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People sending text messages in the centre of the Belgian city of Antwerp have been provided with dedicated temporary "text walking lanes" so that they do not collide with pedestrians.
The initiative - some would say publicity stunt - is the brainchild of a smartphone store based in the city. It says that a significant number of mobile phone breakages happen because of "text walking" collisions. There are now believed to be more mobile phones in the world than people.
Figures released by mobile operators and associated companies show that there are about 7.5 billion mobiles in the world, compared to a world population estimated to be 7.2 billion by the US Census Bureau. The "text walking lanes" may become permanent fixtures
"You probably walk through the streets while texting or sending Whatsapp messages to your friends and don't really pay attention to your surroundings - only to whatever is happening on your screen," a spokesman for Mlab, a smart phone laboratory based in Antwerp, was quoted by Yahoo News as saying.
Original Submission
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @01:36PM
It says that a significant number of mobile phone breakages happen because of "text walking" collisions.
Like cars the phones can be insured, many probably are. More accidents = more money for people who fix things or sell new things. The state can even get involved via mandatory liability insurance for texting. A walker's license? I rather like the absurdity of it all.
Imagine how wonderful it would be if all we had to worry about was whether or not people walked into each other. I propose free chewing gum be supplied with each mobile purchased. If people bump into one another more there's a greater chance they'll meet one another via face to face encounter. If the TV isn't lying again, then aren't such accidents how a significant number of romances start?
Light bulbs cast shadows on windows and let predators know where your wife and kids are! Riding on a fast train could cause women's uterus to fly out of her body! Player pianos will destroy the music industry. With phonographs kids will no longer sing the songs of the day. These were supposed concerns used in past FUD campaigns. Will the over-exaggerated dangers of new never end? I remember when people used to walk around tech-naked. We had to whistle, hum, sing or talk amongst each other to avoid bearing the silence. Even then we were told our distractions were dangerous and to pay more attention when crossing roads. Then came the portable radios and cassette players. Hysteria was raised over the volume of headphones. With those infernal contraptions filling their heads with devil music people couldn't hear things around them and were even going deaf! There was even a ridiculous GI Joe PSA where a child on the tracks couldn't hear a train coming because of his walkman, despite the locomotive's deafening whistle -- Made me want a pair of those headphones that could drown out a freight train. Now I want an App so engrossing it's deadly. I can't wait for what hysteria will surround the next batch of tech.
"You probably walk through the streets while texting or sending Whatsapp messages to your friends and don't really pay attention to your surroundings"
Not me, buster. I was raised in a state of fear. That text message might be from a stranger, and I don't talk to strangers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23 2015, @01:57PM
Free chewing gum? You expect them to be able to text, walk AND chew gum?
(Score: 5, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday June 23 2015, @02:19PM
No, Mr. Bond, I expect them to die.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh