Loud Mobile Phone Talkers Leads List Of Mobile Etiquette Annoyances

from the just-quiet-down dept

Fri, Oct 24th 2008 11:40am — Mike Masnick

There are all sorts of annoyances associated with mobile phones, but apparently the biggest one remains the fact that people talking on mobile phones seem so prone to do so loudly, greatly disturbing those around them. A recent study found that loud mobile phone talkers were considered a bigger nuisance than things like answering a phone at the dinner table or having a really annoying ringtone. The company that put on the survey notes that people should remember to move away from noisy areas when on the phone, and should try to find a quieter place to talk. I also wonder if better speakers, to hear who you're talking to more clearly, combined with adding or improving sidetone (the ability to hear yourself through the phone's speaker) on mobile phones would go a long way towards decreasing mobile phone yelling.

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Filed Under: annoyances, loud talking, mobile phones, talking

34 Comments

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JR, 24 Oct 2008 @ 11:51am

No sidetone on mobiles
I've been pointing at the lack of sidetone (feedback) as the major contributor to this problem for years. I think the main reason there's no sidetone on cell phones is that it requires a small amount of amplification, and that would reduce battery life. However, I think the sacrifice would be worth it.
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Skeptical Cynic (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 11:52am

Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
The simple fact is that people are losing the most basic of manners that anyone that was born before 1978 has. People just do not have consideration for those people around them. This goes for everything from not saying excuse me when they have to get around you at a store to road rage. People have lost their manners.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2008 @ 12:36pm

I want to complain about my neighbour who sits out in her back yard and yammers on the phone for hours on end, making it impossible to have a conversation in our back yard. That's like...a good 10 feet away from us...

I want to...but I wont.
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Nick L NYC, 24 Oct 2008 @ 12:42pm

How about people who don't know how to walk on the sidewalk and hold a conversation. In NYC it is particularly bad with all these poseurs who use their 'precious Iphone for show'. Move to the f**king right side of sidewalk and walk and walk with the pace of others. If I 'accidently' bump you while walking on the left and you drop your precious toy and it gets stepped on, maybe you will figure it out. But it isn't people talking on cell phones loud, ( I just browse internet on BB). Its people who think they are in their living room
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Nick L NYC, 24 Oct 2008 @ 12:45pm

Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
You are right. It is the a***hole factor you have to deal with every day especially in NYC. Most of it one learns to put up with.

But most rudeness is not from real NY'ers (those who lived here pre guiliani) but these wannabes. The thing is that sometimes you confront them and they act like they are doing nothing wrong but they can get their butts kicked if they piss off the wrong person
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Trish in Texas, 24 Oct 2008 @ 12:48pm

Not to mention people who answer phone calls in the movie theatre during the movie. I am so eagerly awaiting the day when cell phone signals are blocked once the movie begins. If you are expecting that important of a call, chances are you don't have time to be sitting in a movie anyway. Of course, it usually isn't important, because the first thing you normally hear after hello is, "Watching a movie, what are you doing?" AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2008 @ 12:49pm

Loud Cellphone Talkers
One thing I read somewhere it was a top frustration that you only hear this person's side of the conversation. And usually this type of person is totally oblivious to who's around. It's really obnoxious when they are calling angry at some one too!
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Krogoth, 24 Oct 2008 @ 1:11pm

Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
Not everyone born after 1978 has lost their manners, and in fact, I could just as easily say everyone born before 1978 is racist, and fuels the racism in our society. Sound about right?
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Charlie, 24 Oct 2008 @ 1:21pm

I kind of like to know who the real idiots in the crowd are.
Loud cell phone talkers make the identification process much easier. Also, I like to imagine I'm on the other end of the conversation, so I make little comments to the person talking (they usually don't get it). It's kind of fun to play with them, but I don't recommend this for everyone. I'm a pretty big dude so f'em if they don't like it.
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Jim, 24 Oct 2008 @ 1:37pm

Re:
Won't what? Get a jammer?
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2008 @ 1:39pm

Re:
Too bad it's unlikely to happen. Blocking the signals isn't allowed because in case of an emergency, you may need to use the phone.

