France to Allow Cell Phone Jamming

ZuperDee writes "According to this article, the French industry minister has approved a decision to allow cinemas, concert halls and theaters to install cell phone jammers, on the condition that emergency calls can still get through."

Comments

Emergency Calls?

[SultanCemil]

How do they allow emergency calls through? Aren't most cell jammers simply frequency based white noise generators?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[LiquidCoooled]

I think thats the icing on the cake.

Being able to say "Yer sure" and not mean it all in the same breath.

Those wanting to block calls sort of get their way, and those who don't want it blocking get to smile as well.

I think this is the best all round decision.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Magickcat]

I quote from the article- "Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jrockway]

Exactly what I was thinking. Where are the technical specs for this system? Oh, there aren't any because it's impossible unless there's some support for it in the phone.

What we "need", is a phone that will switch into vibrate mode when it detects a signal. Easy.

I am actually one who is not bothered by phones ringing. It's like coughing or sneezing. Yeah it's disruptive, but it doesn't really distract me from anything. Cell phone goes off in class. Okay, three seconds later it's off and we can continue. Big deal. Sometimes, people need to communicate with each other (and still be in class). It's part of the über-high-tech-life. (or something :)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[mmonkey]

I'm just guessing here, but maybe they could have an on-site picocell or something which the phones will associate with, and then control which calls the cell lets through? Just a thought.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[mind21_98]

I guess one way you can do it is by setting up a repeater inside the theater, and setting it up to only allow emergency calls. The phones should use the repeater instead of any outside signal because it's stronger. Problem solved.

However, it's probably easier to just use the white noise generator, at the expense of emergency calls.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[ovatto]

Maybe they can somehow establish their own cell inside the theater so that they can distinguish individual calls and block those if need be..?

However it might difficult to _not_ to "leak" any connections to other cells (the ones outside the theater).

Just a thought.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[metlin]

Maybe some kind of transmitter/receiver local to that area which over-rides every other transmission?

I'm sure something like that could be designed.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[famebait]

No, GSM jammers of this type work by impersonating the local base stations by responding before them, but not actually letting anything through.

The systems have been available for a few years,
and are apparently very good at blocking out only a well defined area. The stumbling blocks have been entirely legal/regulatory.

I don't know if the available equipment handles it already, but there is no technical reason why the jammer couldn't engage slightly more thoroughly in the transaction and forward select calls.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[mirko]

It does in some ways : we can suspect that the concept is accepted but still requires realisation.
I guess it'll imply some switches set in send only mode along with possible dial limitations (in France, emergency numbers begin with 1, the others begin with 0).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[millwall]

How exactly do they plan on jamming one type of call and not another?

As the article says you won't be allowed to interfere with emergency calls outside theaters, and not inside the theater, it makes me think that maybe what it means is that all calls can be blocked inside the theater, but the blocking won't not allowed to be so strong that it will block emergency calls outside the theater.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[weighn]

i'd say they would use a white-noise generator and have a member of staff monitor slashdot for emergencies at which point they turn off the white-noise.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[leonmergen]

No it's not. It's irritating when the same (kind of) people always leave their mobiles running, the hip, young, gadget people having their latest top40 tune as their ring tone... now really, when some kind of polyphonic f*cked up version of Usher or whatever starts blasting at way-too-loud volume through a room, or even a cinema, i'm irritated. I turn my mobile off so I won't disturb anyone, I expect the same from others.

Is it really necessary to be reachable while you're at the cinema ? No. And if it is necessary, you shouldn't be at the cinema.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Vellmont]

The only thing that comes to mind is having a special node at the theatre thats essentially a repeater (but doesn't ring the phone or allow outgoing calls to be made). Calls to anyone with a phone from a certain prefix or list of numbers (given to any emergency responders) is allowed through. Think of it like a cell-phone firewall.

If that's how they're planning on doing it I don't know. But there has to be some way of distinguishing emergency calls, or emergency cell phones from normal everyday calls/phones.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[NoMercy]

Matter of public safty really, if your phone goes off in a theater I'm sure a lot of angery frenchmen would probably do worse than blocade your ports ;)

Anyway, the solution isn't to dificult, you simply install those lovely RF absorbtive mats around the preformance space isolating the area from the outside world and install a low power mobile phone mast inside which simply rejects all but emergency services.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[JanneM]

I may go out on a limb here, but I believe sites like that generally do have ordinary telephones already. Just go out into the lobby and call.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[pklong]

Your on to something, but you're not quite there.

Allow the cinemas to install their own Pico Cells in the theatres and jam the outside cells. The pico cell should connect them to the cinema's own mobile operator and charge them 20$ per minute.

They'll think twice next time they get their bill, inconsideratle little twerps ;)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

What bugs _me_ is the (&/&"%/%! backlights and )(#/)(/)(! lit keypads.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[91degrees]

Other people have said how it coulkd be done, but that's not really the point.

Even if it is currently impossible, assuming someone does find a solution, it means that it would be legal to use it.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Pieroxy]

That is what I like about this new law. It doesn't force anyone to do anything. It does allow movie theaters to implement something, and the public will decide if they prefer going to a theater that allow cells or not.

And while it might or might not irritate you in a movie theater, think about a real theater, a classical concert or any other public performance where live artists are playing.

In any way, this will have a very democratic implementation: If people rush into these "early adopters" theaters that jam cells, more and more will adopt the system, and the mass will be pleased.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[rishistar]

A mobile going off is not like coughing or sneezing - its more like someone getting up and humming a TV theme song.

And when it goes off in class it usually takes 20 seconds to be turned off as the person hunts around in their bag to find the stupid thing in the first place.

When I was lecturing I had a simple if your phone goes off it gets confiscated until the end of the lecture policy - after week one of that noone left it on.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[imr]

Devedjian is one of the 3 persons that voted yes to software patents in behalf of France and contrary to every promises Chirac made at the last europeen software patent meeting.
Let him be not forgotten.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay, cell phone rings, you are not concerned. If that was all, it wouldn't bother me either. But what about the part where the receiver of the call goes on to yak in a loud or very loud voice for the next five to fifteen minutes? I mean, it would be fine if they managed to use a normal speaking voice, and thankfully many people seem to be learning to do that, but there are always the loud idiots...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Magickcat]

I repeated the quote because the Industry Minister stipulated that "calls made outside ...must not be affected. He actually didn't mention inside emergency calls.

