19.340 contemplation and computing

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 19, No. 340.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                   www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                        www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                     Submit to: humanist_at_princeton.edu

   [1] From: Timothy Mason <timothyjpmason_at_gmail.com> (12)
         Subject: Re: 19.337 contemplation and computing

   [2] From: Duane Gran <dmg2n_at_virginia.edu> (16)
         Subject: Re: 19.337 contemplation and computing

--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 06:41:10 +0100
         From: Timothy Mason <timothyjpmason_at_gmail.com>
         Subject: Re: 19.337 contemplation and computing

The cell-phone conversation is more annoying than an ordinary one, it
appears (Jacob Nielsen cites the research in his news-letter, which
is web-available). This seems to be because, unable to hear the other
half of the conversation, the involuntary participant finds him or
herself trying to fill it in.

There is also the question of volume; although not all users of
cell-phones speak louder than in normal conversation, many of them do.

Personally, although I do find phone-calls often irritate, my own
dislike of public transport stems more from having to encounter the
serial sniffer/snorter - and that predates the micro-chip by many centuries.

Best wishes

Timothy Mason

--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 06:44:44 +0100
         From: Duane Gran <dmg2n_at_virginia.edu>
         Subject: Re: 19.337 contemplation and computing

Patrick raises a good question about how one-sided mobile phone
conversations cause such ire whereas two-way conversations nearby
don't. Andew Monk, a Psychology professor at the University of York,
summarized his study on the matter in _Behaviour and Information
Technology_ titled "Why are mobile phones annoying?" The full
citation is:

Monk, A.F., Carroll, J., Parker, S., Blythe, M. (2004) Why are mobile
phones annoying? Behaviour and Information Technology, 23, 33-41.

His conclusion was that people pay more attention when they only hear
half of the conversation because it is jarring to our senses. Add to
this the tell-tale "cell phone yell" and it is no wonder that being
within ear shot of a phone conversation is quite different from
regular conversations in our midst. Jacob Neilson wrote a nice
summary of the study as it pertains to usability:

    http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040412.html

Duane Gran
Received on Fri Oct 14 2005 - 01:54:42 EDT