Forget the idea of designated cell phone areas - they simply won't work. Anyone notice the "Quiet Zone" signs at most Presidents Clubs TV rooms (Crown Room Clubs as well)? They're regularly ignored. I use my cell phone during boarding -- but only for necessary business, only after I'm seated, and I keep my voice to a minimum. Then again, I'm not out to impress anybody with the details of my latest real estate deal or lawsuit. We've all seen boarding areas at obscene hours of the early morning full of guys barking into their phones. If their jobs mandate that they use their phones at 4:52 AM, what's to say they won't be just as loud and just as inconsiderate at 2:26 AM on board a transon redeye?

The solution isn't segregation of phone-and non-phone seating, it's simple etiquitte. On the SFO-EWR redeye, I'd keep my cell phone off the entire flight - regardless of how much sleep I had the night before - out of courtesy to my fellow passengers. But, the same can't be said for everybody else. I get the feeling that those who support in-flight cell usage will quickly change their minds one sleepless night after suffering through a transcon worth of a loud, inconsiderate seatmate's conversations.