Shut the Cell Up!

[SenorCardgage]

From the New York Post (http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/40168.htm).

* * *

Unsuspecting cellphone users may find themselves saying that more often now that cellphone jammers — illegal gizmos that interfere with signals and cut off reception — are selling like hotcakes on the streets of New York.

"I bought one online, and I love it," said one jammer owner fed up with the din of dumb conversations and rock-and-roll ringtones.

"I use it on the bus all the time. I always zap the idiots who discuss what they want from the Chinese restaurant so that everyone can hear them. Why is that necessary?"

He added, "I can't throw the phones out the window, so this is the next best thing."

Online jammer seller Victor McCormack said he's made "hundreds of sales" to New Yorkers.

"The interest has gone insane in the last few years. I get all sorts of people buying them, from priests to police officers."

Jammers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from portable handhelds that look like cellphones to larger, fixed models as big as suitcases.

Their sole goal is to zip inconsiderate lips. The smaller gadgets emit radio frequencies that block signals anywhere from a 50- to 200-foot radius. They range in price from $250 to $2,000.

But don't expect to find jammers at the local Radio Shack — they're against Federal Communications Commission regulations because they interfere with emergency calls and the public airwaves. They are illegal to buy, sell, use, import or advertise.

A violation means an $11,000 fine, but the FCC's Enforcement Bureau has yet to bust one person anywhere in the country.

"This is not a crime that they're going after," said Rob Bernstein, deputy editor at New York City-based Sync magazine.

He said jammers are here, and their use is multiplying.

"Right now, there's a growing curiosity about jammers in the United States and New York," Bernstein said. "There's no better way to shut up a loudmouth on the phone, so people definitely want them and are finding ways to get them."

One way is at a spy shop on Third Avenue, which sells medium-sized jammers out of a back room for $1,500. The sales clerk there said he had sold jammers to a 50-year-old man who bought one to use on the Long Island Rail Road, and to restaurateurs.

Folks who run auto auctions also buy them to stop people from chit-chatting about prices and rigging their bids, the clerk said.

An employee at a West Village spy store said the shop also sells jammers, but only to people from other countries.

One local purchaser bought a portable jammer last year, and said he likes using it at Roosevelt Field mall on Long Island.

"One time I followed this guy around for 20 minutes," he said. "I kept zapping him and zapping him, until finally he threw the phone on the floor. I couldn't stop laughing. It was so cool."

Jammers were first developed to help government security forces avert eavesdropping and thwart phone-triggered bombings. But by the late 1990s they were being sold to the public.

There are suspicions that some hotel chains employ jammers to cut down on guests' cellphone use and boost in-room phone charges.

[wileE]

Must have one.

[greg the keg]

i always wanted to carry around one of those compressed air horns to combat cellular bastards, but this sounds like fun too.

[Handy Smurf]

sounds funny, but so many people are assholes that theyll just go around jamming peoples conversations (including ones that could be extemely important, "like I was just in a car wreck" or "im going into labor") there are always ways to deal with people that are jerks on the phone, but nobody has any right to end their phone call
Imagine if/when these become common enough that anyone of any age could get their hands on one. Can you imagine kids with these things?

[foolsgold]

While I agree that many people are cell phone annoying, this is just stupid. Anyone dopey enough to spend $250 and upwards because they can't ask the person to lower their speaking voice or gets so worked up by this sort of things and rather be an anonymous dick should re-evaluate their priorities.

[redraven]

Imagine if/when these become common enough that anyone of any age could get their hands on one. Can you imagine kids with these things?

Actually, I thought the person who followed the guy around the mall for 20 minutes was a kid. Or at least, childish. I have a big problem with how out of control cell phone usage has gotten, but I don't think this is the way to address the problem for most people. If a minister wants to use this in his church, I think that is okay, but these shouldn't be used by your average Joe in public, without any warning to others. Personally, I can't understand the need to constantly be in communication with others. In my day, we did just fine with public payphones and, later, pagers. ;)

[postfeminist]

i want one too :)

[Buzzstein]

I think these things should be legal but well regulated... like you should need a license or something...because would be good say in like movie theaters or other kinds of theaters...

