Official News - page 7

REAL LIFE NEWS: HELLO... I'M ON THE MOUNTAIN...

by Hazed

So you've headed for the quietest, most remote spot you can think of, hoping to get away from the noise and the bustle of modern life, and suddenly your tranquillity is disturbed by some prat whipping out his mobile phone to call home and have a loud conversation.

Now it seems nowhere is safe from the incessant babble of mobile communication, as the news broke last week that a British climber had set a world record by making a mobile phone call from the top of Mount Everest. And what did he find to say that was so important it couldn't wait till he got down from the mountain again?

"It's cold. It's amazing. The Himalayas are everywhere. I can't feel my toes."

How very urgent! The call wasn't even made to somebody significant in his life - it was to Motorola who had sponsored the attempt. Only after he'd left this profound statement on their voicemail did he phone his family.

The calls were made possible because China has set up a mobile base station with a line of sight to the north ridge of Everest. And so one last bastion against the mobile phone falls. How distressing.

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