Yessss! No Cell phones on Planes!
 

Because, it would be like...
You know, like, totally - you know - like

To me, its a gruesome idea to have to sit next to someone yacking all the way to their destination...its like you know, totally scank*.

(*which I assume means disgusting or gross)

100 PERCENT AGREE I am so glad that this will not happen. Can you imagine what it would be like to have a plane full of yakkers for the whole flight. Oh my god!

The world is good today. :)

How depressingly anti-social you're all being. Or is it just Luddite?

I sit on trains full of ordinary people almost every day. People on the phone are just like people not on the phone: some conversations are banal, some fascinating to overhear and some - well, just like any other conversation.

Whether the conversation concerned's on a phone or between two people at the same table.

If you don't like hearing people talk, it's people you've got a problem with. Not the technology.

No doubt the Trappist order would love to have you.

though I don't care that much one way or the other --- the other day I was sitting outside at a Starbucks and there were 2 other tables also occupied... One table was by 2 people who were talking back and forth and the other someone alone talking on a cell phone....and it hit...why do we all get excited and annoyed by people talking on a cell phone....truly, what is the difference between one person talking on the cell phone and two people (there 2 voices) talking back and forth?

of course, Im usually listening to my ipod while on the plane so I don't care what others are doing unless they are trying to invade my space or constantly pulling down on my seat each time they get up. :)

Put me in with the group that does not feel the need to listen to other peoples conversations, expecially on long overnight flights! Unfortunately, I think the operative words are no cell phones 'for now'. According to an article in yesterday's (?) Wall Street Journal US carriers are planning to have hot spots on planes this fall and expect to allow cell phones thereafter. The only upside that I could gleen from the article is that due to band width considerations, it will only be possible to place 14 simultaneous calls at first.

First to flanneruk - I do like people very much flanner. I do not like people that insist on talking in loud voices (on a phone or to another person) that intrude on my personal "space". Perhaps the phone users in the UK are softer spoken (I have not noticed it when there if they are) but it seems that as soon as a person begins to talk on cell phones they suddenly raise their voice to unacceptable levels. Actually, it would be good if trains were declared cell phone free as well. Perhaps the answer is to have phone and non-phone cars on trains.

Some of the 'ordinary' conversations I overhear in public, especially on transit, are too LOUD, too many people feel they have to shout; too PERSONAL - why discuss yours or others medical problems, especially of the female variety, on a bus? (my favourite though is the male caller asking whoever he phoned "Did you poop?"; and those calls where the person receiving them wants everyone to know just how IMPORTANT they are to their employer.

The reply or comment I hear most often because they're talking too loud is when someone gets a call on transit? "I'm on the bus/subway/streetcar, will be home in 5 minutes"...why don't they just wait till they walk in the door?

There are people who speak quietly on cell phones in public so that no one else can hear them - but not enough of them.

I agree it is a good thing to have some quiet up there!!

I was flying home from LaQuardia at near midnight 2 days ago - so tired, looked like everyone else was too - most were sleeping. All of sudden this lady started talking and laughing real loud - it jarred me and the passenger next to wide awake.
Just magnify that by the may who will talk on the cell phone.

>why do we all get excited and annoyed by people talking on a cell phone.

BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY TOO D****D LOUD!

((I))

true, some cell phone talkers are too loud, but I would glady have them in comparison to a couple I sat next to once who bickered the whole time!!! I wanted to yell back at them..Go get a divorce!!!

I totally agree with Curt et al. People do tend to talk more loudly on a cell phone. I work in a medical facility, and you would not believe some of the sh*t I have to hear with people talking about the results of their exams. You would think they'd be embarrassed about that and at least find a quiet corner to talk, but noooooo. All I want to do is eat my lunch in peace and not have to hear about someone's effing colonoscopy.

Why do we hate cell phones in public, and dread them on planes?

"UH HUH. HUH? OVER IOWA I THINK HE SAID. OR CLEVELAND. WAIT, IS CLEVELAND A STATE? OH, IT'S IN IOWA. HUH? OHIO, ISN'T THAT WHAT I SAID? HUH. MAYBE WE'RE OVER OHIO. IS THAT NEAR IOWA? UH HUH. UH HUH. HUH? ABOUT FIVE. HUH? NO, I HAVE BAGS CHECKED. NO, I TOLE YOU! BILL HAD TO BUY ALL NEW CLOTHES AFTER HIS STOMACH WAS STAPLED. HUH? NO, THAT WAS MARGE WHO HAD HER INTESTINE REMOVED. HUH? UH HUH, YES. UH HUH. OH NOW I SEE LIGHTS. NO, WAIT THAT'S A REFLECTION. HUH? NAW. UH HUH. UH HUH. NAW. TWENTY-FIVE. UH HUH. REALLY? HUH. UH HUH. IT SMELLS LIKE B.O. HERE. THERE'S A OLD LADY IN FRONT OF ME, I THINK SHE POOPED! PEE-YOO! UH HUH. UH HUH. I DUNNO. MY LEG IS ASLEEP. UH HUH. I DUNNO. MEATLOAF IS OK. UH HUH. UH-OH, I GOTTA GO TO THE TOILET NOW. UH HUH. UH-HUH."

