I experienced the Yondr phone prison last night for the first time (at a Chris Rock show). While I detest people being disruptive with their phones, I don’t think this is the right solution.
From a practical standpoint, it took a lot longer to get into and out of the venue when phones had to be locked up. Checking your phone when you pop out to the toilet meant waiting in a queue to have your phone unlocked, and being kept in a small penned off area. There have been a number of times when I’ve been split up from friends at large venues - not being able to text each other to meet up is inconvenient.
It doesn’t work. Unless stewards are doing a thorough search (which would be offputting in itself), people will manage to bring phones in. They did last night. Mine got locked up, my fiancées didn’t.
In the event of an emergency, this is a really bad idea. At the extreme end, you’ve got things like the Manchester bombing, where access to a phone would be a useful thing. But more likely it’s a fire alarm and subsequent evacuation, where you end up separated from your group. The venue last night (the SSE Hydro in Glasgow) said that in the event of an evacuation you should not attempt to have your phone unlocked but should leave immediately - sensible but if phones weren’t locked up, it wouldn’t even be a concern.
I think the solution is to simply enforce a strict “no phones during the performance” policy. Treat people like adults. If they break the rules, ask them to leave. Last night we were sitting in front of a very drunken, obnoxious heckler. After several people complained, she was asked to leave. This is how many venues handle it.
Interestingly, all of the venue stewards last night were wearing Yondr hi vis vests. They seem to be on a major marketing push. I really hope it doesn’t become commonplace.
The venue seemed to want to distance themselves from the decision, making announcements along the lines of “At Chris Rock’s request, phones will not be allowed at tonight’s show and will be locked in Yondr cases and given back you you. Consequently, Apple Pay will not be available tonight.”
I think the viscerality of this response is fascinating. Putting your phone in a case is a "prison", and you must check it every time you go to the toilet, and you're concerned about a terrorist attack -- enough to want your phone, but not enough to stay home, as if your apps could somehow save you.
> Treat people like adults. If they break the rules, ask them to leave.
Isn't that what we've been trying for the past 10 years? Clearly, it's not working. A significant percentage of people are not acting like adults. And you can't deal with 1/4 of the audience intentionally misbehaving like you do with a single drunken heckler.
LOL using the Manchester bombing as reason. First terrorist incidents are so rare you might as well argue that you need your phone in case of a plane crash.
Secondly, these events have security, crowd control, management, etc, all with their own phones. Emergency services doesn't need a thousand simultaneous calls. In a genuine mass emergency there is a lot more important needs for network access than providing people the opportunity Instagram/Facebook about their experience.
If friends and family have to wait a little while longer to hear from you in an extremely rare emergency, that's a small price to pay for the large benefit. You can't fully experience a concert or show when you are distracted by your or someone else phones.
This technology makes the "no phones" policy work. I don't have to be made to feel like an a-hole calling for an usher to deal with phone users, or worry about them or their friends harassing or assaulting me for doing it. It makes the experience better for everyone.
A few weeks ago Joe Rogan spoke about how he's now using Yondr at all of his shows, because despite how expensive it is for him, it has significantly improved the show dynamics for his entire audience.
I agree, the safety aspects of this are shocking and the 'be free of phones' puritanism is a bit dull.
A _very_ strict code of conduct for attendees is something that can (and does) work.
Jazz pianist, Keith Jarrett has been known to stop his 4-hour long improvisation sessions in some of the world's most prestigous venues mid-flow to dress down an attendee trying to film him. People don't make that mistake twice. https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/aug/09/keit...
Unrelated, but I'd be way more on board with this if the DVD of the show wasn't £30 afterwards.
In case of an emergency people should follow staff's directions; preferably without being glued to their phones and without disrupting any ongoing rescue attempts by trying to take a good video...
The only relevant exception are professionals on call (i.e. doctors, police etc) - and they'll make the conscious decision to not attend such a concert unless explicitly exempted from the phone ban.
Everybody else may vote with their wallet. Personally, I'd pay a premium for concerts that enforce a no-phone policy.
> There have been a number of times when I’ve been split up from friends at large venues - not being able to text each other to meet up is inconvenient.
"Hey guys, let's stick together, if we get separated meet at the bar. Cool? cool"
And an interesting one you can't easily do anymore without a cell phone (because people don't wear wrist watches):
"Hey, i'm going to checkout X. Meet at the bar in 30 minutes?"
Of course it is inconvenient, that is kind of the point. To make it harder to use you get to forget about using it. That comes with trade offs, some of them pretty serious.