Aside from that, I've considered making an illegal signal blocker and taking it with me to theaters for just that purpose...unfortunately one of my best friends is a doctor and is frequently called away during films.
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Hugh Mann, 24 Oct 2008 @ 2:14pm

Maybe not every one of 'em is a jerk...
I really do try to be aware of how loud my voice is when I'm taking a call on my mobile. However, I've discovered that, unless I'm really consciously monitoring it, my voice tends to get a little louder and louder. There's something about the fact that the microphone of a mobile phone is seemingly very far away from my mouth that makes me subconsciously think that I need to speak up to be heard.

In any case, I don't jabber on in a crowd. I do step aside, find a spot away from others, or just ask to reconnect with the person later. I'm certainly not one of those people who can just blather on while walking down the street.

And I would NEVER take/make a call in a movie theatre!

So, I think at least some people should get the benefit of the doubt, but I do see that a LOT of these people really are oblivious, and living in the "it's all about me" world.

HM
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Skeptical Cynic (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 2:14pm

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
That is just wrong. I never said that everyone born after 1978 has no manners. But to label people born before 1978 racist is in it self a very wrong statement. And only goes to show that the poster is a person that feels that they are a victim of such feelings. What I said is that people born after 1978 are losing their manners and it is true. http://www.patchesandmarble.com/popwin/articles/rude.html I was born in 1970 and could not imagine being racist. So to use such inflammatory statements is so typical of the very stupid ignorant people. To accuse someone of racism is something that can only be stated after someone has shown clearly to be racist. It is also a very serious accusation and only those stupid enough to use it without reason are just too stupid to actually come up with something useful to say. To use it in any other context is inflammatory and does nothing to increase the our knowledge. And so yes I am very clearly stating in plain terms you are stupid. http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=stupid To quote you are "lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity". I look only to the quality of the person not their race or origin. Please do not waste the time of the intelligent people on this forum with your inflammatory statements.
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Skeptical Cynic (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 2:24pm

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
I bet you are voting for Obama and want to move this country to a socialist country. And no I am not racist. I would love for this country and the people in it to just get the hell over all this racist crap and realize we are all Americans and that America is great because of all the races we have. But the simple fact is that anyone that is voting for Obama is a victim of the American Idol culture and feels that they are a victim. You are a product of the decisions you have made.

White people are afraid of being labeled racist so go out of their way to make sure they do nothing that can appear to be racist. Black people accuse anyone that does not agree with them as being racist. Both thing do nothing to help make this country better.

I have added this response because it makes me so very mad when someone uses the term racist without provocation. To those type of people get over being a victim and understand that the world is not fair.
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Trish in Texas, 24 Oct 2008 @ 2:46pm

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
Wow, people, simmer down. Krogoth didn't actually label anyone racist. He simply said that saying that everyone born after 1978 has no manners is LIKE saying that everyone born before 1978 is racist. Sweeping generalizations, familiar with those? And, just by the way, I was born considerably before 1978, and don't have a racist bone in my body...likewise, I know plenty of people born after 1978 whose manners are quite intact.
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Skeptical Cynic (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 2:55pm

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
Again I did not make a sweeping generalization. I said that and I quote "The simple fact is that people are losing the most basic of manners that anyone that was born before 1978 has". We have them because our parents would beat us if we did not show those common manners.
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tubes, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:10pm

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
No you are completely wrong. What you are describing would be prejudice not racism! And what he said wasn't prejudice either.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:15pm

I hate the fact that mobile phones even exist. EVERYTHING about them is annoying from the damn Nextel beep every 3 seconds, to the loud talkers, to the idiots that drive using them, to the idiots that always have speaker phone on so I have to listen to their conversation etc.. Which is why Im investing in a cell phone scrambler so nobody within 100 feet of me will be able to ue one. We didnt need them 30 years ago and we dont need them now!!! If there is truly an emergency at the restaurant youre eating at or movie your watching etc.. There is always land lines available at the place of business
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Skeptical Cynic (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:24pm

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
No I am not. Quote from http://www.trap17.com/index.php/racism-prejudice-defined_t7977.html