REQUIRE CELL PHONE MANUFACTURERS TO HAVE PROPER FEEDBACK IN THE EARPIECE.

...then people could realize how loud they are speaking when they use cellphones. As it stands, presumably to save battery power, there is insufficient audio feedback.

2. Add a 'will take your call when it is convenient to me and those around me' button. Press the button - and take the 60 seconds to: exit the library reading room, for example.

No need for bans - just better design.

No, I still prefer a design that sends a large stainless steel dart directly into the user's ear at 1,000 MPH whenever they answer a call.

No, Curt, the mobile phone users in the UK are NOT more soft-spoken. They are as noisy as anyone else and seem to delight in using the F-word frequently at substantial volumes.
The BIG difference between FlUK's train scenario and the plane is you have nowhere to else to go at 37,000 feet. If somebody is yammering on the phone in a train, you can always move to another car and hope for the best (note: the trains from Waterloo London to Windsor have several NO Phone cars). Or you can console yourself that you'll be getting off (or Mr. Loud Talker will) 10 minutes down the line. No such luck when you're over Greenland en route from London to Chicago.
Hooray for the rule.

With respect to trains, it seemed to me that several years ago in France, people making phone calls would get up from their seats and go in between trains (or at least out of the car) to speak on a cell phone. More recently, I seem to observe more French people simply conversing from their seats. I don't know if there used to be rules about cell phones that have been eased, or the social etiquette perhaps is evolving. Generally, I have found on those TGV rides that the conversations have not been too loud or intrusive, and so they haven't really bothered me. I get the sense that callers are being thoughtful about how loud or perhaps how long they are speaking. (Maybe it's also been true that the speakers haven't necessarily been sitting directly alongside me....)On the other hand, I think on a long flight, it might get a bit annoying hearing alot of loud yacking going on....I am generally in favor of this ruling for planes.

I suggest that a toilet-sized cubicle be placed on planes for people to use if they need to make a phone call. Calling while sitting in one's seat should be completely prohibited.

As for TGV's, you will see a little pictogram in them showing that cellphones should not be used at one's seat. I think it is dreadful that more and more people are ignoring this.

Given that cell-phone users would have to talk loud enough to overcome the sound of the jet engines and the high-decibel babble of other users, can you imagine how LOUD the cabin would be if they permitted this abomination!

Given that many people would use their cell phones out of sheer boredom on flights of any length, can you imagine how OFTEN they would filibuster on their cell phones just to keep themselves occupied!

Yes, as other posters have said, for once, the world — for now — is a little saner.

I am annoyed by most cell-phone 'ring' tones or songs. Multiply that x #passengers in an enclosed space.

I think the heaviest cell phone use is on the Italian trains. I don't mind the talking so much, it's that D--M ringing and stupid music.

I have a cell phone. The battery is usually dead because I use it so infrequently that I forget to even look at it. What in the world do all these people have to talk about to each other? And has anyone noticed that barely anyone reads now? I use traveling to catch up on good books, not conversations. Especially the classic mentioned above...I am now on the bus. Who cares?

LOL, Flanner, how wry!

For everyone's explanations of the reasoning above... I rejoice still!

We've joked that sometimes people are not even TALKING to another human being, just want to look as if they are.

When I was coerced into commuting on the Long Island Rail Road some years back, I found that the length and volume of a typical cell-phone call by a nearby offender was in direct proportion to the triviality of the discussion. The longer and louder it was, the more inane the topic.

Suzie - I remember when car phones were first available. One company sold a "telephony" – you got an aerial to stick on the back of the car and a hand-set which was attached to a cord. Completely non-functioning but you could look the part. I thought it was a wonderful idea.the

There used to be a popular urban legend about the fellow on the subway platform in [insert your city here], yakking away about stocks and bonds on his brick-sized early cell phone, when someone on the platform fell over with a heart attack, and when the other travelers ran up to the fellow to call 9-1-1, whereupon he was forced to admit that his phone was a phony. You don't hear that one much anymore.

Cell phones were made to make the rest of us feel good. When you hear what dull lives these incredibly boring people lead, you can't help but feel good. What they need is a ringtone which says : "Get a life!"

