Unspoken rules govern cell phone etiquette
People are using cell phones in a Manhattan subway. Most Americans believe there are unspoken rules about mobile phone etiquette, accorind to an online poll.
It may not seem like it when commuters are shouting down their cell phones to the dismay of other passengers but most Americans believe there are unspoken rules about mobile phone etiquette.
Checking emails, sending text messages and making telephone calls while in the company of others are definite breeches of mobile manners.
Texting during a date is also strictly forbidden.
But most people questioned in an online poll said they would not be offended if they received an electronic thank you, instead of a written note and 75 percent had no objections to anyone using laptops, netbooks and cell phones in the bathroom.
"Etiquette is first and foremost a question of awareness," said author and etiquette expert Anna Post.
But she described the results of the Harris Interactive poll commissioned by Intel as "pretty surprising statistics."
Sixty-two percent of the 2,625 adults who took part in the survey agreed that cell phones, laptops, netbooks and other electronic devices are part of daily life.
Fifty-five percent also thought the demands of business mean people must stay connected, even if it involves taking a laptop on a holiday or answering a cell phone during a meal.
But despite the need to be constantly connected and the general acceptance of the technology, people were more sensitive about technology abuses during holiday and religious activities.
Nearly 90 percent of Americans think cell phone use is unacceptable during a religious service and 30 percent admitted they would be offended if they received an online gift wish.
But more than half revealed that they intended to send an electronic greeting card, instead of a traditional one.
"These are issues about common sense," said Dr Genevieve Bell, an ethnographer and director of Intel's User Experience Group, adding that the social rules of when and how it is appropriate to use the technology are still being formed.
Vocabulary:
shout down: to overwhelm or silence by shouting loudly(高声喝止，大声喊叫使对方的声音听不到)
to the dismay of sb.:使某人沮丧;使某人惊慌
etiquette: the practices and forms prescribed by social convention or by authority(礼节)
breeches: conceited; unduly self-confident(妄自尊大，目中无人)
netbook: a small portable laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet(上网笔记本电脑)
first and foremost：first of all, most important, primarily(首先，首要地)
在上下班的路上打手机声音太大把别人吓到，你可能难以相信，但大多数美国人认为使用手机还是有一些不成文的礼节。
当你和朋友在一起时，查收电邮、发短信以及打电话都被视为不礼貌的行为。
约会时发短信也是一大禁忌。
但在一项在线调查中，大多数受访者称自己即便收到的感谢便条是电子版的而非亲笔写的，也不会生气。75%的受访者对别人在浴室里用笔记本电脑、上网本和打手机没有意见。
作家和礼节专家安娜 波斯特说：“礼节首先是一个意识的问题。”
但她称该调查的结果“相当令人吃惊”。该调查由英特尔公司委托哈里斯互动调查开展。
在2625名成年受访者中，62%的人认为手机、笔记本电脑、上网本以及其它电子设备是日常生活的一部分。
55%的受访者认为，工作需要使人们必须保持联系，哪怕这意味着在度假时要带上笔记本电脑，或者在用餐时接手机。
尽管时时保持联系成为一种需要，人们也普遍接受了这项科技，但人们对在休假和宗教活动时使用手机还是比较敏感。
近90%的美国人认为在宗教活动时使用手机不可接受，30%的受访者称自己如果收到网络礼物会不高兴。
但一半以上的受访者称他们更倾向于发送电子贺卡，而非传统贺卡。
人种学者、英特尔公司用户体验团队的主管吉纳维芙 贝尔博士说：“这是常识的问题”，“何时以及如何正确使用手机的社会规则仍在形成之中。