[Sushi]

I think this is one of those things that sounds really good in theory, but in practice may end up being more annoying than inconsiderate cell phone use. I mean, we get pissed off when people blab on and on on their cell phones in public places because it seems like some sort of public civility is dying. All the zappers are is another way for people to be uncivil and inconsiderate towards each other. I suppose I'd rather find ways to train people in polite cell phone use. And if you try to zap someone who's talking on the cell while driving, they'll probably just stop short and cause an accident or drive off the road or something.

(I have to say, I think public cell phone use is a little better than maybe five years ago, when the whole cell phone thing mushroomed. At least at the places I frequent, I see/hear fewer people in long, drawn-out conversations about nothing. I hear less phones ringing at movies, etc.)

[Sovrana]

(I have to say, I think public cell phone use is a little better than maybe five years ago, when the whole cell phone thing mushroomed. At least at the places I frequent, I see/hear fewer people in long, drawn-out conversations about nothing. I hear less phones ringing at movies, etc.)

I wholehardedly agree. I too have noticed more rules about cellphone use that once told, most people abide. When we went to MoMA last weekend, they had a rule that cellphones could be used only near the staircase (not in the galleries). I did noticed one person on a cell in a gallery. But with the rules, you could "tsk tsk" these people with the backing of the rule. Or if you're so bold, simply remind them to turn off the phone.

Funny thing I've noticed recently is most people seem to get on their phones out of nervousness or habit...nothing else to do with their hands. I think some cellphone users are like smokers of the 21st century. And I think cellphones are being treating as such.

[RealNeal]

I think these things should be legal but well regulated... like you should need a license or something...because would be good say in like movie theaters or other kinds of theaters...

I'm not even sure this would be a good idea... There are legitimate emergencies, and people can be considerate enough to deal with them with minimal interruption to those around them. I should be able to be "on-call" and still go to the movies... as long as I don't have my phone ring audibly or answer my phone in the theater.

[postfeminist]

sushi & sovrana: i agree... i think people are better now than they were a few years ago...

i just wish that people would learn a little volume control on their voices. especially around campus--i hear a lot of shit that i don't want to know.

[msbirt]

I've never understood the global ass-clenching that most people engage in regarding public cell phone use.

I understand the annoyance that cell phones and the attendant conversations can cause in meetings, at the theater, when in the midst of an actual face-to-face conversation, during child labor, in the middle of sex, at a nice quiet restaurant, in church, etc...

But if I take a call whilst grocery shopping (or make one for that matter), and have a conversation during that time, I don't see why people get so infuriated by that. I often call friends I haven't spoken with in a long time while I'm grocery shopping. Doing so allows me to get an important household task done while also accomplishing something that I don't always find the time to do otherwise.

If I am sitting at the bar at the local eatery and minding my own business during the meal, I don't see why having a conversation should bother anybody else. Would it bother them if I had the same conversation with the same person in person?

Of course, when I get to the checkout line of the store, or when I need to interact with another person to transact business, etc, then it's time to hang up the phone and be "present" with that person.

But seriously. What's the fucking problem? If I want to talk with someone about my fantasy baseball strategy or the new Trail of Dead CD on my cell phone, who the fuck is someone else to tell me that that conversation isn't important enough to have with a friend while I'm walking down Main Street?

Should I hang up so I can approach the next stranger on the street or in the mall and shake his/her hand like all of these self-righteous anti-cellphone people must do when they are in public spaces? God knows I've seen so much neighborliness and communal love being exchanged in our precious public spaces of late.

If only those damned cell-phone users would hang up and join in the group-love fest that takes place in 2005 America's public spaces :rolleyes:

[chiswick]

I would pay top dollar for a device that jams car stereos with very loud sub-woofers.

