Can you hear me now?

[beefeater]

On the stock channel CNBC, they are conducting a poll on whether or not the FAA should allow the use of cell phones on flights. Early results are overwhelmingly opposed.

 

I realize that cell phones can serve an important function and have made life easier but the idea of overhearing someone else's coversation, whether it be in a plane, train, store, etc., is just too annoying.

 

How would you have voted in this poll and why?

[Lankypeters]

>On the stock channel CNBC, they are conducting a poll on

>whether or not the FAA should allow the use of cell phones on

>flights.

>

>How would you have voted in this poll and why?

 

 

I would vote against, strongly. But don't expect a negative poll response to change airline policy. Business travelers want to use cellphones aloft, and business travelers keep the airlines going. So do the math. Terrible idea.

 

Northwest and United are starting to charge an extra fee for bulkhead, exit row and aisle seats. What's next, pay toilets?

>

>

[JT Brooklyn]

Lanky is right. I do have to go along with The Business People Fact, They are a Big Part of the Airline Biz!

 

What bother's me about Cell Conversations, is the Over Whelming "Loud" Mouthed People who use them!

 

We all know most are on the Cell, because they feel, to justify the Exspense of having one, they have to talk Incessantly about Nothing! So they don't get screwed out of their "Minute Plan" at the end of the Month!

 

But I guess it's like a 1 Hour=60 min Usage Rate..With The "Working Guy's"... Gotta Watch those Minutes! .. LOL :7

[Cooper]

"On the stock channel CNBC, they are conducting a poll on

whether or not the FAA should allow the use of cell phones on

flights. Early results are overwhelmingly opposed."

 

Interesting that on CNBC, probably watched by many businessmen who travel, that most are "overwhelmingly opposed". I suppose they too like to snooze for a bit or just don't want to listen to LOUD talking passengers.

 

Also, what about that warning from the stewardess to "please turn off your cell phones and other electronic devices". I thought it was because of possible interference with onboard equipment. Is that now not true?

[+ deej]

>Also, what about that warning from the stewardess to "please

>turn off your cell phones and other electronic devices". I

>thought it was because of possible interference with onboard

>equipment. Is that now not true?

 

It never was true. It's one of those dirty little secrets. Airline personnel believe it to be true because that's the way the spiel was delivered to them.

 

The real reason the CELL PHONE COMPANIES don't want you using cell phones on a plane is because planes move between cell towers too fast for the billing systems to accurately bill the calls. The proposed change would put technology on each plane (basically a localized cell tower) that would eliminate the billing difficulty.

 

Follow the money. :o

 

Having said that, I'll still turn off my cell phone for a flight. Don't blame the damn crash on me!

[jawjateck]

As a true son of the south, a real Jawjaboy, I am a very peaceable, easy-going guy in most situations, but if the FAA allowed cell phone use in flight, I would probably give in to my dark side. I'm sure the most obnoxious person would sit next to me, have his phone affixed to his ear during the entire flight, and bitch constantly about the unfairness of everything in the world. His spouse, his lover, his family, his job, his boss, his clients, his customers, and on and on.....I'm sure I would do or say something that would have me in trouble with the Feds. They would be waiting at the gate to take me into custody.

[curious2000]

UGH, that would not be a good thing to me. Imagine the same experience that currently exists while endlessly waiting to board the plane in the gate at the airport, with almost everyone blabbering away with their boring,idle,chitchat CONTINUEING during the entire flight! It's bad enough to hear it while waiting and preboarding! It's always a nice respite, to finally get your seat, without anyone sitting next to you ,if you are lucky, then relaxing and reading or just zoning out. Imagine if that was not possible ever again, and you are surrounded by endless conversations by other passengers with family,friends, or business meeting chatter on their cell phones! what about the passengers that want to sleep? Manners are already bad enough on an airplane, can you imagine the bickering and stress on the passengers and crew with those that want to talk the entire time on their phones? It will be horrible! Maybe they could set a limit and say you could use them 15 to 30minutes after take off, then turn them off fot the duration of the flight, then allow them 15 minutes befor landing. Maybe on 747s they could have a cell phone lounge area where you could walk into a section to make a call if it was an emergency...it creates a whole host of problems and new rules making airline travel an even more harrowing experience!

