Mobile phones are as much of a curse as they are a blessing. They’re a modern drug that millions of us are addicted to, and if asked whether we could live without our mobile phones, just like any addict we would tell you in all sincerity that we could give it up in a heartbeat if we wanted to. But like other drugs, there is a consequence of widespread mobile phone use that society is finding more and more annoying… the ringtone.

The general rule of thumb that I have come to notice is that someone with an obnoxiously loud and intrusive ringtone is likely to pay little attention to their social surroundings when they get a call. They will take all calls then proceed to talk loudly and completely uninhibited broadcasting details about who is doing what with whom to anyone within earshot.

Using a mobile phone in a confined public space is fast becoming as frowned upon as smoking which at one time was an entirely acceptable habit to indulge in public. People would light up on planes, trains, buses, and subways, puffing away to their heart’s content while those around them who had chosen not to take up the habit breathed in their fumes. The smoke that drifted through the shared air of public spaces years ago has today been replaced by the one-dimensional chatter of mobile phone conversations, and while the ‘he said, she said’ exchange might not shorten your life or lace your clothes with an unpleasant odor, too many it is no less annoying.

In an effort to be as unintrusive as possible I went in search of a simple ringtone for my mobile phone as those that came with the phone all sounded like some cheesy breakfast TV theme tune. I wanted a simple ‘standard’ ring. I didn’t feel the need to have the latest chart-topper crackle over my phone’s little speaker, and anything like the annoying (and “so last year”) ‘crazy frog’ ringtone would simply never cross my mind. It sounds simple enough, but after wading through a number of heavily ad-laden websites that flashed and flickered at me like cheap disco lights at someone’s fourth time around wedding party, I decided to create something myself from my iTunes library.

In the end, I looped the beginning of a track called ‘Cutup piano and xylophone’ by Fridge. The resulting ringtone is, in my opinion, neither obnoxious nor intrusive. I do have a couple of other ringtones for specific people, one is the ringtone from the TV show 24, and the other is the comical (and yes, obnoxious) ringtone that Orlando Bloom’s character had in the movie ‘Elizabethtown.’ But regardless of my ringtone, I do try where possible to be a considerate mobile phone addict, and yes I can admit it, no matter how much I wish I could kick the habit, when it comes to the mobile phone I am indeed an addict.

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My ringtone
Extremely obnoxious ringtone
24 ringtone
Fridge : Cutup piano and xylophone (complete track)