Librarians Against 5G!

Everyone loves 5G cellular internet. If you follow the media, 5G will enable the future. There’s also a battle between the US, China, and Europe over 5G technology and the potential for espionage that technological supremacy brings. 5G will usher data to smartphones and IoT devices faster and in greater quantity than ever before. 5G is lauded to enable fully autonomous vehicles, edge computing, streaming video and gaming, AR/VR, and many more frontiers of the technology world.

A 5G world may turn out to be my own personal hell. I’m a bit of a grandpa when it comes to unwanted noise. I’ve been this way for a while and recognize that I may not be in the norm. I love music and concerts, movies, and conversations with my friends. Sleeping with the windows open in the spring and summer, the sound of crickets and rain outside, are no problem for me. I welcome these natural sounds. However, I recognize that there is a time and place for everything. It is unwanted sound, especially in shared and indoor locations, that I abhor.

In today’s 4G world there has been a proliferation of streaming video on smartphones. I’m currently on a work project in Asia and people streaming videos, music, and games without headphones are prevalent. This morning on a flight from Medan to Kuala Lumpur another passenger was watching a video without headphones. I tapped him on the shoulder to ask him to put headphones on or turn off the sound. Later, waiting for my next flight in the Plaza Premium Lounge, multiple people were making noise on their phones without headphones. I’m currently on a flight to India and again, other passengers all around me are generating public noise. Of the six seats in the row in front of me, four are occupied. Of those four passengers, three are playing Bejewelled (bling brrring blang klang) or some game like it on their phones. My neighbor is watching a movie on his laptop without headphones, and multiple passengers behind me are listening to something or another on their phones. The cacophony is beyond anything I can control with a tap on a shoulder. It’s systemic and probably cultural.

A few months ago, I read an article about video streaming, particularly in India. Cellularly connected Indians are among the world’s top viewers of streaming video. Whereas I may start an inquiry on Google, Indians are more likely to simply type their search into YouTube to see what answers they can get via an informational video. Russians too are turning away from television in large numbers and now getting more and more of their news via YouTube. 5G may enhance the ability of people all around the world to stream video and audio, and consumers are certainly showing a preference for video. What is now a nuisance may turn into a psychosis!

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I personally never got on the streaming bandwagon. I like to read news articles, but I rarely watch news videos online. I hate CNN’s website because their news video auto-play (and then my co-workers give me funny looks). I don’t listen to podcasts very often either, although I do stream audiobooks and music. Earlier on this flight I did watch a movie on my tablet, but the audio was precision-delivered to my ear canal via noise-cancelling headphones. I hate Instagram stories, because half the time the screen moves to a new “story” and it’s some clattering video that starts blasting from my phone’s speakers and disturbing me and anyone around me.

We all need to become librarians and shush people who are making public noise in shared spaces! Public transportation, lounges, and restaurants are not the commons. We have become too nice, or too averse to confronting people that cross the line of public decency. Service workers should also advocate for their customers and shush unnecessary noise-makers. If we don’t work on our 4G manners, the 5G world is going to become one without any peace and quiet at all.

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