[classicgrrl]

should be required in movie theatres.

but other than a few places why pay money to jam someones phone and lose the satisifaction of telling them to STFU?

[poopsicle]

I pray every night that someone will blow up every fucking cell phone tower and shoot missles into space that put it ALL out of order.

What I have a problem with cell phones is this: It puts the me, in front of the we. While it is a bit part of a larger problem, the whole onslaught of technological communications has killed community and propped up the individual to deity status.

But guess what? You're not important! I'm not important! We're all fucking expendable as far as the globe and the cycle of life goes. Your cell phone calls to whoever whatever don't mean jack shit to anyone but your self-absorbed me-world.

That being said, I know that this is pretty ironic to be posting on a web message board that uses one-to-one technology as its basis. :D

[classicgrrl]

I pray every night that someone will blow up every fucking cell phone tower and shoot missles into space that put it ALL out of order.

What I have a problem with cell phones is this: It puts the me, in front of the we.

spoken like true middle management.

careful poopy, you'll soon be talkin' bout paradigm shifting and thinking out of the box.

:eek:

[DaHood]

Cellphones aren't the problem. People and their fucked up rude attitudes are the problem. If people had any common sense and any common courtesy there wouldn't be a problem in the first place.

I avoid using my cell in public whenever possible.

[msbirt]

Cellphones aren't the problem. People and their fucked up rude attitudes are the problem. If people had any common sense and any common courtesy there wouldn't be a problem in the first place.

I avoid using my cell in public whenever possible.

I still don't get this.

If you're with a friend, walking down the sidewalk, do you not talk to this friend because doing so would preclude you from having a conversation with other people who are walking by you?

If that's not the case (and I'm sure it isn't), what's the difference between the situation where you're walking down the sidewalk talking with your friend who's by your side, and talking with her about the same subject matter on your cell phone?

Additionally, on a related thread, if you're in the grocery store, and I'm on the phone talking to my friend about what he did this past weekend as I'm shopping, are you offended and cursing me under your breath?

If so, why?

I'm not trying to be confrontational in my questioning; I seriously want to understand the anger that some people feel in these situations. Because I seriously don't get it.

I get it if you're in a movie theater while a movie is playing, or if a ringing cell phone interrupts a meeting, but why the anger over cell phone conversations and cell phone ringing in a mall or a supermarket or other run-of-the mill public spaces?

[classicgrrl]

I get it if you're in a movie theater while a movie is playing, or if a ringing cell phone interrupts a meeting, but why the anger over cell phone conversations and cell phone ringing in a mall or a supermarket or other run-of-the mill public spaces?

I would venture to say that folks may speak louder on cell phones than face to face. Cells can cut out (can you hear me now? can you hear me now? how bout now? ), and generally people talking on phones cease to be aware of what is around them. I've seen idiots walk into freezer doors while talking on the phone at Krogers. I'm sure it's happened with people talking to one another when both are present as well but perhaps not as much.

What I absolutely cannot stand is the asshats who continue to talk as they attempt to purchase something at the counter. This drives me fuckin' bonkers. I hate it with every fiber of my being. I have actually helped the customer behind a person yelping on a phone at the counter.

Get off the damned thing so you can pay for your shit and not make the folk behind you wait.

[msbirt]

What I absolutely cannot stand is the asshats who continue to talk as they attempt to purchase something at the counter. This drives me fuckin' bonkers. I hate it with every fiber of my being. I have actually helped the customer behind a person yelping on a phone at the counter.

That, I get. That's totally rude. Common courtesy dictates that the phone conversation ends.

But it seems I must be lacking in common courtesy, as I will talk on my cell phone to friends in public places. I think I'm a pretty nice, sensitive guy otherwise, but I guess I'm pissing people off bigtime by talking on my phone. I don't yell, nor do I think I'm cool when I'm talking on my cell phone. I just want to talk to my friend.

