I may catch a lot of flak for using the word tsunami in that headline. (Innocent restauranteurs in South Africa are already catching such flak.)

But I use it deliberately. I know over 150,000 people died in the tragedy. I do not minimize it. But if the electromagnetic waves from mobile phones are as dangerous to health as recent studies indicate, then how many preventable deaths are we looking at some years down the road, from brain cancer? Given the enormous numbers of phones out there today, and the incredible use being made of them, I'd say 150,000 potential deaths is a rather low estimate. Assuming, that is, that the danger is as bad as alarmists are saying.

Note that I use the word preventable. Because a few product changes, in a market where most people keep their equipment for barely a year, means all this potential damage is, indeed preventable.

To wit:

1. The headset and the phone need to be separated. If in the short term that means a wire running from your pocket to your ear (who knows about Bluetooth), well, iPods are high fashion.
2. Japanese scientists have developed wave-absorbing materials as thin as .3 millimeter. Coat the devices with this.
3. The return of the external antenna that separates the user from the incoming wave may be called for.

The good news is this means everyone will want to get a new phone, starting with the heaviest users. And we can then add features (made possible by Moore's Law) that make such devices much, much more useful. The potential for lawsuits should motivate the industry further to get better products into production quickly.

So take off your tinfoil hat. People don't have to die.