Going anywhere without a phone is about the whole experience, not just the watching the artist but all the time inbetween too. You don't get to escape the world to a phone, even for a moment, and when things get boring you have to find interest in what's around you.
Your phone is a mental portal to all other things in your life and by having it within reach your mind likes to weasel out of wherever it currently is into those other spaces, even when you don't pick the phone up. It is an interspatial, intertemporal hyper distraction machine and it robs people of being engaged for long periods of time without interruption. Those moments inbetween sets where you have to just be with your friends, that is part of it, when you have to organise how to find eachother after a toilet break, also part of it.
Keep in mind, some people are way better at managing their phones interruption than others, and it doesn't affect them like that. So perhaps the no phone thing isn't 100% for your benefit, but you still have to endure the troubles it takes.
I get the feeling this will be a divisive topic. I am willing to endure the pains because I really really don't want a phone or anyone else to have theirs at the venue. Some people don't feel that way, so the logical pros and cons we can both describe will matter differently and we will find it hard to agree!
I totally agree about emergencies, but for me that's a risk I am willing to take on. Just like I would go hiking with no phone and you perhaps might not.
> Consequently, Apple Pay will not be available tonight.
I hadn't thought of that aspect, but that presents an interesting problem. As more things get centralized on phones, this will become less & less feasible.
Meeting your friends: You made plans to meet at a certain time and place and you showed up when you were supposed to or you carpooled.
In an Emergency: you'll find out what happened to your friends eventually when you meet at school or call each other then next day. You aren't emergency service personnel. You just need to evacuate.
Going to the bathroom: you go to the bathroom and get out of the stall in an expeditious fashion to let others use it instead of looking at your phone while people wait in line. If you were a real jerk, you read the newspaper on the toilet, but this was rare.
Seeing a show: you watched the show, danced, or crowd surfed if it was a punk show. You never had to wory about your phone falling out of your pocket or getting broken. The place was dark. Someone might kneel on the speaker with a lit cigarette lighter in one hand if it was a special moment.
I went to a concert in Mannheim about 8 years ago. They had quite a few fairly reasonable rules, but they also had security guards to enforce them. If you broke any of the rules and refused to get your shit together they would pick your ass up and carry you out. You wouldn't even get a chance to leave. I think good security and enforcement of the rules would be a better solution than taking peoples' phones.
I wonder if, some number of years in the future, when 95% of humans have neural implants that let them connect to the Internet and send telepathic messages to their friends and babysitter, there will be people too afraid to turn them off for the duration of a music concert, because of a possible terrorist attack or a fire?
They’ll probably shake their heads and wonder how people ever got along without neural implants.
Addicted people will always look for excuses and fight with stupid arguments for them. In the '70s and '80s people somehow found themselves at concerts, they were not afraid of security, they did not have to check what "important loved ones" were and any of that shit and they lived happily.
It's hard to even comment on the fact that if the phone is locked, you can't safely leave the building during the alam because you are afraid that something will happen to him... or your contacts in cloud. :)
Now the majority will not survive 5 days without a telephone because someone will surely die, someone will get lost, a terrorist attack will happen, or world will be hit by the meteorite...
Yes, I have a phone, but I do not take it with me, and I do not use it when I do not have to... and it's not a smartphone. :)
You underestimate the impact that people using their phones - as cameras in particular - has in a performance setting. To say nothing about ringers going off. It ruins the experience for everyone, so some inconvenience is well worth it in my book.
A simple zero-hassle solutions is to have walls that block any cellular and wifi signals. It solves the problems you mention.
I don't know why such walls are not more common in schools too. A lot of parents would be happy to pay for such walls if the learning experience improves substantially.
Edit: about the emergency and possible bomber attack: if the block-signal-mecanism is active (create some sort of interference) then it becomes easy to deactivate the mechanism automatically when the fire alarm or other emergency is triggered: simy cut the power source.
> In the event of an emergency, this is a really bad idea.
How difficult is it to defeat the Yondr cases with mechanical force? I'd normally suggest a pocketknife, but places like that probably search for and confiscate those as well.
It doesn't look like the locking mechanism on those cases would be all that strong, such that most people could pull it apart with their hands if they made a real effort.
> In the event of an emergency, this is a really bad idea.
What did people do when bad things happened at stadia before there were cell phones? Mass casualty incidents at arenas aren't exactly a new thing. (Who concert in Cincinnati, Disco Demolition in Chicago, etc...)
> I think the solution is to simply enforce a strict “no phones during the performance” policy. Treat people like adults. If they break the rules, ask them to leave.