- So I'd imagine that the blocking device would be given a limited range and not extend
outside of the actual building's perimeter.

As to inside, I'd imagine that if they were bothered to do so, they differentiate the numbers dialled.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Threni]

> How do they allow emergency calls through?

People tend to make emergency calls, not receive them. If you want to receive emergency calls then you need to go somewhere where you are able to receive them unimpeded. Perhaps such people can have modified phones which alert the owner to the fact that they are now uncontactable. Of course, this could make more noise than it cures. But as a classical music concert goer, I have to say that if a few people find out that their dog has died or whatever a few hours later than they would normally done then it's a small price to pay for a peaceful musical experience.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[BasilBrush]

I'm always a fan of a bit of vindictiveness, and I like your thinking. But for most of the world, caller pays. And the caller isn't doesn't know that the callee is in a cinema.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[1u3hr]

ow do they allow emergency calls through? Aren't most cell jammers simply frequency based white noise generators?

RTFA: "emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

Re:Emergency Calls?

[B2382F29]

The caller only pays the standard rate for connection to the mobile phone. Any additional charges have to be paid by the called person, e.g. if you are in another country. (The caller cannot know where you are -> Called person pays difference to standard rate). A roaming like system inside theatres with high charges would be great. And if you don't allow roaming on your cellphone you have no connection except emergency calls (just like being abroad).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[almostmanda]

I don't think vibrating phones will help--part of the problem is, in movie theaters especially, some people don't have a problem with not only leaving their phone ON, but ANSWERING IT and having a 5-10 minute conversation (that's rarely an emergency). Tack on the tendency to talk into cell phones louder than normal, and you've got a serious disruption that could ruin the movie. While I haven't seen it, I'm sure there are some jackasses who do this during plays as well. And think about concert halls, where they're doing live recordings--a ringing phone ruins the track.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[wsapplegate]

> However, it's probably easier to just use the white noise generator, at the expense of emergency calls.

AFAIK, this is what was done until now. I guess the title should rather be ``France to require cell phone jammers to allow emergency calls''. That being said, I'm unaware of any situation where jammers could have caused problems. After all, theaters have landlines, and I don't see any necessity for everyone in the theater calling emergency services at once (they should just alert an employee who will call them from the theater's phone). This law seems to be some preemptive attempt to avoid rather unlikely problems, or maybe to sell more sophisticated jammers :-)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[blane.bramble]

LTFL (Learn The Fucking Language): "emergency calls and calls made outside" is two separate parts: (1) emergency calls and (2) calls made outside - so the emergency calls are not necessarily outside.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Red Pointy Tail]

If this is implemented and my phone ever jangles 2 hours into a movie, I'll probably piss in panic first.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[MmmDee]

Is it really necessary to be reachable while you're at the cinema? No. And if it is necessary, you shouldn't be at the cinema.

You're not a parent, are you... I think by the very nature of "emergency", it's something unplanned. Are you suggesting that anyone/everyone that might have an emergency occur in their life, avoid the cinema? You must be better able to predict those things than most folks I know. To be sure, there's a distinction between, "Like oh my god Britney, James called me and I just had to tell you!" and "Mrs. Johnson, this is Amber the baby sitter, I just noticed that Timothy feels very warm, should I call the pediatrician?" Courtesy suggests remembering to put the phone on vibrate, and to leave the theater's sitting area to take the call. I and many other parents and professionals have had to do this often.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[senatorpjt]

I've had problems with this in the past. If I actually remember to turn my phone off when I enter a theatre, I forget to turn it back on when I leave. I've had fairly serious things happen, such as my friend trying to call me when his brother died because he needed help moving the body. I eventually just set my phone to beep once. What is slashdot's opinion on this? It's set to beep fairly loudly, but it's a quick, short beep. By the time you notice it, it's already over, so I don't think it's in the same league as a phone blaring "Hey Ya" for 45 seconds while someone searches for the button to make it stop.

I'd like to see an option for a "quiet zone signal", which would be a small transmitter put in places like movie theatres, etc, and phones could be equipped with an option to go into silent mode when the signal is present. It would be dirt-cheap to implement from the theatre's end.. it could probably be done for less than $100. The only problem is that everyone would need a new phone. Of course, the way people go through phones these days, if they started implementing this now, most people would have it on their phones in a couple years.

I really think that 99% of people that have their phones start ringing in a movie are embarrassed, and not just trying to piss everyone off - they just forgot to turn the phone off. This way, people could just have this setting enabled on their phone and not have to worry about it.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[sjb2016]

When I went to see "The Matrix" the buy behind me asked if I would move down a seat so that his wife wouldn't be blocked by my head. Being the nice guy that I am, I agreed. No problem. Of course, about half way in he gets a call on his cell and doesn't just hang it up, but conducts a conversation. To show my distaste for his shenanigans, I moved back to my original seat and presumably blocked his wife's view. Was I punishing the wrong person? No, because we all know a wife make a husband do anything she wants, and had she said hang up, he would have.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

there were days without cell phones.. and parents went to the theatre anyway ....

Re:Emergency Calls?

[rtz]

Nope. According to the article;

"Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

So they indeed have to implement some sort of selective jamming.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[JustKidding]

If it does indeed work this way, it would have to impersonate every single network within range, otherwise you could easely get around it by manually selecting another network.

This, unfortunately, would also block incomming emergency calls (like the babysitter).

I think the best way would be to redirect incomming calls to a machine with a recording like "the owner of this cellphone is currently unreachable, press 0 for an operator in case of an emergency", in which case, the owner could still be reached in case of a real emergency.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

*taps terrorist on the shoulder* Excuse me. I'm going to step out in the lobby and phone the authorities. Be a good chap and don't shoot me in the back.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[The Limp Devil]

And while it might or might not irritate you in a movie theater, think about a real theater, a classical concert or any other public performance where live artists are playing.

I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to have my lectures interrupted by students' cell phones ringing. One student didn't even bother to turn off her cell phone during her oral exam, as we found out when it rang midway through the examination.

