3 ms·

When cell phones were in their infancy, I remember reading an article, some kind of op-ed, about how they were ruining society. His primary example, his primar

When cell phones were in their infancy, I remember reading an article, some kind of op-ed, about how they were ruining society. His primary example, his primary complaint, was a situation where he was at dinner with his wife and his own cell phone rang. A friend was calling him! On his phone, at dinner! How incredibly, unimaginably rude could someone be? To call someone while he was in a public restaurant, at dinner with his wife! Can you imagine the audacity? I remember thinking what a complete asshole this man must be. A friend called him while he was at a restaurant, the ringer went, it embarrassed him at this nice restaurant, and he went on a tear blaming everyone but himself. Meanwhile, we now have people who get on the bus blaring music from their cell phones or hanging a portable bluetooth speaker from their backpacks while walking down the street, and people miss the idea that hey, the problem isn't the technology, it's that the technology enables inconsiderate, rude people to be inconsiderate and rude in new and exciting ways, as though boom boxes didn't exist before bluetooth speakers.

PakG1 4y ago
Seems to me that the Bluetooth speaker is really just the reincarnation of the boombox.
- mrexroad 4y ago
  To which the Vulcan nerve pinch may still be the solution.
  - dredmorbius 4y ago
    For todays utes: <https://yewtu.be/watch?v=prH9RyFX4SM https://yewtu.be/watch?v=prH9RyFX4SM>
lrvick 4y ago
Meanwhile I -still- think anyone who pulls out a cell phone when spending time with other humans is an asshole. Leave it at home or turn it off. You can doom scroll later.
- account42 4y ago
  I think that's going a bit far. Having your phone with you and turned on is OK because there sometimes are emergencies that have higher priority than whatever you are doing. Sure, take steps to avoid constant unneeded interruptions but looking at the phone once in a while to see check if a notification is important is not going to kill anyone. You don't own someones attention 100% when you are spending time with them. And someone doom scrolling while "spending time" with others might not actually want to be spending time with those people. In that case the ire should be directed to those people or obligations making them spend their limited time in a way they dislike.
  - lrvick 4y ago
    If someone really deals with life or death emergencies they would likely benefit from a device made for that with multi-week battery life and very broad range, like a pager. Doctors and firefighters still use those for a reason. Short of that, it is probably not an actual emergency and real human people in front of you should have your full respect and attention with a rare exception being when you are trapped, like on an airplane. If you are not trapped then just leave. Using a phone in front of someone for any reason not relevant to the current activity or conversation is just a passive aggressive insult. Phones are like toilets. No one wants to watch you use one.
    - account42 4y ago
      Unless you are somewhere remote a charge time > 16 hours might as well be infinite as you can charge it while you sleep. And I'm not just thinking about people being on call where a dedicated device makes sense but just your normal people emergencies that might happen to someone you care about that require immediate action on your part. Sure, those are exceptional but so are many other things you might prepare for. And I'm not saying that you are not allowed to disconnect if that's what you want, but chastising others for having a phone with them and turned on is, well, inconsiderate. I also disagree that you owe anyone your attention. There are so many more situations where you are stuck being around people that are not you being literally trapped. This is even more true for kids who might not have full autonomy of where they spend their time. But even when someone wants to spend time with you that doesn't mean that they owe you their attention. Certainly not their full attention for the entire time. Let people daydream a bit and let them check their phone once in a while. Remember that not everyone is the same as you. If get that offended by that then perhaps you're the problem. > Using a phone in front of someone for any reason not relevant to the current activity or conversation is just a passive aggressive insult. And sometimes a passive agressive insult is called for. Also, I am pretty sure there are people who do want to watch you use a toilet.

PakG1 4y ago

Seems to me that the Bluetooth speaker is really just the reincarnation of the boombox.

mrexroad 4y ago
To which the Vulcan nerve pinch may still be the solution.
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  For todays utes: <https://yewtu.be/watch?v=prH9RyFX4SM https://yewtu.be/watch?v=prH9RyFX4SM>

lrvick 4y ago

Meanwhile I -still- think anyone who pulls out a cell phone when spending time with other humans is an asshole. Leave it at home or turn it off. You can doom scroll later.

account42 4y ago
I think that's going a bit far. Having your phone with you and turned on is OK because there sometimes are emergencies that have higher priority than whatever you are doing. Sure, take steps to avoid constant unneeded interruptions but looking at the phone once in a while to see check if a notification is important is not going to kill anyone. You don't own someones attention 100% when you are spending time with them. And someone doom scrolling while "spending time" with others might not actually want to be spending time with those people. In that case the ire should be directed to those people or obligations making them spend their limited time in a way they dislike.
- lrvick 4y ago
  If someone really deals with life or death emergencies they would likely benefit from a device made for that with multi-week battery life and very broad range, like a pager. Doctors and firefighters still use those for a reason. Short of that, it is probably not an actual emergency and real human people in front of you should have your full respect and attention with a rare exception being when you are trapped, like on an airplane. If you are not trapped then just leave. Using a phone in front of someone for any reason not relevant to the current activity or conversation is just a passive aggressive insult. Phones are like toilets. No one wants to watch you use one.
  - account42 4y ago
    Unless you are somewhere remote a charge time > 16 hours might as well be infinite as you can charge it while you sleep. And I'm not just thinking about people being on call where a dedicated device makes sense but just your normal people emergencies that might happen to someone you care about that require immediate action on your part. Sure, those are exceptional but so are many other things you might prepare for. And I'm not saying that you are not allowed to disconnect if that's what you want, but chastising others for having a phone with them and turned on is, well, inconsiderate. I also disagree that you owe anyone your attention. There are so many more situations where you are stuck being around people that are not you being literally trapped. This is even more true for kids who might not have full autonomy of where they spend their time. But even when someone wants to spend time with you that doesn't mean that they owe you their attention. Certainly not their full attention for the entire time. Let people daydream a bit and let them check their phone once in a while. Remember that not everyone is the same as you. If get that offended by that then perhaps you're the problem. > Using a phone in front of someone for any reason not relevant to the current activity or conversation is just a passive aggressive insult. And sometimes a passive agressive insult is called for. Also, I am pretty sure there are people who do want to watch you use a toilet.