# I hate the stupid blue flashy thing. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114 "2007-02-06T18:53:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114/21 "2007-02-07T14:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] [The solution to the stupid blue flashy thing.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaffer_tape) [/QUOTE] I got really close to slapping a chunk of black electrical tape on the thing, but didn’t. I’m uncomfortable altering the functionality of equipment made by someone else, particularly when it would involve applying adhesive to something. I mean, well heck, I might want to use the thing someday, and I might think of a practical use for the flashy light, and I can’t return it, and I probably couldn’t get the piece of tape on there perfectly straight anyway. Hell, the thing is in my jacket pocket because it goes with the phone, and even if I never use it it has to be within thirty feet of the phone because _it goes with the phone_. Such are the thought processes of a man with a master’s degree in engineering and a mild case of OCD. > [@arseNal](#): > > Also, the fact that the sync cable plugs into the same slot as the power cable may mean that the phone is capable of being USB-charged by your computer. I don’t think this is the case, because the USB cable has a terminal in the middle of it that I have to plug the charger cable into when I sync the phone and computer. The whole synchronizing procedure is a huge pain in the ass, which pretty much guarantees that the playlists I have in there now are set in stone for all time. > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > It doesn’t? _turns on speaker phone on my pink Razr_ THEY TOLD ME IT DIDN’T HAVE A SPEAKER. Asshats. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114/22 "2007-02-07T14:41:01Z")
[QUOTE=Exgineer] I got really close to slapping a chunk of black electrical tape on the thing, but didn’t. I’m uncomfortable altering the functionality of equipment made by someone else, particularly when it would involve applying adhesive to something. I mean, well heck, I might want to use the thing someday, and I might think of a practical use for the flashy light, and I can’t return it, and I probably couldn’t get the piece of tape on there perfectly straight anyway. Hell, the thing is in my jacket pocket because it goes with the phone, and even if I never use it it has to be within thirty feet of the phone because _it goes with the phone_. Such are the thought processes of a man with a master’s degree in engineering and a mild case of OCD. [/QUOTE] Yes, but gaffer’s tape (as opposed to electrical tape) won’t leave a residue or damage the plastic, even if it’s been on there for years. Yet it sticks so well. Some gaffer made a deal with Satan to develop it, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114/23 "2007-02-07T16:35:07Z")
[QUOTE=Tastes of Chocolate] I’ve got a bluetooth headset for my phone, and I’m convinced it’s designed for mutants. When I wear it, the speaker sits so far back, it is resting against the back of my ear, no where close to the actual canal. In order to fit, my ear would have to be 3/4 of an inch longer, front to back, or I couldn’t have any kind of ear structure above the ear canal. Who is this thing designed for? And I must be special. While my phone blinks blue, the earpiece blinks green. Maybe I can use it to confuse traffic on the local road? Stop/go/stop/go… [/QUOTE] I had one like that too- drove me nuts. The only way I could hear anyone is if I spun the thing so that the speaker was in my ear canal, but that meant the other end of the earpiece was pointed up toward my forehead. I looked like even more of a douchebag that I already did just by virtue of having the earpiece in in the first place, plus everyone complained that my voice was muffled. I could adjust the part that went behind my ear so that the speaker was in my ear canal and the mic was pointing down at my mouth, but then it was just precariously balanced on the side of my head, and if I turned my head, it would fall off. I returned it, and now I go old school- I hold the damn phone to my ear with my hand, of all things. Rassin’-frassin’ technology. ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114/24 "2007-02-07T16:58:59Z")
> [@](#): > > I rejected the Razr out of hand because it doesn’t have a speaker. I know this has been addressed already. Still, I can’t believe a cell phone sales person would tell you that. A little common sense is needed here, people. How do you hear it ring if it doesn’t have a speaker? Why would it have ring tones? ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114/25 "2007-02-07T17:38:27Z")
[QUOTE=RogueRacer] How do you hear it ring if it doesn’t have a speaker? [/QUOTE] What do you think the vibrate function is for? (The vibration on my phone is almost louder than my actual ringtone) ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114/26 "2007-02-07T20:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=RogueRacer] How do you hear it ring if it doesn’t have a speaker? Why would it have ring tones? [/QUOTE] I think we need to clarify our terms. My old phone had a speaker in the same sense my landline does: a speaker and a microphone at either end of the handset. When the “speakerphone” setting was turned on it just cranked up the output on the little speaker (and the gain on the microphone) really high. That’s how it rang too, and it wasn’t what I’d call loud. In fact, when it was in my jacket pocket I couldn’t hear it. My new one has external speakers and I have no trouble hearing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-stupid-blue-flashy-thing/391114.md?page=1)