It's low-tech week here at Philoneist. I've noticed lately that my high-tech gadgets are having low-tech problems and that low-tech solutions easily solve high-tech social problems.

Like today. I had a doctor's appointment. Entered the office and approached the reception desk. A man who looked old enough to know better, but dressed in business attire that indicates he probably doesn't, was speaking so loudly over the phone in the waiting room that I could not carry on a conversation with the receptionist. Nothing wrong with business attire in the abstract. Unfortunately it has become an indicator of individuals who believe they own their surroundings.

The simple answer to this problem, and others situationally akin to it, is an old technology that should be put to new use. Boaters use air horns to announce their presence through fog. Sports fans bring them to games to break the visiting team's concentration. They make the perfect antidote to obnoxious public cell phone use. No need to worry about the illegalities of cell-phone jammers. Modern air horns claim to be CFC-free, so that you can take back the audible environment without harming the Earth's ozone layer.

There are positive role models out there. But they are a diminishing minority.