I'd like to say that I'll stop, but I don't think that I will.

[classicgrrl]

That, I get. That's totally rude. Common courtesy dictates that the phone conversation ends.

But it seems I must be lacking in common courtesy, as I will talk on my cell phone to friends in public places. I think I'm a pretty nice, sensitive guy otherwise, but I guess I'm pissing people off bigtime by talking on my phone. I don't yell, nor do I think I'm cool when I'm talking on my cell phone. I just want to talk to my friend.

I'd like to say that I'll stop, but I don't think that I will.

Maybe you're not pissing people off. Just depends on how loud you're talking and your definition of public. I think having a cell phone conversation on the bus where people are close together and cannot move away is one type of public. Sitting down in a mall food court table or corner and talking on the phone is a different type of public.

[CablinasianRam]

I'd love to see people use this, as long as they don't do it while I'm on the phone. I think it'd be great if they'd be able to be used on the highway, though.

[msbirt]

My friend was driving to his hockey game last night, and it was snowing (he lives in New Jersey). I was talking to him on my cell phone. I was in the lobby of the Regal Hollywood Cinema by the Fairfield Commons talking with him (no not loudly, and no, not while I was ordering my bottle water).

He was telling me about the fact that he just got engaged last weekend, and giving me the scoop on his wedding date, when he started shouting and I heard a terrible noise.

I thought for sure he was a goner for about five seconds.

He started talking to me, though, and explained to me that he was okay, but that he'd just totaled his car, and was lucky to be okay.

I asked him if he needed me to call anyone, and he hurriedly said no and that he'd call me later.

I sat there in the lobby of the theater feeling terrible about the fact that he wrecked while he was on the phone talking to me. I told myself then and there that I would no longer talk on my cell phone while I'm driving ever again.

He called me later and told me that he was actually talking to me on a headset, and that I shouldn't feel responsible for his accident. He said that actually, it's probably more dangerous to carry on a conversation with a real live person in the passenger's seat because the driver has a tendency to look at the person he's talking to as opposed to watching the road. With a headset, his hands are free and he can keep his eyes on the road.

I felt better when he rationalized all of that stuff to me, but I still felt terrible, and am sticking to my promise to not talk on the phone while I'm driving anymore.

Talking on the phone while driving is a bad idea.

[chiswick]

I think most people have no problem with someone talking on a cell phone while walking on a sidewalk or other larger roomier public places such as shopping malls, airports etc as long as they are not blocking a walkway. Most grocery stores and other stores such as Wall Mart are usually crowded with small isles. I rarely see people doing this, but I get a little annoyed if someone is standing there talking on their cell phone in a busy isle, blocking a shelf with their cart I’m trying to get to, with no regard to anyone around them. It is difficult to maneuver a shopping cart full of groceries with one hand, so some people will stop to take a call wherever they are even if is in the middle of an isle. They wouldn't stop their car in the middle of a busy street and block traffic to take a call would they? Stores are for shopping, not for talking on the cell phone. You wouldn’t balance your check book, or do your taxes in the middle of the produce department, would you?
SHOP NOW, TALK LATER.
DRIVE NOW, TALK LATER
http://www.drivenowchatlater.com/

[msbirt]

SHOP NOW, TALK LATER.
DRIVE NOW, TALK LATER
http://www.drivenowchatlater.com/

I read through the site you linked to with great interest. The daughter of a counselor at the school where I teach was killed last February as she talked on her cell phone. I believe she ran a stop sign.

I know how dumb it is to talk on the phone while I'm driving, and have noticed that I have more of a tunnel effect when I'm talking on the phone than if I'm in a conversation with a person sitting next to me. I'm not sure why that is.

I can say that I will Drive Now, and Talk Later, but I probably won't Shop Now, and Talk Later.

I won't block your aisle, though. I promise. ;)

[DaHood]

I still don't get this.

