ring ring ring ring

[ironymaiden]

C: I can't find my phone
me: want me to call you?
C: found it. you just wanted to hear "Back in Black", didn't you?
me: you would have to call me.

Poll #25123 ringtones

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22

View Respondents

Do you have custom ringtones for certain people?

View Answers

no
11 (50.0%)

yes, from the selection of sounds that came with my phone
3 (13.6%)

yes, I found or made sound files
7 (31.8%)

you can do that?
0 (0.0%)

no one I care about uses the telephone
0 (0.0%)

I don't have a mobile phone
1 (4.5%)

If you don't use them, why not?

View Answers

pain in the ass
6 (42.9%)

seems silly/cringe
1 (7.1%)

it's not important
4 (28.6%)

no one I care about uses the telephone
3 (21.4%)

ticky!
5 (35.7%)

still don't have a mobile phone
0 (0.0%)

don't know how
2 (14.3%)

something else I'll explain in comments
0 (0.0%)

If you do use them, who gets them?

View Answers

family members
10 (100.0%)

close friends
6 (60.0%)

the front door
1 (10.0%)

work
2 (20.0%)

the doctor
0 (0.0%)

the vet
1 (10.0%)

everyone in the address book
0 (0.0%)

something else I'll explain in comments
1 (10.0%)

What kind of ring do you choose?

View Answers

sound effects
3 (20.0%)

music
8 (53.3%)

it depends
4 (26.7%)

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

I used to create ring and text tones but I’m happier just paying the $1.48 now.

The Vince Guaraldi peanuts theme piano plays for the handful of folks I actually want to talk to.

I found an old-fashioned cash register ding and drawer close, for the text tone my credit union sends when my card is charged. The idea is I will be immediately notified if some jerk steals my credit card.

I wish I could assign the same ring tone for all my medicos, but they call from random numbers to force me to use their infuriating VOIP system. The greeting message is 95 seconds long and the hold music was set in 1991. The good news is I can message through their MyChart system.

iOS lets me assign alarms to actual songs. I’ve got five med alarms through the day. Songs are more pleasant and longer means more time to find where I left the darn phone.

[garyomaha]

Fun/interesting survey! My pet peeve is the person at church (lovely, charming, intelligent, wonderful EXCEPT FOR) with music at high volume as her ringtone. She lets it play and play during meetings as she giggles.

[dorchadas]

I have all kinds of custom ringtones for people, but my phone is almost always on silent so none of it matters.

I'm reminded of the 99% Invisible episode which states that:

1. You absolutely need a custom ringtone.
   
2. Everyone else's custom ringtones are incredibly annoying and they should silence their phones immediately.

[cupcake_goth]

My custom ringtones are whatever makes me think of the person and smile. A (somewhat convoluted) example: my husband looks like he could be related to Simon Peg. We saw "World's End" in London right after we had visited the small village in Wales where he spent his teens & 20s, and I'm a goth who likes Sisters of Mercy. THEREFORE, my husband's ring/text tone is the opening choral swell of "This Corrosion".

[yourlibrarian]

I don't give my cell phone out to almost anyone. So the 10 or so people I expect might actually use it get their own ringtone. That way if the phone uses the standard ring I know it's probably spam.

One thing re: the last question is that with my old Samsung one of the alert notice sounds was a bird chirp. When I got my new Motorola I missed it, so I went hunting for some bird song, copied and cut it, and uploaded it to the phone so I could have a bird song again!

[sistawendy]

Somewhere out there is video of the "Helsinki Complaints Choir". It is what it says on the package: a choir singing a bunch of complaints from the citizens of Helsinki. One of them is, "All ringtones are annoying," sung in Finnish to the default Nokia ringtone.

[ironymaiden]

Holy shit, I would make a ringtone out of that

[sistawendy]

The Helsinki Complaints Choir.

[ironymaiden]

alarm-wise, my phone will allow you to select a spotify playlist for a designated "morning" alarm. i've come to appreciate it.

[ironymaiden]

yes, pretty much this. i like to have a solid memorable riff that i want to hear and makes me smile for calls from people i want to hear from.

sometimes there's a little commentary there; my family is all the opening organ from The Who's Baba O'Riley (because of a memorable car moment of "teenage wasteland" syncing up as i drove toward the house i grew up in), my gaming group are all the Star Wars Cantina Band.

[ironymaiden]

I did it! It's now the default ring, so it will only go off when the call is likely to be annoying :D

[sistawendy]

Splendid! I hope you run into someone who understands that ring.

[jesse_the_k]

playlist! That's brilliant!

[jesse_the_k]

I love 1 vs 2. Encapsulates the wonder and horror of tech.