Stand by your tone

I have to admit "you are your ringtone stories" are amongst my favorite posts on this blog. They are usually pure fabrication on the part of the journalist but can be so entertaining. Today, Chicago Tribune metro columnist Eric Zorn rants on ringtones in a general way - in his blog Change of Subject - with some memorable quotes:

Your ringtone...

-- Is like that kooky bumper sticker you put on your car in the 1960s

-- The funny T-shirt you bought in the 1970s

-- The sly vanity license plate you adopted in the 1980s

-- The declarative tattoo you sat for in the 1990s. It lost its cool well before you realized it.

-- Personalized ringtones are the "I'm with stupid" of the new millennium.

Zorn is a witty writer, but in truth he really does love his own ringtone. I have a personalized ring tone, he writes:

"An instrumental version of the chorus of "Stand by Your Man," Tammy Wynette's over-the-top 1968 country hit that's so cheerfully sexist I fancy that it has great camp value. Just about the last song that an enlightened person would have on his phone, don't you know."

He admits that inevitably, ringtones are a statement of some sort.

And in in their favor:

--- They are very useful to be able to tell, in an instant, when it's your phone going off and when it's someone else's.

-- Assigning them to different incoming callers create a useful custom form of audio caller ID - (my favorite feature)

emily | 4:26 PM | |
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