There have been news stories about people buying and using cell phone blockers in the past week – apparently they are now small enough (the size of a cell phone, ironically) and cheap enough for ‘ordinary’ people to buy and use them. The news report I just saw claimed they had a wide enough range to keep the theater you were in free of cell phone calls.
They are also illegal. I think they mentioned a fine of up to $11 thousand.
Anyway, here’s my question: Suppose you acquired one of these blockers – would you use it? Under what circumstances? Are there circumstances you wouldn’t use it?
Nope. I have honestly never been confined in a small-enough space with loud!cell-phone people to make me feel genuinely uneasy, and I hope I never will be. Besides, what if you cause harm to someone who truly needs their cell phone for something, like a doctor on call? Or, for example, when my grandfather was dying, the nurses had my uncle’s cell phone number at hand, and my uncle kept his cell phone with him at all times. I know it would have been really painful to him to have missed a crucial phone call because of someone’s cell-phone blocker. Yes, there are jerks out there, but you don’t know who has a cell phone for something that’s a necessity and who doesn’t.
Nope, I’ve come to view them as tools for kids to have some fun. (Hey, they’re kids, usually doesn’t take much.)
I have the less than common advantage of being 6’4" and weighing in at 250#. If someone’s really obnoxious, I’ll mention to them that it may be better if they took the call in a less conspicuous area for privacy. That usually does the trick. Or the subtle look I give them, haven’t decided which is the one that does the trick. Most times, though, I put it out of mind and enjoy for a moment that the person isn’t involved in my day-to-day life.
Well, no. The reception on phones isn’t particularly fantastic to begin with, and this seems to be a passive-aggressive way of dealing with annoying cell phone users.
I would appreciate, however, if they’d put one on the bus.
It would be one thing for a theatre or a bus company to take this step, as they could post notice that they were doing it, and anyone who objected could find a different theatre or whatever. However to secrete one of these on your person and thus block reception in a public venue with everyone else none the wiser, is assholeish in the extreme.
By what I have read, the main users of these devices is said to be small hotel owners, who use them to disable cell reception and so force customers to use expensive in-room land lines. The jammers cost several hundred dollars, but in a hotel that caters to lots of business travelers, the jammers pay for themselves rather quickly. In some cases literally in a matter of a couple days.
Some time ago there was a story in the St Louis newspaper about how many airports are having problems condusting maintenance services due to cellphone useage. In the past facility managers had just budgeted the profits from vending machines and pay telephones to use for common building janitorial maintenance, but cell-phone use had caused pay-phone use to drop drastically–at Lambert Field, 95% of the pay phones from three years earlier had already been removed, and even those left were getting very low use. And you might guess that vending machine use had not risen to offset it.
They definitely are illegal to operate (at least in the US) but the catch is that owning, buying or selling one is not.
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No. Most of the time I have no problem with turning around in the theatre and telling people to shut off their phone or take it outside. Since movies around here are $8 + per seat, I usually immediately get backing from other people who wanted to say something but were too shy.
Last week I was “treated” to hearing someone make several business calls, all within sight (and hearing) of the Reference Desk. Not once was he asked to turn off the phone or stop his calls. Note that he was the* caller*, not the called.
I was very tempted to start throwing things at him but I can’t heave a Webster’s like I used to…
Just this weekend I was in a community theater play. We had notices up all around (and it’s just a tiny room we perform in) and some bitch gets a call. She lets it ring for a little while (really loud) then pulls it out of her purse, stops the noise, and puts it back. We all assume she turned it off. Not so. It rings again a few seconds later. She answers it and walks out of the room talking loudly then stands in the hall talking. Everyone could hear her. It really threw off our whole first act. I would totally get one and donate it to the theater so this never happens again. :mad:
I think the best alternative would be to genetically engineer a species of stingless bee. Make them sensitive to the electromagnetic signals emitted by an active cell phone. Keep them in a container, and when you hear a cell phone ring at an inapprorpiate time, release them. That way, when some asshole answers his cell phone in a theater or something, he gets a face full of bees
If the licensing could be worked out, I’m sure movie theaters would recoup the cost of jammers in a day or two if they designated certain showings as phone-free and baby-free.
