E-Tools Of Satan

Dick Meyer Ponders The Nanny State, Mobile Tech And The Decline Of Civilization

(CBS)  This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.

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I know the term "nanny state" is supposed to be derogatory but I don't have a problem with it. Especially if the nanny is British, old-fashioned, strict and spiny, like Margaret Thatcher.

So Carl Kruger doesn't really fit my image of the archetypal nanny statesman. Kruger is a Democratic state representative from Brooklyn and he has the accent and schlumpy bearing to prove it.

Wednesday, he became my current hero as he introduced legislation to ban iPods from pedestrian use in the intersections of big city streets in New York state. If Rep. Kruger's wisdom prevails, anyone nabbed crossing a street with iPod pods crammed in their ears will get tagged with a $100 ticket. If only Barney Fife could have lived to see this day.

Kindly Kruger is doing this for our own good. He's concerned about the safety of pedestrians. Apparently, a 21-year-old man in his district was, um, permanently unplugged when he stepped into traffic while listening to his music-spewing device. Personally, I am inclined to think that such incidents, however tragic, show Darwinism at work. Perhaps I am being uncharitable. Whatever: my interest in Kruger's legislation lies elsewhere.

Portable devices such as the iPod and the cell phone are dangerous to the mental health of homo sapiens living together in crowded quarters, if not to actual life and limb. They foster rudeness and public narcissism at a time when those vices need no encouragement. Kruger aptly calls it "iPod Oblivion."

Many mobile technologies foster this obliviousness: BlackBerrys, GameBoys, those hideous Bluetooth dealies that jut from your ears like Frankenstein plugs, portable mini-DVD players and cell phones have some tactile, addictive quality that makes people fondle them incessantly.

These devices not only "connect" people, they disconnect them, too. Talking full volume on a phone in a crowded waiting room to your old roommate about his long battle with eczema may connect you to your faraway friend, but it alienates you from the people in the room. Indeed, it signals disrespect to them and their privacy.

Now, it appears these mobile e-tools of Satan provide precisely what many people navigating the outside world want and need: obliviousness. Indeed, young people see it as a basic human right, like free speech and gun-toting.

Lots of people want to tune the world out, a feeling to which I am thoroughly sympathetic. But the time to tune out the world is not when you are in the world. The guy at CVS today who let the door swing shut on me because he was yakking on his gizmo should not be oblivious in that situation. Yes, that is a moral, normative declaration: he ought to have held the door for me.

Nanny Kruger rightly says that if you want to listen to music outside in the city, take a walk in the park or sit on a bench. Do not impose your oblivious, impervious, me-first self to the world in a way that communicates, "You don't exist."

A friend who has lived in a large Washington apartment building for many years reports that as the neighborhood yuppifies and her "neighbors" in the building become steadily more affluent, and younger, they have also become ruder.

She blames the pods. Plugged into music, phones or PDAs, her neighbors don't hold the elevator, hold the grocery bag while a neighbor fiddles for a key, or even say "hello" in the lobby. Pod people: I wish they'd all go away, as Frank Zappa might have sung.

I spent a week on a university campus recently, playing amateur anthropologist. I noticed that as students left class, most of them instantly got out their cell phones or attached their umbilical iPod cords. I rarely saw groups talking or laughing or just interacting. It seemed isolating.

Am I making technology a scapegoat for the decline of common courtesy? Sure, what's so wrong with scapegoats? But, really, I am not a Luddite; I am a crank.

Actually, this kind of use of technology as a shield, I think, reflects a social isolation — and a real desire to be oblivious to a nasty, snarky world — that is very real. I think there is no established etiquette for using this technology around others and that creates a vacuum: rudeness abhors a vacuum. Jugular-seeking marketers know this perfectly well and they make ads that try to make us feel OK about being hedonistic, unencumbered consumers.

But the march to rudeness is not inexorable. Grownups respond to skilled nanny-ing just like children. For example, many stores, restaurants, trains and waiting rooms now prohibit cell phones. People often scold cell phone boors in public. And I actually think that as a result, cell phone manners are slowly improving.

Similarly, we will increasingly tease and torture goons who use BlackBerrys during conversations, at the dinner table and in meetings. A few companies now have "no CrackBerry in meetings" rules. Perhaps PDA-etiquette will also improve.