I would certainly welcome a cell phone blocker in my class rooms.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[hyc]

There's actually two factors at work here - digital cell phones attenuate their transmit power level based on the strength of the signal they receive. The theory is that if they are receiving a strong signal from a cell tower, they must be very near it physically, so they don't need to use as much power to transmit and be heard by the tower. So the first thing they do is set up a local base station; all the phones will lock in on it because it is the strongest signal around, and they will all reduce their transmit power because the local signal is so strong. So this automatically means your phone will only use the local base station, no other cell towers will be able to hear the weak signal your phones will be putting out.

The region being affected is easily controlled using directional antennas. Most cell towers already use a 120 degree beam spread, so directional antennas are the usual already, but they can certainly use a narrower beam antenna if they want.

As for routing emergency calls, again, the network tells the phone what the phone is allowed to do. No problem there...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[CountBrass]

Trivial. The same way that you handle calls in a large shopping mall or other localised concentration of people. You setup a micro-cell. The difference is the one in the cinema will only route emergency calls; the rest get a recorded message saying "fuck off you sad bastards: try watching the film." QED.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Fragglebabe]

It's not about people recieving an emergency call to their mobile phone, it's about the signal jammer letting an emergency call through to the outside world. but like it's already been said, the cinema/theatre will have a landline phone so it's not really necessary to allow them through anyway. however, having said that, i think that i would feel rather unsafe if i couldn't personally make an emergency call. maybe that's just the conditioning of having a mobile phone, but i think that you have to consider the peace-of-mind factor.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[eelke_klein]

Still this only works when sombody calls the emergency number. However there could be someone in the cinema like a surgeon who needs to be able to receive emergency calls! Such a basestation would not recognize such calls.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

its easy to jam cell phone signals - they should just move all buildings to North Wales - I can never get a signal on my phone ;)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[famebait]

You can control the affected area even more precisely than that: if you have two or more antennas, you could triangulate the position of a phone and choose whether to service it or not based on its position. Meaning that you can literally draw your block-zone on the map and when you step outside that invisible line, your phone works. (Not sure they actually do, but it's certainly possible.

This also means you don't have to drown out any other transmitters, you can just play man-in the middle: you know which phones are in your zone, if a tower tries to contat it, you say you're it, but can't answer. If a phone tries to contact a tower, you pretend you're it an denies service. All you have to do is be first.

Combined, you have a very robust soloution with a well-defined virtual cage that is "invisible" from the outside but completely "dark" on the inside.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi,

Actually jammers will be filters.

Here is a synthesis of the discussion led between the french telecom regulation authority, operators and entertainment representatives : http://www.art-telecom.fr/publications/index-synth -brouilleurs.htm (in french)

It details 6 types of jamming devices from scrambler to BCCH packets filters. Only filters could allow emergency calls. It also detail devices to warn mobiles users they access a "no mobile zone".

Discussions started more than 2 years ago and all the concerned parties were contacted before this - GOOD - decision was taken.

Mirgolth

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

you deserved it

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Chuffpole]

in other words, rather than jam the radio waves, they put in a 'pico-cell' that all the phones in the theatre connect to (as it's the strongest signal) and that cell disables calls other than emergency ones. Very clever.

Does it need to be connected by the phone companies or does it impersonate a regular cellphone to connect up 999 calls?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Hinhule]

I'm guessing this is already implemented in most prisons to stop people from smuggling in cellphones.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[surprise_audit]

Finally!! A legitimate use for tinfoil hats, except for the whole theatre!!

Just line the walls with foil and ground it - that should fix the phones. Does a PicoCell have two antennas? If so, just put one inside the foil and the other outside. Only allow it to forward emergency calls. As far as the outside world is concerned, any phone inside the foil went out of range of the local cells.

Did anyone patent that idea yet? Heh, Given the state of USPTO, I could probably patent it anyway, prior art/patents notwithstanding...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[MmmDee]

Yep, and in another reply here somewhere I mentioned that parents/business people/relatives left phone numbers with others as to where they'd be during the day and evening. It was common to have 4 or 5+ phone numbers on the refrigerator outlining the course of a night's outing (friend's house, restaurant, theater, nightclub). Each of these places knew that someone might call. On arriving to a friend's house, you'd say, "I left your number with the sitter, hope that's okay." Restaurants, theaters, and nightclubs had PA systems or wait-staff and ushers to ask among their patrons looking for recipients of emergency calls. Believe me, "emergencies" are not a creation of the new millennium or the now/me generation. They have been around awhile and people (especially parents) have always pre-arranged someway to be contacted.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[gl4ss]

they probably would just allow the outgoing calls to 911 equivalent.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

F.U.R.B, Frankie.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[gnu-generation-one]

"How do they allow emergency calls through? Aren't most cell jammers simply frequency based white noise generators?"

Presumably it's a valid micro-cell base station, which just rejects non-112 calls. It'll get the chance to filter calls because it's the closest and strongest base-station for everyone in "the area"

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Zemran]

Maybe they have staff to call for help as one would expect to be the case in the event of no-one having a mobile phone...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[animaal]

It's the responsibility of a surgeon to remain contactable when on-call. This means not having the phone turned off, and not spending time in places where there is no reception (e.g. the cinema with a sign saying "no phone reception here").

Of course, if the cinema doesn't have very obvious warnings, there could be trouble.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jeremyp]

Yes, because

a) terrorists are *completely* unaware of the idea you might have a mobile phone and will not have confiscated it

and

b) nobody outside the auditorium is going to be aware that there are terrorists holding the people inside hostage.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[gruhnj]

Is it really necessary to be reachable while you're at the cinema ? No. And if it is necessary, you shouldn't be at the cinema.

For me definatly YES. My work requires me to be on in some cases very quick recall. As a military system administrator sometimes I am called back for emergency drills, riots near post gates, and other emergency functions. Hopefully I never have to use my cell for this, but its also my notification for if another attack happens and I need to go back to base and hunker down. Does this mean that I cant go and enjoy a movie at a real theater? Nope, I have a right to a real life with real entertainment as well. I work hard and I should be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor as I please. While I am personally not in a life or death situation, the same argument can be made for medical, fire, and police personell whom ARE working life and death.

