My lady friend was calling. She had gone straight to my home from work (despite previously saying she would wait for me to call and then come over, don't hurry, etc). She left a phone message and a text message. She finally gave up waiting and went to her house. I was busy navigating and making those often tough even though highly constrained decisions in a supermarket. Trying to figure out what kind of doggie treat would be best for her daughter's dog. Why is the smallest box of Milk Bone (tm) four pounds? And I completely missed her call. I got home only to find those messages on my phone. I called, and she angrily told me to forget having her come over that night. Why hadn't I answered her call? Only after my worst begging did she relent and come over. I was successful, fortunately, but it was a close call. The next day I went into surgery. I would have felt terrible had this date not worked out, and it nearly didn't.
The culprit was the highly ignorable default ring tone of the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Samsung apparently picked this ring tone because it sounds cool, and that's how they want people to think about Samsung. We're just as cool as those other guys, they're always trying to remind us. Well thanks, guys, for putting your corporate image promotion above my needs. (Putting corporate image promotion above user needs is the underlying drive in many of the things I hope to criticize here. It happens all the time.)
The whole point of a telephone ring tone is to be audible. Coolness is second. A ring tone has to cut through the fog, rise above the Muzak (tm) and crowd noise, so you will not miss that critical call.
What does the trick IMO is the plain old fashioned Bell System (tm) bell. (Those Bell System people of long ago came up with the best answer for then-available technology, and much of their design is still the best, never excelled, and typically not even equalled with far more advanced technology. Only by holding the feet of fools and marketing directors to the fire can we go forwards.)
I had to go through nearly all of the default selections in the Samsung/Android before getting to Chime, the one that seems best to me. I figured the one I wanted would have Bell in the name. Chime looks like it's going to give a wind chime sound, exactly what I'd like least. Maybe they're trying to obscure the legacy of this bell sound by calling it chime.
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