Trying To Prevent Drunken Dialers
from the phew dept
Ah, the problems that new technology creates. Take the idea of drunken dialing, for instance. In the past, it was mostly limited to those who were drinking alone at home. However, with the mobile phone, it's become a much more widespread phenomenon. You go out for a few drinks with friends, and suddenly decide that it makes perfect sense for you to call your ex at 2am from whatever gutter you might be lying in. A study (done by Virgin Mobile, so be aware of the obvious bias) recently suggested that 95% of people admitted they were guilty of drunken dialing at one point or another -- with 30% of those calls going to exes and another 19% to current significant others. However, as with so many things, where technology creates tricky situations, technology can also save the day. Down in Australia, Virgin Mobile is going to now offer a new service that will let users easily create a blacklist of phone numbers that can't be called until 6am the following morning. Of course, the big problem with such a service is that most drunk dialers realize how silly it would be for them to call a certain number, and can't believe they'd ever be in such a state where it might make sense... while sober. So, how likely are they to set this up while sober? The point when it makes sense is when they're already drunk, but then it's too late.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Stuffy
Dude, dont analyse like this. You are analysing for the sake of analysing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Stuffy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Stuffy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Stuffy
Most english speaking countries spell "analyze" with an "s", not a "z".
This is the World Wide Web, not the Redneck American Web, ya hillbilly.
Stop embarrassing the rest of the U.S. with your ignorant ramblings.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Stuffy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
it a marketing ploy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Drunk dialing
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Drunk dialing
The "END" button.
Or, put him on speaker phone for the whole office
to hear.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
breathalyzer phone
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
12 ez steps
This is pathetic.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
bogus figures
[ link to this | view in chronology ]