If you're with a friend, walking down the sidewalk, do you not talk to this friend because doing so would preclude you from having a conversation with other people who are walking by you?
No that would be silly.

If that's not the case (and I'm sure it isn't), what's the difference between the situation where you're walking down the sidewalk talking with your friend who's by your side, and talking with her about the same subject matter on your cell phone?
As long as you use the same courtesy as you would talking to someone by your side, I don't see a problem. But I don't appreciate loud public cursing when I might be with my mother who doesn't appreciate it. Or sex conversation or other such things that most people actually realize isn't proper public behavior. I find it embarrassing not necessarily for myself, but for others who will be offended, and that offends me.

Additionally, on a related thread, if you're in the grocery store, and I'm on the phone talking to my friend about what he did this past weekend as I'm shopping, are you offended and cursing me under your breath? If so, why?
Only if you're being obnoxious, as some public cell chatters can be. I'm sure you know the type.

I'm not trying to be confrontational in my questioning; I seriously want to understand the anger that some people feel in these situations. Because I seriously don't get it.
You're not being confrontational. They're all very valid questions and I think this is great current discussion.

I get it if you're in a movie theater while a movie is playing, or if a ringing cell phone interrupts a meeting, but why the anger over cell phone conversations and cell phone ringing in a mall or a supermarket or other run-of-the mill public spaces?
Exactly. I think you understand proper cell phone courtesy as I see it. And I think I'm pretty reasonable about it.

I turn my ringer off and use vibrate if I am in a restaurant. It doesn't matter to me if it's a diner or fast food or a nice restaurant. I think it's annoying to hear all the 'fun' tones going off while one is trying to enjoy a meal. Yes I have 'fun' tones in my phone too, but I don't like having them go off in certain public places. They're attention grabbers and sometimes that attention isn't good. I'm sure you see people yelling into their cellphones as if that helps when you have a bad connection. It doesn't. Normal clear speaking voice is effective at all times. If the connection goes, it goes and yelling won't help. It only makes the cell user a spectacle.

[classicgrrl]

He called me later and told me that he was actually talking to me on a headset, and that I shouldn't feel responsible for his accident. He said that actually, it's probably more dangerous to carry on a conversation with a real live person in the passenger's seat because the driver has a tendency to look at the person he's talking to as opposed to watching the road. With a headset, his hands are free and he can keep his eyes on the road.

not to make you feel worse but Ohio just did a study that found talking on headset is just as bad as talking with your hand holding the phone. I'll see if I can find the link. Read about it a couple weeks ago.

[DaHood]

not to make you feel worse but Ohio just did a study that found talking on headset is just as bad as talking with your hand holding the phone. I'll see if I can find the link. Read about it a couple weeks ago.
Yep, that's what they're saying.

Driving is another time I try to avoid carrying on casual conversation. I think some common sense is needed in that area as well. First of all, driving is a priority one operation. You're not supposed to divide your attention. Second, if you do decided to talk on the phone you have to be careful. I avoid using my cell in stop and go traffic. I avoid dialing calls. I don't answer the phone if I don't feel safe to do so, that's why god created voice mail. :D I don't mind using my phone on the interstate, but I move to the right and slow down. If something in my driving needs attention I inform the person I'm talking to quickly and put the phone down, I don't wait for their response.

I'm not saying those are perfect or the only rules you should use but they seem to work for me.

[frizgolf]

In public places like the street or a mall, it's a little disconcerting to catch just one person coming at you in full bore conversation. You look up, wondering who they're talking to (me? oops, no, cell phone- blush). Maybe there's a little resentment happening there.

And, BTW, couldn't we start some program to give old cell phones to some of the street urchins who talk to themselves? It wouldn't creep me out as much anymore.

