Fri, 31 May 2002
Jakob Nielsen in WSJ on cell phone annoyances
Career Journal from the Wall Street Journal:
But Ms. Page also thinks owners should mute their machines whenever they can.
I usually set my own cellphone on vibrate, although that's not a perfect solution, either. Some people see red when my phone goes off on a hard tabletop.
Cellphone makers, fully aware of the growing backlash, promise improvements. They're promoting cellphone-courtesy campaigns, hoping users will voluntarily curtail their bad behavior. They're also pushing phones with polyphonic ring tones that use a greater range of frequencies and should be less annoying than the squeaking variety.
Don't bet on it. The new cellphones also play "MIDI" files—scratchy, AM-radio-quality renditions of any sound ever made. The most-downloaded rings in the U.S. include Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman," according to Openwave Systems, a Redwood City, Calif., wireless software company.
"People just aren't satisfied with the plain ring—now they have to have the collected works of Britney Spears," says Mr. Nielsen, the technology consultant. "Do you want a rock band in your meeting room?"
It gets worse. A Nokia spokesman tells me he was in a meeting recently when a state-of-the-art cellphone suddenly began emitting human screams.
They could have been mine.[WSJ Career Journal]
As a cell-phone owner who doesn't own a land line, and a musician who appreciates fine music and silence but not the computerized bleeps of a cell phone playing Beethoven, I know this story all too well. My solution? Leave the phone on my belt, 24x7, on vibrate. Ignore it most of the time, answer it if it won't interrupt the flow. Do unto others. Please, don't destroy my next fine steak with some Britney Spears rehash. Spare me.
Posted at: 14:43 | permalink