Probably the law or civic initiative that most influenced my own behavior was anti-litter signs. That may seem silly (OK, it is), but I am constitutionally incapable of littering. That's because I vividly recall being terrified by signs on Sheridan Road outside Chicago threatening litterers with fines of $15.00. (I thought it was $1,500!) We were taught about it in school, too. Now, littering was probably a big problem in the '50s and '60s when car ownership, suburbs and "to go" exploded. Nothing is more disrespectful of your surrounding and neighbors than littering. And nannies helped curb it. There is hope from e-tool litter and rudeness.

Obviously, manners and basic courtesy are meant to be taught by parents (and communities), not state representatives. But it doesn't logically follow that the government we fund and participate in can't try to contribute.

So Rep. Kruger is part of that great invisible hand that helps keep us mildly predatory, featherless bipeds from violent anarchy. He's part of the nanny state. I don't know why conservatives hate that idea so much. Who else but nannies will discipline us brats and teach the manners, traditions of respect, and high culture that conservatives are supposed to like so much?

As much as I might wish for it, I don't expect a surge in courtesy-vigilantes to hit the streets. But I do at least expect that if you're reading this indoors, you'll take your hat off.

Thank you very much.

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Dick Meyer is the editorial director of CBSNews.com, based in Washington.

E-mail questions, comments, complaints, arguments and ideas to
Against the Grain. We will publish some of the interesting (and civil) ones, sometimes in edited form.

[mcg907]

While the concept of containment is attractive, the reality of attempting to get folks unplugged sounds daunting. Can we envision a time when police officers haunt the crosswalks of America, munching donuts and drinking coffee, just waiting for that next person wearing earbuds will fling themselves into traffic as a sacrificial offering to the god of crossings? "Hey! What about the murder going on down the street?" "Don't bother me, bud, I'm protecting the cars from people in 'iPod oblivion'."

Is this chlorination of the gene pool? Will only the children of iPod users who are adroit enough not to be run over by cars be the new Darwinian winners who live to found a stronger humanity?

As an occasional cell phone and iPod user I remember the "truism" I heard when I moved to the greater Boston area. The difference between Boston drivers and New Hampshire drivers is that one will apologize after hitting a pedestrian while the other will not %u2013 but I can never remember which one it is. Hence, I avoid the need to find out which has just run me down.

As to restaurants, the best method of dealing with the annoyance of people shrieking into a cell phone is to block the signals there. "Gee, sorry we have such bad reception here. Have a cuppa and a biscuit, why don%u2019t cha?%u201D

What did we do before people were plugged into little machines that made noises? Oh, I remember, we talked to each other - face to face. How quaint.

[mcg907]

While the concept of containment is attractive, the reality of attempting to get folks unplugged sounds daunting. Can we envision a time when police officers haunt the crosswalks of America, munching donuts and drinking coffee, just waiting for that next person wearing earbuds will fling themselves into traffic as a sacrificial offering to the god of crossings? "Hey! What about the murder going on down the street?" "Don't bother me, bud, I'm protecting the cars from people in 'iPod oblivion'."

Is this chlorination of the gene pool? Will only the children of iPod users who are adroit enough not to be run over by cars be the new Darwinian winners who live to found a stronger humanity?

As an occasional cell phone and iPod user I remember the "truism" I heard when I moved to the greater Boston area. The difference between Boston drivers and New Hampshire drivers is that one will apologize after hitting a pedestrian while the other will not %u2013 but I can never remember which one it is. Hence, I avoid the need to find out which has just run me down.

As to restaurants, the best method of dealing with the annoyance of people shrieking into a cell phone is to block the signals there. "Gee, sorry we have such bad reception here. Have a cuppa and a biscuit, why don%u2019t cha?%u201D

What did we do before people were plugged into little machines that made noises? Oh, I remember, we talked to each other - face to face. How quaint.

[tunman-2009]

I work with a bunch of 20 somethings, and everyday they are wired for sound. This creates a culture of isolation in the work place, where you have to wait to for the earplugs to be removed before they will respond to you. Years from now the hearing loss will take its toll, but its all for the moment.

[victoriarum]

Unfortunately, the responsibility of law enforcement agency will have to increase and expand to accommodate the rapid changes, and with these new changes, laws should go into affect.

