I love my iPhone. I really do.

There is, however, one thing I don’t like about it, a characteristic that (or so I’ve learned) the iPhone shares with other “smart” phones, and that’s its annoying tendency to interfere with poorly shielded electronic devices. The phenomenon, known as radiofrequency interference, manifests itself as a mid-frequency electronic buzzing that sounds something like “dit-dit-dit-dah-dit-dit-dit-dah,” or Morse code on speed with a continuous buzz behind it. The problem appears to be most common with GSM-based phones, such as AT&T (the iPhone’s carrier), T-Mobile and the old Nextel networks.

I first learned of this phenomenon the day after I had activated my iPhone. I was sitting at my desk listening to my iTunes library, when the (now) characteristic buzz started up, drowning out my music as it poured out of my speakers. I figured out that I could shield the phone with my hand and stop the drone, or I could put the phone in a drawer and risk forgetting it whenever I leave my office, for whatever reason. I later noted the same interference when I tried to play my iPhone during the drive home using a cassette adaptor. Oddly enough, there was no interference if I was not using the adaptor, implying that it was the adapter that was inadequatlely shielded. Subsequently, I learned that, to be sure of avoiding this problem, one needs devices certified to “work with iPod.”

Little did I expect to hear that same buzz here at the AACR during a talk.

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