This is precisely how it's done every night at Output in Brooklyn.
"There have been a number of times when I’ve been split up from friends at large venues - not being able to text each other to meet up is inconvenient."
Dude.
What do you think people did at Rolling Stones or Zeppelin concerts in the 60-70's?
What do you think people did at Michael Jackson concerts in the 80's?
What do you think people did at Nirvana and Pearl Jam concerts in the 90's?
People have lived without text messaging far longer that we've had it. If this is your chief complaint, I think you need to think harder about the problem space.
I agree. I'm an adult, if you ask me to not use my phone I will comply. If other adults can't do the same, then simply ask them to leave.
Yondr feels patronising, almost like we are being treated like children.
That being said, I generally don't go to gigs anymore because its getting more like flying. Expensive tickets with hidden fees, being forced to queue neatly like school children, searches, and then the overpriced food and drink. This is just one more thing to add to the list.
Last year I went to a King Crimson concert. There were no "phone prisons", but they repeatedly informed the audience to keep their phones pocketed until the end of the show. This seemed to work wonders, as I didn't see a single phone for the duration of the show.
Now, naturally this was a somewhat different audience than e.g. a Chris Rock show, but it does prove that it's possible. Maybe it all comes down to respect?
Have you ever wondered if they just want you to have a different experience? There are restaurants that require you to eat in pitch black, restaurants where you cant wear sandals, there are shows where you get polaroid cameras and so on.
This is not about not treating people like adults but about what experience you want to give them.
I fail to see what terrorist attacks have to do with anything.
I think his statement "If they can’t give me that energy back? Maybe I’m wasting my time." is thoughtful. Jack is old enough to have gone to and performed shows in his youth where cells phone were rare if there were any. He performs not only for the music but for the energy of the crowd. A crowd that's now placed a screen between themselves and the performer taking away that energy or removing that sense of connection. Even in a large venue!
He's the artist, it's his gig, if you can't respect the reasonable wishes of the person who you paid to go see what are you doing there?
Man, I can stand behind this. You have no idea how distracting it is to the musicians on stage when they look at the crowd and see a bunch of cell phones facing them.
I'd rather see everyone bored and talking. At least that's a genuine response.
I feel it's quite disrespectful to be looking at your cellphone and recording while a performer is on stage. The performer is there for you, and you presumably went there to see them. Sometimes we make eye contact, and sometimes we look out to measure how we are doing. No feedback results breaks the uh... feedback loop.
No big deal to do it for a few seconds, but a few seconds just doesn't happen. Besides, my purpose is to give you a few minutes to escape life, leave all your concerns, and be in a moment. Snap a pic, but turn off the flash and don't film. The recording quality sucks so it isn't like anyone is going to look at it understand half the experience anyways.
While I'm definitely on Jack's side spiritually, Yondr is not an efficient solution. We need to consciously and intentionally establish a norm of 'no phones' in certain group situations, just like how many areas have established a norm of 'no smoking'.
And, yes, it's true that 'no smoking' often has local law to help drive the idea home, but it's not like there's a cop monitoring the smoking situation in every public venue. Shame, ridicule, side-eye and public opinion are really what keep behavior in line.
It's not hard to do. I remember long ago that the famous Alamo Drafthouse movie theater, which serves beer and booze, had problems with people talking. They started playing a stock reel of people getting their asses kicked overlaid with "if you talk we'll kick your ass out" before the movie started. Now it's just accepted fact that you keep quiet no matter how many Lone Star tallboys you've had.
A suggestion. If entertainers ban phones at events they should at least record the event themselves and publish the video for the participants or everyone.
I noticed at the Mark Twain wards for David Letterman when my hero Bill fucking Murray came out a woman was literally watching him through her phone. And I was watching the whole thing on youtube at a much better angle and quality.
Of course my video was probably uploaded much later than her visual phone proxy experience but it occurred to me that these events should make the recordings available.
The ticket stub could have a url that will become active after the event with the video. Or if they're feeling generous, put it on youtube for everyone.
I recently saw a preview of a Pixar movie before the public release, and their solution was to make us put our phones in an extremely crinkly bag that would make noise if we tried to open it to surreptitiously video the screen. But we could still access them in an emergency. It wouldn't work at a loud concert, of course.
Good. I do this at my personal parties, I have a phone bowl by the door. Few arguments are solved by Google, and creative things happen.
Social Media is definitely at the point where TV was in around 2012. There were the early 'adopters' who cast out their sets and proclaimed the virtues, but they weren't shunned and understanding was attempted... what's a DVR? what's streaming? Silly questions a few years later, right.
