According to a report in today's newsletter, public transport commuters in the Austrian city of Graz have been told to shut up. Shock and horror... they have been told to keep their phones on silent mode when travelling on the city's busses, trams and trains, and the city's mayor seems little concerned that, as he puts it, he has "insulted the cell phone goddess a little". On a local Cape Town radio station recently, many people phoned in with comments regarding the possibility of passengers on aircraft being able to chat and the majority were not happy with the idea. Their feelings seemed to be on about the same scale as they would have on the issue of smoking in a public place... Emphatic! I must say, it's always amazed me how the first thing passengers do when an aircraft has landed and shut down, is call all and sundry... "Hi, we've just landed..." [As opposed to what? Bounced? Crashed?]. "I'll be in the office in 30 minutes." "Hi, Luvvy Wuvvy... be there in 10 for you know what..." It's enough to convince me I would not like to spend hours next to some bloke babbling away on his phone, but at least you can get off a bus. It's more difficult trying to get off an aircraft even at a hellhole like Lagos - particularly if the plane doesn't land there.

Rod Baker, Content Manager