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The first minute of every phone call is torture now

theatlantic.com

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Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#21

Post by benjaminwootton »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #16

“Ugh. Okay, okay, just a second. I have to get my earphones to connect. Damn it.” This has never happened to me - using either wired headphones or AirPods which connect rather seamlessly to the phone even mid-call. Just get headphones that work well with your phone’s model. The whole article sounds very “millennials discover telephony” to me - either that or the author is in way over their head and don’t really know…

AirPods aren’t that seamless for me. The switching between phone and MacBook is pretty good, but there is still an element of randomness if the phone will connect to the AirPods or not.

Add in a few more switches such as in the car or a Bluetooth speaker and the article rings true for me.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#22

Post by pavlov »

Phone calls should have a subject line, just like emails.

It’s crazy that anyone can force a full-screen interrupt on my personal device with no context. If call metadata included a subject line, software could automatically screen out calls where the subject is empty or spammy, just like with email.

It would be very helpful for missed calls. “Why did my wife call twice in the last 5 minutes, did something happen, should I panic?!” It also removes the need to leave rambling voicemail.

The subject line takes only 15 seconds to write but will significantly reduce receiver anxiety, both synchronously and asynchronously. Sending a text after the call is not the same because it’s not in context.

I remember proposing this to WhatsApp while I was working at FB but the WhatsApp culture seemed uninterested in feature ideas of any kind. Hopefully someone else does it eventually.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#23

Post by arnaudsm »

My golden rules to make videoconferencing more reliable :

  - Use ethernet. Wi-Fi isn't reliable, your neighbor's microwave can ruin everything.
  - Use wired headphones. 0 latency. 0 connection time. And disables the mic noise-cancelling algos.
  - Use classic phone calls when required. It's more robust and latency is even better.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#24

Post by benjaminwootton »

causi wrote: post #14

Often it’s the wireless earbuds, which won’t reconnect or are connected to the wrong device. More often the fact that no matter how much a reviewer praised your earbuds' call quality, it's total shite and the person on the other end of the line will ask if you're in a car or using speakerphone.

Not sure if it’s because I have a big head or mumble but nobody can hear me clearly on AirPods. It’s fine with wired headphones where I tend to hold the mic in position more. It’s annoying because AirPods are great apart from that.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#25

Post by bowsamic »

pkaye wrote: post #7
diob wrote: post #6

I was out of the country last month. Absolutely no spam on my "in country" sim there. Just exactly what I asked for, useful calls and texts. The moment I got back, I was inundated with spam and texts. I don't understand how we've let it get this bad in the USA.

Looks like other countries have it too. What country were you visiting? https://www.statista.com/statistics/1045618/spam-calls-per-m...

In the UK we have it, but not as bad as in the US. In Germany we don't seem to have it at all

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#26

Post by turrican »

jahewson wrote: post #10
turrican wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree! With ubiquitous voicemail voice-to-text functionality, I find it fast and useful, plus it can be sent using a hands-free device in a car. I would argue that you’re a zoomer curmudgeon rather than an old one. :)

Why not use voice-to-text to send an email instead?

My previous post was lighthearted, but I have had problems with voice-to-text in noisy cars. I suppose there’s a chance this issue be carried over to the receiver’s voice-to-text software.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#27

Post by Tomte »

benjaminwootton wrote: post #21
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #16

“Ugh. Okay, okay, just a second. I have to get my earphones to connect. Damn it.” This has never happened to me - using either wired headphones or AirPods which connect rather seamlessly to the phone even mid-call. Just get headphones that work well with your phone’s model. The whole article sounds very “millennials discover telephony” to me - either that or the author is in way over their head and don’t really know…

AirPods aren’t that seamless for me. The switching between phone and MacBook is pretty good, but there is still an element of randomness if the phone will connect to the AirPods or not. Add in a few more switches such as in the car or a Bluetooth speaker and the article rings true for me.

My right AirPod bud regularly (as in 2 out of 3) needs to be put back into the case and taken out again, in order to connect.

The left one just works.

I won't buy them again.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#29

Post by bmitc »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #16

“Ugh. Okay, okay, just a second. I have to get my earphones to connect. Damn it.” This has never happened to me - using either wired headphones or AirPods which connect rather seamlessly to the phone even mid-call. Just get headphones that work well with your phone’s model. The whole article sounds very “millennials discover telephony” to me - either that or the author is in way over their head and don’t really know…

That's (a) hard to believe and (b) in the minority if true. I think this stuff works so poorly all the time that some get accustomed to it or some are just lucky. I had it happen on my desktop computer and the monitor's audio today because the audio device got confused after a Remote Desktop session. There wasn't even a wireless connection involved. I had to run to get wired headphones.

If anything, in my experience, it is service providers' cell coverage and cell reception on phones barely designed to be phones that are all so abysmal that it doesn't even matter if everything else works well. They alone make cellphones terrible as phones when on cellular.

And in general, BlueTooth sucks. I need to do an incantation to keep my PS4 controllers connected, a problem reported by many in various forums.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#30

Post by _cenw »

Oh, I thought it would be something more... interesting.

I have a voice that does not match most people's associations with my name, so the first minute of every phone call is spent explaining myself (sometimes it feels more like justifying). I've been mistaken for phishing attacks and got hung up on a few times too.

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