Cell phones are wonderful, apps are useful, don't get me wrong. So is self awareness and presence. It's a huge waste of effort to go to a party/concert just to use a device for non-urgent activity. I used to be on PagerDuty for 7on/7off and I forewent my normal life during those days to ensure I could respond. Sometimes I'd go to a bar with my backpack and sip with coworkers/acquaintances, but it obviously disturbed the vibe not keeping up so eventually I stopped.
I wouldn't go to a concert if I had urgent stuff that could happen. Family emergency? Shit, we'll we've managed until now, life happens. The external cost to social skills and ambiance are so great, as we can all observe, that that one act of nature edge case isn't worth the external costs (we can agree to disagree).
and also - Pearl Jam has released information on their upcoming tour - the tickets themselves will be SmartPhone only (from their Fan Club site, Ten Club):
Ten Club Mobile Tickets: No will call. No physical tickets. In order to distribute tickets more efficiently, Ten Club will be delivering all Ten Club tickets directly to your smart phone. Mobile ticket delivery requires an iPhone or Android smart phone. Instead of scanning a physical ticket at the gate, members will access tickets through their smartphone and scan directly from the screen of your mobile device. Step-by-step instructions on how to access your ticket on your phone will be sent to all Ten Club ticket holders via email when they are ready for mobile distribution. We plan to have this delivered to you by early July.
I was about to buy Jack White tickets today and... I think I'll pass.
Don't get me wrong. I've seen several shows, including Jack White, that politely ask the audience to keep their phones away for part or all of the show. That's fine with me and it basically works.
But as much as I'd like to see Jack White again, I really don't enjoy being treated like a child.
Sorry, I'm aware that yelling is not appreciated, but this is a really cool idea.
There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at.
Those small screens are a real distraction and phones also don't really serve as substitutes for lighters used, when Led Zeppelin started with Stairway to Heaven.
A rant about this specific song is reserved for another comment.
> There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at.
Au contraire. The people on either side having a conversation about their weekend dinner party whilst Lisa Gerrard does a quiet solo piece are infinitely more annoying than any camera phone. Or a lady with big hair in the first 3 rows sitting on someone's shoulders and blocking out half the stage for half the crowd.
Maybe it'd be reasonable if the show actually started at the posted time, rather than first spending multiple hours on horrible-to-mediocre opening acts and breaks.
If people are openly bored at your shows then it's probably time to reevaluate how you're running things, rather than getting into shouting matches on Twitter.
I remember maybe 20 or so years ago, reading about how Japanese tourists visiting America would tend to look at landmarks through their camera lens rather than looking at it for real. It was considered a bizarre phenomenon at the time and the theory was that they found it more 'real' to look at through their technology than seeing it with their own eyes.
I remember finding it really fascinating and strange, and now such a thing is so normal. I completely agree that no one ever watches those videos, but it appears that capturing the experience has become in many cases more important than the experience itself.
If you have the context of having been there then those ultra-shitty videos are more like a trigger for your own memory of that moment to help you relive a really good time. It's a phenomenon similar to how certain smells bring people right back to some moment. It might not be for you but I wouldn't get too indignant about it if others indulge.
It's simple (thick cloth pouch with a powerful magnet lock), allows you to remain in physical custody of your device (which wasn't clear from the article) and creates a forcing function for people who need to use their phone to simply exit the venue and get it unlocked at a kiosk.
I despise the fact that people think they need to have their phones in front of them the entire time, taking shitty pics and videos that they'll never look at again.
However, I would never support an artist/performer who tries to prevent me from using my own things. It's not their right to tell me that I can't pull out my phone if I choose to do so. It belongs to me. So while I would never actually have my phone out during a show like it, I would never actually go to a show that would prevent me from doing so.
I've heard of a few artists doing this over the past year or so. I think the banning is ultimately useless and enforcing it adds more invasiveness to the already overly invasive process of getting into a venue. A simple reminder before the concert starts that you're an asshole if hold your phone up is as far as this should go, works fine in movie theaters.
Maybe phones should have a feature to take pics with the screen off, more like a disposable camera. They should have that feature anyway.
Mister White follows up on his ideas, but this seems to be unnecessary, at least from what I saw at his concert in Prague, Czech Republic, last year.
Before the show one of his crewmen said to all the people to keep their phones in the pockets, that the show will be profesionally photographed and the photos will be on the official Jack White site for everyone to download.
