Welcome or not, cell phones set for subway (Reuters) Updated: 2006-02-06 09:56
Cell Phone Manners
In seeking public comment last year, the Federal Communications Commission,
which deals with if it's technically feasible to operate phones on planes, heard
from thousands of people, many of whom focused on passenger "air rage."
"Can you imagine 13 hours to Beijing next to someone on a cell phone?" asked
Fern Lowenfels, a Manhattanite walking in the city's Upper West Side.
According to Katz, research shows cell phones become annoying because the
human brain is uncomfortable listening to just one half of a conversation.
"Without that other part of the conversation, our brain constantly thinks we're
being tickled to be involved," he said.
Michael Malice, author of the book "Overheard in New York," said bad cell
phone behavior gives him good material.
"It's just tacky and gauche. That's all there is to it," he said. "But most
people are tacky and gauche."
The Straphangers Campaign, which represents the interests of city subway
riders, is "firmly and resolutely ambivalent," said Gene Russianoff, attorney
for the group.
"There's people who want to be permanently wired, and then there's a big
contingent that ironically view the one private moment they have during their
busy day is on the subways."
Cell phones have gotten a bad reputation -- from being used as detonators in
high-profile assassinations to the devices that spread mass insanity in Stephen
King's newest horror tale "Cell: A Novel." But, Malice noted, phones are not to
blame.
"After September 11, none of us are really in a position to criticize cell
phones entirely," he said. "So many people were able to call their families and
talk to them one last time.
"If you were trapped and your family was freaking out and you were able to
call them, a lot of minds would be put at ease," he said.
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