By silicon.com, 24 March 2005 15:35
Plans by London Underground to extend mobile phone coverage to underground Tube stations have been met with as many groans from the Capital's commuters as cheers.
Consultations with suppliers will begin shortly and the aim is to trial the technology at one underground station in 2006 - with plans to extend it across all tube stations by 2008.
It is perhaps not hard to understand why this might lead to the odd groan. After years of being squeezed into stuffy carriages to enjoy the questionable personal hygiene of their fellow travellers, soon commuters will also be forced to hear them calling home from the platform to tell their significant other to put the dinner on.
"What is wrong some peace from the infernal stupid ring tones?" was the comment from one silicon.com reader. And many may be nodding in agreement.
And don't think you are going to get any peace in the sky; within a few years planes will be mobile friendly as well.
There is the inevitable backlash underway; products that jam mobile phone signals are becoming increasingly popular in theatres and cinemas abroad, although currently banned in the UK.
The problem is, of course, not the technology - it is the inappropriate use of it that winds everyone up. Few would disagree that making it easier to stay in touch is a good thing - but even fewer would want a shrill ring-tone ruining their night at the movies.
Technology is running ahead of society a little here - we haven't developed the do's and don'ts yet, although there are some tentative steps towards it on the way in the form of quiet carriages on some trains, an idea that could be extended further.
In the same way most companies have put an email policy in place which sets out what you can and can't do, perhaps we need one for mobile phones too.
The last thing we need is a backlash against any technology just because a few users don't use it responsibly.
Comments
There are 14 comments. Join the discussion
1. yutt
Legislating behaviour leads to a downward trend of manners and respect, especially when it is unenforceable. Much as I hate constantly listening to other peoples ring tones, I would prefer not to see such a set of rules, policies or even guidelines, come into use.
Technology is the cause of the problem. Why not fix the technology to be more discreet and to require that people talk more softly when needing to make a mobile call.
2. Trevor Coates
I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of a phone etiquette. Silent with vibration could be used so much. Also ear pieces in public would enable people to avoid shouting as they can hear better thus preventing them thinking the other side cannot. etc.. I am sure if we can keep the ring tones in check and the voice at normal conversation level then use may not be so offensive. I have been a prolific user over the years and have worked in the industry and it has always annoyed me that users are not that considerate.
3. anonymous
Dear "yutt" - technology is not the problem: manners are.
4. anonymous
what about mobile-friendly hospitals?
can we put an end to the myth that using a mobile will kill all the patients in intensive care & the theatres, or are the contracts with the hospital ward telephone providers the real reason for the ban?
5. R. P. Murphy
Yes, is'nt technology wonderful.
The miracle of mobile phones.
Now oh so pervasive, and increasingly, unwanted by those of us seeking sanctuary from egomaniacs.
I can choose to close my eyes towards the miserable weirdo sitting in front of me, but I can't close my ears to the incessant verbal platitudes of "Nathan Barley" sitting next to me.
Travelling on the tube is unpleasant enough as it is, why inflict some extroverts personal monologue onto those of us who would like a little peace and quiet.
Who knows perhaps next Transport for London will include open toilets on their cramped trains.
6. Dan Ashcroft
The answer has been around for years, get a personal stereo (or iPod if you really must) and a decent set of earphones. Preferably the 'closed' type that shut out outside noise as well as keep the music in.
7. Malcolm Ripley
It's not just the volume and tones though, its the way the human brain reacts to a conversation. If two people are conversing on a train you can choose to "switch-off" or purposely listen if you're that way inclined! With a mobile phone there is, for everybody else, a one-way conversation on the go which is exceptionally difficult to "switch-off" from. In addition the people using mobile phones are oblivious to those around them they become cocooned in a mini world of them and their conversation. This results in car accidents, pushing people out of the way in crowds, pushing in front of people in shops when browsing (that really p....d me off) . They are totally oblivious to all around them.
Legislating against their use in public won't work it has more to do with conducting yourself properly. Maybe if others on the train started to discuss the phone conversation around the carriage after the call has ended the callers embarrassment may make them think again. Imagine the carriage survey : "Hands up all those who are getting a pint of milk on the way home.....and whose having chicken for dinner..." etc etc
8. AdTheBAd
While we're at it lets ban conversation of any sort in public - why should I have to hear you talking when I want peace and quiet? Lets also ban babies from crying, smelly socks, eating, oh and enjoying yourself when Im not...
9. anonymous
People should be more considerate of others. Some people just have an inability to speak at a normal voice when using ANY phone. I work 10 feet away from someone who speaks at the same volume whether he is using a mobile or a landline. Yet he is the first to glare at anyone when he can hear their phone conversation...
However, one nuisance I have noticed on the increase is the noise from radio stations playing on mobiles. We had the same problems years ago with walkmans and discmans and headphone manufacturers worked to reduce the noise that "leaked". This doesn't appear to have been applied to mobile phone handsets, and one woman on the train the other day had it so loud we could hear every word the DJ said. From 6 feet away!
10. Alastair Campbell
The last thing I want to hear in a crowded tube train on my daily commute is those darned nokia ring tones. I'm getting so fed up I'm ready to carry a scrambler!
11. anonymous
We need a mobile phone test, before we can own a mobile phone. Bit like a driving test. Users would need to string two correctly pronounced and grammatically correct sentences together without using the "f" word!
12. Brian Catt
I think Peter Cochran pointed out that it would help quite a lot if Mobile phones had acoustic feedback from mouthpiece to earpiece - so users don't shout unnecessarily because of background noise which also is uncomforable for the other person on the call. Its an important feedback control and part of most fixed phones, presumably put there for just this reason in the early days of fixed telphony.
But it won't stop the average selfish moron unable to read or think and believing their inconsequential personal/self important business conversations are of interest to the whole train - if they care at all about anyone else which proably lies at the heart of this, many people who use mobiles this way are totally selfish and actually enjoy annoying others.
A long flight used to be a good place to get some peace to read and think. It isn't necessary to talk all the time. Bring on the illegal jammers, I say. If it can hit walkmen at the same time, great.
13. anonymous
On Japan trains there are notices on trains re usage of phones (and they’re in English!). "Phones must be set to silent" and "passengers must move to defined phone areas when making calls". Though perhaps not feasible on the tube, TFL should set rules for usage which benefit all passengers, not just the ill mannered minority. Phones could be banned during peak-times perhaps.
14. anonymous
Natural selection will even the score, judging by the number of mobile & walkman users who step out in front of cars without hearing (or looking)!