WELL, surprise, surprise. The sound of a loud, one-way conversation has been voted the most annoying aspect of mobile phones. An easyMobile.com manners survey reveals that more than half of those questioned found people holding very loud conversations were far more annoying than ringtones or even the sort of person who takes calls at the dinner table.
Nearly two thirds of those researched said they ignored calls from people when they saw who it was – with more than 80% lying about it afterwards. And more than three quarters regularly answered calls while having a meal with friends and colleagues, despite 60% of those same individuals thinking this was a sign of bad manners.
Let’s face it, just about all conversations which take place on mobile phones are loud for some reason.
How loud seems to depend on several things – how big the caller’s ego is and who he or she is trying to impress.
Also, it depends on whether their hearing is up to scratch and if the person to whom they are speaking happens to be far away.
You would have thought that, by now, some technological whiz-kid would have invented something to block the speaker's voice from external listeners.
Particularly annoying is the fact that you can’t escape mobile phones – whether it is someone bawling on public transport or forgetting to turn them off at the theatre or cinema.
What really, really bugs me is the number of films that would have no real storyline if the lead character possessed a mobile phone.
It’s nearly 2009. Everybody has one of these wretched things.
The only good thing about mobile phones is that they provide an instant form of communication when necessary.
So, if you get stranded on a mountain top or lost in the desert, you just make a quick call. OK, there is the signal problem, but you can get round that with a better phone.
Many research studies have shown that people do find mobile phones annoying rather than helpful and that the volume of a conversation is only one factor in their dislike.
If mobile-phone companies want to avoid a backlash against their products, they might do well to start listening to what researchers keep telling them and find a way, as a matter of urgency, to make the product less irritating to those of us who have to listen.
If they don’t, there will be a dirty great consumer backlash.
It has actually started, as a number of places already ban the use of mobile phones, particularly the camera variety.
Onlookers claim that mobile phone conversations are far more intrusive and annoying than those conducted face-to-face, on trains or buses.
While volume was an issue, hearing only half a discussion also seemed to up the irritation factor.
It’s worth noting that volume was not the only problem with mobile phones. In fact, even phone conversations in a normal voice received worse scores than face-to-face conversations – possibly because the complainants were very nosy and couldn’t lug into both sides of the conversation.
According to the survey, the problem seems to be that conversations on mobile phones are more noticeable than those held face-to-face. This makes no sense at all, since two people talking on a train are bound to make more noise than a person talking on the phone.
Mobiles are so intrusive.
There you are, sitting on a train, composing a symphony or writing a bestseller and, suddenly, brrrriiiinnnggg, it bursts into your life uninvited, day or night, paying absolutely no heed to whatever you happen to be doing at the time.
There is no etiquette.
William Hanson, who is an expert on the subject of good manners, says using a mobile phone is an essential way of keeping in touch in today’s modern world, but there are many ways in which basic manners are ignored because of the speed and convenience of the way we now interact.
There are simple rules, according to Mr Hanson, such as moving away from a crowded area to take a call, keeping your voice down and respecting people with the language and information you use on the phone.
However, despite what he says, once on the moby, people seem to forget their manners and behave abysmally.
You can be deep in conversation with someone and, all of a sudden, that noisy, insolent little instrument in their pocket or handbag will blast out some unbearably loud ditty or other and, almost immediately, the person abandons the interesting conversation you were having and starts talking to someone else on the phone, while you stand around, twiddling your thumbs.
It's the same in shops and garages. You go in, ask for something and the sales assistant serves you with one hand, clutching a mobile phone to her ear with the other and gabbling into it 19 to the dozen.
The irritation might be due partly to the fact that most of the mobile conversations you overhear are rubbish. That businessman looking so furtive in the first-class carriage is just saying: “Hey. I’m on the train.”
What response does he get, one wonders?
Something along the lines of: “Well, whoopdedoo. That information is really going to change my day.”
Or: “I’m in the frozen veg aisle at Tesco’s. Was it peas or broccoli you wanted?”
Give me peace.
No, I didn’t say peas.
It is ridiculous. Don’t you long for the days when these conversations never took place? The mobile phone has also been shown to be a dangerous distraction to drivers.
We have all seen the culprits: one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding the phone at about chin level, so as not to look as if they’re talking into it; head swivelling this way and that, eyes right round at the back of their stupid heads, looking for a police car.
If we do nothing to overcome all these problems presented by mobile phones then the benefits these technologies bring will soon be denied us because the social costs are simply too great.