Too Much Free Time

Too Much Free Time

by Mike Masnick


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Trying To Prevent Drunken Dialers

from the phew dept

Ah, the problems that new technology creates. Take the idea of drunken dialing, for instance. In the past, it was mostly limited to those who were drinking alone at home. However, with the mobile phone, it's become a much more widespread phenomenon. You go out for a few drinks with friends, and suddenly decide that it makes perfect sense for you to call your ex at 2am from whatever gutter you might be lying in. A study (done by Virgin Mobile, so be aware of the obvious bias) recently suggested that 95% of people admitted they were guilty of drunken dialing at one point or another -- with 30% of those calls going to exes and another 19% to current significant others. However, as with so many things, where technology creates tricky situations, technology can also save the day. Down in Australia, Virgin Mobile is going to now offer a new service that will let users easily create a blacklist of phone numbers that can't be called until 6am the following morning. Of course, the big problem with such a service is that most drunk dialers realize how silly it would be for them to call a certain number, and can't believe they'd ever be in such a state where it might make sense... while sober. So, how likely are they to set this up while sober? The point when it makes sense is when they're already drunk, but then it's too late.

12 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

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  1. Stuffy

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 2:59am

    "Of course, the big problem with such a service is that most drunk dialers realize how silly....."
    Dude, dont analyse like this. You are analysing for the sake of analysing.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Re: Stuffy

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 3:09am

    Hey Stuff-heard: What other types of analysing do you know?? Do you ever analyse without the need to analyse?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Re: Stuffy

    by Another Anonymous Coward - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 5:27am

    Then of course, if you could spell analyze, then it might make a difference?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. it a marketing ploy

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 6:39am

    Some ppl who have made such a mistake and feel embarassed might use this as a 'tipping point' - a reason to pick the carrier over another.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. Re: Stuffy

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 6:41am

    meh, the real problem with a service like this is that you are effectively spam-guarding yourself.........and quite frankly, that's pathetic.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. Drunk dialing

    by Mark - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 7:09am

    I was drunk-dialed once ... by a co-worker, in the middle of the afternoon. He had taken the day off to go to a baseball game, and he had a few too many beers in the bleachers, and the next thing I knew I was listening to him shout out details of the game into his cell phone. The Virgin feature wouldn't have helped a bit.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Re: Drunk dialing

    by Jim - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 8:34am

    My phone has a feature that would have helped.
    The "END" button.
    Or, put him on speaker phone for the whole office
    to hear.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. breathalyzer phone

    by ScooterBoy - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 11:52am

    or... even better.. put the breathalyzer in the phone.. if your BAC is over a certain percentage, you're not allowed to call your exes...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. 12 ez steps

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 12:40pm

    Sounds like a few too many people need to attend AA instead of expecting Virgin mobile to stop them from drunk dialing.

    This is pathetic.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  10. No Subject Given

    by Slappy - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 3:15pm

    This is just too funny to be objective about.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  11. bogus figures

    by aNonMooseCowherd - Nov 30th, 2004 @ 5:41pm

    95%? That's probably higher than the percentage of people who drink. Maybe they took this survey at bars at 2 a.m.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  12. Re: Stuffy

    by tahuya_rat - Aug 30th, 2005 @ 7:54am

    "Then of course, if you could spell analyze, then it might make a difference?"
    Most english speaking countries spell "analyze" with an "s", not a "z".
    This is the World Wide Web, not the Redneck American Web, ya hillbilly.
    Stop embarrassing the rest of the U.S. with your ignorant ramblings.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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