# Hey Dickface . . . nice Bluetooth earpiece **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541 "2006-12-01T22:54:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sherwin\_Nuland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sherwin\_Nuland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherwin_Nuland)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/41 "2006-12-02T20:52:21Z")
If the phone was implanted, how could I know that the person had the newest model and not the one that came out six months ago? I like being able to tell who has the best technology and who is not worth my time. Its like if you go over to someone’s house and they have a regular DVD player. You know it is time to excuss yourself and never talk to that person until they get a Blu-Ray. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/42 "2006-12-02T21:14:04Z")
Blast you, attentive mods. I was just setting up a Pit thread for him. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/43 "2006-12-02T21:20:15Z")
[QUOTE=Roboto] I see you there with your Robocop-ish hearing aid . . . that flashing blue light sure does make you look important. [/QUOTE] Hey, lighten up. It’s not their fault. The Borg tried to assimilate them, but ran out of parts before they could finish the job. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/44 "2006-12-02T21:37:29Z")
[QUOTE=CanvasShoes] Slight hijack… How is talking handsfree on the phone any different than being in a conversation with your passenger(s), [/quote] Fellow passengers are usually aware of unusual or hazardous driving conditions and generally understand how they might act as distractions. Someone on the phone is not going to be cognizant of this and will treat the conversation differently. > [@](#): > > or listening to an amusing or interesting radio program? Amusing radio programs are not interactive. [But don’t just take my word for it:](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051209113320.htm) > [@](#): > > Lien said the study can be applied to the real world, especially to drivers who talk on cell phones. On the surface, she said, it appears that drivers are trying to accomplish just two tasks – driving and conversing. But each task is complicated and multi-faceted, greatly increasing the “cost” of switching. The result: inattention and slow reaction times. > > “A lot of people think talking on the cell phone while driving is natural, but each time someone asks a question or changes the subject, it’s like taking on a new task,” Lien said. "It requires a certain amount of thought and preparation. It’s actually quite different than listening to the radio, where you don’t need to respond. > > “And **it’s also different from talking to a passenger in the vehicle** ,” she added. “In most cases, a passenger can observe when there is a dangerous traffic situation and keep quiet. But someone calling you on a cell phone won’t have a clue.” > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Millions of drivers manage to do those things without being a menace and **they pose the same risks of distraction to the driver** (however large or small those risks might actually be). Oh really–the same risks? I’m going to need a cite. > [@](#): > > With that type of logic, it seems that some people think drivers should sit motionless, stare straight ahead, no radio, no comments from or to passengers allowed, no looking at anything but the road and vehicles in front and in the mirrors and only complete and utter silence and dedication to the cause of driving Reeeaaally nice straw man. Nobody is asserting any such thing. :rolleyes: But some activities are proven to be more inherently dangerous than others. Sure, someone could allow themselves to be distracted by music or eating and cause an accident. But cell phones (not just “talking”) are still in another category.[More](http://www.engadget.com/2005/07/12/new-study-says-headsets-dont-make-cellphone-driving-safer/) [Cites](http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/cellphones/) [to](http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/06/29/hscout533489.html) [peruse](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2006-08-13-cell-car_x.htm): > [@](#): > > Motorists who use cell phones while driving are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves, according to a study of drivers in Perth, Australia, conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The results, published in July, 2005, suggest that **banning hand-held phone use won’t necessarily improve safety if drivers simply switch to hand-free phones. The study found that injury crash risk didn’t vary with type of phone.** > > Many studies have shown that using hand-held cell phones while driving can constitute a hazardous distraction. However, the theory that hands-free sets are safer has been challenged by the findings of several studies. A study from researchers at the University of Utah, published in the summer 2006 issue of Human Factors, the quarterly journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, concludes that talking on a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk, even if the phone is a hands-free model. An earlier study by researchers at the university found that motorists who talked on hands-free cell phones were 18 percent slower in braking and took 17 percent longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked. . > [@](#): > > A new Australian study has confirmed what many anecdotal reports have said for years: **driving when talking on a cellphone is dangerous, even if you’re using a headset.