Polyphonic Pollution

Despite the plethora of ring tones available for mobile phones, two stand out as both popular and annoying: Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne.

Happy Birthday comes in a close third.

New models with polyphonic ring tones have a different problem; many people are choosing what I can only describe as fun house music. Think circus theme songs and cheesy carny tunes.

Were that not bad enough, new phones also have much louder volumes; I can hear incoming calls two train compartments down. I had no idea that many folks were hard of hearing.

My phone came with 40 ring tones, one of which is tolerable. Still, I have it set to vibration mode; Hong Kong has enough noise pollution without me adding to it.

How much quieter would this city be if everyone did that?

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