This helped immensely, and I'd guess 95 % of the people kept heir phones hidden and enjoyed the show. Yes, there still were some who recorded alllllll the songs, but that's their apparently their thing afterall, isn't it? I think this approach was nice, human, and worked very well.
Perhaps an outright ban is a bit heavy-handed, but we do need to come to terms with what the appropriate etiquette for the usage of personal electronics is. I guess I could care less is someone wants to spend a show checking Facebook, but it's rude to other guests if their screen grabs your attention or it blocks your view. This ties into general camera usage -- wanting to take a picture (or 50) does not entitle you to squeeze in front, or otherwise monopolise the path/area in front of the painting/sculpture/view, nor does it excuse bumping into people while you scuttle around for the right angle.
A particular thing I find very unnerving, is the playing of media on a phone or tablet with the audio on in a crowded public space, typically, but far from exclusively, for the benefit of a child. A close runner up is people keeping audible notifications on their phones or laptops while using it - the sound grabs everybody else's attention, too.
I don't know, how about we embrace mobile phones in gigs instead? Arcade Fire, for instance, asked the audience to turn their flash light on during their last song (don't remember which one it was) last time I saw them. It was beautiful from where I was standing at that moment.
And there's also a video of Win Butler taking a mobile phone from someone in the audience and recording himself for a few seconds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpgyv6naF3M).
I'm sure that someone with more creativity than I have could come up with an idea how to use mobile phones to enhance the experience to the audience and the performer, rather than just viewing them as an annoyance.
This is almost universal at live theater. (Some exceptions but not many.) Which is mostly a good thing. Although on Broadway, I've seen ushers get IMO overly aggressive just because someone snaps a shot at the end of a performance or whatever.
...and hold your phone up there so the person behind you can't see me with their actual eyes!
People who record phone video at concerts are the worst. If you want to re-live your experience later, a lot of promoters now do a professional recording from the floor and on stage with multiple cameras, and they sell download authorization keys at the merchandise booths. Buy one of those. If you can't enjoy the thing you're at right now, please don't ruin it for the people around you.
This is a pretty good idea. Dave Chappelle does it before all of his comedy shows. But I'm not going to be part of some sort of rally against phones. The guy on his phone not talking to the person sitting next to him is just the new guy with his head in a newspaper.
[+] [-] davb|8 years ago|reply
From a practical standpoint, it took a lot longer to get into and out of the venue when phones had to be locked up. Checking your phone when you pop out to the toilet meant waiting in a queue to have your phone unlocked, and being kept in a small penned off area. There have been a number of times when I’ve been split up from friends at large venues - not being able to text each other to meet up is inconvenient.
It doesn’t work. Unless stewards are doing a thorough search (which would be offputting in itself), people will manage to bring phones in. They did last night. Mine got locked up, my fiancées didn’t.
In the event of an emergency, this is a really bad idea. At the extreme end, you’ve got things like the Manchester bombing, where access to a phone would be a useful thing. But more likely it’s a fire alarm and subsequent evacuation, where you end up separated from your group. The venue last night (the SSE Hydro in Glasgow) said that in the event of an evacuation you should not attempt to have your phone unlocked but should leave immediately - sensible but if phones weren’t locked up, it wouldn’t even be a concern.
I think the solution is to simply enforce a strict “no phones during the performance” policy. Treat people like adults. If they break the rules, ask them to leave. Last night we were sitting in front of a very drunken, obnoxious heckler. After several people complained, she was asked to leave. This is how many venues handle it.
Interestingly, all of the venue stewards last night were wearing Yondr hi vis vests. They seem to be on a major marketing push. I really hope it doesn’t become commonplace.
The venue seemed to want to distance themselves from the decision, making announcements along the lines of “At Chris Rock’s request, phones will not be allowed at tonight’s show and will be locked in Yondr cases and given back you you. Consequently, Apple Pay will not be available tonight.”
[+] [-] ken|8 years ago|reply
> Treat people like adults. If they break the rules, ask them to leave.
Isn't that what we've been trying for the past 10 years? Clearly, it's not working. A significant percentage of people are not acting like adults. And you can't deal with 1/4 of the audience intentionally misbehaving like you do with a single drunken heckler.
[+] [-] valuearb|8 years ago|reply
Secondly, these events have security, crowd control, management, etc, all with their own phones. Emergency services doesn't need a thousand simultaneous calls. In a genuine mass emergency there is a lot more important needs for network access than providing people the opportunity Instagram/Facebook about their experience.
If friends and family have to wait a little while longer to hear from you in an extremely rare emergency, that's a small price to pay for the large benefit. You can't fully experience a concert or show when you are distracted by your or someone else phones.
