photo by: austinANOMIC
Brring-brring. “Farndale *(quote author), where the hell is your copy?”
“Ah yes, copy. Prose. The written word. Did I tell you that Joseph, our four-year-old, has just written his first word? It’s ‘tbehsp’. Must be Eastern European or something. Not a language I recognise, anyway. Little chap is very gifted.”
“What the —- are you talking about?”
“Like it, like it. An ironic allusion to The Sunday Telegraph’s campaign to stop people swearing in public life. Topical.”
“What is wrong with you?”
“Thanks for asking. I have been feeling a little run down lately. Must be the weather.”
“You’re fired.”
Researchers in Britain say that the ideal phone conversation should last for nine minutes and thirty-six seconds. That is based on the analysis of what more than 2,000 people liked and disliked about their phone conversations. You can read more on that on telegraph.co.uk.
But what should a phone call be? The ideal phone call should be a brief exchange of a few vital pieces of information. Just like a telegraph note in the past, only updated to have voice and almost complete mobility.
Current phone calls are more like letters than telegraph notes though. We chat about current affairs, personal problems, family news, the weather, TV shows, that guy, that chick, and so on, even though very often the one we’re chatting with probably lives less than five minutes away and we could easily meet and talk. Why bother meeting someone to talk about small things you say? Why call to talk about them then.
All in all though, psychotherapist Christine Webber says that “regular contact with friends or family brings down blood pressure, lowers cholesterol and may stave off dementia.” And in case they live too far, the ‘ideal’ phone conversation has reasons to be the ‘ideal’ length.
Further reading:
The Effect of Cellular Phone Use Upon Driver Attention
Mobile phone effects on children's event-related oscillatory EEG during an auditory memory task.
Strong Signal for Cell Phone Effects
EFFECTS OF CELL PHONE CONVERSATION DIFFICULTY ON DRIVING PERFORMANCE
Cell Phone Abuse. Are You A Victim?
