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.
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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2004 @ 2:59am

    Stuffy

    "Of course, the big problem with such a service is that most drunk dialers realize how silly....."
    Dude, dont analyse like this. You are analysing for the sake of analysing.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2004 @ 3:09am

    Re: Stuffy

    Hey Stuff-heard: What other types of analysing do you know?? Do you ever analyse without the need to analyse?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Another Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2004 @ 5:27am

    Re: Stuffy

    Then of course, if you could spell analyze, then it might make a difference?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2004 @ 6:39am

    it a marketing ploy

    Some ppl who have made such a mistake and feel embarassed might use this as a 'tipping point' - a reason to pick the carrier over another.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2004 @ 6:41am

    Re: Stuffy

    meh, the real problem with a service like this is that you are effectively spam-guarding yourself.........and quite frankly, that's pathetic.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Mark, 30 Nov 2004 @ 7:09am

    Drunk dialing

    I was drunk-dialed once ... by a co-worker, in the middle of the afternoon. He had taken the day off to go to a baseball game, and he had a few too many beers in the bleachers, and the next thing I knew I was listening to him shout out details of the game into his cell phone. The Virgin feature wouldn't have helped a bit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Jim, 30 Nov 2004 @ 8:34am

    Re: Drunk dialing

    My phone has a feature that would have helped.
    The "END" button.
    Or, put him on speaker phone for the whole office
    to hear.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    ScooterBoy, 30 Nov 2004 @ 11:52am

    breathalyzer phone

    or... even better.. put the breathalyzer in the phone.. if your BAC is over a certain percentage, you're not allowed to call your exes...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2004 @ 12:40pm

    12 ez steps

    Sounds like a few too many people need to attend AA instead of expecting Virgin mobile to stop them from drunk dialing.

    This is pathetic.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Slappy, 30 Nov 2004 @ 3:15pm

    No Subject Given

    This is just too funny to be objective about.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    aNonMooseCowherd, 30 Nov 2004 @ 5:41pm

    bogus figures

    95%? That's probably higher than the percentage of people who drink. Maybe they took this survey at bars at 2 a.m.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    tahuya_rat, 30 Aug 2005 @ 7:54am

    Re: Stuffy

    "Then of course, if you could spell analyze, then it might make a difference?"
    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 thread ]


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