Ringback Tones

What exactly is a ringback tone you ask? When you call someone, it is a song played in place of the standard ringing you would hear while waiting for that person to pick up or getting the persons voicemail. In other words it is an annoying technological advancement in cell phone services marketed toward teenagers, young adults and stupid people who think it is cool.

Depending on what is considered popular music at the time and the service provider, almost any song is available to have as a ringback tone. If you are a normal mature adult who wants to take advantage of this service, you will choose music that is pleasant to everyone, nothing too hard, maybe something classical and tasteful. But if you are a member of a group that this service is market to, then watch out. Having the wrong music can actually not get you a job. I should know this, not because I have this service and didn't get a job because of it, but because I personally have not hired people because of their ringback tone. A bad ringback tone is unprofessional and the sign of an idiot.

I once ran a security company, and part of my many, many duties was to hire new employees. I would put ads on Craigslist and would sometimes have many well qualified people apply. When it came to calling people for interviews, no matter how qualified a person was, if I was forced to listen to music I didn't like, I would hang up and call someone else.

I know that I can sometimes be an asshole and that I expect a lot from my employees or those who would be potential employees, however, I know I am not the only person out there that hates ringback tones, and I know that I am not the only person who has not hired someone because of their ringback tone. That said, and I know I maybe taking this a little far, but ringback tones have the potential to help in the continued rise of our unemployment rate.

Now taking that a step further, if everyone who had a horrid ringback tone was not hired, they eventually would not be able to pay their phone bill and their service would be canceled. If this trend continued, stupid ringback tones would eventually go away. So there is hope. However, until then we are stuck listening to shitty songs like "Do the Stanky Leg" when waiting for a stupid person to pick up.