You Don't Have To Answer Your Mobile Phone
from the public-service-announcement dept
Just a quick public service announcement reminding people that (no, seriously) you don't have to answer your mobile phone every time it rings. The author notes that, among adults, growing up in an age where long distance communications (or even just any phone calls) were considered a big event, we have it hard wired into our brains that a phone needs to be answered when it rings -- even if it interrupts something much more important. However, the author notes (anecdotally), that the younger generation which has grown up with mobile phones doesn't seem as inclined to answer each and every call -- recognizing that it's not such a big event any more. Of course, a lot of this could be solved if there were good ways to build better presence information into a mobile phone, such that it would know when to shift calls directly to voicemail or when to alert you only to "important" calls.
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
Don't answer that phone
I wholeheartedly agree.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Right on!
The telephone -- landline, mobile, etc. -- is only a tool. Not a control.
The post and story is definitey a good read.
Mike
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Automatic mobile phone answering
I posted an idea on ShouldExist that would help with this. In addition to regular voicemail, allow someone to record a quick auto-answer message into their phone ("I'm in a meeting") to help discourage the need to answer every single call.
That was 5 years ago though and I haven't seen any phones that do anything similar though :-)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hmmm
Home phone here always needs to be answered since it doubles as a business line.
Personally, unless my line of work really calls for it, I doubt I'll ever have a cell phone.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Automatic mobile phone answering
Ref:
- www.aolcallalert.com/LearnMoreHighlights.plt
- www.callwave.com
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Automatic mobile phone answering
I never receive unwanted cell phone calls, as I don't switch the bloody thing on except when I really need it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Automatic mobile phone answering
If you keep your phone against your person directly (mostly men), PUT IT ON VIBRATE! Why does it need to ring? I understand you just spent 8 bucks on that shitty metallica ringtone and want to "show it off" but seriously, are you 12? NO ONE CARES what your ringtone is and since all cellphones have the option to notify you silently, why not use it???
Moving forward with a little cell phone etiquette from a younger generation...
98% of the time it ISN'T an emergency on the other end of the call. And if it is an emergency, 100% of the time they will leave a voicemail that you can silently listen to and immediately call back if needed.
In general, just treat your phone as if it is a silent pager. It's simple. Do not answer unless you are ALONE and return calls only when you are in a private place. Nobody around you is involved in your conversation; why must they hear it -- or should I say, why must they hear HALF of it???
But then again, I guess if you're the type of person that thinks the world revolves around you, then this may be a difficult concept to grasp.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Automatic mobile phone answering
[ link to this | view in thread ]