 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion Groups General General TopicsGSMBluetoothProviders AlltelATT WirelessCingularFidoNextelSprint PCST-MobileVerizonManufacturers EricssonNokiaMotorolaCountry Specific Australian GroupUK GroupRelated Topics PocketPCPalmMore Topics ... |
Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / ATT Wireless / September 2008iPhone 13 reasons to avoid: 1- You may be killed by wearing earphones
Headphones involved in freak accident, increments their death toll Mark Brezinski Published on May 15, 2008 We came across a story this morning from Canada that seems to indicate a disconcerting trend. Apparently a youth was walking to his mail box with his headphones on when a helicopter crashed into him. This death is being used to spur on conversations about safe headphone usage. Now, we agree that limiting your ability to hear isn't the best idea. It's also a bad idea when you need to listen to important instructions, such as during a race. It's an especially bad idea to in situations where you need to be mindful of loud incoming dangers, such as around trains, automobiles, or other things that move very, very quickly. That being said, we're pretty sure people have been being careless, or involved in accidents for a bit longer than the iPod craze. Further, how is this particular tragedy being toted as the reason headphone safety needs to be enforced? As far as we understand, the person involved just stepped out to get his mail when he had the misfortune of winning the worst possible lottery. We don't think it's grounds for launching a campaign to limit the use of headphones. If someone was reading, and therefore unable to see a rabid grizzly bear sneaking up behind them, would we consider banning books? Regardless of our views on the matter, it certainly seems as though headphone hysteria seems to be gaining ground, at least in terms of media buzz-worthiness. Something tells us this won't be the last time we get to use our "Headphones Attack!!" graphic. http://www.headphoneinfo.com/images/upload/Image/news/Furniture/Icons/vilificati on-320.jpg 2) iLightning Conductor: If the iPhone or iPod had a 4 foot metal pole attached to a golf club and the guy were standing in the middle of a prairie field during a thunderstorm . . . we could understand getting struck by lightning. However, in 2006, Jason Bunch was sitting in his Denver, CO living room listening to his iPod when he was struck by a bolt. He stated: “From where the iPod was, it damaged my hearing and it ruptured my eardrums. Where the cord was, it burned me all down my body,” said Bunch. “We need to shave my head because my hair is like dreadlocks. It’s all sticking together.” Here are a few lightning stats: Number of thunderstorms occurring at any given moment: 2000 Number of lightning strikes every second: 100 Number of lightning strikes per day: 8 Million Number of lightning strikes in the USA per year: 20 Million Number of VOLTS in a lightning flash: 1 Billion Number of AMPS in a lighting flash: between 10,000 and 200,000 And his iPod made Jason the unlucky guy to catch one of these... 4phun <vic.healey@gmail.com> wrote in news:0aae75f2-b4d0-40d4-b241- 92c7752ca754@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com: > And his iPod made Jason the unlucky guy to catch one of these... Did it say whether the Pod survived?....(c; 10M volts is kinda hard on CMOS.... > Did it say whether the Pod survived?....(c; > > 10M volts is kinda hard on CMOS.... On the bright side, it probably recharged the battery! ;-) 3) iAte my iPhone: Have you ever read the fine print on the back of your IPod or iPhone box? If not, it reads: “SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Ingesting or inhaling your iPhone or iPod earbuds may be hazardous to your health.” Why is this a potential hazard? Because the iPhone and iPod contain dibutyl phthalate (DBP) which has been proven to causes sexual malfunction in mammals. Want to be impotent? Eat your iPhone. 4) iPacemaker Interference: It took 7 years, but my family was finally able to get my grandpa adapted to the lowest form of 21st century technology: the computer. Next step: throwing in the old cassette tapes and teaching him the ways of the iPod. However, as it turns out, the iPod isn’t as friendly to bad heart patients as one might think. A Michigan student found that iPods caused interference in 50%, yes HALF of the pacemakers he used in the study. Considering the baby boomer population is approaching the age where a close relationship with a cardiologist is required, this study shows that having a pacemaker and an iPod could be a deadly combination. BREAKING: T.G.I. Friday's to follow Best Buy! T.G.I. Friday's Restaurants LLC becomes second independent iPhone retailer By PETER STEVENSON – 18 hours ago NEW YORK (AP) — T.G.I. Friday's Restaurants LLC will start selling the iPhone on Sept. 9, becoming the second U.S. chain to do so outside of Apple Inc.'s and AT&T Inc.'s own stores, and 2 days after electronics retailer Best Buy Co., in a deal announced earlier today. Wednesday's announcement by T.G.I. Friday's expands the availability of Apple's vaunted phone to 970 full-size restaurants and 16 smaller T.G.I. 2Go restaurants. It's also a coup for the Minneapolis-based chain, which has been upgrading its eateries. "We had a lot of work to do, obviously, to get in a position where Apple and AT&T would feel good about T.G.I. Friday's carrying it, and that's what we've done in the last 18 months," said Douglas Score, president of T.G.I. Friday's Restaurants. T.G.I. Friday's also plans to resell Apple's Mac computers and iPod media players. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the long-standing relationship between Apple's "Geniuses" and the company was the reason T.G.I. Friday's would now be able to sell the iPhone. "They pretty much eat here every day" said Rod McCormick, a Friday's regional manager, referring to Apple's technical support staff, know as the Genius Bar. "Friday's and Apple are staples of every mall." he added. Last week, T.G.I. Friday's announced it had completed a two-year conversion of its restaurants to include upgraded cell-phone departments under the T.G.I. Friday's 2Go brand. It has upgraded its computer systems to handle cell-phone activation and spent 250,000 hours training its waiters. Score said T.G.I. Friday's, which resells food under other brands, now has a 3.6 percent share of the chain restaurant market, up from 2 percent last year. It is a joint venture with Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, which sells the iPhone in Britain and is Europe's largest fried fish retailer. In Europe, independent chains like Treacher's have a much stronger presence, while the U.S. market is dominated by Olive Garden. AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone, sells it in more than 2,000 stores. Apple has 189 U.S. outlets. Another major restaurant chain, Ruby Tuesday's, sells AT&T phones, but not the iPhone. AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said he could not speculate on whether the iPhone would be sold at other third-party restaurants. A third restaurant, Applebee's, was turned down by Apple when approached regarding the iPhone. Customer confusion over the name of the restaurant was the speculated reasoning behind Apple's decision. "Smart" phones like the iPhone, which does e-mail, Web surfing, and accept third-party software, are a big focus for T.G.I. Friday's, Score said. Friday's are also the only authorized third-party reseller of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s iPhone-like Samsung Instinct. "The smart phones are what people are heading for," Score said. Apple launched the second generation of the iPhone on July 11. The two models cost $199 and $299 with two-year contracts. Fries are extra. http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130020&d=1218689001 4phun <vic.healey@gmail.com> wrote in news:cf466350-d383-42aa-86be- 8ab9e08b3cab@n33g2000pri.googlegroups.com: > NEW YORK (AP) - T.G.I. Friday's Restaurants LLC will start selling the > iPhone on Sept. 9, becoming the second U.S. chain to do so outside of > Apple Inc.'s and AT&T Inc.'s own stores, and 2 days after electronics > retailer Best Buy Co., in a deal announced earlier today. Get 'em drunk and sell 'em an iPhone and ATT contract.....Seems like a good marketing plan to me. Drunks won't notice the lack of so many simple browser features and how much it really costs to own one. > Get 'em drunk and sell 'em an iPhone and ATT contract.....Seems like a good > marketing plan to me. Drunks won't notice the lack of so many simple > browser features and how much it really costs to own one. I tried an iPhone yesterday at the Apple store in Valley Fair in San Jose. Several things I noticed right away that I didn't like: 1. Low ringer volume. I turned the iPhone ringer to the highest volume and I called it from my phone. You couldn't hear it ring in the noisy store unless you put your ear right down next to it. Apparently this has been a big complaint, and the workaround is to create a loud custom ring tone. See "http://www.iphonehacks.com/2007/08/ringer-volume.html" 2. It's not a great shape for a phone if you want your ear near the speaker, and your mouth near the microphone, though if you're using it with a Bluetooth headset this doesn't matter. 3. No voice-dialing. It's almost unbelievable that Apple didn't include voice dialing on the original iPhone, and even more unbelievable that they didn't correct this on the 3G model. 4. The browser, while better than the one on my old PocketPC, is still very limited in what it supports. 5. Entering a lot of text is not something you want to do with the virtual keyboard. If you're going to be doing a lot of e-mail then you want a phone with a slide-out keyboard. What I really don't like about the whole iPhone concept is paying such a high monthly fee, ostensibly for internet access, when there is so much free WiFi around, and when 3G is so limited in its coverage. I'd be using WiFi a lot on the iPhone because it's so much faster, yet paying a lot for 3G. [alt.cellular.cingular removed, Cingular no longer exists] SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in news:DDvwk.24295$xZ.5301 @nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com: > I tried an iPhone yesterday at the Apple store in Valley Fair in San > Jose. Several things I noticed right away that I didn't like: 100% on every point. You missed the glaring cut and paste omission. I can't send an Iphone a piece of text in email, have them cut it without completely retyping it on the awful fingerboard into another app. Another you missed