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携帯電話の使用禁止は無用
携帯電話の使用禁止は無用
筆者にとって携帯電話は必需品だが、電車や飛行機、病院では、携帯電話使用は避けるようにというアナウンスを聞くことが多い
さらに、運転中の使用も禁止しようという動きがあ
る
しかし…
No Phone Police
By SCOTT T. HARDS
Like millions of other people around the world, I'm addicted to my portable phone. Next to the Internet, the low-cost, compact portables of today are probably the most important communications invention of the 1990s. They've revolutionized business, saved thousands of lives and made life more pleasant in general — especially if you're a teenager with a lot of talkative friends!
But recently, more and more places seem to be trying to make me feel guilty about using my phone. For instance, many train lines now make announcements that you should "avoid the use of portable phones so as not to disturb other passengers." Now wait a minute. I've been annoyed by many things on trains, but portable phones are far from the worst.
What about rambunctious groups of high school kids, clutches of chatterbox middle-aged women, or the smelly drunks so prevalent on Friday and Saturday nights? I've never heard any announcements asking riders to "avoid speaking to other people" or saying "don't use our trains when you've had too much to drink." So why single out portable phones for public scorn when there are so many other ill-mannered train behaviors?
That's what this whole thing is about: manners. Speaking in a loud voice when you're around others is bad manners regardless of whether it's a regular conversation or a telephone conversation. So are telephone ringers set to very high volumes (nearly all phones sold today have vibrators to silently inform you of a call. Use them!). When I use my phone, I don't forget my manners. So, if the train company wants to remind me to keep my voice down when talking on their train (which I do), then I'm all ears. But I won't turn my phone off. It's just too important to me.
There are also places where phones are being blacklisted for other reasons. Airplanes and hospitals ask you to turn off your phone to avoid possible interference with their own equipment. Since a malfunction in aircraft or hospital systems could cost lives, this sounds like a sensible idea. But wait a minute. What do they mean, "possible interference?" In this modern world, it would be very easy to test such equipment to see if radio transmissions in the frequencies used by portable phones do indeed cause problems. There doesn't have to be any gray zone. Somebody, please do the research and set the record straight!
Lastly, there's a move afoot to make using your phone while driving illegal. Of course, the worry is that people don't pay attention to the road as well when they're talking on the phone, or that it prevents people from keeping both hands on the wheel. While there's some truth to the former concern, the same logic also applies to any in-car conversation with the driver, and even to listening to the radio! And you certainly cannot regulate that.
The latter concern is more valid, however, and that's why many states in the United States have mandated so-called hands-free speaker systems for phone use in the car. These are widely available in Japan, too, and cost less than ¥10,000. So instead of banning phone use, why not just make a hands-free system mandatory?
Portable phones certainly have their rough spots, but if everybody who uses one just applies common sense, their benefits far outweigh any problems. So please stop telling me to turn mine off. I'm not listening!
Like millions of other people around the world, I'm addicted to my portable phone. Next to the Internet, the low-cost, compact portables of today are probably the most important communications invention of the 1990s. They've revolutionized business, saved thousands of lives and made life more pleasant in general — especially if you're a teenager with a lot of talkative friends!
But recently, more and more places seem to be trying to make me feel guilty about using my phone. For instance, many train lines now make announcements that you should "avoid the use of portable phones so as not to disturb other passengers." Now wait a minute. I've been annoyed by many things on trains, but portable phones are far from the worst.
What about rambunctious groups of high school kids, clutches of chatterbox middle-aged women, or the smelly drunks so prevalent on Friday and Saturday nights? I've never heard any announcements asking riders to "avoid speaking to other people" or saying "don't use our trains when you've had too much to drink." So why single out portable phones for public scorn when there are so many other ill-mannered train behaviors?
That's what this whole thing is about: manners. Speaking in a loud voice when you're around others is bad manners regardless of whether it's a regular conversation or a telephone conversation. So are telephone ringers set to very high volumes (nearly all phones sold today have vibrators to silently inform you of a call. Use them!). When I use my phone, I don't forget my manners. So, if the train company wants to remind me to keep my voice down when talking on their train (which I do), then I'm all ears. But I won't turn my phone off. It's just too important to me.
There are also places where phones are being blacklisted for other reasons. Airplanes and hospitals ask you to turn off your phone to avoid possible interference with their own equipment. Since a malfunction in aircraft or hospital systems could cost lives, this sounds like a sensible idea. But wait a minute. What do they mean, "possible interference?" In this modern world, it would be very easy to test such equipment to see if radio transmissions in the frequencies used by portable phones do indeed cause problems. There doesn't have to be any gray zone. Somebody, please do the research and set the record straight!
Lastly, there's a move afoot to make using your phone while driving illegal. Of course, the worry is that people don't pay attention to the road as well when they're talking on the phone, or that it prevents people from keeping both hands on the wheel. While there's some truth to the former concern, the same logic also applies to any in-car conversation with the driver, and even to listening to the radio! And you certainly cannot regulate that.
The latter concern is more valid, however, and that's why many states in the United States have mandated so-called hands-free speaker systems for phone use in the car. These are widely available in Japan, too, and cost less than ¥10,000. So instead of banning phone use, why not just make a hands-free system mandatory?
Portable phones certainly have their rough spots, but if everybody who uses one just applies common sense, their benefits far outweigh any problems. So please stop telling me to turn mine off. I'm not listening!
Shukan ST: Jan. 15, 1999
(C) All rights reserved
(am)addicted to 〜 〜 中毒になっている
portable phone携帯電話
Next to 〜 〜 の次に
communications invention情報伝達に関する発明
(have)revolutionized 〜 〜 を根本から変えた
talkativeおしゃべりな
make me feel guilty about 〜 〜 することに対して罪悪感を持たせる
so as not to disturb other passengersほかのお客様のご迷惑にならないよう
(have)been annoyed by 〜 〜 によって不快な思いをしている
are far from the worstいらいらさせる原因のトップだとはとても思えない
rambunctious騒々しい
clutches of 〜 〜 の一団
chatterboxおしゃべり屋
smelly drunks酒くさい酔っぱらい
prevalentどこにでもいる
single out 〜 for public scorn 〜 一つだけを選んで公衆の軽蔑の的にする
ill-mannered無作法な
behaviors行動
ringers呼び出し音
high volumes大きな音
vibrators振動器
am all earsちゃんと耳を傾ける
won't turn my phone off携帯電話の電源は切らない
are being blacklisted要注意の物とみなされる
interference with 〜 〜 への悪影響
equipment機器
malfunctionうまく機能しないこと
aircraft航空機の
could cost lives命にかかわる
radio transmissions in the frequencies used by 〜 〜 と同じ周波数の電波の送信
gray zone(悪影響を与えるかどうかわからない)あいまいな状態
set the record straightはっきりさせる
there's a move afoot to 〜 〜 をする動きがみられる
wheelハンドル
former concern前者の懸念(気が散ること)
same logic also applies to 〜 同じ理屈が 〜 にも当てはまる
regulate取り締まる
latter concern後者の懸念(片手での運転)
valid正当な
have mandated義務づけている
so-calledいわゆる
hands-free 〜 手を使わずに話ができる 〜
widely available 手軽に入手できる
banning禁止する
have their rough spots面倒な点もある
applies common sense常識的に行動する
far outweigh 〜 〜 をしのいで余りある