It may not seem like it when commuters are shouting down their cell phones to the dismay of other passengers but most Americans believe there are unspoken rules about mobile phone etiquette.

    Checking emails, sending text messages and making telephone calls while in the company of others are definite breeches of mobile manners.

    Texting during a date is also strictly forbidden.

    But most people questioned in an online poll said they would not be offended if they received an electronic thank you, instead of a written note and 75 percent had no objections to anyone using laptops, netbooks and cell phones in the bathroom.

    "Etiquette is first and foremost a question of awareness," said author and etiquette expert Anna Post.

    But she described the results of the Harris Interactive poll commissioned by Intel as "pretty surprising statistics."

    Sixty-two percent of the 2,625 adults who took part in the survey agreed that cell phones, laptops, netbooks and other electronic devices are part of daily life.

    Fifty-five percent also thought the demands of business mean people must stay connected, even if it involves taking a laptop on a holiday or answering a cell phone during a meal.

    But despite the need to be constantly connected and the general acceptance of the technology, people were more sensitive about technology abuses during holiday and religious activities.

    Nearly 90 percent of Americans think cell phone use is unacceptable during a religious service and 30 percent admitted they would be offended if they received an online gift wish.

    But more than half revealed that they intended to send an electronic greeting card, instead of a traditional one.

    "These are issues about common sense," said Dr Genevieve Bell, an ethnographer and director of Intel's User Experience Group, adding that the social rules of when and how it is appropriate to use the technology are still being formed.

    在上下班的路上打手機聲音太大把別人嚇到，你可能難以相信，但大多數美國人認為使用手機還是有一些不成文的禮節。

    當你和朋友在一起時，查收電郵、發短信以及打電話都被視為不禮貌的行為。

    約會時發短信也是一大禁忌。

    但在一項在線調查中，大多數受訪者稱自己即便收到的感謝便條是電子版的而非親筆寫的，也不會生氣。75%的受訪者對別人在浴室里用筆記本電腦、上網本和打手機沒有意見。

    作家和禮節專家安娜？波斯特說："禮節首先是一個意識的問題。"

    但她稱該調查的結果"相當令人吃驚".該調查由英特爾公司委托哈里斯互動調查開展。

    在2625名成年受訪者中，62%的人認為手機、筆記本電腦、上網本以及其它電子設備是日常生活的一部分。

    55%的受訪者認為，工作需要使人們必須保持聯系，哪怕這意味著在度假時要帶上筆記本電腦，或者在用餐時接手機。

    盡管時時保持聯系成為一種需要，人們也普遍接受了這項科技，但人們對在休假和宗教活動時使用手機還是比較敏感。

    近90%的美國人認為在宗教活動時使用手機不可接受，30%的受訪者稱自己如果收到網絡禮物會不高興。

    但一半以上的受訪者稱他們更傾向于發送電子賀卡，而非傳統賀卡。

    人種學者、英特爾公司用戶體驗團隊的主管吉納維芙？貝爾博士說："這是常識的問題","何時以及如何正確使用手機的社會規則仍在形成之中。