A note to my friends + family: Let's all adopt the Schnell Cell Phone Dropped Call Protocol

BLOT: (16 May 2011 - 05:02:07 PM)

A note to my friends + family: Let's all adopt the Schnell Cell Phone Dropped Call Protocol

It seems strange, even perverse, that dropped calls still happen so frequently. Since they do, though, I'd like to propose we all adopt Ron Schnell's Cell Phone Protocol (which I like to call the Schnell Cell Phone Dropped Call Protocol for the poetry of it). I think it used to have a webpage of its own, but now it is buried in a long HTML FAQ on his webpage. I'll repost the gist of it (i.e. the top half of it) here, with no harm intended and hopefully none assumed:

What is this cell phone protocol you are trying to promote?

Dropped cell phone calls continue to be a problem. To me, the worst part about it is that after the call is dropped, nobody knows what to do. Who should call whom? If there is no protocol stating what to do in this case, you will likely end up calling each other back at the same time. This can be very frustrating, because both parties will get voice mail.

I have therefore come up with a protocol which I have been using with all of my friends and am trying to promote throughout the world:

Whenever a call is inadvertently dropped, the party who initiated the original call shall initiate the new call.

Schnell goes on to point out that it requires no other assumptions, you do not have to know why the call was dropped, who has the most minutes, or what the current status is of the people who were, until the drop, on the phone call. All you have to know who is dialed initially, and therefore "hitting redial is easy".

I like it. It seems simple. It has a catchy enough name. And I plan on promoting it. Heh. This means if I call you and the call drops, I'll call you back. If you call me, I'll wait to see if you call back.

OTHER BLOTS THIS MONTH: May 2011

A note to my friends + family: Let's all adopt the Schnell Cell Phone Dropped Call Protocol