No ‘Snake’ In Graz
While Australia is in love with the mobile, its semi-namesake Austria is making up for it with an anti-phone backlash, so if you’re heading there for a summer vacation get in all the games of ‘Snake’ you need before you go.
Siegfried Nagl, the mayor of Graz, Austria’s second largest city, said “I know I insulted the cell phone goddess a little,” for his attempt to crackdown on public phone usage. All commuters must now keep their phones on silent mode to stop irritating ring-tones and unnecessary chatter. While France’s SNCF rail company has operated “zen zones” in select compartments aboard intercity TGV bullet trains (similar to the “quiet carriages” on Virgin Trains in the UK), this is one step further.
Given that Sweden’s ‘cell phone free zones’ were scrapped after 10 months, it’ll be interesting to see how long this initiative can last.
NB: Any search for a light-hearted image from the terms “austria” and “evil” failed, so here’s a jolly picture of an actual Austrian, presumably having gone a bit crazy due to the lack of phones in his little town.
Tags: world