This technology makes the "no phones" policy work. I don't have to be made to feel like an a-hole calling for an usher to deal with phone users, or worry about them or their friends harassing or assaulting me for doing it. It makes the experience better for everyone.
A few weeks ago Joe Rogan spoke about how he's now using Yondr at all of his shows, because despite how expensive it is for him, it has significantly improved the show dynamics for his entire audience.
[+] [-] maxehmookau|8 years ago|reply
A _very_ strict code of conduct for attendees is something that can (and does) work.
Jazz pianist, Keith Jarrett has been known to stop his 4-hour long improvisation sessions in some of the world's most prestigous venues mid-flow to dress down an attendee trying to film him. People don't make that mistake twice. https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/aug/09/keit...
Unrelated, but I'd be way more on board with this if the DVD of the show wasn't £30 afterwards.
[+] [-] jlg23|8 years ago|reply
The only relevant exception are professionals on call (i.e. doctors, police etc) - and they'll make the conscious decision to not attend such a concert unless explicitly exempted from the phone ban.
Everybody else may vote with their wallet. Personally, I'd pay a premium for concerts that enforce a no-phone policy.
[+] [-] nly|8 years ago|reply
"Hey guys, let's stick together, if we get separated meet at the bar. Cool? cool"
And an interesting one you can't easily do anymore without a cell phone (because people don't wear wrist watches):
"Hey, i'm going to checkout X. Meet at the bar in 30 minutes?"
[+] [-] ehnto|8 years ago|reply
Going anywhere without a phone is about the whole experience, not just the watching the artist but all the time inbetween too. You don't get to escape the world to a phone, even for a moment, and when things get boring you have to find interest in what's around you.
Your phone is a mental portal to all other things in your life and by having it within reach your mind likes to weasel out of wherever it currently is into those other spaces, even when you don't pick the phone up. It is an interspatial, intertemporal hyper distraction machine and it robs people of being engaged for long periods of time without interruption. Those moments inbetween sets where you have to just be with your friends, that is part of it, when you have to organise how to find eachother after a toilet break, also part of it.
Keep in mind, some people are way better at managing their phones interruption than others, and it doesn't affect them like that. So perhaps the no phone thing isn't 100% for your benefit, but you still have to endure the troubles it takes.
I get the feeling this will be a divisive topic. I am willing to endure the pains because I really really don't want a phone or anyone else to have theirs at the venue. Some people don't feel that way, so the logical pros and cons we can both describe will matter differently and we will find it hard to agree!
I totally agree about emergencies, but for me that's a risk I am willing to take on. Just like I would go hiking with no phone and you perhaps might not.
[+] [-] mi100hael|8 years ago|reply
I hadn't thought of that aspect, but that presents an interesting problem. As more things get centralized on phones, this will become less & less feasible.
[+] [-] narrator|8 years ago|reply
Meeting your friends: You made plans to meet at a certain time and place and you showed up when you were supposed to or you carpooled.
In an Emergency: you'll find out what happened to your friends eventually when you meet at school or call each other then next day. You aren't emergency service personnel. You just need to evacuate.
Going to the bathroom: you go to the bathroom and get out of the stall in an expeditious fashion to let others use it instead of looking at your phone while people wait in line. If you were a real jerk, you read the newspaper on the toilet, but this was rare.
Seeing a show: you watched the show, danced, or crowd surfed if it was a punk show. You never had to wory about your phone falling out of your pocket or getting broken. The place was dark. Someone might kneel on the speaker with a lit cigarette lighter in one hand if it was a special moment.
[+] [-] phaus|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] booleandilemma|8 years ago|reply
They’ll probably shake their heads and wonder how people ever got along without neural implants.
[+] [-] dotsh|8 years ago|reply
It's hard to even comment on the fact that if the phone is locked, you can't safely leave the building during the alam because you are afraid that something will happen to him... or your contacts in cloud. :)
Now the majority will not survive 5 days without a telephone because someone will surely die, someone will get lost, a terrorist attack will happen, or world will be hit by the meteorite...
Yes, I have a phone, but I do not take it with me, and I do not use it when I do not have to... and it's not a smartphone. :)
[+] [-] subpixel|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rapnie|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jknz|8 years ago|reply
I don't know why such walls are not more common in schools too. A lot of parents would be happy to pay for such walls if the learning experience improves substantially.
Edit: about the emergency and possible bomber attack: if the block-signal-mecanism is active (create some sort of interference) then it becomes easy to deactivate the mechanism automatically when the fire alarm or other emergency is triggered: simy cut the power source.