Great post! I confess I'm stumped on Ira's "D****D"...I love word games!

Did anyone hear the recent piece recently on NPR that some group is trying to legislate (if that's the proper word--can't remember all the details, as I heard the piece in passing) that cell phone rings in NYC be limited to only 4 possible ring types? Apparently the idea is being promoted in order to outlaw the range of cell phones that are contributing to general "noise pollution."

Flanner: Moderate, low volume, short length ("we've arrived, see you in 20 minutes") conversations at a cafe, or in mid-flight during daylight, I could abide despite being a Luddite.

Loud, long, inane conversations I cannot.

Your comment totally overlooks the fact that some flights take place at a time when people are sleeping, or at least attempting to rest and relax.

I don't suppose in the UK you have the equivalent of hog-calling contests, but I'm sure our neighbor is a past champion. Her back porch, where she frequently holds forth on her cell phone, is perhaps 120' from our patio, and when we're out there, we can hear every word spoken. Now, imagine that, times 150, at 1:00AM chronological (body) time, 32,000 feet above the Atlantic where the other 200 people are trying to relax and/or sleep. Now, if you don't find this thought frightening, I'd be willing to mail your neighbor a recording of her to play under your window at 2:30 AM, in hopes you might reconsider.

I'm assuming D****D = damned.

And I'm somewhere in the middle on this issue. I get annoyed by unpleasant and lenghty and loud ring tones and I don't like to hear loud mundane conversations, but I'm also tethered to my business no matter where in the world I am, and if some economist at the World Bank needs to reach me about when his book's going to be published, he's expecting to find me whether I'm at my desk in the USA or riding a camel on the Chott al Jerid. And no, I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing, but it's the way it is, and the way it's going to have to be if I want the luxury of traveling as much as I do.

Yes, people on cell phones should be more considerate. I always try to get as far away from people as possible and keep my voice as low as it needs to be to be heard. And truthfully I could probably make it through an overseas plane ride without needing to talk on the cell, but that's because I can do email from my pocket PC.

LYB -
The difference is that when two people are sitting at a table, one can hear both sides of the conversation. You only hear one side of the conversation when someone is on a cell phone. (and don't get me started about those loud walkie-talkie-beeping cell phone users)

as for ipod users (and I have nano pod which I only use at the gym on the stair master) - they walk along n their own little world oblivious to their surroundings - it can be at times really rude, especially on a crowded sidewalk.

If I had to listen to someone yacking on a cell phone on a plane, I think I would have to stick a fork in my eye or theirs. People just don't whisper on cell phones. IMO immediate response is not needed and it's just a matter of managing the expectations of people trying to reach you. You don't really need to pick up the phone every time it rings no matter where you are...it's like the people addicted to their crackberries.

Letour - That was NPR's annual April Fool's story.

Ok, you want cellphones on planes? Then along meal selections, those who are insistent of cellpone use, should be relegated to "last class" only seating.

That should shut them up pretty fast.

Doesn't anyone read a book, do a crossword, knit, or like "quiet time" anymore? Take your drugs and go to sleep! Ain't no where to run when flying!

Yesssss, Good decision!

StCirq no one wants to take away your cell phone. We only want to prevent some client calling you when you are on the airplane. Once off the plane take all the calls you want. I use my cell all the time as well, but I do NOT want to use it on an airplane .

As the great philosopher Jerry Seinfeld once said: "You need to give people a chance to miss you."

It's the LOUD factor. Some people shout so loud that they don't need a phone for someone in the next country to hear them.

I believe that one person's rights stop when it interfers with the rights of another. I have a right to a peaceful flight.

There is also the security issue. Cell phones have been used to set off bombs. Scenerio: terrorist hides his cell phone bomb on a plane and gets off. Plane takes off for the next stop. Terrorist calls his cell phone bomb. Boom. Hundreds dead. Families destroyed. Tens of millions lost. No clue as to what caused it. Investigations. Law suits. Years of reconstructing the debris.

The inanity of most cell phone conversations I have overheard is another issue. I really don't care what they talk about. I just don't want to have to hear it.

I also agree with no cell phone use on a plane. I hadn't thought of the security issues associated with cell phones (bombs) but I have thought about the noise from talking. We have so little personal space - physical plus sensory - as it is on a plane, and adding to the noise by allowing cell phone use further encroaches on our space.

I think the phone booth idea is pretty good. Or remember in the "old days" and there was a smoking section on the plane? I remember that the last few rows on the plane were designated for smokers - well, put the people who desire to talk on their phones during the flight in a designated area. This would help contain the noise a bit - but I sure wouldn't want to be in the row or two in front of that section!