is your smartphone is multitasking. The iPhone is only capable of running ONE flashlight app at a time. How stupid. This is 2008!! Every computer is multitasking, now, even the cheap sellphones! ATT was a big error. Steve Jobs was looking for a honey deal he could control. ATT was looking for someone to boost up their lack of real internet support. They were made for each other. Unfortunately, the customers are the ones paying the price. ATT 3G only covers part of the Charleston metro area, leaving out large areas of really affluent customers living in some really expensive real estate. It doesn't make any sense and they are doing nothing to correct it. Verizon and Alltel on CDMA have a fully operational CDMA/EVDO system across the state (SC). Alltel's EVDO even works in the far boondocks in tiny towns and the countryside around them where ATT can't even make a phone call, much less provide even EDGE. If you drive away from the interstates, here, you might as well leave your iphone at home. Jobs screwed up associating with ATT in the US. Apple put MONEY way ahead of SERVICE. If you're going to use wifi, why buy ANY device all hobbled up by the sellphone carriers designed to NOT use any bandwidth. That's just crazy! The hobbling and continuing company control and greed are more than enough to keep sensible users away from it. What good is a super internet device if you're not allowed to USE it for more than childish video games and a hobbled up home "box office" always trying to sell you songs on iTunes. I vowed long ago to never buy another MP3 player that REQUIRED me to use the company's stupid "loader" software before the player would actually play whatever I wanted in it. I also vowed I'd buy whatever device supported the MOST CODECS so I didn't have to stand by holding a video or music in my hand the damned thing WOULDN'T PLAY, DIRECTLY, without some kind of stupid, time-consuming "conversion" in that stupid "loader", either. Why would anyone buy a device that says its a movie player that only plays what Apple wants it to play so they can SELL 'em something?? Video comes in mpg and divx and avi. GET OVER IT! Quicktime didn't make a dent! ANY video player needs to play these three FIRST....not mov MP4 or some other company hobbled bullshit! Your browser comment is spot on. Why wouldn't they want Flash? BANDWIDTH....Flash is the default movie player on webpages at this point in time. No Flash....no movies....no bandwidth usage to save ATT costs. Imagine trying to sell a computer on a cable modem all hobbled up so it didn't use bandwidth on the cable modem. WHY ARE SELLPHONES DIFFERENT?! You gotta give 'em an "A" for salesmanship......Once brainwashed by the hype, they doggedly defend this crap like Jews do Israel. > ATT was a big error. To the contrary. AT&T was what was available. Verizon wasn't interested. > associating with ATT in the US. Apple put MONEY way ahead of SERVICE. Like most companies do. Just think of how Verizon would have demanded that iPhone be de-featured. > If you're going to use wifi, why buy ANY device all hobbled up by the > sellphone carriers designed to NOT use any bandwidth. Some people actually do need ubiquitous connectivity. Of course most of those people aren't buying iPhones. > You gotta give 'em an "A" for salesmanship......Once brainwashed by the > hype, they doggedly defend this crap like Jews do Israel. Wow, just when I forgot you were from the deep south, you say something really ignorant to remind everyone. Now hurry off to Waffle House for lunch. > To the contrary. AT&T was what was available. Verizon wasn't > interested. Wasn't interested with Apple's set of pre-conditions/demands, particularly the revenue sharing. (Ironically, those went away after year one, after not working out all that well. Seems Verizon was right after all!) > > associating with ATT in the US. Apple put MONEY way ahead of SERVICE. > > Like most companies do. Just think of how Verizon would have > demanded that iPhone be de-featured. True- like headset-only bluetooth support, single point of purchase for downloadable media... hey, wait a minute... ;-) > Wow, just when I forgot you were from the deep south, you say something > really ignorant to remind everyone. Now hurry off to Waffle House for lunch. You are being a little bigoted yourself. Being from the deep south has nothing to do with Larry's being ignorant or him being an ignorant anti-semite.  SignatureCharles >> You gotta give 'em an "A" for salesmanship......Once brainwashed by >> the hype, they doggedly defend this crap like Jews do Israel. > > Wow, just when I forgot you were from the deep south, you say > something really ignorant to remind everyone. Now hurry off to Waffle > House for lunch. What did I say that was "ignorant", Jews defend Israel? Is it the 'J'word that offends you or don't they defend Israel doggedly, no matter what atrocities it commits? http://www.gtr5.com/ Just so Americans NEVER forget.... It was no accident....ever. > I tried an iPhone yesterday at the Apple store in Valley Fair in San > Jose. Several things I noticed right away that I didn't like: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > to create a loud custom ring tone. See " > http://www.iphonehacks.com/2007/08/ringer-volume.html" Not a huge deal, IMO, as long a relatively simple workaround is available. > 2. It's not