A racist is someone who doesn't like someone because of their race if you want the general definition and prejudice is judging someone before knowing who they are based on past experiences. People can and do hate their own race as well as others. When you meet someone from another country or who's different then you and ask them where they are from its easy to prejudge them, associate them with people you know from that country. Can be a good or bad thing. The black people being faster than whites is just a generalization, again can be good or bad. Some generalizations are based on fact, problem is people get painted with the same brush and it proves to be damaging. I cant like rock music cause I'm black? I am black and was born in Canada. People always ask me where I'm from even though I'm from Canada, I get offended sometimes, other times I let it slide. I don't use derogatory terms. if I find out one is offensive to a group of people I stop using it. I don't care if it's in songs or movies. I don't like it I don't teach it I won't lower myself to it.
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Shad Bolling, 24 Oct 2008 @ 3:24pm

Re: Loud Mobile Phone Talkers Leads List Of Mobile Etiquette Annoyances
This seems to be an issue that occurs whenever new technology becomes more widely used. There's often an outcry from the original adopters of a particular technology that the new adopters are using the technology wrong. Often, the new adopters are seen as "backward" or in some other way inferior. This isn't to say that people shouldn't attempt to lower their voices in public when talking on a cell phone, or that all people who talk loudly on their cell phones are new cell phone users. However, it is interesting that this new "annoyance" is centered around the use of a relatively new (or a recently more widely available) technology.

Someday it might be the case that most people just understand that talking loudly on a cell phone is frowned upon in general (cf. public spitting or smoking); however, talking loudly on a cell phone might become more widely accepted as social norms change.

It would be interesting to discover whether there are any other defining characteristics shared by loud cell phone talkers -- such as age, socioeconomic background, self-esteem, cultural / regional membership, etc. However, even that type of information would not "prove" anything, as group behaviors are regularly adopted or discarded based on interaction with other groups, and the percieved attractiveness of those groups.
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GS, 24 Oct 2008 @ 4:00pm

Re: No sidetone on mobiles
I agree 100%. I'm a rare cell phone user and I always find myself talking way louder on the cell phone than I do on a regular phone or in real life. Yeesh. These things have been around for a little while now, can't someone get the audio bit straight? I guess text messaging features and games matters more these days.
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BTR1701, 24 Oct 2008 @ 5:32pm

Re: Re: Emergency
> Too bad it's unlikely to happen. Blocking the signals isn't allowed
> because in case of an emergency, you may need to use the phone.

Then the theater should be able to post a sign at the entrance/box office alerting customers that cell phone jammers will be used inside and if they have an emergency, a landline in the lobby will be available for use. Otherwise, they can feel free to patronize some other theater.

There's no (legitimate) reason why a private property owner shouldn't be allowed to use a jammer on his/her own property. If people refuse to be polite voluntarily, this solves the problem.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2008 @ 7:26pm

Re: Re: Re: Emergency
Actually, there is a legitimate reason that a private theater owner cannot use a jammer in the US. The FCC has sold a license to the cell phone carriers for exclusive rights to broadcast on the frequencies they have licensed. Anyone broadcasting on those frequencies for any purpose other than what the licensee intends would therefore be violating federal law (and a jammer would do just that). It would, however, be completely legal for a movie theater owner to build a Faraday Cage around the theater effectively blocking the signals, without having to broadcast a jamming signal.
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Clueby4, 24 Oct 2008 @ 7:45pm

Manners, have been outsourced....
Sidetone is the real cause of loud takers as well the often heard "Are you still there?" queries. Which is morbidly funny that the feebs at Verizon use this designed limitation as an ad campaign.

BTW, STFU up about "emergency calls" or "on call" to rationalize that the, completely legal, passive blocking of wireless signals is wrong/illegal. The risk of being unreachable is not society's problem it's yours, if you one of these fantasy people that can't be unreachable then you are the EXCEPTION and others should have to be subject to your made-up restrictions. I mean seriously if these phantom "on call" people really existed they would be able to do a lot of things, not all of which involve getting a signal, I mean I guess they can never for example tie one on, or would have to leave their wife in a delivery room because a server is down. It's laughable and pathetic
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Sal, 24 Oct 2008 @ 8:21pm

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
I was born in 1991 and can not imagine being that annoying on a cell phone, but then again i'm 17 and reading techdirt.
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crystalattice (profile), 24 Oct 2008 @ 8:47pm

Re: Re: No sidetone on mobiles
I'm sure I probably talk louder on the cell phone than a normal phone. However, I also use my other hand (when free) to cover up my mouth so as to minimize how loud I am.