[hed4str8]

Amtrak already has 'quiet cars' on the Acelas traveling the NE corridor, and they're wildly popular. Maybe airlines will start offering 'quiet flights'--and if they do, I hope the ban will extend to babies, too.

 

As grim a prospect as inflight use of cellphones is, a much greater scandal--and a true danger to life and limb--is the continued legality of automobile drivers using them. The hands-free ploy is total bullshit. No matter what the industry claims, the crucial distraction is psychological, and it's very real. Several reputable studies have already shown that talking on the phone while driving is as great an impairment as intoxication (and perhaps worse), but since legislators are just as keen to keep on yakking as other idiots, it doesn't seem likely that driver-use will be banned outright anytime soon. I expect it will take something like the cellphone equivalent of MADD to bring people to their senses on this issue.

[+ ArVaGuy]

Here's one business traveler totally opposed to the idea of cell phones on airplanes. For me the flight is one of the few times when I cannot be reached by my office. Everything just stops and I am able to catch up on some much needed rest.

 

Within half an hour of take off I am usually sound asleep for at least half the flight. The thought of having some bozo chattering away on the phone is not something I look forward to experiencing.

 

No doubt the airlines have cut a deal with the cellular companies to divide the revenue from the calls in some form or fashion. It will likely cost a premium to place such calls and the airlnes need additional sources of revenue to stay aloft. In the end the FAA will do a song and dance pretending to take public comment on the issue and then give full approval to idea as reqested by the airlines.

[+ deej]

You can add me to the list of those opposed. I refused to carry a pager or cell phone for many years arguing that I'm Not That Important! If they really want that level of contact, they need to up the salary.

 

I was flying to a conference with a co-worker once, both of us mostly thinking about our presentations. In the departure lounge, a guy was LOUDLY delivering tech support to some hapless end-user in his office. Mindy and I rolled our eyes at one-another until it became obvious that he was giving wrong instructions.

 

At that point, she started yelling out the user responses to what he was saying to do, and I started yelling out what the user SHOULD be doing.

 

It actually took him several minutes to pick up on what we were doing but he got off the phone immediately, glared at us, and moved to the other side of the terminal. There, he resumed his support call. We could STILL hear him!

 

I do NOT want those people on a closed plane.

[Boston Guy]

>>Also, what about that warning from the stewardess to

>"please

>>turn off your cell phones and other electronic devices". I

>>thought it was because of possible interference with onboard

>>equipment. Is that now not true?

>

>It never was true. It's one of those dirty little secrets.

>Airline personnel believe it to be true because that's the way

>the spiel was delivered to them.

>

>The real reason the CELL PHONE COMPANIES don't want you using

>cell phones on a plane is because planes move between cell

>towers too fast for the billing systems to accurately bill the

>calls. The proposed change would put technology on each plane

>(basically a localized cell tower) that would eliminate the

>billing difficulty.

>

 

Bingo. Sort of. Actually, the problem wasn't so much the billing but the fact that a cell phone in the air would be in range of so many cell towers all at once. In some locations, the cell phone could easily be in range of dozens of towers simultaneously. It used to drive the cell networks nuts.

 

A pilot once told me that the only way a cell phone could hurt an airplane was if you hit the pilot over the head with it.

 

>Follow the money. :o

>

>Having said that, I'll still turn off my cell phone for a

>flight. Don't blame the damn crash on me!

 

LOL... I usually do but often forget. If I leave it in dual mode, it switches into Analog in mid-flight and tends to drain the batter.

 

BG

[+ deej]

Yeah, and the next battle will be WiFi. I've seen several different proposals to put hotspots in the air.

 

Can't you imagine the flight? Between the cell phone talkers and the PDA's chiming the "new mail" sound (not to mention the folks that can't read mail without talking to the screen) it's just gonna be pandemonium in the air.

 

I think I'll be doing a lot more driving.

[VaHawk]

>I refused to carry a pager or cell phone for many years arguing that I'm Not That Important! If they really want that level of contact, they need to up the salary.

 

So, I guess you sing a "different" tune now???? Outsourcing is defininely a bitch, huh?

