Preventing Drunken Dialers

So darn true! Techdirt writes:

Ah, the problems that new technology creates. Take the idea of drunken dialing, for instance. In the past, it was mostly limited to those who were drinking alone at home. However, with the mobile phone, it’s become a much more widespread phenomenon. You go out for a few drinks with friends, and suddenly decide that it makes perfect sense for you to call your ex at 2am from whatever gutter you might be lying in. A study (done by Virgin Mobile, so be aware of the obvious bias) recently suggested that 95% of people admitted they were guilty of drunken dialing at one point or another — with 30% of those calls going to exes and another 19% to current significant others. However, as with so many things, where technology creates tricky situations, technology can also save the day. Down in Australia, Virgin Mobile is going to now offer a new service that will let users easily create a blacklist of phone numbers that can’t be called until 6am the following morning. Of course, the big problem with such a service is that most drunk dialers realize how silly it would be for them to call a certain number, and can’t believe they’d ever be in such a state where it might make sense… while sober. So, how likely are they to set this up while sober? The point when it makes sense is when they’re already drunk, but then it’s too late.