Law enforcement agencies will need to be enforcing these laws not only for the murders but, for those who use technology that is hazardous, regardless of their shape and size.


God Bless.

[gmcnally2]

***, did you write this just to generate 15 pages of replies? Maybe you should write a column on homosexual marriage? That always stirs em up. This seems too inane to have been seriously considered.
Let's pass a law to make 'Deaf Person Oblivion' punishable by death, since we cannot fix that yet. Then let's pass laws on not turning out in front of someone on the road, or driving 5 miles under the speed limit. And I think it is because of 'Car Radio Oblivion', so let's make those illegal to listen to. Then let's make every other person in the country a cop to enforce our new laws.
Let's also pass laws mandating courtesy, since that is what seems to be the core issue with so many Baby Boomers. Then let's pass laws against moronic Opinion columns, because all these freedoms are a drag.

[pray2ourlady]

Amen, Amen & Amen. Cell phones and ipods have brought rudeness to a new low. I've dined in a nice restaurant where a man in an adjacent booth sat with his wife and daughter, and spent the whole time on the phone, with not one word to his family. He did take time to eat. Also been in line at a cosmetics counter in an upscale store when the clerk is trying to complete a sale while the purchaser is loudly talking on her cell phone. We have a very popular local frozen yogurt place where the customer is greeted with a conspicuous sign at the counter. Wish that ALL stores had this one: "When you are finished with your cell phone call, we'll be glad to wait on you."

[hwk_i67]

gmcnally,

You need to seriously consider switching to decaf. Or maybe you are one of those people who gets so indignant when a whole cinema tells you to "Shut the he** up!" when you're talking to someone on your cellphone during the movie. Either way, lighten up and unclench a little bit.

[bobebenson]

As long as the pedestrian is crossing the street in accordance to the lights/laws, it's the DRIVER'S FAULT if he gets hit. I think it's tome for a refresher course in pedestrian's right-of-way laws and courteous driving. IPODS, satan or plain old absent mindedness are not the problem. Impatient, arrogant, in-a-hurry drivers are the ones that need to be arrested and turned into pedestrians!

[gmcnally2]

Hwk_i67
I do not go to movies, own an iPod, or fail to understand that because there is no sidetone in a cell phone does not mean I do not need to shout at it. I also am courteous and have already held open a door for a lady this morning. But instead of passing legislation Boomers should try engaging everyone else, and not be afraid to pass on their control. "Unclench", if you will. Now I will have my morning coffee....

[michellem99-2009]

I

[mgpm-2009]

I don't think a law will help this. It is annoying, I agree. I have a cell, but I don't yap on it all day. My 16 yr old daughter is plugged into ipod and phone constantly, however. Except when I call. Then she mysteriously doesn't answer. Anyway, I find the ocean of people who are disconnected a big annoyance, slightly dangerous, somewhat pretentious. Not to mention that ettiquette has completely gone out the window. I dunno. Just one more sign we're headin' to armageddon I guess. :)

[aaabee-2009]

*** is never rude. It is always the Other Person who is rude. Technology makes those Other People even more rude. He however, is never rude so he am free to comment on the behaviors of others and to tell everyone else how they should conduct their business when they are within his proximity. *** can do this, he has a column on CBSNews. *** is never rude. Let us all put away our technology for ***.

[aaabee-2009]

The **** in my last comment was Mr. Meyers first name. I find it funny his first name was censored. Maybe it is a sign, Mr. *** Meyers.

[michellem99-2009]

I think that something have to be said on this issue. I feel that the cellphone is a good tool to have. I don't own one. I do feel that users are rude for the most part. It would be nice of them to turn off their cell when crossing the street,driving,in businesses,etc. I do keep in touch with a loved one when he is out due to personal reasons. I feel that the human race will go on. I do like the computer as I can post my say. Also read yours. I am a visually and hearing impaired so this is a help to me.What I did before computer was try to hear words which I can't very well. I talk face to face. I share with my friend the way I always have. Write notes. Be there. *** Meyer.I don't agee with you on everything. I wesr my hat indoors by the way.Ladies do. I am 52 and I don't own an ipod. I see others use their notebook computer on the bus as that is cool as they are quiet. I am older that use a home computer.