>

>It actually took him several minutes to pick up on what we

>were doing but he got off the phone immediately, glared at us,

>and moved to the other side of the terminal. There, he resumed

>his support call. We could STILL hear him!

 

Sounds like the proper response from him to you and her! WTF, you were privy to only ONE side of the conversation, so how the hell do you and she, know that he was giving the wrong responses?? If I had been him and had to listen to the two of yours' obnoxious out-loud comments that were interfering with my business responsibilites, then I probably would have walked over to the two of you, broke the cell phone in half, and shoved one of each half up your respective assholes.

>

>I do NOT want those people on a closed plane.

 

They probably do NOT want you either???

>

[Justice]

Bad idea! I'm tired of hearing the most intimate details of people's lives.

 

(I like Amtrak for that reason. They have "quiet cars" (usually one per train) where cell phone use is prohibited.)

 

Just my $0.02.

 

Justice

[+ deej]

>>I refused to carry a pager or cell phone for many years

>arguing that I'm Not That Important! If they really want that

>level of contact, they need to up the salary.

>

>So, I guess you sing a "different" tune now???? Outsourcing

>is defininely a bitch, huh?

 

No, I sing the same tune. Someone finally ponied up the price. And now that I'm carrying a cell phone he rarely calls, and is very apologetic when he does. I love my boss.

 

As far as outsourcing goes. my current employer is a poster child for failed offshoring. We're still cleaning up the mess 5 years later.

 

>>It actually took him several minutes to pick up on what we

>>were doing but he got off the phone immediately, glared at

>us,

>>and moved to the other side of the terminal. There, he

>resumed

>>his support call. We could STILL hear him!

>

>Sounds like the proper response from him to you and her! WTF,

>you were privy to only ONE side of the conversation, so how

>the hell do you and she, know that he was giving the wrong

>responses??

 

It was basic Excel functionality and he was blatantly wrong. Not a little wrong, completely in the wrong ballpark. He was, of course, echoing back to her the questions she was asking.

 

It just so happens we were on our way to make presentations at the US rollout of Office 2000. We were fairly intimate with Excel's inner foibles.

[BigK]

Terrible idea. I fly a couple of times a month. I find that the cabin noise is loud, so consider the cell phone caller straining to hear what the caller is saying and overcompensating by speaking loudly into his phone further increasing the already high noise level on planes.

[+ ArVaGuy]

>Yeah, and the next battle will be WiFi. I've seen several

>different proposals to put hotspots in the air.

>

>Can't you imagine the flight? Between the cell phone talkers

>and the PDA's chiming the "new mail" sound (not to mention the

>folks that can't read mail without talking to the screen) it's

>just gonna be pandemonium in the air.

>

>I think I'll be doing a lot more driving.

 

 

Think about the poor flight attendants having to deal with all this insanity. Flights are bad enough now with unruly passengers. Imagine some harried executive yelling on his cell phone while firing off e-mails trying to meet a deadline and the havoc that will create. Then some poor flight attendant has to tell the guy to cool it because other passengers are complaining. It will not be pretty that's for sure.

[Guest Tristan]

Actually, driver use (except in an emergency) is banned in some places. There are a few cities in the US that have banned them, but I can't remember which ones. I'm not sure if any states have banned them, but I'm going to research that. If anyone knows, please post them. I do know that Israel has banned drivers from using them. Everyone in Israel owns a cell for security reasons. It was causing so many accidents, the government had to ban them, with the exception of an emergency, I'm sure.

 

I just love the drivers who pull up right behind you with a cell in one hand and coffee or a donut in the other, and aren't even looking at the road in front of them. Or the women with a cell in one hand while they're putting on lipstick or whatever with the other. How do these people drive - with their feet on the steering wheel?

[Paul Revere]

I'm with those agaisnt cell phones on flights. I like being out of touch for a couple of hours. And I like to read. What ever happened to books. A flight is a great time to do uninterupted reading. And now with an iPod, I can have my own tunes in the background. Perfect.

 

I have used the Quiet Cars on the Acela train, and is one of the most relaxing and comfortable ways to travel that there is.

 

I know that I am very old-fashioned, but can't we go back to reading books?