Filed under: Gadgets
Motorola introduces "polite" cell phone
OK, I admit it. I talk on my cell phone while driving. It's not a good excuse, but it's one
that most people use — there's just not enough time in the day, so you gotta multi-task.
Motorola evidently understands that some calls are important, while others can be screened, which is why the company is developing a cell phone that can sense what your driving conditions are and route calls accordingly. If you're parked, the phone will send all calls through. If you're cruising, important calls from phone numbers on your white list ring, but all others are sent to voicemail. In tense driving conditions, which are noted by your phone as frequent stops and turns, everything is sent to voicemail. And if your airbag deploys, your phone calls 911 for you.
Not everybody may appreciate their phone making decisions for them, but it's certainly a good alternative to banning driver cell phone use altogether, as some states do.
Thanks to Engadget for the tip.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Toneroo 10:37PM (12/18/2005)
Haha! Where did you find that picture? I can't remember the last time I saw a phone that big. It's sooo 1998.
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iQuack 10:37PM (12/18/2005)
Anything to encourage the cell phone blabbies from blabbing while they should be driving is welcome.
And as for "multi-tasking," that's just another way of doing several things badly instead of one thing well IMO.
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Michael 10:37PM (12/18/2005)
Some people can do it. Hell, pilots have to do many more tasks at once than a driver on a cell phone. We talk to ATC, while watching airspeed, attitude, as well as navigating on a course and correcting for wind. That's a bit more than steering a car and having a conversation with mom.
Most that I've seen just don't know how to or can't handle the more important task, which is controlling the vehicle. I'm talking about cars, not planes, we pilots know if we lose control we fall out of the sky ;)
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iQuack 10:37PM (12/18/2005)
Michael:
I don't consider piloting a plane "multi-tasking."
Sure, there are many things going on, but the one task you're doing is flying the plane.
If you were trying to do that AND write a poem for Mother's Day, I'd want to be on a different flight.
Complex tasks require focus and "multi-tasking," at least as I define it, diverts attention that can reduce performance--often with dangerous consequences.
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Eyad 10:37PM (12/18/2005)
Menu-> Settings-> Manage Calls-> White List-> Add All Contacts? Yes please.
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Michael 10:37PM (12/18/2005)
Hmm.. toobad I didn't read this earlier.
iQuack, I really don't care what you consider multitasking. With your logic I could say everything in your life is "living" and you don't multitask, you do one thing.
How do you think planes crash? There is a chain of events where attention is diverted, or something is happening, or something breaks and isn't recovered from.
I think if you've actually done it you could tell me what it is/isn't. Try it sometime ;)
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