Begin forwarded message:
From: Fuat Baran <fuat@columbia.edu>
Date: November 4, 2007 12:49:32 PM EST
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: Fuat Baran <fuat@columbia.edu>
Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Devices Enforce Cellular Silence, Sweet but Illegal
If a bank has 20+ minute lines at the teller, the solution is not jamming cell phones, but hiring more and/or more efficient tellers.
If a pizzeria has problems with customers who arrive at the front of the line and don't know what they're ordering, the right answer is "please step aside while you consider the menu" and service the next customer in line. Jamming cell phones isn't the answer here either. A customer could just as easily be distracted watching a movie on the iPod while standing in line.
Shorter lines would reduce the temptation for customers to find ways to make use of the wait time with something productive/entertaining.
A "functioning land line for emergencies" in a restaurant is only useful for calling for help to the restaurant. What about the patrons (e.g. doctors on call) who might need to be reachable even when out having dinner?
You can't solve specific social problems such as rude and inconsiderate behavior with crude and indiscriminate technological solutions like cell phone jamming.
--Fuat