Reply to comment

Atomuser, Glad you liked the first 2/3rds! The static only lasts about ten seconds or so, so you may want to just mute your speakers for a bit and then it's OK. I agree this problem of technology making us invisible to one another is a serious thing. I can easily see a time when we all have a "help" button on our phones that calls everyone within a 100ft. radius for emergencies. But that's only a limited solution to the specific kind of scenario you describe. A larger and more important issue is to find ways to promote a humanistic (and I mean this in the classic sense) culture of technology use. Maybe OATS can develop a workshop on this, and we can enlist older adults in promoting some best practices around the issue. I.e, put your caller on hold when you reach the register. No phones in movies or speeches (that presentation I gave was slightly marred by a younger woman, oblivious to the effect, talking on her cell phone for part of the speech!!). That sort of thing. Tom