What we really need is for more people to put their cell phones on vibrate when they go to public functions like this. If the cell phone goes off, I step out of the room and call them back. Being out of touch in this case is not an option. For those of us working in emergency servies, that call can be the difference between life and death. Id rather piss off a few people in a movie rather than lose a life because no one can reach me. Especially when my battle buddy was counting on me to be reachable.

HHD, 1st Sig BDE
"First to Communicate!"

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Bender Unit 22]

Bah!
I am on call 24/7, people NEED to be able to reach me and I have my phone on in the cinema, but of course I mute it to vibration only and to out side to answer it.
But since the pager network were closed down here a few years ago, the cell phone is the only way people can connect to me.

Don't be so narrow minded.

Plenty of people needs to be available.
Doctors, fire fighters, people waiting for a organ transplant, technicians at your small hosting company.
Specially those working in small towns or companies do not have the luxury of having on site staff 24/7 (that goes for all on the list above).

The problem with the cinema is that I just give the number to the cinema and have them contact me, like at a resturant.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[kariboo]

Yes, It is !
The jamming is selective : it scans the number you dial, and if it is an emergency call (i.e you dial to 15,17,18, 112 in France) then the call is not jammed.

Otherwise, it is jammed.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[gbjbaanb]

Cell phone goes off in class. Okay, three seconds later it's off and we can continue

yeah, but the damage has been done - people's attention has been disrupted and you have to build up that 'mental momentum' again. That can be a big deal for most classes (unless you're reading media studies ;) )

Besides, in most places it's different... you don't care about the ringing, its the "I'M IN THE CINEMA. YES ITS GREAT. NO, NO THE ONE WITH HIM OFF THE TELE. YES I'LL BE OUT SOON. MEET YOU AT THE PUB. YES. OK. YES. YES. LOVE YOU TOO. YES. LOVE YOU. GOTTA GO NOW. NO. YES. YES. LOVE YOU. LOVE YOU LOADS. BYE. YES. OF COURSE. NO. YES. GOTTA GO. YES. BYEEEEEE. LOVE YOU" that really annoys us. :)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jdreed1024]

Cell phone goes off in class. Okay, three seconds later it's off and we can continue. Big deal.

It's still annoying. A much more effective technique (which was used at my school) was for the teacher to answer the kid's phone, explain that he's in class, and then turn the phone off and keep it on his desk for the rest of class. If it was an emergency, that could trivially be communicated to the teacher, or the parent/whoever could call the school office, like they did for the past 50 years if there was a problem.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Kombat]

I eventually just set my phone to beep once. What is slashdot's opinion on this? It's set to beep fairly loudly, but it's a quick, short beep.

Don't all cell phones have a "vibrate" mode?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jdreed1024]

It does allow movie theaters to implement something, and the public will decide if they prefer going to a theater that allow cells or not.

They better damn well inform me in big letters on the back of my ticket that my cell phone is jammed. I've taken my phone into theaters (on vibrate), and I've had to leave in the middle of shows because I've gotten a call or SMS, but that's something I'm prepared to do, and plenty of people used to have pagers and also had to leave in the middle of the show, so it's nothing new.

Why should I be penalized just because some retard either can't figure out how to turn his phone to vibrate or thinks everyone should hear Mozart's "Ode to the Piezoeletric Buzzer"?

In fact, I'm confused. Everyone gets all up in arms when some big mean company tries to restrict 802.11b, or blocks local hotspots by installing their own for-pay system, or whatever, but when the *movie theaters* (I thought we hated big media and the MPAA?) start jamming cell phone tranmissions (which are more useful than 802.11b to the average user), it's suddenly a great idea? I don't get it.

People with ringtones on in theaters is a social problem. Social problems cannot be solved by technical means. Even if you jam cellphones, they're still going to be talking loudly, or having some kid playing his gameboy, or crying, or throwing popcorn, or whatever. It won't solve anything. What they should do is take the money they were going to use for this, hire a couple of bouncers, and if your cell phone rings, you are asked to leave and you get your money back (or maybe a gift card, to prevent people from getting calls in the last frame of the movie and then getting money back), as per the back of your ticket. End of story.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[ViolentGreen]

Not all, but most do. Even then, I often forget to turn it off of vibrate when I get home and take it out of my pocket. It is my primary phone and it's easy to miss calls if it's on vibrate and not in my pocket.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Midnight Thunder]

Still this only works when sombody calls the emergency number. However there could be someone in the cinema like a surgeon who needs to be able to receive emergency calls! Such a basestation would not recognize such calls.

I suppose one solution to this would be to leave the phone with the cinema and the cinema provides a vibrate only pager. Only the pager would be able to receive a notification. When you're finished you exchange the pager for your cell phone. Those who need to be contacted would be willing to go the extra step.

In a place like a theatre or concert hall you could either have the same solution or notify the hospital before you go in of the theatre's number and your seat number. That way they can contact the theatre and the staff would send someone to get you.

The simplest solution would simply to not go out when you're on call. The only catch some people are on call so frequently that this would simply deprive them of a social life.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Feanturi]

What we "need", is a phone that will switch into vibrate mode when it detects a signal. Easy.

Not picking on this post, just still a bit ticked about the other day... Some people would believe that this represents a security vulnerability in the phone. Wankers.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Pieroxy]

You are missing the point. The point is not only in movie theaters. Schools, Operas, Concerts, real theaters, etc...

And if people are too stupid to remember to turn their cells off (and apparently they are), then I want to go to a theater where they have no choice. So that I am _sure_ I will not be bothered (at least by that). That is still a little less disturbance.

People will eventually be divided in three categories:
1. The people that don't care, which I suspect will be the vast majority
2. The people that want Phone Jams installed in their favorite theater and that are willing to change theater for that reason.
3. People that want no cell jams.

The ratio between 2 and 3 will rule the implementation of these little things. I am in 2.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Threni]

> i would feel rather unsafe if i couldn't personally make an emergency call.

I would rather you "felt unsafe" than have someone talk during a piece of Bach's piano music. You could always go and feel unsafe somewhere else - I have to remain in my seat for the performance.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

point?