[mcg907]

While the concept of containment is attractive, the reality of attempting to get folks unplugged sounds daunting. Can we envision a time when police officers haunt the crosswalks of America, munching donuts and drinking coffee, just waiting for that next person wearing earbuds will fling themselves into traffic as a sacrificial offering to the god of crossings? "Hey! What about the murder going on down the street?" "Don't bother me, bud, I'm protecting the cars from people in 'iPod oblivion'."

Is this chlorination of the gene pool? Will only the children of iPod users who are adroit enough not to be run over by cars be the new Darwinian winners who live to found a stronger humanity?

As an occasional cell phone and iPod user I remember the "truism" I heard when I moved to the greater Boston area. The difference between Boston drivers and New Hampshire drivers is that one will apologize after hitting a pedestrian while the other will not %u2013 but I can never remember which one it is. Hence, I avoid the need to find out which has just run me down.

As to restaurants, the best method of dealing with the annoyance of people shrieking into a cell phone is to block the signals there. "Gee, sorry we have such bad reception here. Have a cuppa and a biscuit, why don%u2019t cha?%u201D

What did we do before people were plugged into little machines that made noises? Oh, I remember, we talked to each other - face to face. How quaint.

[ecuadoriana]

"Personally, I am inclined to think that such incidents, however tragic, show Darwinism at work." (the author, D-ck Meyer) (Sad, can't actually spell out his first name because cbs blocks it from the forum!)

Well, I can not argue that! Thin the herd. Survival of the most awake.

[jimfinster]

Good & funny article.

I went to college in the 80's, before the day of cell phones and ipods. There was the Walkman, but I don't recall them being all that common.

[jjreding-2009]

I'm sorry, but I just can't buy this idea of banning iPods from intersections. If this had happened all those years ago when the first Sony Walkmans came out, we'd all still be listening to transistor radios. Technology will advance regardless of what people will or won't do. I have to agree with the bit about the cellphones, though. Though I have one myself, I tend not to use it in public very often, and never if I'm standing in a line at a store or other public place.

[jolsonbear]

I hope this legislation passes. Rep Kruger could single handedly take us back to the good old days of the 70's and 80's before this disconnecting technology took hold of our society. That wonderfull golden time when New Yorkers were kind, curteous, so eager to help out a stranger in need...........PLEASE!

[dsiemon2]

mcg907, WOW, someone who actually has a realistic view of the world.. Good Form.

(in repy to the Posting by mcg907 at 07:33 AM : Feb 08, 2007)

While, I agree that people on Cell Phones, iPod users, and other technologies that attempt to "disconnect" people from on another, i think some realistic perspective is needed..

mc907, has a great point.. Drivers who are impatient, arrogant, and in a hurry are at fault if people are hit, while obeying the laws..

however, if that person is distrtacted becuase he/she is on the phone or listen to the iPod, then that person is the one at fault..

How do you decide that limiting ones use of iPods or cellphone is teh rigth way to solve the problem of people so wrapped up in their own worlds, both drivers AND tech junkies?

[bunnybarbie]

Technology is an obvious growing problem. It does seem the more we advance in the tech world, the more we loose our humanity. The fact that people walking past you on the street don't say hello anymore, because they are too busy on their phone or listening to their ipods is just sad. What happened to human interaction? One thing that is most disturbing is the online communities. I know a girl that only socializes on myspace.She literally does not leave her house to go meet people. Most importantly, what will the psychological impact be(especially the internet obsessed children today)that live online and are exposed to pornography at the click of the finger? Most teenagers have cell phones, and they can view porn on them too! Is internet porn the new *** education of today? Kids copy everything they see, and if they are watching people having orgies, "barely legal" movies(borderline child porn)and all the other twisted stuff people do for money in these videos, than what is our youth today going to become? Pedophiles? Polygamists? People need to take the issue of porn more seriously. I'll bet it has a deeper psychological effect on childern, and adults than people think. Why does every pedophile you hear about on TV have tons of porn on their computer? Why has pedophelia skyrocketed, and marriages plummented since porn was introduced? Don't think their isn't a connection. Technology is a wonderful, and a destructive thing.

[scottyusa]

You mean to tell me that cell phones and IPODs do not have warning labels about their use in crowded intersections or while driving?? Let the lawsuits begin!! Hurry though because making it unlawfull will probably get the manufacturers off the hook. If our "nannies" do not tell us something is unsafe what are we to do? Figure it out for ourselves?

