Friday, October 07, 2011
Driving while celled: Nothing new!
I'm especially hot about dickheads who use their Cellular Mobile Telephones while driving, because I got knocked down by such a dickhead exactly three years ago. Happy to see most states are now adopting strong laws against the practice.
Turns out the problem is not new, even though the free-standing cellphone is fairly new. Mobile car-mounted phone systems have been around since 1946, with special operators serving an elite population of doctors and executives.
A Fibber McGee episode in 1954 may have been the first recognition of the phenomenon in the realm of entertainment, and the first depiction of an accident caused by a car phone!
= = = = =
Sidetone: The Bell Tel article linked above also includes an nice informative history of the cell phone, and another fine aptronym:
"Something better — cellular telephone service — had been conceived in 1947 by D.H. Ring at Bell Labs, but the idea was not ready for prime time."
Turns out the problem is not new, even though the free-standing cellphone is fairly new. Mobile car-mounted phone systems have been around since 1946, with special operators serving an elite population of doctors and executives.
A Fibber McGee episode in 1954 may have been the first recognition of the phenomenon in the realm of entertainment, and the first depiction of an accident caused by a car phone!
= = = = =
Sidetone: The Bell Tel article linked above also includes an nice informative history of the cell phone, and another fine aptronym:
"Something better — cellular telephone service — had been conceived in 1947 by D.H. Ring at Bell Labs, but the idea was not ready for prime time."
Labels: Aptronym Alert
¶ 5:21 PM
