COMMENT
Written at a cafe in Woodbridge, Suffolk and dispatched to silicon.com from Lower Ufford via a newly installed wi-fi system
As far back as I can remember I have always found people interesting because they do such strange things.
One of the most interesting manifestations which can be witnessed anywhere and anytime concerns mobile phones.
An example: at a recent conference in a London hotel, I visited the men's room where I saw a cluster of men stood around one of the cubicles. My first impression was that they were waiting in line. But no - all soon became clear!
The gentleman occupying the cubicle was sitting there answering a phone call. In a big loud voice that was hard to ignore, he discussed some business arrangement with a customer - and with an unseen audience right outside his door.
It seems remarkable anyone would allow a mobile call to interrupt any vital bodily function and then compound this with the potential for commercial indiscretion!
So what of the audience hanging around the cubicle? I made it my business to spot them and their conference name badges, and that of the cubicle occupant. Guess what? They were from two different conferences in the same hotel and of course they were from competing companies. Priceless!
Back home I bet this guy has an IT and security department intent on locking down all the company secrets and deals - but apparently they forgot to firewall the toilet. I'm sorely tempted to start the Mobile Phone Darwin Award Academy.
Comments
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1. Mark Hosey
What concerns me about this type of business phone freak is that their indiscretions can contribute toward the discomfort of others. The loss of a contract as a reult of shouting down a phone in a public place can mean the loss of jobs for others. Similarly for car phone freaks who still abound despite the change in the law. Their foolhardy behaviour can result in the loss of life.
In my opinion few phone calls are important enough to justify the endangerment of others livelyhoods or lives.
2. Simon
I've observed while someone has walked into the gents, emptied, and left (without washing his hands) - and all without interrupting the phone call. I have to wonder what the person at the other end of the call made of the various noises !
Going off at a tangent, I was told many years ago while working in the local shipyard that it's customary to allow the first captain of a new vessel to request minor customisations - I guess this probably goes down to things like how his cabin is fitted out.
On one submarine we built, apparently the captain asked for an internal intercom to be fitted in his private facility - suggestions were made that this was to allow him to deliver force from both ends at once.
3. Peter Cochrane
Simon = Conjures up quite a picture! Peter
4. Peter Cochrane
Mark = But the whole world operates like this - so on average we might suppose it aint a problem. The number of car crashes caused my mobile phones seems to be insignificant and on a par with those due to inserting CDs, adjusting the radio etc. My favourite is the seat belt being secured 2 minutes into a journey! Peter