Cell Phones Changing Social Group Communication 430
Mortimer.CA writes "An interesting article on how cell phones are changing the way people interact and get together in Japan. Some interesting quotations: 'To not have a keitai (cell phone) is to be walking blind, disconnected from just-in-time information on where and when you are in the social networks of time and place.' And the new social faux pas: 'One college student I spoke to described leaving one's phone at home or letting the battery die as "the new taboo."' The article mentions the book Smart Mobs which was mentioned on Slashdot before. I keep thinking how Marshal McLuhan said that our new inventions change the way we view the world. This is 'obvious' now, but was quite a new idea when he thought of it. In the 40s and 50s you "needed" to get a (land line) phone, then it was cars, email, and now cell phones. What's next? Is it simply a matter of keeping up with the Joneses?"
Re:about letting the battery die (Score:2, Informative)
Re:gotta remember this is a japanease (Score:2, Informative)
You're wrong, but so is everyone else :) (Score:5, Informative)
The very earliest types of rechargable batteries, used on things like satellites, suffered from what is known as a 'memory' effect. In silly terms, it basically means that if you charge a half-full battery, it'll 'remember' where the charge started from, and only go on to do a half charge. When it reaches the halfway point, the battery 'thinks' it's empty. So you've just halved your battery life. Wash, rinse, repeat until the battery is useless.
When consumer rechargables started becoming common, early chargers (and a lot still do this today on NiCads) would keep applying current to the battery, even if it was fully charged. This 'overcharging' can seriously decimate the life of a battery - it renders useless the chemicals needed to drive the electric current.
So basically, people were overcharging their batteries left, right, and centre. Manufacturers started telling people not to continuously charge their devices, ie: leave the cordless phone off the hook for a while, things like that. Between noone explaining the principle of overcharging, and companies not fully understanding it themselves, we've moved on to 'completely drain any device before you charge it again'. Ironically this can actually lessen the life of many types of rechargables, including the new funky rechargable alkalines you see everywhere.
Anyway, the memory effect was only ever seen with batteries that never made it into consumer hands. But the myth lives on. There never was a reason for the drain-and-charge cycle. Overcharging was the problem all along.
Memory effect in NiCads (Score:3, Informative)
-In my college chemistry class, I asked the professor this very question. According to him, a Ni-Cad battery develops a memory due to the plates in the battery crystallizing if not used for a long period of time. If a battery is only half-discharged before charging, the metal that is not used in the chemical process will eventually crystalize and not react even if the user tries to discharge the battery beyond half-capacity. A battery conditioner, if I understand properly, will discharge a battery completely before recharging, ensuring that the metal doesn't have a chance to crystallize. For batteries that have the effect already, teh conditioner will deep discharge the battery, "ripping" the metal atoms from the crystal structure and gradually restoring battery capacity.
When I was in the Navy, the submarine battery would show an increase in capacity if was deep-cycled a few times (like when running casualty drills over a period of several days).
-(from http://wireless.berkeley.edu/services/battery.sht
Partial cycles will form dendrites on the plates which cause the memory effect. My speculation is that these dendrites will either (a) undergo rapid chemical process when the battery is used because they are thin relative to the plates or (b) break off and not take part in the process at all.
So the "memory effect" is no myth. I would suspect that battery manufacturers have engineers who are well-versed in such matters and probably have at least half a clue as to what they're talking about.
http://www.valence.com/chemistries.asp
http://
Re:Am I the only that hates cell phones? (Score:2, Informative)
It _is_ considered impolite _especially_ with mobile phones. The article also mentions that before people make an actual call, they send messages to find out whether the partner can be interrupted. The fact that calling somebody on a mobile phone is such an intrusion makes it necessary to "warn" the partner. Thus, phoning somebody get's more complex...Weird, isn't it?
Theatre work - cell phone is deity-sent (Score:3, Informative)
I do stagehand work, among other things. Most stagehands around here carry cellphones, and that's the primary contact for the union business agent (BA). In this case it's important to be reachable, and the BA rarely wastes one's time on the phone anyway.
I'd much rather be able to be anywhere - home, at another gig, downtown in a tea shop, etc. than have to be constantly checking my messages at home. I suppose they had methods before telephones became common, but I have better things to do than drop by the union hall every morning to see if there's work.
Re:Am I the only that hates cell phones? (Score:2, Informative)
Just because this may be the acceptable norm in your part of the world, doesn't mean it's like that everywhere else.
Re:Great...More people bugging me with phones... (Score:4, Informative)
Irrelevant. At least one study [utah.edu] seems to indicate that it doesn't matter whether the phones are hands-free or not, the risk is still there. According to the same link, a previous study revealed that talking on the phone impairs driving ability significantly more than talking to other passengers in your vehicle.
Re:Am I the only that hates cell phones? (Score:2, Informative)