I'd much rather have the usher come in and whisper to you that little Timmy is pooping blue than your damn phone going of in the middle of the movie.

Have some shred of respect for the non-child-encumbered populace.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[DaScribbler]

The flaw in this line of thinking is your complete lack of discipline in monitoring the functionality of your own phone. You said it yourself, If I actually remember to turn my phone off when I enter a theatre, I forget to turn it back on when I leave.

That's your own negligence for which you should be accountable. As should everybody else who's toting their phones around with them in places where quiet is proper etiquette.

Suddenly there's this HUGE issue of emergency situations and cell phones. As if those of us who were living 20 years ago are extraordinarily lucky to have survived without cell phones. As if the odds were astronomical.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[raptorspike]

You've got the right idea there. I mean, how hard is it really to turn off the damn phone for 2 hours. Got forbid your "crew" can't get to you 24 hours a day!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[TGK]

There is an easy way to implement that. A professor of mine had the following line in his syllabus.

"If your cell phone rings during class or during an examination I will answer it. Further, I will deduct five points from your final grade."

A phone went off once in that class. He told the caller in no uncertain terms where the cell phone being called was located and informed them that future calls to that number should be avoided during his class.

He also followed through on the grade policy. It was never a problem again.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[InadequateCamel]

Sometimes, people need to communicate with each other (and still be in class)

Who the hell needs to communicate in class? You aren't in class to study your incoming calls, you are in class to study. Certainly the rest of the class isn't interested in your oh-so-busy life.

Just because I can buy portable DVD players that indicate that I am part of the "uber-high-tech-life" does that entitle me to watch movies in class? Of course not, because it is distracting and rude.

I have yet to see a single person get up and leave a class because of an emergency, but I have seen plenty of classes get interrupted by some bimbo who forgot to turn off her phone or, worse yet, answers and starts having a conversation.

Grrrr.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

and who pays for these pagers?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[TamMan2000]

such as my friend trying to call me when his brother died because he needed help moving the body

huh? I'm not sure about this, but I think it is probably better that your phone didn't ring...

Going back to the topic at hand... You need to develop a system to remember, and then get into the habit. For instance, you could check what mode your phone is in everytime you get into your car... Make it part of your routine.

I really think that 99% of people that have their phones start ringing in a movie are embarrassed, and not just trying to piss everyone off - they just forgot to turn the phone off.

I agree, but it is still anoying as hell...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Leebert]

I've had problems with this in the past. If I actually remember to turn my phone off when I enter a theatre, I forget to turn it back on when I leave.

Is my phone the only one on the planet that has "Vibrate, then ring"? I get 3 rings of time (about 10 seconds or so) to look at who is calling and answer or push them to voicemail. If I'm not wearing my phone (it's on my dresser at night, for example), I'll hear it after the first 3 rings.

Honestly, I can't why more people don't use that:

1. If I'm in a loud situation (a loud concert, for example), the vibration will get my attention where I might not necessarily hear the ring
2. If I'm in a quiet situation (church or theater), the vibration will get my attention without disturbing others
3. If I take my phone off my belt for whatever reason (charging it in the car, sleeping, throwing the football around, etc.) I'll still hear it when it rolls over to a ring.

I NEVER have to adjust my phone for any situation. Which is good because I'm insanely forgetful.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Carewolf]

No, it is just an open relay. A network that identifies as open to all with no sur-charge. As noted these relays exists already in a lot of places.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[SlamMan]

Does that mean you're not allowed to go camping, or to the lake, or some other place where there is little or no cell signal?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[slarshdot]

You also have to think what defines an emergency.

What if i'm the president and a war just broke out and no one can contact me coz i'm to busy watchin a movie!!!
ie. Emeregencies can be inbound!!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm... where's your cell phone now? :)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Civil_Disobedient]

Everyone gets all up in arms when some big mean company tries to restrict 802.11b, [...] but when the *movie theaters* start jamming cell phone tranmissions, it's suddenly a great idea? I don't get it.

Don't be so damned obtuse. Of course you "get it." Cell phones make noise. The wireless aether doesn't.

Now, if people started bringing their PDA's along with them to theaters to play loud or obnoxious games on them while paying customers were trying to watch a movie, you can be sure they'd try and block 802.11b as well.

Don't like it? Tough shit. Why not encourage a whole new line of theaters that are "cell phone friendly" to give your patronage to?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[kannibal_klown]

Cellphone ringing is annoying, but it's not that bad. As you said, it's like coughing or sneezing.

What's a real pain is when some jerk is getting calls, answering them, and having full-length phone conversations with them. Meanwhile, they "have to talk loud" because the movie is blaring.

If a phone rings, it's no big deal. I just hope it's not during an important part.

But if you know you're going to need to have conversation-after-conversation during the evening, then maybe you shouldn't go to a movie.

I mean, if it's THAT important, you shouldn't be there. If if it's not important, it can wait 2 hours.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[gruhnj]

In theory yes, but in practice no. The military really has three different levels of off duty.

1. Off Duty. Must be within 65 miles of post. Must be able make a 3 hour recall for nonessential personnell, those designated on 1.5 hour recall. Exception to this is a brushfire alert (rare), which means complete checks required then report back to higher in two hours.

2. On Pass. Must remain in state ( country if outside the US) but are allowed to exceed 100 miles from post. Must be able to be back in 12 hours.

3. On Leave. Gone for an extended period of time. Dont count on them for anything while on leave. If they are that essential, have alternate take care of it. Alternate and primary cannot be on pass or leave at the same time.

Those in an Off Duty status, especially those in recall status cannot be outside of contact. Those on pass must be in contact or check back in perodically to be sure they didnt miss something.

Its not a complete lockdown, but cell reception is definatly a plus. Either that or they know your going camping so they know how to reach you.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[NeoSkandranon]

Professors who make policy like that tend to be anal retentive assholes. Sure, phones are annoying, but it's ridiculous to lower someone's final grade by that amount (easily a pass or fail margin) because they forgot to turn their cell off once. That takes a grade A asshole.
The only prof I had who ever said a word about turning cells off...get this, she asked nicely. It wasn't ever a problem.