[+] [-] Zak|8 years ago|reply
How difficult is it to defeat the Yondr cases with mechanical force? I'd normally suggest a pocketknife, but places like that probably search for and confiscate those as well.
It doesn't look like the locking mechanism on those cases would be all that strong, such that most people could pull it apart with their hands if they made a real effort.
[+] [-] reaperducer|8 years ago|reply
What did people do when bad things happened at stadia before there were cell phones? Mass casualty incidents at arenas aren't exactly a new thing. (Who concert in Cincinnati, Disco Demolition in Chicago, etc...)
[+] [-] acchow|8 years ago|reply
This is precisely how it's done every night at Output in Brooklyn.
[+] [-] dazc|8 years ago|reply
If this is your normal way of thinking the terrorists have beaten you already.
[+] [-] danesparza|8 years ago|reply
Dude.
What do you think people did at Rolling Stones or Zeppelin concerts in the 60-70's?
What do you think people did at Michael Jackson concerts in the 80's?
What do you think people did at Nirvana and Pearl Jam concerts in the 90's?
People have lived without text messaging far longer that we've had it. If this is your chief complaint, I think you need to think harder about the problem space.
[+] [-] DoubleGlazing|8 years ago|reply
Yondr feels patronising, almost like we are being treated like children.
That being said, I generally don't go to gigs anymore because its getting more like flying. Expensive tickets with hidden fees, being forced to queue neatly like school children, searches, and then the overpriced food and drink. This is just one more thing to add to the list.
[+] [-] avenius|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ThomPete|8 years ago|reply
This is not about not treating people like adults but about what experience you want to give them.
I fail to see what terrorist attacks have to do with anything.
[+] [-] AdamJacobMuller|8 years ago|reply
From the videos I've seen online, it seems like you could do so "fairly" easily.
[+] [-] baby|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] my_ghola|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] collyw|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] illegalsmile|8 years ago|reply
He's the artist, it's his gig, if you can't respect the reasonable wishes of the person who you paid to go see what are you doing there?
[+] [-] dizzystar|8 years ago|reply
I'd rather see everyone bored and talking. At least that's a genuine response.
I feel it's quite disrespectful to be looking at your cellphone and recording while a performer is on stage. The performer is there for you, and you presumably went there to see them. Sometimes we make eye contact, and sometimes we look out to measure how we are doing. No feedback results breaks the uh... feedback loop.
No big deal to do it for a few seconds, but a few seconds just doesn't happen. Besides, my purpose is to give you a few minutes to escape life, leave all your concerns, and be in a moment. Snap a pic, but turn off the flash and don't film. The recording quality sucks so it isn't like anyone is going to look at it understand half the experience anyways.
[+] [-] alangibson|8 years ago|reply
And, yes, it's true that 'no smoking' often has local law to help drive the idea home, but it's not like there's a cop monitoring the smoking situation in every public venue. Shame, ridicule, side-eye and public opinion are really what keep behavior in line.
It's not hard to do. I remember long ago that the famous Alamo Drafthouse movie theater, which serves beer and booze, had problems with people talking. They started playing a stock reel of people getting their asses kicked overlaid with "if you talk we'll kick your ass out" before the movie started. Now it's just accepted fact that you keep quiet no matter how many Lone Star tallboys you've had.
[+] [-] INTPenis|8 years ago|reply
I noticed at the Mark Twain wards for David Letterman when my hero Bill fucking Murray came out a woman was literally watching him through her phone. And I was watching the whole thing on youtube at a much better angle and quality.
Of course my video was probably uploaded much later than her visual phone proxy experience but it occurred to me that these events should make the recordings available.
The ticket stub could have a url that will become active after the event with the video. Or if they're feeling generous, put it on youtube for everyone.
[+] [-] tlb|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] harlanji|8 years ago|reply
Social Media is definitely at the point where TV was in around 2012. There were the early 'adopters' who cast out their sets and proclaimed the virtues, but they weren't shunned and understanding was attempted... what's a DVR? what's streaming? Silly questions a few years later, right.
Cell phones are wonderful, apps are useful, don't get me wrong. So is self awareness and presence. It's a huge waste of effort to go to a party/concert just to use a device for non-urgent activity. I used to be on PagerDuty for 7on/7off and I forewent my normal life during those days to ensure I could respond. Sometimes I'd go to a bar with my backpack and sip with coworkers/acquaintances, but it obviously disturbed the vibe not keeping up so eventually I stopped.