a great shape for a phone if you want your ear near > the speaker, and your mouth near the microphone... I think here, the problem is that older people (like us) treat their cellphones like 1960's-era Ma Bell wallphones. You aren't supposed to put "your mouth near the microphone." The condenser mics in electronic phones are plenty sensitive unlike the carbon elements in the phones we grew up with. Stick the speaker to your ear and let the mic do it's job from wherever it happens to be. Take any recent small candy-bar phone as an example. The Nokia 2610 I just picked up for my son is 3" long. Unless your head is the same size as the one on a Madame Alexander doll, there's no way the mic will be anywhere near your mouth when the phone is at your ear. This is by design. ( > though if you're > using it with a Bluetooth headset this doesn't matter. Exactly- you might have noticed the mic in a bluetooth earpiece is nowhere near your mouth either- like any modern cellphone mic, it's not designed to be near. > 3. No voice-dialing. It's almost unbelievable that Apple didn't include > voice dialing on the original iPhone, and even more unbelievable > that they didn't correct this on the 3G model. Agreed. It'll probably be corrected by 3rd-party software, but it was a very strange, glaring omission for a "high-end" phone. > 4. The browser, while better than the one on my old PocketPC, is still > very limited in what it supports. It's still far and away the best phone browser available today all-around (balancing rendering speed, UI, screen res, etc.) > 5. Entering a lot of text is not something you want to do with the >virtual keyboard. If you're going to be doing a lot of e-mail then you > want a phone with a slide-out keyboard. Or at least a dial-pad with predictive text. Anything you can actually press! > What I really don't like about the whole iPhone concept is paying > such a high monthly fee, ostensibly for internet access, when there > is so much free WiFi around, and when 3G is so limited in its coverage. How is that different than other carriers and platforms? Blackberries won't work without BIS or BES, so every carrier requires some specialized data plan, Verizon won't letyou activate a PDA phone without buying a data plan. I agree the policy stinks, but it's hard to pick on the iPhone alone for that flaw... > Headphones involved in freak accident, increments their death toll > Mark Brezinski > Published on May 15, 2008 Carelessness always nominates a candidate for a Darwin Award. Signaturejer email reply - I am not a 'ten' You think that a friggin' Hughes falling from the sky would generate enough noise to overcome any loud rap crap. Maybe the kid thought it was part of the song? (kerchunka-kerchunka-kerchunka-SPLAT!) On 9/3/08 11:09 PM, in article 7923fdcc-b03b-4e37-b1d4-d62e4d63356a@n38g2000prl.googlegroups.com, "4phun" <vic.healey@gmail.com> wrote: > Headphones involved in freak accident, increments their death toll > Mark Brezinski [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > http://www.headphoneinfo.com/images/upload/Image/news/Furniture/Icons/vilifica > tion-320.jpg We have all seen a person or two be hit by a car while on their iPod or iPhone, but chances are you didn’t know a man was actually hit by a train. Sure, drowning out the noise of an oncoming vehicle is impressive, but how loud was the music that caused a man to be hit by a train “The engineer blew the air horn several, several times, and then the boy turned around right before the train hit him, and he tried to jump out of the way,” Woodfin police officer Charles Robinson said.. In message <647cf432-965d-4ca0-baea-f3b0a53d0950@79g2000hsk.googlegroups.com> 4phun <vic.healey@gmail.com> wrote: >We have all seen a person or two be hit by a car while on their iPod >or iPhone, We have? >but chances are you didnt know a man was actually hit by a >train. Sure, drowning out the noise of an oncoming vehicle is [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >tried to jump out of the way, Woodfin police officer Charles Robinson >said.. Chances are the volume wasn't the problem, but rather, the choice of headphones. There are a number of noise isolation models out there, active noise cancellation wouldn't be sufficient for a train+horn, but the ear-canal headphones would probably do the trick. Terrorism runs deep these days, but perhaps the most innovative way to die by iPod or iPhone would be through a homemade bomb. As this article points out, a child made a homemade bomb out of his iPod which led to an explosion and his eventual hospitalization. There have also been many other reports of iPods and iPhones exploding while charging due to a battery malfunction. Although the explosions may be small in scale, as Greenpeace and others have pointed out, the chemicals are nothing you want to inhale. The life line of so many techies is potentially the life taker for many unlucky people in this world. And while the possibilities of it happening to you are minute, keep in mind that it could happen to anyone. Except for the helicopter crash, that guy was just the most unlucky person in the world. However, Apple does have a new system to counter the gruesome iPhone and iPod related fatalities: iDentification. . . it’s like a military dog tag that plays music. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.