Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Yes, that Guy on the Phone is OFFICIALLY annoying.

Via Frontal Cortex, a study showing that it's harder not to listen to one person on a phone, doing half a conversation, than two people. It actually degenerates your ability to perform tasks.

This is somewhat related to a minor phobia of mine. I bought a ridiculously tiny Bluetooth phone headset that I really like -- and almost never use, because I'm always subconsciously aware that passersby may not see the earbud and assume I'm mad.

69 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:38 AM

    I'm sorry but I'm confused. I thought madness was a prerequisite for what you do?

    (/snark)

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  2. darms8:50 AM

    Yeah, welcome to the thrilling 'new' game that you & your friends can play in public - psychotic or cell phone! The best time is when the victim is arguing, the question is, are they arguing w/themselves? (Psycho!) Or another? (Cell phone!)

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  3. Jason9:03 AM

    It's better than that, John. You can in fact go around just talking to yourself, and people will assume you've got an earbud they can't see.

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  4. Jason beat me to it.

    I talk to myself all the time (I'm the only one who really understands me), but I've never quite had the whatever-it-is---Chutzpah? Cowardice? Social standing worth defending? Hair that covers the ears?---one needs to pretend I'm talking on a phone.

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  5. Back in the dot-com days we used to talk about techno-schizophrenics. Thankfully that artifact of nerd chic has become fashion poison. If you're not in the Secret Service, you're not important enough to pull that off.

    My biggest gripe is not the potential insanity but all the awkward aborted conversations where you turn to respond to someone who seems to have greeted you only to notice he is staring into space with his ear blinking.

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  6. Jason said: It's better than that, John. You can in fact go around just talking to yourself, and people will assume you've got an earbud they can't see.

    Hell yes. And if you want to really sell the idea, put a finger to your ear occasionally like Eliot does.

    You can also make a sudden stop, periodically - mid-sentence - and look around. "So then I...what? Someone's watching me?" Narrow your eyes. "Oh yeah, the one in the red, I see him."

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  7. Anonymous11:15 AM

    It's more manners over madness, to me. It would be rude not to answer when the voices speak, even if I am walking down a public street. They always have such interesting suggestions.

    Hey, how does Parker differentiate between the voices in her head and the voices in her ear?

    Or does she?

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  8. It amsues me that, were "Quantum leap" still on the air today, all Sam would have to do to keep people from staring at him while he talks to Al, is stick in a Bluetooth...

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  9. Corey Mutter11:37 AM

    Working the polls for a really boring off-year election last November, I had a conversation with a co-worker, unaware that she was having the conversation with someone else via Bluetooth.

    It went on quite a while.

    Fortunately she had a sense of humor about it.

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  10. The Chrysler Building11:37 AM

    Me and my buddy Nate still think their should be a government program to provide disfunctional bluetooths and similar headsets to crazy homeless people. That way, everyone just figures they're on the phone. (And the crazy homeless people can sneak up on you better. Or something.)

    Maybe we haven't thought our plan through enough.

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  11. Well, sanity is overrated. Especially in the name of efficiency :)

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  12. I have to admit to sitting nervously in my car and watching a woman pace back and forth seemingly talking to herself. Of course I finally spotted her earbud.

    But until then...I thought maybe this nicely dressed woman was having some kind of breakdown. If she hadn't been pacing back and forth, wildly gesturing as she spoke...I would not have even noticed her.

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  13. EmanG5:10 PM

    There was a great comic called "In the City" by an artist named Dirk that addressed this. The gist was that smart urbanites operate with certain rules, an important one being "ignore the talkers." Great last frame where a woman was macing two guys, one on his bluetooth, on talking to satan...

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  14. Gumbo Limbo6:51 PM

    That Quantum Leap/Bluetooth idea would only work if Sam had leapt into our time. It certainly wouldn't work if he were back in the 60s.

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  15. Passers by thinking you're mad is a giant plus, as far as I'm concerned. That way, overly friendly strangers are too afraid to try to make obnoxious conversation with you.

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  17. I was sitting next to a woman on the bus the other day who appeared to be rambling to herself about God.

    Then I noticed she was holding a phone to her ear.

    Then I noticed that she never actually stopped to let the other person speak. At all. For ten minutes.

    So I guess my first perception was correct after all.

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  18. @Rogers: I totally understand that fear. When I moved to Boston for college (Go Terriers!) in 1998, the people talking to the air were the people that Reagan let out of the local mental hospitals in the '80s.

    These days I like to amuse myself by responding to the Bluetoothers under my breath. They have no concept that other people can hear them. Several times, I've heard people give out credit card information while walking down the street. I've thus far resisted the urge to pull out a pen, write it down, and show it to them as a cautionary measure, but it's really tempting.

    @Tara O'Shea: I love that idea! It'd still be a little weird that he was asking about "Ziggy", though. :)

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  19. Anonymous10:37 AM

    There are no madmen. There are only time-travelers from the future.

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  20. John, they won't think your crazy, they WILL think you're an asshole though.*




    *I used to wear one all the time so pot-kettle-black perhaps

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  21. I used to make fun of headsets, now I use one all the time. It's a better sound quality. Not to sound like an ad, but I'd recommend Jawbone's Icon series. Good stuff. I often go outside to take a break from the keyboard and walk around when I make phone calls, and neighbors did, in fact, think I was mad. I've developed the "pointing to me ear and moving my hand in a talking motion" gesture to let them know I'm not trying to talk to them "from across the street". I thought about producing some old style fans with the words "I'm on the phone", and selling them, but I haven't tested the market. ;)

    Later,

    Sean

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  22. @Chrysler Building: therapists actually already do this for people with conditions where they talk to themselves or people who the rest of us don't see, it helps them fit in better and that helps their therapy and whatnot. Apparently, I read this on the internet, so grain of salt.

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  23. I totally relate your the Bluetooth dilemma! Recently discovered your site after seeing it linked on so many blogs. Had to check it out. So glad I did!

    Todd Klick
    writerwrench.com

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  24. I am with Jason and Sarah. I seem saner now.

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  25. Quite useful info, thank you for the article.

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    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
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