I keep hearing about professors that do that, I wonder what they do when a student says "Fuck you I'm not handing over my phone" or complains to the department. Granted, if they're tenured I imagine nothing at all happens (which is a shame in its own right) but it would be mildly amusing to see some jerk done for assault because he tried to take the phone from the student.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[NeoSkandranon]

Is my phone the only one on the planet that has "Vibrate, then ring"?

It may well be. My venerable Motorola Startac has a vib then ring option. My new LG doesn't (sticking with the motorla wasn't an option), and I don't know of any of my friends' phones that have the option either.

I like the LG and I'm satisfied with it EXCEPT for that, the one phone feature I probably used the most

Re:Emergency Calls?

[SlamMan]

So it doesn't sound like such a big deal (the cell jamming) except for essential personnel.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[gcaseye6677]

There were also days without emergency medical care. People who got sick simply died if the one doctor in town couldn't save them. Should we give up on advances in modern society just because some uses of them annoy some people?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[AbbyNormal]

Or, you could go to a theater that doesn't have this feature? I for one, am not that important that I need to be in touch with the outside world 24/7 a day. Simply go to the lobby if you are expecting a call, and check it there. I really think this is a black/white issue. The reason why my wife and I do not go to the movies any more is for this very reason. Why spend 16 bucks for the both of us, when I could wait a few months, netflix it, and watch it in the comfort of my own home (with bathroom breaks). Oh yeah, and the popcorn/snacks are a little cheaper.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[gcaseye6677]

You of course are a perfect human being who never forgets anything, right? If you're going to call someone completely negligent for occaisonally forgetting to turn off/on a phone, I would think you're not throwing stones in a glass house now are you?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[invenustus]

Are you suggesting that anyone/everyone that might have an emergency occur in their life, avoid the cinema?

Have you ever been to a restaurant located on a basement level? Do you ever ride subway trains? Your cell phone has NEVER worked in those places. (Yeah, I know some city transit systems have put cell service in the tunnels, but mostly not.) If you need guaranteed cell reachability, you have to avoid those places.

The way the jamming will work is that some places will jam and some won't. Those who need silence will go to the places that do, and those who need cell service will go to the places that don't.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[infinite9]

What constitutes an emergency? What if the babysitter had to call 911? That call would come from my home phone. Fuck the movie, I want that call.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

How about we just give people in group 2 their own, more expensive theater. None of the people in group 2 will turn on their phones, out of respect to their peers. Problem solved.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

The '80s called, your 386 wants to be your desktop system again.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

I'd much rather have the usher come in and whisper to you

right, because he has a magic parent locator that can tell him in what seat you are sitting, and can magicly float over the 20 people between you and the isle.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Pig Hogger]

but when the *movie theaters* (I thought we hated big media and the MPAA?) start jamming cell phone tranmissions, it's suddenly a great idea? I don't get it.

This is France. There is no MPAA. In fact, there is nothing *AA.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

fortunately my phone lists what cell towers it has access to, and allows me to choose which one I want to use. So unless they also install EM shielding, a picocell won't be a problem.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm certainly glad I've never been in a class with you. In fact, I've been to a number of lectures where the professor's cellphone rang in the middle of class. It generally took under three seconds for him to check who called, then stop the ringtone. I've taught a lab class for two years; students frequently get (and make) calls during the lab. It's unintrusive, doesn't bother anybody, and doesn't seem to interfere with getting their work done on time.

In my opinion, the problem isn't cellphones so much as people being intolerant of other people. Most people I work with seem to have figured out how to take note of a call without distracting everyone.

And I'm glad the FCC forbids interference on the radio spectrum, cell phones included.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[ArsenneLupin]

Umm... where's your cell phone now? :)

Easy: call it from your landline, and listen up where it vibrates (vibrating phones make a hell of a racket when lying on a hard surface), and if it happens to be lying on a pillow (how often does that happen?), wait a while until it rings....

Re:Emergency Calls?

[golgotha007]

if that's the case, please rent your movies instead. Your conditions are obviously not satisfactory enough to attend a public showing of a film.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[IncohereD]

Not all, but most do. Even then, I often forget to turn it off of vibrate when I get home and take it out of my pocket. It is my primary phone and it's easy to miss calls if it's on vibrate and not in my pocket.

Two potential easy solutions:
a) never take it out of your pocket;
b) check the mode every time you take it out of your pocket.

My phone has two buttons you can set to access any menu in the phone, I set one of them to "ring styles". Problem solved.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[dstutz]

The babysitter should have enough common sense to walk out of the theater to call you if a situation that warrants calling 911 transpires. God forbid using a land-line at the theater, as well.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[anakin876]

Well, in my experience there are people who also seem to be incapable of noticing that YES it is THEIR phone and who will then leave it ringing for a minute or two.

Especially when the professor starts out the semester by stating that no cell phones should be turned on in his/her class and then to have a cell phone or two go off every day is quite annoying to me. Why not put it on vibrate? Or turn it off? Aren't we supposed to be paying attention to the professor's lecture? It is fairly rare that the phone call is an actual emergency, the few times I have noticed people answering the phone it has been for something like "what are we doing tonight."

Yes it is a lack of respect thing. Whiel I should be able to ignore a cell phone, they should also have the courtesy to turn it off/silence it for a lecture.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[IncohereD]

It may well be. My venerable Motorola Startac has a vib then ring option. My new LG doesn't (sticking with the motorla wasn't an option), and I don't know of any of my friends' phones that have the option either.

My piece of crap Motorola C333 has this, and I'm planning to switch to an LG this week. Maybe Motorola patented this feature or something?

I've long since been using vibe only, though. Sadly it's so weak I don't always feel it, even when it's in my pocket. Perhaps I need tighter pants.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[eth1]

"I would certainly welcome a cell phone blocker in my class rooms."

I believe these have been available for some time. They're called 'F's.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Then the babysitter does what we did before mobile phones, and calls the cinema. The cinema then gets a couple of ushers to quickly look through the cinema and get your attention.

This might cause a bigger disturbance than a mobile phone ringing, but it is far less common, and less annoying.

