Following a comment by best selling business authorTomi Ahonen on my post about sex and mobile search on Tuesday, I was inspired to raid the extensive MobHappy archives for this post on the Shag Phone - in case you hadn’t seen it.

Tomi pointed out that recent European surveys had found that between 41% (Innocent Italians) and 67% (Suspicious Swedes) had snooped inside their partners’ phones for evidence of illicit hanky panky. Which is why people need a Shag Phone:

As with all societal change, it tends to happen imperceptibly. And then you look back and remember how life was different.

I heard someone talking about their “shag phone” the other day. He was a married man having an affair with a lady who was also married. It seems that one of the first heady rituals of the affair was to purchase a “his and her” pair of Pre-pay shag phones.

Only they knew each other’s number, so when the phone rang, they could answer in an appropriately passionate way. While much the same effect could be achieved with caller recognition (assuming they were mobile literate), there was more than just a romantic gesture involved with this behaviour.

Technology still can’t hide your phone bill from a suspicious spouse. And it can’t hide your amour’s frequently dialed number from prying eyes. Better to get a pair of pre-pay phones with no incriminating phone bills or records. A small example of how the mobile is impacting on 21st century life.

And if you’re tempted to get your own Shag Phone, just remember this quote from Brief Encounter (pictured thanks to Cinema Review):

Laura Jesson: “It’s awfully easy to lie when you know that you’re trusted implicitly. So very easy, and so very degrading.”

UPDATE: Make sure you click through and see the comments on this post. Tomi has left a great one about how you chat up a girl in Dubai.

First posted in June 2004