[Sushi]

I'm with Classic and DaHood on the driving while talking on a cell thing. Headset or not, the point isn't that one hand isn't on the wheel, it's that your entire attention is not focused on what you're doing. A person sitting in the passenger seat has the same view as the driver (each person may notice different things, but the view is the same). If you're about to crash into another car, the passenger is going to stop talking or, better yet, may say something to warn you. A person on the other end of a cell phone has no idea what you're seeing.

I think the thing with cell conversations, as others have mentioned before, is that people often tend to raise their voice during the conversation without even noticing. You're adjusting your tone and voice level to the person on the phone, not to your surroundings (me vs. we). I also find that it's more annoying to hear half a conversation than to just have two people who might be talking at the table next to me. There's something about a steady, low train of sound that allows you to block it out (when it has nothing to do with you). Listening to someone else's cell phone conversation means that you have moments of sweet silence interspersed with somebody talking too loudly about something you don't care about.

[supra-genius]

Im not a huge fan of cell phones (I yell "shut up and drive" at least once a day) but the other day some kids cell phone cracked me up. He had this downloaded ringtone that rang twice and instead of a third and forth ring, the phone yell out "Answer your phone jackass..."


Silly, but I liked it...

[poopsicle]

I'm the farthest thing from middle management you'll ever meet. I heard that cliche first in seventh grade football

spoken like true middle management.

careful poopy, you'll soon be talkin' bout paradigm shifting and thinking out of the box.

:eek:

[classicgrrl]

Im not a huge fan of cell phones (I yell "shut up and drive" at least once a day) but the other day some kids cell phone cracked me up. He had this downloaded ringtone that rang twice and instead of a third and forth ring, the phone yell out "Answer your phone jackass..."


Silly, but I liked it...

thats kinda of funny!

[MonkeyGirl]

Hmm...I have to say I have found more in-person conversations to be obnoxious than people on their cell phones. Some people tend to act like real ass clowns when they have their friends around.
That being said, I hate the "guy" who answers his cell phone in the movie theatre and says in a rather loud voice "Watchin a movie" (to, I suppose, the question "What are you doing?"). Then there's "the woman" (maybe man...I dunno..I've never traveled into the men's restroom to see what goes on there) who decides to carry on a cell convo in the jon. WTF? Ya have your pants down, you're either pissing or crapping, and you decide this is THE perfect time to be carrying on business?? EW.

I keep my cell phone vibrate if I'm out to dinner or movie, etc- cause usually, someone's watching the kiddos and I'm paranoid about shit happening. I rarely answer the phone in the car unless I see it's my husband, cause he's usually calling to have me pick up diapers, formula, etc., on my way home from work.
Come to think of it...the only people who really call me on my cell phone are hubby, my mom and my dad. Everyone else knows they have better luck reaching me via email or IM. I tend to not listen when I'm on the phone...and I tend to not answer my phone if it's someone other than the 3 listed above...

[msbirt]

While I've been arguing that talking on a cell phone in public is not rude, I think Sullivan makes an interesting point here. The world is becoming more and more tailored to our individual tastes and interests, to the point that we block out the rest of the world.

I don't know about you, but I resemble that remark.

linky (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-1501-1491500-1501,00.html)

Comment: Andrew Sullivan: Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld

I was visiting New York last week and noticed something I’d never thought I’d say about the city. Yes, nightlife is pretty much dead (and I’m in no way the first to notice that). But daylife — that insane mishmash of yells, chatter, clatter, hustle and chutzpah that makes New York the urban equivalent of methamphetamine — was also a little different. It was quieter.

Manhattan’s downtown is now a Disney-like string of malls, riverside parks and pretty upper-middle-class villages. But there was something else. And as I looked across the throngs on the pavements, I began to see why.

There were little white wires hanging down from their ears, or tucked into pockets, purses or jackets. The eyes were a little vacant. Each was in his or her own musical world, walking to their soundtrack, stars in their own music video, almost oblivious to the world around them. These are the iPod people.