In fact, something like this happened at my local cinema last time I was there. I guess either the moviegoers didn't have a phone, or they had them switched off (as you are supposed to do).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Rude Turnip]

If I'm paying thousands of dollars in tuition (and working my ass off to pay that tuition), I would be happy to have a professor that deals with assholes in such a manner. When someone is being disruptive in class and taking away from my educational experience, they need to be bitch-slapped. If you don't have basic manners by the time you reach college, you need some hard knocks for your own good before getting into the real world.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Think of others for a change. Some people have hearing aids, and mobile phone calls interfere with them, even when the phone is set to vibrate.

Also, you run the risk of having your face punched in if your phone rings. You won't be much use if you are in a hospital bed yourself.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Al Dimond]

As an undergrad student, I'll say that I'm very annoyed by cell phones going off in class. It's the same as the people in the back of the room talking to eachother about the blood-oaths they had to take to join their frat. While I do think that generally in class it's best to ask students to turn off cell phones, in exams I think a penalty is absolutely appropriate. Phones with screens could be used to cheat on exams when students reach to turn them off.

Allowing your phone to go off in class is disrespectful, just as is in-class chatter, and most students go to class to hear the professor and not phone noise.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctors, fire fighters, people waiting for a organ transplant, technicians at your small hosting company.

You missed a big one... people who work for the automotive industry at a plant that does just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing. If you had that job, and didn't return a call within an hour, you run the risk of getting fired. It goes along with that whole "IT Jobs Suck" story from earlier today. An IT job really sucks when your company is fined $5000 per minute when you shut down the customer.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jaraxle]

And I'd much rather put my phone on vibrate, sit it on my lap, and have the screen light up a bit, than have an usher come in to the theatre and begin disturbing everyone just as much if not more than if my phone rang.

I can understand not being reachable for work if it's not life-and-death, but I will never turn my cell phone completely off so long as I have children too young to care for themselves completely (basically, under 18). I can understand some lame ringtone playing at full blast annoying the piss out of you, but if a quiet vibrating and tiny backlit LCD screen pisses you off, then you really need to remove the broomhandle and learn to calm down a bit.

I will do my best to not disturb you and other patrons, but I will still make myself available for three things more important than anything else.

~jaraxle

Re:Emergency Calls?

[MmmDee]

Your cell phone has NEVER worked in those places.

Cellular phone service may not be available in those places, but many pagers do work in many less hospitable locations (and folks that "must" be reachable often carry both phones and pagers). Of course not everything is 100%, so that's why callers repeatedly try back in 10-15-30 minutes until contact is made. That's how it used to be and continues (prior to pagers/cell phones, you could always be in a car traveling between your previously agreed upon locations and not near a phone). Being unreachable for a 10-30 minute car ride is not usually as bad as being out of touch for a 2-hour movie. I'm not saying it's ideal to have noisy, ringing cell phones in a movie theater, at a concert, or other quiet-encouraged location, but I can understand why some folks are concerned. I'm on-call often and carry a pager/phone with me, but they're usually on vibrate anyways and I never purposely talk someplace where quietness is expected. The RF jammers still will not get the "kids" in the row behind you from making too much noise.

The way the jamming will work is that some places will jam and some won't. Those who need silence will go to the places that do, and those who need cell service will go to the places that don't.

I agree completely. Kind of like the smoking and non-smoking restaurants that are becoming popular (at least around here).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Guppy06]

"I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to have my lectures interrupted by students' cell phones ringing."

I've got you beat there: a professor interrupting a lecture for his cell phone. And the class gets the privelege of shelling out hundreds of dollars per person to listen to his conversation with his daughter for about two or three minutes. Didn't even have the decency to step out of the room to take the call...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Thomas Shaddack]

If it is a microcell, then there is a solution.

I think there are phones that have a service menu, with a function of being manually locked to a cell of choice, preventing the switch to another. Just lock your phone to a nearby "open" cell, and it will then ignore the filtering microcell, even if its signal is stronger.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

You need to develop a system to remember, and then get into the habit.

My solution to that is to not wear a watch.

So, if I want to know the time, I need to look at the phone. For some reason, I always want to know what time it is when I leave a movie, so I look at the phone--blank screen. Oh yeah, turn phone back on.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[toddestan]

I don't understand why phones don't have a "go to vibrate for x hours" or a "go sleep for x hours mode". You could go in the theatre, tell it to sleep for 2 hours, and it will turn itself back on about the time the movie is over. Problem solved.

Actually, it doesn't surprise me cell phones don't do this. Cell phone companies seem too preoccupied with things like games, blinkenlights, ringtones, and color screens - rather than building a better phone.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

So instead of hearing cellphones ringing, you want to hear cellphone yelling "fuck off you sad bastards: try watching the film."?

What this jamming fail to address is that people are generally RECEIVING emergency calls, not dialing it from the theatre. Chances are if the theatre is on fire all audience is well aware and the guy with his cellphone need to get the fuck outta here before dialing 911. The paramedic or surgeon watching a movie does not call every 5 minutes to ask if someone is diyng. They get the call only in case of emergency. How could you possibly know this is an emergency call from the phone number if it's not coming from 911?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Nikker]

"his brother died because he needed help moving the body." Are you serious? only here can this be modded intresting. I may lead a sheltered life but isn't a 'body' already considered 'dead'???

Back on topic, I have found the answer to all our needs, first one to impliment gets a million dollars!!!

First sit down and talk to the cell providers and set up a system that records your cell number associated with the seat/area that your are enjoying the movie in, i.e. John Doe 444-333-2222 @ seat 103

If you get a call and the carrier (Sprint, verizon, et al) determine that you could be in the theater they send it to a voice mail with the option to set the urgency. Now the usher has the oppertunity to approach you at the proper time to inform you that you have a call. You step out side or in to a room / area of the building far away from what ever is going on, and the company connects the call, all the while the person who is likely moving their 'friends' body gets pleasent holding music while you are being saught after.

How about iddiots who call time after time saying it is urgent? Then you could even set the system up to only notify you of call originating for certain numbers, i.e. your house, where your kids are, computer repair shop, etc...

This way the if anyone gets ticked about being interrupted it is the theater responsibility to approach you in the best way possible and they can deal with it. Also most likely as it would be multiple carriers involved they could use this as a chance to appear innovative to the 'upper crust' of society play watcher as well as the teenies movie goer.

