Mobile phone jammers

[BrilloPad]

That and the speech patterns used: the annoying talkers seem to use the mobile phone as a species of megaphone. It is not the volume itself but the nature of the intonation that commands attention and therefore eliminates concentration or repose.

I do wish at least that people in a "silent" carriage on a train would respect that.

I wish we had silent carriages - it would be a start.

[PRC1964]

The train companies are missing a trick here.

They should install jammers in ALL the main carriages and then have a single non-jammed one that costs more.

[Turion]

This 'if there is an emergency, blah...' thing is oft touted for nonsence reasons, similar to the 'if only one life is saved, blah is justified' bullcrap. Fact is most people never come across a real life threatening emergency in their lifetime. Even if they did, in 99% of cases a mobile phone call would not affect the outcome, and the jammer will 99%+ of time be switched off, even if it is on, it's range/effect is extremely limited, and, if it's on, it's very likely to be quickly switched off anyway.

By my calculation the chances of a jammer affecting the outcome of any emergency would be less than 1 in a million. Negliable. Then again some people like to rant about negliable risks.

[minestrone]

I was quite enjoying my train journey this morning with my novel and cup of tea until Steve sitting behind me decided to take a call that would last for 40 minutes. Thanks Steve.

[TimberWolf]

The train companies are missing a trick here.

They should install jammers in ALL the main carriages and then have a single non-jammed one that costs more.

Good idea. Wasn't this idea proposed/debated for use in theatres and such at one time too?

[Moscow Mule]

I've got a couple of links for all of you complaining about noise on a train (not usually a quite place anyway).

http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-ent.../qc3/index.jsp

http://www.shure.co.uk/PersonalAudio...ones/index.htm

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I was quite enjoying my train journey this morning with my novel and cup of tea until Steve sitting behind me decided to take a call that would last for 40 minutes. Thanks Steve.

I once started blogging all the calls (complete with names, details etc) I'd been forced to endure. Maybe I'll start it again. I do reckon some people's
Ears and noses must be calibrated differently judging by the mixture of shouting, bo and cripplingly awful perfume and aftershave

[rhubarb]

The train companies are missing a trick here.

They should install jammers in ALL the main carriages and then have a single non-jammed one that costs more.

Looks like some are learning. From the BBC:

A train operator is considering blocking mobile phone signals in its designated quiet zones.

Chiltern Railways, which runs trains from London to Birmingham, says it may install covers on carriage windows to stop phone signals.

Spokesman Michael Scanlon said the system was already being trialled by another company.

"It is a kind of see-through rubber coating which stop signals getting into that coach," he said.

"We are watching to see how effective it is and how popular it is with the passengers."

Rhubarb

[Turion]

I was quite enjoying my train journey this morning with my novel and cup of tea until Steve sitting behind me decided to take a call that would last for 40 minutes. Thanks Steve.

Get an MP3 player with decent earphones. Play music one likes, blotting out the problem noisy oik, without becoming a noisy oik oneself as many mp3 users are.

[expat]

I was quite enjoying my train journey this morning with my novel and cup of tea until Steve sitting behind me decided to take a call that would last for 40 minutes. Thanks Steve.

Commuting journeys are a serious pain. What makes the longer journeys tolerable is a chance to get some peace to read; or some peace to sleep. I can do either with the noise of the train or plane, with normal conversations, and even with some children in the area. I can't do it with mobile phone conversations nearby. Thanks Steve.

I fly to work every week. If (as I fear) one of my available choice of airlines starts allowing mobile phones on the flight, while others don't, that will immediately determine my choice to the exclusion of all other factors.

PS I don't want to listen to music through earphones. I want to read (or sleep, respectively), and the problem is that Steve's megaphone call stops me from doing that. Eliminating the call while at the same time eliminating my own activity is a classic Pyrrhic victory.