There are clearly a lot of people who dislike cell phones and pagers because of their tendency to go off in theatres, libraries, etc. There are also a lot of inconsiderate people and absentminded people who perpetrate this crime. While we can't do much about the inconsiderate ones, I have an idea for the people who simply forget to turn their ringer off, or who need it on for important calls.

I believe some phones (and perhaps pagers, I don't own either) already have headphone jacks. These could be modified so that the ringing can be heard through the earpiece, as well as incoming conversation. Forgetting to put on headphones is a little harder than forgetting to switch a ringer off, and small earpieces, while slightly uncomfortable, don't generally muffle one's hearing.

This way, when one receives a call/buzz, that person is the only one who hears the ringing. Now, they can either ignore the call, quietly leave the room, or communicate via text messaging.
-- nick_n_uit, Jun 05 2001

I'm pretty sure this is 100% baked. Every cell phone I've owned (three of them, over the years) has had a headphone attachment, and I'm pretty sure that connecting the headphone disbles the audible ring. (I don't have mine handy to check.)
-- wiml, Jun 06 2001


An interesting point about people who forget to turn off their mobiles in sensitive place.

What if every phone manufacturer were forced to build in an auto shut off device into their phones that could be operated remotely. Libraries, hospitals, galleries, theaters and other sensitive buildings could all have sensors near the doors which would switches the phone off.

If anyone's phone were to ring inside it would be obvious they had switched it on themselves and they would have to pay a nominal fine.
-- Spidergoat, Jun 06 2001


Or, they could just set their mobiles to vibrate.
-- [ sctld ], Jun 06 2001


[nick_n_uit] - Can you say "Vibrate Mode"???

[Spidergoat] - Neat idea, but a suitable alternative would be the Mobile phone blockers many posh restuaraunts/theatres are now fitting. You phone won't ring without a signal... :-P
-- CasaLoco, Feb 19 2002


Let's all keep in mind that existing cell phones do not have a standard headphone jack - it is a full-duplex jack for 2 way audio. When you attach a headset on all the models I've ever used (mostly Nokia), the standard handset ringer is disabled. Some of us make use of this to delay the onset of brain tumors as I'm confident RF research in the next 5 years will corroborate.
-- ottawa_vr6, Jul 01 2002



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