Welcome Or Not, Cell Phones Set For Subway

Well. this has got to suck!


Welcome Or Not, Cell Phones Set For Subway
By Reuters
InformationWeekSat Feb 4, 4:48 PM ET
NEW YORK - One of life's ironic oases of solitude -- the peace people find amid the roar of a New York City subway -- could soon be gone.

As New York plans to make cell phones work in subway stations, experts say Americans eventually could be connected everywhere, underground or in the air.

"It's technically feasible, both for airplanes and subways," said James Katz, director of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. "It's the social aspect that's really the most intractable."

People fall into two camps, one that defends the right to make calls no matter the inconvenience to others and the other that likes an undisturbed atmosphere, he said. Business people tend to belong to first camp, and leisure travelers to the second, he added.

Any solitude found waiting for a New York subway is bound to end. City officials have solicited bids to connect more than half the stations for cell phone service, although there's no set timetable yet.

Service through the tunnels is another, more expensive matter, but even the suggestion sends shudders through people who like being incommunicado.

"It's a time when people should unplug," said Jon Giswold, a personal trainer in New York. "I rely on my cell phone, but I find it a safe haven on a train when people can't get a hold of me."

Cell phone service in planes is further off, with the Federal Aviation Administration determining if use in flight would interfere with electronic equipment.

If it's found to be safe, providing service would be up to individual airlines, an FAA spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, most people aren't clamoring for cell phones in the sky.

Cell Phone Manners

In seeking public comment last year, the Federal Communications Commission, which deals with if it's technically feasible to operate phones on planes, heard from thousands of people, many of whom focused on passenger "air rage."

"Can you imagine 13 hours to Beijing next to someone on a cell phone?" asked Fern Lowenfels, a Manhattanite walking in the city's Upper West Side.

According to Katz, research shows cell phones become annoying because the human brain is uncomfortable listening to just one half of a conversation. "Without that other part of the conversation, our brain constantly thinks we're being tickled to be involved," he said.

Michael Malice, author of the book "Overheard in New York," said bad cell phone behavior gives him good material.

"It's just tacky and gauche. That's all there is to it," he said. "But most people are tacky and gauche."

The Straphangers Campaign, which represents the interests of city subway riders, is "firmly and resolutely ambivalent," said Gene Russianoff, attorney for the group.

"There's people who want to be permanently wired, and then there's a big contingent that ironically view the one private moment they have during their busy day is on the subways."

Cell phones have gotten a bad reputation -- from being used as detonators in high-profile assassinations to the devices that spread mass insanity in Stephen King's newest horror tale "Cell: A Novel." But, Malice noted, phones are not to blame.

"After September 11, none of us are really in a position to criticize cell phones entirely," he said. "So many people were able to call their families and talk to them one last time.

"If you were trapped and your family was freaking out and you were able to call them, a lot of minds would be put at ease," he said.

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Originally Posted by Midnight Mike

According to Katz, research shows cell phones become annoying because the human brain is uncomfortable listening to just one half of a conversation. "Without that other part of the conversation, our brain constantly thinks we're being tickled to be involved," he said.

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THANK YOU!!!

That is what I have been saying for years about people who argue against phones on the subway.

It's got nothing to do with people on their phones. It's about people being nosey and not knowing what the rest of the conversation is!!!

Does anyone think you could even carryon a conversation in a subway car? They are so dam loud to begin with I don't think I could hear the other party or the other way around. As for planes there is no way cell phone usage should be allowed. I have no desire to sit next to someone who is yapping the entire flight while I'm trying to sleep. I can see it now, they'll have "cell phone" and "non cell phone" sections of the plane, lol

This is where being deaf has its benefits, so if im sitting next to someone like Tom who his on the cell planning his next sex escapede... :shock:

i can turn off my hearing aids and tell him to shut up.



:lol:

ban phones on planes!!

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Originally Posted by T-Bird76

Does anyone think you could even carryon a conversation in a subway car? They are so dam loud to begin with I don't think I could hear the other party or the other way around. As for planes there is no way cell phone usage should be allowed. I have no desire to sit next to someone who is yapping the entire flight while I'm trying to sleep. I can see it now, they'll have "cell phone" and "non cell phone" sections of the plane, lol

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Guess what happens next, somebody screaming into their cell phone, "I TOLD YOU TO TAKE THE POT OFF THE STOVE."

Subways are going be shouting matches..... Just wait, airplanes are next.

Eeh, the DC Metro is wired for cell service (Verizon), and it's not as bad as everyone thinks. Granted, the DC subway is much, much quieter than the NYC version, but people are generally respectful, and conversations are fairly limited (plus, the constant motion drops a lot of calls - personally, I only check voice mail on the train). What wired tunnels have done is turn Blackberrying into pretty much the default activity on the Metro. All sorts of people try to show how important they are by seeing how many e-mails they can send on a 10-minute subway ride. At least it's quiet.

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Originally Posted by Mateo

What wired tunnels have done is turn Blackberrying into pretty much the default activity on the Metro.

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I didn't know they were wired for that, but I was wondering why my Blackberry was working down there when I was visiting last Fall.

even though i finally got a cell at the beggining of this year, i still despise them. and to have them in the subway would just be a greater annoyance because even with all the noise in the carts, people are just gonna talk even louder.

I just want the signal for texting. Gets boring on the train.







(OR, for when no one tells you the transfer stop is named something different on the way back, and you end up alone in Jamaica at 10pm...with no cell phone service. That would be cool too.) :(

if they do it we better not see a fare increase to cover the costs. let them do it on a subscription basis only. i'm not paying extra just to talk underground.

This would have nothing to do with a fare increase. In Washington (and I guarantee the MTA would have a similar deal), Verizon installed the network themselves and pays WMATA (the MTA equivalent) a fee to be the exclusive cell provider in the tunnels. This type of non-farebox revenue actually helps to forestall any fare increases.