Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: Re: cellphones on planes
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:28:47 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: "Christopher F. Herot" <cherot () herot com> Date: March 25, 2007 3:21:32 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: RE: [IP] Re: Re: cellphones on planes Andrew Monk published a paper on this phenomenon.Personally, I am much more concerned about being run over by a distracted driver while I am on my way to the airport than I am about not being able to eavesdrop on the conversation of my seatmate.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01449290310001638496 ABSTRACTSixty four members of the public were exposed to the same staged conversation either while waiting in a bus station or travelling on a train. Half of the conversations were by mobile phone, so that only one end of the conversation was heard, and half were co present face- to-face conversations. The volume of the conversations was controlled at one of two levels: the actors' usual speech level and exaggeratedly loud. Following exposure to the conversation participants were approached and asked to give verbal ratings on six scales. Analysis of variance showed that mobile phone conversations were significantly more noticeable and annoying than face-to-face conversations at the same volume when the content of the conversation is controlled. Indeed this effect of medium was as large as the effect of loudness. Various explanations of this effect are explored, with their practical implications.
-----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 2:59 PM To: ip () v2 listbox com Subject: [IP] Re: Re: cellphones on planes Begin forwarded message: From: George Dyson <gdyson () gmail com> Date: March 25, 2007 1:37:21 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: Re: [IP] Re: cellphones on planes No one would seek to ban *conversations* on planes, trains, or in restaurants. What makes other people's cell phone conversations so objectionable is that you only hear *one* side of the conversation. Human beings are highly adapted--from caves to cocktail parties--to automatically filter out conversations that we are not part of. But when you hear only one side of a conversation, it immediately distracts your attention; you are constantly forced to keep parsing the words and figure out "Is that person talking to me?" That's what makes them so irritating. If not banned altogether, cellphones should only be allowed in speaker phone mode. Of course, this would also remind users that their conversations are not as private as it seems when you are holding the phone up to your own ear alone. G ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/@now Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/@now Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- cellphones on planes David Farber (Mar 25)
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- cellphones on planes David Farber (Mar 25)
- Re: cellphones on planes David Farber (Mar 25)
- Re: cellphones on planes David Farber (Mar 25)
- Re: Re: cellphones on planes David Farber (Mar 25)
- Re: Re: cellphones on planes David Farber (Mar 25)