"Paul Burridge" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 21:30:57 +0000, John Woodgate
wrote:

I read in sci.electronics.design that Ken Taylor
wrote (in ) about 'mobile
(cell) phone jamming', on Wed, 24 Dec 2003:

What's the difference whether I'm talking to a person in the flesh or
via a
piece of plastic and metal.

It's not the phoning that's annoying, it's the loud voice, which is
quite unnecessary but we've got used to it through using ordinary
phones. Ordinary phones have 'sidetone' anyway - you hear your own voice
in the earpiece and that helps to control your own voice level. Mobile
phones DON'T HAVE SIDETONE, which is a bit of a surprise when you first
realise it. WHY they don't have it, I don't know; maybe the small
dimensions mean that a usable level of sidetone results in acoustic
feedback. But a mobile with sidetone might eliminate the annoying VOICE
LEVEL.

Agreed. That's the nub of it. And there are still a lot of folks
around who seem to think if the person they're calling is a long way
away, they need to shout even louder!

Aint that the truth! I'll go along with that argument - discretion is such a
poorly rated virtue.

Ken