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Feb 2008 Issue
By Dave Ellis
Have you ever purchased a very expensive tool and decided because it cost so much you should wear it around like a fashion accessory? Me neither. Yet thousands of people do this on a daily basis with their Bluetooth headsets. For those of you that don’t look at people’s ears, a Bluetooth headset is that Star Trek/Wars looking device that people wear when they are making a phone call. This month’s article is mostly a rant about those who wear them. I love rants, they make my keyboard all warm and clacky.
Regarding headsets, wear them when you make a phone call and then TAKE THEM OFF. I cannot stress this more except through italics and bold, TAKE THEM OFF. See? They are not a fashion accessory or status symbol. They are a tool for communicating. But people are abusing the tool by leaving them on all the time.
I once had a sales guy come to my office to present his product line and left his headset in his ear the entire time. It was very distracting as I wasn’t sure if he was really paying attention to me or was going to beam back up to the Enterprise in the middle of his pitch. I even have heard about people wearing these things at church…while they were up on the stand! Holy cow. Here’s a tip: unless you are a Navy SEAL on a covert operation you do not need to wear a headset 24/7.
Also people call the headsets by the wrong name. I would be amiss if I didn’t let my ‘computer guy’ side of me get technical on you. Ahem. Please refer to your headset as a Bluetooth headset or wireless headset but not a Bluetooth. What’s the difference you ask?
Well… Let me roll up my nerd sleeves. Bluetooth is a wireless technology, it is also found in other hardware like printers and storage devices. So it’s not just made for headsets. So don’t call it a Bluetooth. It would be like calling a blender an “electric” because it runs on electricity. Please tell your friends about this. Nerd out.
I think the main problem is that we have become slaves to our technology, and this is coming from a guy that works in the information technology field. For example, go into to any grocery store and you’ll find about 70% of the people talking on their cell phones. And what important information is being exchanged? Nothing. Here is a typical call:
Annoying Cell Phone Caller: “Yeah I’m at the grocery store. I know. I know. I KNOW! Wow, did you know they have four kinds of canned mushrooms here? I know. I know. I KNOW!
So did you hear what he said to her? I know, I know…” End Scene.
Captivating conversation isn’t it? This goes on all over the store. So my real question is what did people do before cell phones? Did they just quietly shop or did they mumble to themselves up and down the aisles like my father does? (He really does do this.)
So should we always be connected just because we can be? No.
Should you really talk louder just because you are on a cell phone? Yes, but only if you are talking about personal medical problems and are in a crowded restaurant.
Just remember when you are done talking to take off your headset. Or leave it in if you need to get back to your covert Navy SEAL operation. Rant out.
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