The speakerphone paradox

[u/NeighborhoodJust1197]

I was at the pool today when a woman started having a conversation on her phone using the speaker.

I politely asked her if she could not use the speaker and pointed to my headphones.
She said, “I don’t have headphones.”
So I said, “You can just hold the phone next to your ear.”

She looked at me with a completely blank expression and said, “I’m on speakerphone.”
I said, “Well… that’s the problem.”

Apparently, we had reached the limits of modern technology.

[u/jxhfield]

no way this is really the answer. right? (like please actually tell me i’m wrong)

[u/josephlucas → u/jxhfield]

Yes, but what people don’t seem to understand is they do it on TV so the cameras can pick up the audio from the phone call, not because it’s a trendy thing to do. It was purely a practical solution to a problem and then idiots started imitating them

[u/ElPared → u/josephlucas]

Correction: it’s a cheap solution.

In the olden days they’d record the phone audio separately and edit it into the episode to keep the phone conversation coherent. Now instead of paying an editor to do that, they just have the actors put their call on speaker.

And yes I said actors. Reality TV is just as scripted as everything else now, might as well call the people player their characters what they are, even if they’re not always good at it.

[u/jxhfield → u/josephlucas]

lmfao i thought that was obvious, no way people think they do it for any other reason. but maybe i’m giving people too much credit

[u/spicenoice → u/jxhfield]

I thought they did it because they don't think about other people and have trouble hearing 

[u/M0mmaSaysImSpecial → u/josephlucas]

I feel like you just realized that after the first guys post and decided we all “need to understand” and what you don’t seem to understand is that is exactly what the first guy was saying and we all got it.

[u/npsimons → u/jxhfield]

"Think about how dumb the average person is. Then realize that half the population is stupider than that."

I'm paraphrasing, but it's still true.

[u/linds360 → u/jxhfield]

I really do think it’s a contributing factor. Reality tv stars have to talk on speakerphone so it can be captured on the camera audio. I have no doubt there are people of such low intelligence that they have never made that connection and therefore believe it’s the “cool” thing to do bc their heros are doing it.

[u/urlach3r → u/jxhfield]

Main character syndrome

[u/monstamasch → u/jxhfield]

Idk, the comment you're replying to isn't wrong exactly, but I just don't understand their jump to that specific conclusion of all things

[u/FidgitForgotHisL-P → u/jxhfield]

As daft as it sounds, this is probably what’s going on.

Toy phones are still modeled like landlines - kids recognise them as an old fashioned thing and know how to hold one to their head.

But they see people on tv and around them using smartphones by looking at the screen, not necessarily connecting the dots between the toy phone and a smartphone.  So they just never got taught to use one like a landline, and you’re doing either speaker or some weird thing where you hold the bottom up to your ear to hear them out it at your mouth to talk and keep moving it back and forth.

We think of this stuff as obvious, but unless someone’s teaching you, I guess it really wasn’t!

[u/Tiny_Rat → u/FidgitForgotHisL-P]

So they just never got taught to use one like a landline

That would make sense if most of the people using speakerphone like this were under 25 or so, but they're not. There's loads of people doing this in their 40s/50s or older, who were full-ass adults by the time speakerphone on a cell phone became commonplace. They know how to use landlines, they just dont think the same basic rules apply. 

[u/FidgitForgotHisL-P → u/Tiny_Rat]

Oh damn ok yeah I’m mostly thinking of post-smartphone kids, not adults that have no excuse.

[u/Sennten → u/jxhfield]

The real answer is that they are using the phone the way its designed to be used and not inconvencing themselves by using it in a way it wasnt designed to be used (even if it is still possible)