Even without the white wires you can tell who they are. They walk down the street in their own MP3 cocoon, bumping into others, deaf to small social cues, shutting out anyone not in their bubble.

Every now and again some start unconsciously emitting strange tuneless squawks, like a badly tuned radio, and their fingers snap or their arms twitch to some strange soundless rhythm. When others say “Excuse me” there’s no response. “Hi”, ditto. It’s strange to be among so many people and hear so little. Except that each one is hearing so much.

Yes, I might as well own up. I’m one of them. I witnessed the glazed New York looks through my own glazed pupils, my white wires peeping out of my ears. I joined the cult a few years ago: the sect of the little white box worshippers.

Every now and again I go to church — those huge, luminous Apple stores, pews in the rear, the clerics in their monastic uniforms all bustling around or sitting behind the “Genius Bars”, like priests waiting to hear confessions.

Others began, as I did, with a Walkman — and then a kind of clunkier MP3 player. But the sleekness of the iPod won me over. Unlike other models it gave me my entire music collection to rearrange as I saw fit — on the fly, in my pocket.

What was once an occasional musical diversion became a compulsive obsession. Now I have my iTunes in my iMac for my iPod in my iWorld. It’s Narcissus heaven: we’ve finally put the “i” into Me.

And, like all addictive cults, it’s spreading. There are now 22m iPod owners in the United States and Apple is becoming a mass-market company for the first time.

Walk through any airport in the United States these days and you will see person after person gliding through the social ether as if on autopilot. Get on a subway and you’re surrounded by a bunch of Stepford commuters staring into mid-space as if anaesthetised by technology. Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t overhear, don’t observe. Just tune in and tune out.

It wouldn’t be so worrying if it weren’t part of something even bigger. Americans are beginning to narrow their lives.

You get your news from your favourite blogs, the ones that won’t challenge your view of the world. You tune into a satellite radio service that also aims directly at a small market — for new age fanatics, liberal talk or Christian rock. Television is all cable. Culture is all subculture. Your cell phones can receive e-mail feeds of your favourite blogger’s latest thoughts — seconds after he has posted them — get sports scores for your team or stock quotes of your portfolio.

Technology has given us a universe entirely for ourselves — where the serendipity of meeting a new stranger, hearing a piece of music we would never choose for ourselves or an opinion that might force us to change our mind about something are all effectively banished.

Atomisation by little white boxes and cell phones. Society without the social. Others who are chosen — not met at random. Human beings have never lived like this before. Yes, we have always had homes, retreats or places where we went to relax, unwind or shut out the world.

But we didn’t walk around the world like hermit crabs with our isolation surgically attached.

Music was once the preserve of the living room or the concert hall. It was sometimes solitary but it was primarily a shared experience, something that brought people together, gave them the comfort of knowing that others too understood the pleasure of a Brahms symphony or that Beatles album.

But music is as atomised now as living is. And it’s secret. That bloke next to you on the bus could be listening to heavy metal or a Gregorian chant. You’ll never know. And so, bit by bit, you’ll never really know him. And by his white wires, he is indicating he doesn’t really want to know you.

What do we get from this? The awareness of more music, more often. The chance to slip away for a while from everydayness, to give our lives its own soundtrack, to still the monotony of the commute, to listen more closely and carefully to music that can lift you up and keep you going.

We become masters of our own interests, more connected to people like us over the internet, more instantly in touch with anything we want, need or think we want and think we need. Ever tried a Stairmaster in silence? But what are we missing? That hilarious shard of an overheard conversation that stays with you all day; the child whose chatter on the pavement takes you back to your early memories; birdsong; weather; accents; the laughter of others. And those thoughts that come not by filling your head with selected diversion, but by allowing your mind to wander aimlessly through the regular background noise of human and mechanical life.

External stimulation can crowd out the interior mind. Even the boredom that we flee has its uses. We are forced to find our own means to overcome it.