The only thing that would prevent me from using one is the fear of the fine. “assholeish in the extreme”? That applies to the grossly inconsiderate people who use their cell phones in public places where other people are desirous of quiet. In such a setting – like a movie theater – if you’re a considerate person who turns off their cell phone, the jammer won’t affect you anyway. and if you are in a position to be jammed, it means you’re being grossly inconsiderate and trying to use your phone, so the assholeishness is on your side.
No and I’m frankly disturbed that many of you believe it’s even remotely acceptable to do something like this.
Having said that, I admit that I despise cell phones. I was the absolute last in my circle of friends and family to get one. The only reason I did was because I became a father and I wanted to be reachable in case of an emergency.
Most phones I’ve seen are available with vibrate only mode setting. In a theatre, this offers little if any distraction to the people watching the show. If I’m out enjoying a movie and my sitter needs to reach me, I want to be able to receive the call (quietly and dicreetly) and go outside to return it without disturbing anyone. A blocker would keep me from finding out about a potential emergency. If that were to happen and I somehow found out that some idiot blocked my signal, there would be another emergency that evening.
I remember this issue coming up a few years back in Sweden and the discussion mostly seemed to involve movie theaters. I think that these cell phone jammers are a terrible idea and would never use one. I never turn my phone off either at movie theater, lecture or wherever (maybe at a hospital, I suppose) - I do have it on silent mode most of the time though. The potential of blocking important calls is way too high a risk compared to the minor inconvenience of someones cell phone ringing. Most people are responsible users of their phones and should be treated as such.
Sometimes I wonder about the movie theaters people are going to where they seem to be getting disturbed by people answering phones during the movie - I’ve never once had this happen to me. Sometimes people’s phones go off during a lecture or something though - no big deal, turn it off, and move on.
As for using the jammers on buses, there seems to be all kinds of problems with this. What if you are at a stoplight and a car in close proximity is affected? And besides, why shouldn’t I be allowed to use my phone on the bus? Is texting unacceptable behavior? A quick phone call saying I’ll be late?
I don’t see how using a cell phone jammer as a personal user could possibly be justified in public areas. In general, they seem like a bad way to treat a perceived problem by attempting to prevent usage, rather than promote responsible usage of cell phones.
Yes, well, I’m disturbed that many people believe it’s acceptable to carry on a loud phone conversation in a place where other people have a reasonable expecation of quiet. “Your right to swing your fist ends at my face” is a time-honored and tested legal adage. In my book, your right to converse on the phone ends at my ears, same thing.
Cripes, what did people like you do before there were cell phones?!?
As a business owner, I wouldn’t us an active transmitter jammer device due to legal considerations. There are all kinds or legal issues with active radio transmitters. If I wanted to curtail all cell phone use in a given location, say a theater or restaurant, there are ways of passively blocking the signal by enclosing the area in a metal mesh whose link size is an even factor / multiple of the wavelength. (Is this a Faraday cage?)
I had this happen to me once when deploying a wireless phone system in a store. The higer value electronic merchandise was kept in an enclosure fenced in with chicken wire. I could cut the wire with kindergarden cisors, but 4 links were the exact length of our signal wavelength. We had a 35db signal loss accross the bleepin chicken wire…
However, I would think that there would be significant legal liabilities: a patron can’t call 911, can’t receive a call that a heart donor has been located in time, not to mention baby sitters, etc. etc. You would have to post notices, and then you loose customers.
I think staff enforced policies are the better way to go. Toss out the bum who has a loud conversation or keeps receiving calls with a loud ringer, but allow the user who discretely takes a call on vibrate only and then steps outside, or receives a text message.
Certainly no more so than the people who answer phones in a movie theatre. I’d have no problem using one as you shouldn’ t have the phone on in certain situations anyway…sweet, sweet revenge.
