Hedge*hog*ing v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.
–Evidently, New Yorkers aren’t confident that their citizens have been trained to look both ways before crossing the street. (Isn’t teaching that to your children a cardinal rule of parenthood?) A New York state senator vetted the idea of legislation that would outlaw the use of handheld devices including iPods and cellphones while crossing streets. Violators would face a $100 fine. Sen. Carl Kruger said three pedestrians have been killed in the past several months in his district after stepping into traffic while distracted with a handheld device. Meanwhile, New York is also home to a bill that would require wireless carriers to provide more detailed coverage maps, including where location-based E-911 works.
We’re pretty sure both efforts are overkill. First off, if someone is distracted enough not to look both ways before crossing the street, we don’t think they’re going to be alert enough to remember to turn off the iPod at intersections-at least not until they’re fined several times. And how would law enforcement know if the iPod was on or off? Does Sen. Kruger really want to legislate earphones and Bluetooth headsets?
And while coverage maps are a great idea, what people really want is a guarantee that their E-911 call will get connected, and with airwaves, there are few guarantees.
–We need to do something about the homeless. The roaming homeless. Not actual homeless people, but the teeming masses walking the 3GSM World Congress show floor snatching up every trinket offered and somehow latching it onto every square inch, or centimeter, of body space. Do these people really need another glow-in-the-dark rubber ball or vinyl bag?
–We are shocked-shocked-that Cingular chose to offer mobile TV service using MediaFLO’s network. Does this mean all those off-the-record stories that AT&T Inc. Chairman Ed Whitacre said he would never use Qualcomm technology untrue? Or is Ed getting softer as his kingdom grows?
–Cameron Diaz was paid $3 million to hawk cellphones for Japanese company SoftBank, according to US magazine. She worked for six hours. We’re jealous, but we can’t think of anything mean to say except that it makes us wonder what her ringtone is. Perhaps Justin Timerberlake’s “Cry Me A River?” The magazine says Brad Pitt also has been a paid spokesman in Japan.
–We were overwhelmed by all of the annoucements coming out of 3GSM World Congress. Some PR folks must have been working their tails off. Here’s a hint for next year’s show: Unless you are one of the top 10 major wireless companies, save your annoucement for later. Even if it’s valid, it gets lost in the crush of new handsets, merger-and-acquisition news and the rest.
