[darkwater]

I think the joke is still good, because it's still a bad manner to have your phone ringing and buzzing in many situations (a concert, at the opera etc). I mean, it's actually an impressive comic, it imagines a possible future tech and correctly identifies some real misuses, 70-80 years before it became reality.

[danudey]

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]

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

[mrexroad]

To which the Vulcan nerve pinch may still be the solution.

[dredmorbius]

For todays utes:

<https://yewtu.be/watch?v=prH9RyFX4SM>

[lrvick]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[lrvick]

If I agreed to spend time with someone I absolutely owe them my attention and respect. To pull out a phone in front of them is to disconnect from being present with them. Everyone says they are still listening when a phone or a laptop is in front of them and they are liars. Some notification will pop up and suck them away and it is 5 minutes before the trance snaps. Rather than passively aggressively insult someone I should just admit to myself I am out of social energy for this situation and leave to be alone.

I have had to resort to offering to buy dinner if people turn their phones off because they are so addicted to being constantly connected to every chat, meme, tiktok dance, and facebook political rant.

All the time I see entire friend groups or families sitting around tables at restaurants all on their phones ignoring each other. It is gross.

I am fine always being the person at the table pushing for the exact opposite of that, and maybe we can all tolerate the middle ground.

[maxbond]

"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."

- Frederick Pohl

I've heard this misquoted as, "a good sci-fi predicts the automobile but a great one predicts traffic jams and parking lots," which I also appreciate.

[temporallobe]

I was just in an awkward social situation the other day where someone left their phone on a table at a party and walked away to do something. Some guy was telling an interesting story and we were all trying to politely listen, but suddenly that phone started ringing at full volume. Everyone just kind of ignored it at first but it kept ringing. I was annoyed and wanted to reach over and mute/end the call, but, you don’t touch other people’s phones in polite society. Eventually it stopped ringing. Amazingly, everyone just acted like it wasn’t there. I guess we’ve all become accustomed to such things.

[1123581321]

In my circles, you would mute the disruptive call with the side button and tell them, “sorry, your phone was ringing while you were gone and I muted it.” Or just “your phone rang while you were gone.”

[wnoise]

When batteries were removable, removing them was the standard way to make unattended, ringing cell-phones stop.

[simonblack]

They may be making them with non-removable batteries, but they still have ways of turning them off.

I've discovered that the fastest way of turning them off is with a mallet.

[lrvick]

You are nicer than me. I would have powered it down instantly.

[quickthrower2]

It is great. I think they got there by extrapolating a home phone interrupting dinner table conversations, and similar. The urgency of a ringing phone dominating all else. Like a fire alarm alerting that this is the most important conversation to be had!

[account42]

Unlike the home phone, mobile phones can at least be set to vibrate so I guess there is some improvement.

[lrvick]

Most modern DECT wireless home phones can also be set to vibrate.

[account42]

I see, but is that different from a slightly more quiet ring tone? The point of setting mobile phones to vibrate is that (ideally) you can feel it (because you have it in your pocket) without others arround you being interrupted.

[lrvick]

Sure. Many home DECT phones are small enough to pocket or have belt clips. If it is on a desk or nightstand next to you the vibration will be noticed though.