** The study — the first to cross-reference actual crash data with call logs — found that “there is no safety advantage associated with switching to the types of hands-free devices that are commonly in use.” The results are likely to add fuel to the ongoing debate about banning cellphone usage by drivers; “[legislators are] most convinced by the tombstone count,” one expert told The New York Times." Given the number of drivers we still see using handheld phones in states where it’s already illegal to do so, we somehow don’t think changing the law will make much of a difference > [@](#): > > “We found an increased accident rate when people were conversing on the cell phone,” Drews said. Drivers on cell phones were 5.36 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers, the researchers found. The phone users fared even worse than the inebriated, the Utah team found… > > “We have seen again and again that there is no difference between hands-free and hand-held devices,” Drews said. “The problem is the conversation,” he added… > > Tyson pointed out that talking on the phone **is very different than talking to the person in the passenger seat.** “If you are engaged in a conversation with a passenger, the passenger has some situational awareness, whereas a person on the phone has no idea what you are dealing with on the road,” he said. > [@](#): > > Talking on a cellphone while driving sharply reduces brain activity needed to keep track of road conditions and leads drivers to gaze at things without their brains actually seeing them, according to a psychologist at the University of Utah. > Hands-free phones pose the same safety hazards as handheld phones, says psychologist David Strayer, who presented his findings Thursday at the American Psychological Association meeting in New Orleans. His findings were based on lab studies using driving machines with about 500 adults. Among the key findings: > > • **Conversations with passengers** reduce a driver’s attention, but they **aren’t as unsafe as talking on a phone**. “Passengers tend to help the driver if they see something hazardous. They might point it out or at least stop talking,” Strayer says. > > • Studies show that talking on a cellphone cuts a driver’s brain activity in half in a key area of the brain needed for noticing traffic conditions. > > • Eye-tracking studies show that when drivers eyeball objects on a road, they’re much less likely to recall seeing something if they’re on the phone at the same time. “They’re as blind to dumpsters along the road as to a child running across the street,” Strayer says. > > The brain has a limited capacity for attention, so whatever is siphoned off by a phone conversation is subtracted from attention for driving, he says. ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/45 "2006-12-02T22:34:00Z")
[QUOTE=CanvasShoes] I don’t have a dog in this fight, I don’t own a Bluetooth. I do have a semi-funny story about answering a guy who was only talking on his bluetooth (or Razr, isn’t that another brand that has the earpiece thingie?). [/QUOTE] Just a little clarification. Bluetooth is a wireless technology. A Motorola RAZR is a phone that has Bluetooth capability. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/46 "2006-12-02T23:20:19Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Sometimes I’m behind people at the checkout who are blathering away on their phone (sometimes having what really should be private discussions) and ignoring the human being standing behind the counter. [/QUOTE] I’ve invented a device for use in this exact situation. It consists of an 18" hickory wood handle, with a metal head on it, one side ending in a flat knob, and the other ending in a rounded knob. I’ve heard some people say it reminds them of a ball peen hammer. I call it the “Commerce Accelerator”. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/47 "2006-12-03T04:59:47Z")
[QUOTE=OttoDaFe] Or [The President’s Analyst](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062153/). [/QUOTE] Or _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/48 "2006-12-03T05:58:21Z")
My boss just got one of these infernal things, and he wears it almost all the time around the office. (In his defense, he gets several dozen phone calls every day.) The problem is that I never know if he’s on the phone or not. Sometimes I’ll start talking to him only to realize he’s mid-conversation with somebody. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/49 "2006-12-03T06:50:26Z")
I skip over people in line if they come to the register talking on the phone. I’ll help the next person. It’s fucking rude. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/50 "2006-12-03T07:43:02Z")
I just have to ask all the people who say they like the things so they can have both hands on the wheel: why do you need to talk to anyone while you drive. Are you in contact with the control tower? Are you still unsure how to drive and need to call tech support? The only time I need to talk on the phone and drive is when I get lost (maybe once a year). ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/51 "2006-12-03T08:24:41Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] I just have to ask all the people who say they like the things so they can have both hands on the wheel: why do you need to talk to anyone while you drive. [/QUOTE] Also applies to my post. I am self employed and I answer my own phones. It is way easier to talk on bluetooth than try to juggle a phone while you drive. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/52 "2006-12-03T08:49:07Z")