I wouldn't go to a concert if I had urgent stuff that could happen. Family emergency? Shit, we'll we've managed until now, life happens. The external cost to social skills and ambiance are so great, as we can all observe, that that one act of nature edge case isn't worth the external costs (we can agree to disagree).
[+] [-] amatern|8 years ago|reply
and also - Pearl Jam has released information on their upcoming tour - the tickets themselves will be SmartPhone only (from their Fan Club site, Ten Club):
Ten Club Mobile Tickets: No will call. No physical tickets. In order to distribute tickets more efficiently, Ten Club will be delivering all Ten Club tickets directly to your smart phone. Mobile ticket delivery requires an iPhone or Android smart phone. Instead of scanning a physical ticket at the gate, members will access tickets through their smartphone and scan directly from the screen of your mobile device. Step-by-step instructions on how to access your ticket on your phone will be sent to all Ten Club ticket holders via email when they are ready for mobile distribution. We plan to have this delivered to you by early July.
[+] [-] jasonthevillain|8 years ago|reply
Don't get me wrong. I've seen several shows, including Jack White, that politely ask the audience to keep their phones away for part or all of the show. That's fine with me and it basically works.
But as much as I'd like to see Jack White again, I really don't enjoy being treated like a child.
[+] [-] CaptainZapp|8 years ago|reply
Sorry, I'm aware that yelling is not appreciated, but this is a really cool idea.
There's hardly anything more annoying at gigs than those dunces in front of you recording some ultra-shitty video that nobody ever looks at.
Those small screens are a real distraction and phones also don't really serve as substitutes for lighters used, when Led Zeppelin started with Stairway to Heaven.
A rant about this specific song is reserved for another comment.
[+] [-] zimpenfish|8 years ago|reply
Au contraire. The people on either side having a conversation about their weekend dinner party whilst Lisa Gerrard does a quiet solo piece are infinitely more annoying than any camera phone. Or a lady with big hair in the first 3 rows sitting on someone's shoulders and blocking out half the stage for half the crowd.
[+] [-] Nullabillity|8 years ago|reply
If people are openly bored at your shows then it's probably time to reevaluate how you're running things, rather than getting into shouting matches on Twitter.
[+] [-] liberte82|8 years ago|reply
I remember finding it really fascinating and strange, and now such a thing is so normal. I completely agree that no one ever watches those videos, but it appears that capturing the experience has become in many cases more important than the experience itself.
[+] [-] tuxracer|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] olivierlacan|8 years ago|reply
It's simple (thick cloth pouch with a powerful magnet lock), allows you to remain in physical custody of your device (which wasn't clear from the article) and creates a forcing function for people who need to use their phone to simply exit the venue and get it unlocked at a kiosk.
[+] [-] davehtaylor|8 years ago|reply
However, I would never support an artist/performer who tries to prevent me from using my own things. It's not their right to tell me that I can't pull out my phone if I choose to do so. It belongs to me. So while I would never actually have my phone out during a show like it, I would never actually go to a show that would prevent me from doing so.
[+] [-] jasonkostempski|8 years ago|reply
Maybe phones should have a feature to take pics with the screen off, more like a disposable camera. They should have that feature anyway.
[+] [-] PhrosTT|8 years ago|reply
Wholly supported.
Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRf36vRAWF8
[+] [-] JanecekPetr|8 years ago|reply
Before the show one of his crewmen said to all the people to keep their phones in the pockets, that the show will be profesionally photographed and the photos will be on the official Jack White site for everyone to download.
This helped immensely, and I'd guess 95 % of the people kept heir phones hidden and enjoyed the show. Yes, there still were some who recorded alllllll the songs, but that's their apparently their thing afterall, isn't it? I think this approach was nice, human, and worked very well.
[+] [-] mseebach|8 years ago|reply
A particular thing I find very unnerving, is the playing of media on a phone or tablet with the audio on in a crowded public space, typically, but far from exclusively, for the benefit of a child. A close runner up is people keeping audible notifications on their phones or laptops while using it - the sound grabs everybody else's attention, too.
[+] [-] UntitledNo4|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ghaff|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] logfromblammo|8 years ago|reply
...and hold your phone up there so the person behind you can't see me with their actual eyes!
People who record phone video at concerts are the worst. If you want to re-live your experience later, a lot of promoters now do a professional recording from the floor and on stage with multiple cameras, and they sell download authorization keys at the merchandise booths. Buy one of those. If you can't enjoy the thing you're at right now, please don't ruin it for the people around you.
[+] [-] jdlyga|8 years ago|reply