WHO Knew?!

     I am an employee of AT&T and the following is my opinion...   (They want me to say that)

     Wow!  Did you see the report from the World Health Organization on May 31st?  It said that cellphones are possibly carcinogenic to humans!  This is the same group who previously said there were no risks from exposure to the frequency fields emitted by phones.  Turns out, cell phones are like a low power microwave slowly cooking your brain(for heavy users).  It's not like -  you're okay if you hear the popping noise, and you're done when it stops.  What they said is there is an association between cellphone use and a malignant form of cancer called glioma.  There is also another benign tumor called acoustic neuroma which can form on the side that you talk on the most.
   
      I'm certainly not one to say, "I told you so" but you can read an earlier blog on the subject here.  I've always felt cell phones were toys, whose health risks were not fully understood.  Since I work on the old POTS(plain old telephone service) side of the business, I'm sure some would say that I was prejudice.  That just isn't true, I've never told anyone to give up their cell phone, just don't make a 2 hour call on it. 

     I did some research on the proper distance to hold the phone away from your body and the results are interesting.  The Nokia 1100 warns you should hold it at least 1.5 centimeters from your body.  Thats about 3/4 of an inch, or hold a peanut M&M between your phone and ear.  No one keeps that distance when listening to a call, especially in a noisy place.  Motorola recomments keeping the antenna of a phone at least one inch from the body.  Blackberry doesn't even want you carrying your phone on a beltclip, unless you have an "approved" holster.  Quoting the BlackBerry 9800 manual, "Use of holsters that have not been approved by RIM might, in the long term, present a risk of serious harm."

     Cell phones are BIG money makers for companies.  CTIA is already arguing against the findings.  IF continued studies agree to the dangers, and I believe they will, what will corporations do?  I like to think they would be on the consumer's side and urge caution, lighter use, and possibly toss in free texting!  The first company to do so will be like Macy's, in the movie, "Miracle on 34th Street".  Remember Santa refering customers to other stores when they didn't have a certain toy the parent wanted.  They need to be customer friendly, not dollar greedy!  Maybe, they could even go back to tree trimming in the wired network

     I would like to think that my company isn't as concerned about the money, but did you see the report on data overcharges recently?  The lawsuit claims AT&T systematically overstated data usage by 7 to 14 percent and up to 300%!  Seems the lawsuit may get thrown out of court, due to the fine print everyone signs in their contract.  You probably didn't know that AT&T's user agreement bars class action suits and refers you to arbitration.  Good luck there!  Lawyers, they think of everything!