And so we enrich our life from within, rather than from white wires. It’s hard to give up, though, isn’t it.

Not so long ago I was on a trip and realised I had left my iPod behind. Panic. But then something else. I noticed the rhythms of others again, the sound of the airplane, the opinions of the taxi driver, the small social cues that had been obscured before. I noticed how others related to each other. And I felt just a little bit connected again and a little more aware.

Try it. There’s a world out there. And it has a soundtrack all its own.

[Homsar]

Maybe if the society-world didn't such so much we wouldn't have to retreat into our own.

But as for cell phone blockers: I think it's wrong to prevent someone from having a conversation, but people still need to learn empathy and consideration. When people stop being greedy or self-absorbed assholes, then we'll see what else needs to be done.

[unwanted_sound]

I have so many opinions on this issue...

Like today. I went to the gym at lunch, and as I was showering and gettting ready to head back, some dude came in, randomly picked the locker next to mine, and continued to 'talk to nobody.' (headset). I got to hear about his unborn child, his potential road trip, etc, etc, as I tried to squeeze in behind him to gather my stuff. And yes, he even continued his conversation into the toilet. Nothing quite like hearing some grunting followed by a flush on the other end...

Did he acknowledge me when I said 'excuse me?' Nope. Did he pay attention to the 'no cell phones in the locker room' sign? Nope. Was he being rude? Yep, pretty much. I don't regret feeling that way.

The difference between listening to a stranger talk on a cell phone and two real people talking is that the two real people might actually acknowledge you. If two people were sitting around talking about woxy, I would feel somewhat welcome to jump into the conversation. If one person was chatting about it on a cell phone, I wouldn't feel welcome at all.

[Begin Self Righteous kick] I use a headset whenever I'm driving and talking. At that point, it's not different than me butchering Interpol's NYC or the Dove's last broadcast in something that barely resembles singing. In the unlikely situation that I have to walk into a store or gas station while talking, I always make put my call on hold and give whomever my full attention. There's something about the idea of 'community' that Sullivan's article is right on about - it's getting lost. [/End Self-Righteous kick]

I will now return to both lurking and butchering the currently playing 'uno.' thanks julie from florida...

[jd1]

People said all this same stuff about the Walkman 25 years ago. The more things change...

--JD

[Duemellon]

& JD1 gets applause from me.

Pretty soon we'll be complaining about portable televisions disturbing us.

[Handy Smurf]

People said all this same stuff about the Walkman 25 years ago. The more things change...

--JD
certainly an interesting point

Pretty soon we'll be complaining about portable televisions disturbing us.Also an interesting point, although I'm not sure I could see walking around or driving with a tv in front of your face to be terribly safe(well cellphones arent necessarily either, but i think tvs would be exponentially worse)--not that that would stop people

[Buzzstein]

Also an interesting point, although I'm not sure I could see walking around or driving with a tv in front of your face to be terribly safe(well cellphones arent necessarily either, but i think tvs would be exponentially worse)--not that that would stop people

shit, just watching TV in your living room is dangerous. lol.

[Duemellon]

Also an interesting point, although I'm not sure I could see walking around or driving with a tv in front of your face to be terribly safe(well cellphones arent necessarily either, but i think tvs would be exponentially worse)--not that that would stop peoplealready happened. Guy killed some other motorists & was sent up for negligent.

But the portables I'm talking about would be akin to walkmen. You'd be in Borders & you'd see somebody plucked down next to you laughing loudly over a Will & Grace rerun.

[DaHood]

shit, just watching TV in your living room is dangerous. lol.
I know that's right. Some of those American Idol auditions were enough to send a person into shock.

[seafoamgreen]

already happened. Guy killed some other motorists & was sent up for negligent.

But the portables I'm talking about would be akin to walkmen. You'd be in Borders & you'd see somebody plucked down next to you laughing loudly over a Will & Grace rerun.


Do people still laugh loudly at will and grace?