[djberson]

Just today several cars, mine included, had to back up a one-lane one-way street when a car got stuck on it in front of us. Everybody's back-up lights were on, and we were waving at the guy behind me to back up. Some were honking. He just sat there. And he had one hand and a phone to his ear. I started backing up thinking he'd get the idea.... but no. I had to put the car in park, get out, make him roll down his window and tell him that we were all waiting to back up and that he should be paying attention instead of talking on the phone. Without pausing his conversation he simply gave me the finger.

[evelyn7221]

Mr. Meyer, your support for this ridiculous iPod ban is just as rude and selfish and the guy who slammed the door in your face, maybe even more so.

Unless the iPod people are causing harm to others (and not just their Darwin-challenged selves) the government has absolutely no legal right to tell them when and where to listen to their music. It would be the start of a steep slippery slope into fascism.

Besides, rude people will slam doors in your face with or without an iPod on, and the occassional kid person will hold the elevator even when they're listening to their iPod. An iPod ban will simply not change people's daily interaction habits; all it will do is create chaos on the street as people scramble to take their headphones off at every intersection, and put them back on after crossing the street.

Maybe its time for us to realize that no one's perfect, and everyone has slammed a door in someone else's face at some point in time, even you, Mr. Meyer. So why don't we all grow up and, instead of complaining about the iPod people, go out and strike up a conversation with one of them. If you can think of something interesting to say, someone might actually listen for once.

[tejasdemo]

What gets me are the people who cant afford to buy lunch or healthcare for their kids but who have no problem at all spending their last time on a cell phone and the subsequent over priced plan to blab all day about nonsense.

[kp74]

I live in New England people here are just rude by nature. A slamed door doesn't bother me much.
I don't see iPods ase much as a risk as say the cell phone. I have seen too many people trying to drive while talking or dialing. I once saw a woman trying to make a turn while looking up a phone number and dial. (I kid you not)
I would think in a big city iPods or any mp3 player can take away the annoyance of typical city noise.

[bluestardad]

Everyone has fallen and been used by Satan, electronics are no different but they have no soul. Thank GOD for forgiveness upon request!

[Jasonian18]

I think the whole ipod banning is a good idea but sorely over governing it is a freedom that we share as americans but we need to do something about the dangers of not being aware of our surroundings in say a busy street intersection while listening to blareing music. although i find it funny that they try to use darwinian theory to say its a good idea.

[Jasonian18]

I think the whole ipod banning is a good idea but sorely over governing it is a freedom that we share as americans but we need to do something about the dangers of not being aware of our surroundings in say a busy street intersection while listening to blareing music. although i find it funny that they try to use darwinian theory to say its a good idea.

[drsweener]

Banning something because it makes people rude? "Those who would give up freedom for safety deserve niether." - Benjamin Franklin

[cantshutup]

100 points for hitting dumbarsses who step into the street without looking

50 points for smashing into a dippshitt using a cell while driving

20 points for loudly chastizing a fool talking on the cell as if they were alone in the waiting room, cine, restaurant or line

[jay553]

Your Intense Passion For this subject is quit apparent. If you are interested some of your statements have a scriptual backing and prophetic signifigance. (Your week long visit to that university prompted you to describe the students worship to this technology as "Isolating".) Proverbs 18:1 and 2 Timothy 3:2

[bluestardad]

On the most recent account of corruption CBS News Reported via, KVTV Dallas article that billions of gallons of oil are being stolen because Iraq has no meters in place to gauge how much oil is being produced, pumped, or loaded on to tankers in the gulf. This has been going on now in Iraq for years. How can anyone know how much money or oil has been stolen under the watch of Coalition forces, it makes the United Nations Oil for food scandal pale in comparison. If you combine this blatant theft with the Slant drilling being done by Iraqi%u2019s neighbors there are unaccountable billions of dollars being stolen in Iraq right now. What type of management or leadership has been responsible in Iraq for the last four years? Iraqi and American Dollars by the tons have been sent to Iraq and lost, stolen or squandered. Who has been in charge of this oversite where is the accountability?

[sidkeith7]

Good shot indeed!

