Tarheel Ramblings

When A Telephone Was Just A Telephone

: Image via Wikipedia

I’ll admit it. I love Gadgets. I was hooked on computers long before I could afford to buy my first one, and I walked by the little store in town and stared at the little Atari computer sitting in the window every chance I got.

I remember the first cell phone I had like it was yesterday. But the cost of using it demanded that I use it sparingly, and mostly I kept it for emergencies. And for the most part I didn’t carry it with me because it weighed a couple of pounds and was as big as a brick. But it made me feel safer.

Lately, I’ve seen AT&T commercials on television that just drive me up the wall. The pitchman goes on and on about downloading songs and pictures faster than Verizon. And he tries to promote the fact that on their network, it’s possible to talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time. I can’t help but sit there and wonder why anyone would want to.

Maybe I’m different, but I struggle to do one thing at a time, let alone two or three. Sure, sometimes it would be handy to look something up on the Internet when you’re talking to someone. But how often is that? And the distraction factor is a big issue with me. I recently wrote a post on using a cell phone while driving. I’ll let that one go for now.

I’ll admit that I like fact that most cell phones now have a camera. That goes to my photographic hobby. That and the fact that I have a terrible memory and forget to take my camera with me sometimes when it would really be nice to have. I can usually remember to hang my phone on my belt. So most of the time I have a camera with me as well by default.

Image via Wikipedia

The cell phone has become the Swiss Army Knife of gadgets. Let’s see, you can make phone calls, have a calendar or calculator available, take pictures or videos, surf the web, consult a GPS to find an address, record a voice memo…just about anything you might need to do, you can do with a cell phone.

But AT&T needs a reality check. They have a reputation for the most unreliable service of the major cell providers. What good does it do to have a phone that you can surf the web while talking on the phone if you aren’t able to connect? Having the fastest network is easy when no one can connect. There’s no load on the system to test that speed.

Now, when it comes to fixing the problem of being distracted at the right time, there’s an easy fix. Every GPS system can be set so that it cannot be operated when the vehicle is moving. It would be simple to do the same thing with cell phones. When the network detects that the cell phone is in motion over five miles per hour, just disable everything except the ability to make 911 calls. Doesn’t that make sense? The problem is, it probably makes too much sense.

Cell Phone Bans Don’t Reduce Accidents (dickstersrandomthoughts.com)
AT&T adds 2.7 million wireless customers, blowing past Verizon, pledges service upgrades (taragana.com)

Civil Discourse

Old NC Senate Chamber

This afternoon, the local school board is meeting in Raleigh to take a second vote on doing away with mandatory year-round schools. This comes as the result of elections at the end of last year that saw a group of new board members elected after running on promises to do just that. They also promised to do away with busing instituted to maintain an economic status balance in the schools of the county.

Given the fact that these people were elected, I’m not surprised that they are following through on their election promises. But many people in the community, especially those afraid of a return to segregated schools are highly upset with what is going on. You see, the rest of the story is that there was a very light turnout for the election with just a little over 10% of eligible voters participating. Seems the majority of opinions may not have been represented in the election of the new majority to the school board.

Unfortunately, the rules are not made by the majority of people in a group unless the majority takes the time and makes the effort to vote. That’s just the way they system works. So until there are new elections, those in office have the right and the obligation to govern according to their principles and their promises.

Keeping that in mind, there is still an opportunity to influence the decisions these elected officials will be making. People can write, phone and e-mail school board, or any other elected official, and communicate their opinions. In fact, not doing so is somewhat irresponsible when important matters are under consideration. Unfortunately, it appears that civil discourse is not possible at any level of government in this country.

Any discussion of issues from opposite points of view too often degenerate into name calling and finger pointing. There is absolutely no interest in compromise, or even trying to identify the best solution for a problem. Take a look at the national debate over health care reform as a prime example of what I’m talking about. Both side agree on one thing: the system is broken. But the Republicans and Democrats are so entrenched in the solution being put forward by their own parties there is no room to look for the best solution that is acceptable to both parties.