I wish more people would do that.
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bowerbird, 24 Oct 2008 @ 9:54pm

i'm one of those people who tell loud talkers they're being too loud.

and i used to have to do it _quite_ often. but lately, not so much...

people are really getting much better about keeping a soft volume.

-bowerbird
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Lonnie E. Holder, 26 Oct 2008 @ 2:46pm

Re: Yammering Neighbor
Seems like a great application for all those infinite goods you have saved. Be sure to crank it dude!
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Lonnie E. Holder, 26 Oct 2008 @ 2:50pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Emergency
It is surprising how effective Faraday cages can be. Since many buildings are built with steel studs, the beginning exists.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Oct 2008 @ 4:37pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette
hate to break it to you, but saying anyone born before 1978 has manners (basic or otherwise) is a sweeping generalization. i'll leave the beating people to show them common manners alone.

argumentation 101: anyone who begins a sentence with "the simple fact is..." probably isn't going to produce any.
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nasch, 27 Oct 2008 @ 9:43am

Re: Also forgot to mention...
Get off my lawn, pesky kids!!
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nasch, 27 Oct 2008 @ 9:50am

Re: Manners, have been outsourced....
Fantasy? Phantom? You know there are people working outside IT right? And a few of them sometimes MUST be reachable? In extreme cases whether the pager works can literally be a matter of life and death. And yes these people cannot get drunk while on call or they get fired or worse. Personally my wife often has to leave to go TO the delivery room, but it was never the reverse.

I would have no problem with Faraday cages enclosing movie theaters as long as there are prominent signs to that effect. If I need to be reachable I just won't go to a movie, or I'll go to a different theater that doesn't do that. Of course then that theater would be chock full of people who want to talk on the cell phone while in a theater... so scratch that.
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another mike, 27 Oct 2008 @ 5:22pm

Re: Re:
As I understand it, only jamming is illegal. You're not allowed to drown out their device with your own transmitter. There's nothing said against turning each screening room into a faraday cage. You're not swamping the spectrum, it just doesn't come through the walls. We're kinda rural so I never get good signal inside structures anyways, with or without grounded metal mesh. IANAL, YMMV, OMGWTFBBQ.
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Loud Mobile Phone Talkers Leads List Of Mobile Etiquette Annoyances

from the just-quiet-down dept

Reader Comments

No sidetone on mobiles

Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Loud Cellphone Talkers

Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re:

Re:

Maybe not every one of 'em is a jerk...

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Loud Mobile Phone Talkers Leads List Of Mobile Etiquette Annoyances

Re: No sidetone on mobiles

Re: Re: Emergency

Re: Re: Re: Emergency

Manners, have been outsourced....

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: No sidetone on mobiles

Re: Yammering Neighbor

Re: Re: Re: Re: Emergency

Re: Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Also forgot to mention...

Re: Manners, have been outsourced....

Re: Re:

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Loud Mobile Phone Talkers Leads List Of Mobile Etiquette Annoyances

from the just-quiet-down dept

Reader Comments

No sidetone on mobiles

Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Loud Cellphone Talkers

Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re:

Re:

Maybe not every one of 'em is a jerk...

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Loud Mobile Phone Talkers Leads List Of Mobile Etiquette Annoyances

Re: No sidetone on mobiles

Re: Re: Emergency

Re: Re: Re: Emergency

Manners, have been outsourced....

Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Re: No sidetone on mobiles

Re: Yammering Neighbor

Re: Re: Re: Re: Emergency

Re: Re: Re: Re: Lack of Cell Phone Etiquette is not any different than the lack of regular etiquette

Re: Also forgot to mention...

Re: Manners, have been outsourced....

Re: Re:

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