[lpsuperman]

cgraham06

are you there

[lpcgraham06]

hello

[lpsuperman]

lpcgraham06

lets dog em

[lpsuperman]

r_bayless

***

[lpsuperman]

r_bayless

bAsTaR*

[lpcgraham06]

r_bayless male or female

[thomderr]

There is no difference between the I-Pod and the Walkman of yesterday. I know from experience that riding a bike, with your favorite songs blaring, definately 'tunes out' the real world.

I missed being hit by a car that I would have seen earlier, if I hadn't been so wrapped up in my music.

The problem with ear buds and headphones is that they block out the surrounding noise to the extent that the listener is oblivious to the world around them.

Either turn it down, or take it off! It's for your own safety.

[truth_reason]

I think it all comes down to common sence. If you go out in public and wnat to wear a set of headphones then you need to pay more attion to your sourndings. Pluse be more mindful of the others around you, just use common coursty. Its just that simple.

[wny14127]

This proposal to ban technology is similar to the NY lawmaker who proposed the mandated hands-free while driving cell phone bill. As much as the dangers of driving while distracted have been documented, the law is seldom enforced here in New York. Let Darwinism work with the ipod users

How will the NYPD enforce this law?

I'd like to suggest that the NY state legislature concentrate their law making efforts towards lowering our excessive tax burden, our state mandated fees, energy costs, workers comp fees etc. After they have accomplished these tasks in a state legislature that has been described as the 'most dysfunctional' of all states, then they can pass the ipod laws.

[sflew2s]

I almost hit a Blind Person in a Cross Walk the other day! Imagine that, they let those people out in traffic all by themselves and they can't even see! What do they expect, for me to watch out for every blind person who steps into a cross walk?!? There ought to be a law! Oh, my bust, there already is a law! Stop for All Pedestrians in Cross Walks! Duh!

[michellem99-2009]

I am a blind person and I use a white cane. That Dear Driver tells you that I am a blind person. I have to walk places and cross the street safely. That means you yeild as I as a blind person have the right of way. My white cane tells you that. As a lay person I had to read the white cane law and there is such a law. Please read it. I know it is on the computer and each state has a white cane law. Thank you.

[phil-in-fin]

I live in the Land of the Cellphone (Finland), and through various educational programs and commercials on television, advertisements and articles in newspapers and magazines, and strict rules of conduct at the office, everyone has been taught iPod and cellphone etiquette.

Cellphones have been in widespread use by the general public for almost fifteen years.

I have heard cellphones ring at church, movies, restaurants, and in the various business meetings and university classes that I have been in, however, I have never seen anyone actually take the call unless it is critical, and if it is critical, that person excuses him or herself, leaves the room, and returns only when he or she has finished speaking.

At univeristy, cellphone use in classes are an extreme breach of etiquette: in fact, I have never heard a cell phone ring in a class once, and it was mine. It was extremely embarrassing even though it only beeped once and quietly. Very rarely do I see people filing out of class in a hurry to plug themselves in, though I do see people turning their cellphones on with only one or two actually making phone calls: the rest of us are too busy talking to each other about the class we just attended.

I have never heard of anyone using an iPod or music player of any kind during office hours.

As far as I know, there is only one actually law with regard to cellphone use: one must operate a vehicle with a handsfree set.

[phil-in-fin]

Anyway, back to this article,

"A friend who has lived in a large Washington apartment building for many years reports that as the neighborhood yuppifies and her 'neighbors' in the building become steadily more affluent, and younger, they have also become ruder."

This anecdote, like most of this article, is an exaggeration. One "friend" living in Washington has a problem with her neighbors. Is this "friend" a student living in a student residence? Just who are all these neighbors of hers? How many of the elderly in that large apartment building have iPods? Maybe this "friend" is being "tuned" out for a very good reason (like, maybe, she is busily labeling them as yuppies to their faces?)

Is it really as bad as this article suggests in the USA. I rather doubt it.

[michellem99-2009]

This has got us sharing thru the posts. I feel that manners are always in. I do see the the good in the E-tools. I am aware that people would rather not talk today. It is sad. I feel that E-tools are not fully to blame. It is sad that people have got more cold/rude today. Being in my 50s, I wonder what has happened. I don't live in fear. Are others becoming fearful of their fellow human beings that they give up what makes us human. Satan wants people to work for him. It is not E-tools that cause us to fall from grace rather us ourselves. We are to blame not the e- tools. The computer helps me in good ways. Have a nice day.