If the polls are correct, today’s election in Massachusetts is going to give Republicans the votes they need to halt the passing of the health care reform package backed by Democrats. Since the two parties are so far apart on solving the problem and addressing the issue, in all likelihood nothing will be done to change health care and the problem will only get worse.

As citizens, isn’t it time that we began getting rid of elected representatives that only care about political philosophy and ignore the real issues? Isn’t it time to demand that correcting serious problems become more important than getting reelected? Until that happens, we are going to be stuck with what we have, which is an economy in trouble, a growing decline in the middle class, and social systems that are deteriorating in front of our eyes.

I seriously doubt that any real change in our political system will happen until we voters learn to communicate with each other in a civil way. Railing against others because they are liberal, or they are conservative, or they are right wing, or they are left wing…and on and on…will get us nowhere. A desire to find solutions that work, in a spirit of cooperation and compromise will allow us all to prosper.

Competing narratives (washingtonmonthly.com)
“There’s Something Happening Here” (themoderatevoice.com)
An Election About Health Care Reform (pheedcontent.com)
Health care failure can’t be an option (washingtonmonthly.com)

Sunday Scenery – #96

Past Its Prime

Hang Up And Drive

: Image via Wikipedia

In the past several weeks, there has been two incidents of cars being struck by trains in my area. In one case, a car was trapped between the crossing guards in traffic and the woman driving apparently didn’t know what to do. Her two sons were killed when they were thrown from the vehicle. It’s hard to know if they would have been saved had they been wearing seat belts.

In the second case, a young mother was using her cell phone and drove through a lowered crossing guard and was struck by a train. She and her young son was killed, and her infant daughter survived. Again, the boy was apparently not wearing a seat belt. But the major cause of the accident was her use of the cell phone which was captured on the train’s video camera. It is hard to argue that the distraction of the cell phone contributed to two deaths.

In both of these cases, ignoring common sense safety precautions ended up in tragedy. And I can’t help but wonder what it will take until the general public gets the message and begins to pay attention to these events. Unfortunately, too many of us feel that these kinds of things only happen to other people.

Many times, while waiting for a traffic light to change, I have counted the number of cars going by where the driver was talking on a cell phone. Not the ones using ear-buds, or other hands-free devices…because you can’t easily tell when they’re being used…but drivers holding cell phones to their ear. Almost always, more than 50% of the vehicles were driven by chatty drivers. I’ve often wondered what it is that all those people are talking about that is so important. How did we ever survive 15 or 20 years ago when cell phones were not that common?

I rarely talk on the phone while driving. And when I do, I use a bluetooth head set. And if I make the call, I only use the phone if I am able to connect with voice commands. If I can’t get the phone to respond with voice commands I wait until I stop and place the call. I had one too many close calls trying to drive and dial. In other words, I wised up.

There is a woman in my neighborhood who drives a big white SUV. I have seen this woman driving past my home for probably two or three years. I have yet to see her go past without the cell phone pressed against her ear. I have even seen her walk out of her house, get into her car and never stop talking on the phone. How in the world do you spend that much time on a cell phone?

The problem with using a cell phone while driving is that attention is diverted from operating the vehicle. Usually, this is because hearing the conversation is not all that easy with the noise of the car, traffic sounds, etc., competing with the sounds coming through the ear piece. There are other things that happen when a person is engrossed in that conversation while holding the communication device: turn signals aren’t used, speed is irregular (speed up, slow down, etc.), erratic movements in traffic happen because peripheral vision is blocked by the occupied hand beside the face, and people slam on their brakes because they finally spot the car stopped in front of them. Or worse, they don’t see the car stopped in front of them until they hit it.

My wishing that people would hang up and drive is not going to make it happen. No more than my wishing every parent would strap their kids in when they put them in the car. But maybe we can start a movement to use peer pressure to make a difference. Schools are starting to do it, and in some cases there has been some improvement in teens helping to change their peer’s behavior.

Until then, if you’re driving your car and talking on the cell phone and hear someone honking, it’s me. Hopefully, when you hear the horn it will remind you to hang up and drive!