.utah.edu/lab/appliedcognition/publications/passenger.pdf [utah.edu]
Re:Rules 1 through 7 of using a Cell Phone (Score:4, Informative)
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 [nytimes.com].
People don't even follow the "original" list (Score:2, Informative)
* 1. Lower your voice when taking calls in public. * 2. Avoid personal topics when others can hear you. * 3. Avoid taking calls when you're already engaged in a face-to-face conversation. * 4. If you do take a call, ask permission of the people with you. * 5. Avoid texting during a face-to-face conversations. * 6. Put your phone's ringer on "silent" in theaters and restaurants. * 7. Don't light up your phone's screen in a dark theater. * 8. Hang up and drive.
Sure it'd be nice if the author's new points of etiquette would also be followed, but people! Can we all (and by that I mean you all) NOT use any damn cellphones during the movie we all paid $9 or more to see! Geez!
Re:You don't need to yell into your phone. (Score:5, Informative)
Misdiagnosis.
It's not because people underestimate noise cancellation. It's because cell phones lack sidetone [wikipedia.org].
Telephone manufacturers have known for a century that sidetone is necessary for people to regulate their voice volume effectively.
Re:You don't need to yell into your phone. (Score:2, Informative)
There is a practical side of it - you can immediately tell if your phone is ringing. Work in an place where all the phones have the same tone, its hard to tell which is yours.
Re:Rules 1 through 7 of using a Cell Phone (Score:2, Informative)
1. It is perfectly possible to carry on a conversation unobtrusively. (I'll resist the temptation to say "unless you're a loudmouthed American", since I have met a significant number of human beings from that nation.
2. There is no need to impose such earth-shatteringly stringent conditions on use of phones in these circumstances. The technology is there for our convenience. That can happen in small ways as well as large. Where it becomes objectionable is where it is intrusive, distracting or dangerous, e.g. at concerts, theatres or whatever. Or where there is a risk of EM radiation causing something untoward.
If what you're really saying is that you don't like people who use mobile phones, then you have bigger problems than can be addressed here.