My anger/annoyance is probably a bit out of proportion to the crime, but I do really hate the bluetooth and cellphone thing. REALLY hate them. And no, you do NOT need to talk on the phone while you are driving a car. That is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/53 "2006-12-03T09:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=JillGat] And no, you do NOT need to talk on the phone while you are driving a car. That is ridiculous. [/QUOTE] Oh? And why not? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/54 "2006-12-03T10:02:20Z")
Can I make one request that I hope we can all agree on? Please take it off when going class. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/55 "2006-12-03T10:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] Oh? And why not? [/QUOTE] uh, there’s evidence it makes you more likely to crash and kill people (look upthread)? ---
**Author:** ![handmelder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4af34b/32.png) [@handmelder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handmelder)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/56 "2006-12-03T10:19:54Z")
I’m Self-employed and I use a Cel phone as my one and only phone.I also have a slight hearing loss so my bluetooth comes in really handy as the regular handset is worthless. And I’m really grateful I don’t have to contend with some snarled piece if wire with a slug of plastic on the end of it to forever adjust so I can hear the client speaking. I really don’t understand why bluetooth found it necessarary to put the freakin’ blue light in the thing, although I suspect it’s for a better headshot! I hate having an electronic tether but I find the greatest assault on a persons space is to have to hear your asinine ringtone of of the moments fleeting cool jingle. I NEVER have an audible ringer on my phone,if i’m receiving an incoming call I hear a tone from my bluetooth and I answer when convenient or If it’s important they leave a message, If not I call back and politely introduce myself and ask if I may help them. the earpiece is comfortable and I never have to hunt for it,I don’t suffer from such low self-esteem that a gadget can elevate me above the great unwashed, I take care of that by doing esteemable acts and practicing some basic mental hygene ( like not telling myself somebody’s better than I am because they use a tool I don’t have) please , try to at least go rent a life if you can’t build one for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/57 "2006-12-03T10:32:19Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Can I make one request that I hope we can all agree on? Please take it off when going class. [/QUOTE] Are you out of your mind?!? Who the hell are you to dictate to the rest of us where you can and cannot wear the thing? Those people wearing it “need” it just as much as the other people that NEED it! (Definitions may vary and will be posted once we figure out the mileage attained from any given model.) Sorry, had to do it. 🙂 For some people it’s a great convenience (evidenced in this thread) with practical uses, for others it’s a fashion statement equal to a nose or eyebrow ring. One is tolerable (opinion, whatever), one is just annoying. **Lissa** , I am disappointed in you. I thought you were more open-minded than this. How can you possibly segregate Bluetooth users from your exclusionary little world? They are people, too! Stop spreading the hate and embrace the diversity of self-important douchebags. Hell, you haven’t banned me, right?\* \*Um, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/58 "2006-12-03T11:03:46Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] uh, there’s evidence it makes you more likely to crash and kill people (look upthread)? [/QUOTE] So does drinking even one alcoholic drink and driving, but that’s not illegal for most people. I can think of many reasons why I might want to make a phone call in the car, FWIW. Most of them should be fairly self evident to anyone with a cellphone and/or a driver’s licence. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/59 "2006-12-03T12:12:45Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] So does drinking even one alcoholic drink and driving, but that’s not illegal for most people. I can think of many reasons why I might want to make a phone call in the car, FWIW. Most of them should be fairly self evident to anyone with a cellphone and/or a driver’s licence. [/QUOTE] I didn’t say anything about making it illegal. Something doesn’t have to be illegal to be a bad idea (and many good ideas are illegal for that matter). I have a driver’s license and a cell phone and other than being lost and calling for directions(which I already mentioned), I don’t know why you need to talk and drive. In fact I remember driving before cell phones and it seemed to be work out just fine. If someone is lost so often that they need constant verbal directions to get from A to B maybe they shouldn’t be driving. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541/60 "2006-12-03T14:31:03Z")
How is talking on a cell phone with a hands free unit any worse than having a conversation with your passenger? I never see people pitting those that talk to their passenger while driving. What a double standard. I think people that bitch about what others do because they don’t ever do it, or can’t understand why others would is ridiculous and inconsiderate to boot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-dickface-nice-bluetooth-earpiece/382541.md?page=4)