Should Cell Phones Be Allowed To Be Used For Voice Calls on Airplanes?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Article here: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/cell-phones-airlines-coming-plane/story?id=11126183&page=1

Says it might be a reality here in the next couple of years.

Personally, I would be highly annoyed if someone was sitting next to me on the plane running their mouth for the whole flight....

[^_^ 5,021]

Article here: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/cell-phones-airlines-coming-plane/story?id=11126183&page=1

Says it might be a reality here in the next couple of years.

Personally, I would be highly annoyed if someone was sitting next to me on the plane running their mouth for the whole flight....

I don't see how that would be any different from the person next to me talking to a member of their traveling party.

I'm not saying I love it, but it's a fact of life when you're in a public place. If you don't like it, buy a private jet.

[Ban Hammer 12,835]

don't care for the idea - i sleep on the plane.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I would ask the person to talk elsewhere. If they didn't I would turn my laptop on and then play a film loudly, or play an annoying game with lots of explosions etc.

[GabiandVi 34]

You can already make calls on those phones in the back of the seats. Thankfully, the costs are so high in means that no one talks for long.

[thongd4me 69]

I can't think of anything more annoying than a cell phone when you are a captive audience.

However, if people need to contact family on the ground it would be great to have a quick

call (to let them know where to meet, etc.) but I would restrict that to a time-limited "cell phone

booth" for which you would pay a nominal fee (like $2) to use. That would be much better

than the higher fees for on-board phones and would curb obnoxious people from

monopolizing everyone's "airtime."

[K and L 27]

thong wins for offering the best idea I've heard about cell phones and airplanes in a looong time!

I think it should be ok to use the data portions of your cell package (text, interwebs), and with limited usage, voice calling.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

It wouldn't be so bad, if people would use their "inside" voice when talking on the cell phone. But, yeah, nobody needs to be that accessible.

[NotworkSte 19]

There's been research on why it's more annoying hearing someone talk into a cell phone versus talking to someone right next to them.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/May10/CellPhoneDistract.html

I find it very annoying, especially since at times some people slip into their "pet language" with a significant other, or some kind of moronic braindead language with their friends. Or talk really loudly!

Airplane flying, one of the last bastions of freedom from cell phones now it seems ok for people to use their phone in a movie theater (don't get me started).

[trillium13 84]

It wouldn't be so bad, if people would use their "inside" voice when talking on the cell phone. But, yeah, nobody needs to be that accessible.

I'm amazed sometimes at the things I hear people talking about in public while on their phone. We don't all need to hear about your drama in the grocery store.(or an airplane) Why do people want to air all their s**t in public? Are you really that important? Take it outside or wait.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

1. Why not?
2. there used to be seat-row phones (which could be used after activating with plastic) that were already used this way (and which I used when I got my first TN-1 to inform of success), so why not with cell-phone instead?

[chri'stina 190]

Yes it should be allowed, there are plenty of reasons why it's a good idea. I have never flown alone, always been with other people, so I usually don't have to sit next to strangers. We take up a small row by ourselves. If someone needs to make a call, they should. People who talk loud and for a really long time would be annoying, but I wouldn't mind it too much. Plane rides are usually boring anyway.

[thongd4me 69]

I'm amazed sometimes at the things I hear people talking about in public while on their phone. We don't all need to hear about your drama in the grocery store.(or an airplane) Why do people want to air all their s**t in public? Are you really that important? Take it outside or wait.

The personal & business dramas are indeed annoying.

When I used to take the commuter train

(I take bus+subway now and it's half the price & less annoying)

I used to hear stuff like, "3 million, that's ridiculous; don't offer them a penny more!"

and they would go on and on and on and on like a spoiled kid in the schoolyard.

That kind of talk makes me think of guns & ammo on my next trip...

[NotworkSte 19]

The personal & business dramas are indeed annoying.

When I used to take the commuter train

(I take bus+subway now and it's half the price & less annoying)

I used to hear stuff like, "3 million, that's ridiculous; don't offer them a penny more!"

and they would go on and on and on and on like a spoiled kid in the schoolyard.

That kind of talk makes me think of guns & ammo on my next trip...

It's amazing the amount of government, military and business intelligence you can pick up on. People say stuff to fuel their own ego when they talk. And the ego idiots often think their phone call is private because it is to only one person. Walk around south Manhattan or anywhere in DC ;-)

Having helped out in Corp Security it's frustrating to know you can put all the control in the world in place only or some blabbermouth to talk about what deal is going down.

That, or imagine the private information about you they are talking about. "Oh I met Stephen last night and the Doctors are worried how big it is now...."

[thongd4me 69]

It's amazing the amount of government, military and business intelligence you can pick up on. People say stuff to fuel their own ego when they talk. And the ego idiots often think their phone call is private because it is to only one person. Walk around south Manhattan or anywhere in DC ;-)

Having helped out in Corp Security it's frustrating to know you can put all the control in the world in place only or some blabbermouth to talk about what deal is going down.

That, or imagine the private information about you they are talking about. "Oh I met Stephen last night and the Doctors are worried how big it is now...."

The beauty of the bus+subway as opposed to the commuter train is not that

people use their cell phones less (they use them more).

It's the fact that the busses & subways are a lot noisier - you can't understand

anything that people are talking about because you can't hear them as well

as you can on the quiet, comfortable commuter train. :rofl:

I'd rather save money than be a commuter snob.