Disclaimer these are only opinions if it works you owe me lots of money though !!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Thomas Shaddack]

...(and working my ass off to pay that tuition),...

Part of certain jobs is to be on call for extended periods of time. May the gods curse you with one.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[nodnarb]

Is it really necessary to be reachable while you're at the cinema ? No. And if it is necessary, you shouldn't be at the cinema.

But if you're not at the cinema.... and it's necessary to be reachable at the cinema... is it necessary to be reachable? Even if you're not.... at the cinema.... right?

*HEAD CAVES IN*

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Some of us have jobs that require on call 24-7. Hence if I wanna see a movie, I have to have my phone on me. I set my phone to silent/vibrate and agree that rings during the movie are annoying when not on silent. Some people do have reasons for having a phone in the theatre.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[DarkAdonis]

I imagine a ringing cell phone is frustrating for the professor giving the lecture. Perhaps other students in the class are irritated as well. The fact is that in certain situations, the ring of a cell phone is annoying and distracting for many people. I know of a judge who has a rule in his courtroom that states that he will confiscate any cell phones that ring in his courtroom. I imagine you get the phone back at the end of the proceedings, but I'm sure anyone who reads this rule posted on his door thinks twice about leaving their cell phone on or in ring mode.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

So the FCC is too busy filtering boobies on TV than preventing mobile phone interfering with earing aids?

Fuck that! It's not MY DUTY to make sure my appliances does not interfer with yours. We even paid extra taxes on purchase to let FCC supposedly do their job. Now if you got a beef, complain to the FCC, not to me.

And as to running the risk of having my face punched if my phone rings. What if I tell you that him a police technician that doesn't need a squad car waiting on a street corner, that I'm called only in emergencies. Try to punch me in the face and win a free trip to pound-me-it-the-ass prison. Think twice before you try to enforce your own imaginary rules to others, it could back fire at you.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Forgeting something is one thing, leaving your phone on in a theater (and pissing off everyone) because you might forget to turn it back on if you turn it off, is another. It's not MY fault if you can't remember things. So stop annoying everyone and turn off that f***ing cell phone.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[uba]

There were also days without penicillin ... and people just died. Stop the stupid "we didn't need it back in the days" comments they're not insightful. I see cell phone jammers as a better than you attitude and would never go to a theater or a restaurant that used it. I like my cellphone and I use it, and I turn it of when I'm in the theater. The fact that some idiots don't is not a reason for banning them inside theaters.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[BasilBrush]

They should think themselves lucky to only lose their phone. Having a mobile phone ring in a court room could easily result in being arrested for contempt.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Pieroxy]

Trolling, Heh?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[dubl-u]

People with ringtones on in theaters is a social problem. Social problems cannot be solved by technical means.

That's a reasonable heuristic, but it's foolish to state it as a general law and then make deductions from it. Theft is a social problem, but very few people bother stealing from vending machines these days because the anti-theft technology makes it so hard.

And really, I don't think this is a social problem. The main problem here is not that people are trying to be jerks, it's that they forget to turn off their phones and may thoughtlessly and reflexively answer them when they ring.

Even if you jam cellphones, they're still going to be talking loudly, or having some kid playing his gameboy, or crying, or throwing popcorn, or whatever. It won't solve anything.

Good theory. Alas, my data doesn't support it. The last three times this happened to me, it was in the middle of the movie and the culprit had been quiet up until then and was apologetic afterwards. So although jamming might not, technically, solve anything, it would improve things a fair bit.

What they should do is take the money they were going to use for this, hire a couple of bouncers[...]. End of story.

Ok, figure it costs $5k per theater to set this up. How long can you pay a bouncer per theater on that money? I make it less than half a year before you let the bouncers go. What do you plan to do then?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Atzanteol]

Sure, some people do need to get calls. But do you have a phone that can't vibrate? My phone is always set to this mode. Never bothers anybody.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Obfuscant]

Your conditions are obviously not satisfactory enough to attend a public showing of a film.

Interesting concept. Let's examine whose conditions are not satisfactory.

• Doctors. "Your patient, who was stable earlier, is now convulsing. I know you aren't on call, but he's yours..."
• Parents who do not take their children with them at all times. "This is the babysitter, Beth Anne broke her arm, she's on the way to the hospital..."
• Children who do not take their parents with them at all times. "Mr. Harris, this is Lutheran General Hospital, your mother is here, unconscious after having a stroke, we need next-of-kin approval for life-saving surgery..."
• Spouses who do not take their mates with them at all times.
• Anyone who owns a house. "Hey, Bill, your house is on fire ..."
• Anyone who rents a house. "Hey, deadbeat, we're tossing your stuff out into the street..."
• Anyone who volunteers their time and effort doing emergency services. "We've got a lost ten year old, we need searchers..."

That covers a lot of people.

Just how DO they intend on determining what is and is not an emergency phone call? And just why the hell do people get so bent out of shape that my cell phone might vibrate a little bit when I get an incoming message?

How they intend on keeping them from spilling over the property boundaries will also be interesting to see.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Dr Tall]

Did you read what he said? His baby-sitter is watching his kids at home while *he* goes to a movie.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

So let's see if I understand what you're saying. The babysitter is home with the kids, I'm at the movie with my wife on a long-due night to ourselves, but I'd like to know if there's an emergency. One of the kids gets hurt, babysitter has to call 911, and then somehow let me know. You say the babysitter should have enough sense to walk out of the theater and call me... To do that he/she would have to first get to the theater, walk in, then walk out, then make the call, which still won't get to me because everythign is jammed. Besides, if the babysitter took the time to get to the theater (assuming they have means to get there), she wouldn't have to make a call in the first place. I'm not sure I like your line of reasoning here.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Just how DO they intend on determining what is and is not an emergency phone call?

An emergency call is one that merits dialling 911 (or 999, or 112, or whatever it is in your part of the world).

If you're worried by anything else, like the various clearly unusual situations you listed there, maybe you should consider not going to the cinema at all. It's a wonder humanity survived all those years without mobile phones...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Obfuscant]

I suppose one solution to this would be to leave the phone with the cinema and the cinema provides a vibrate only pager.

And, of course, patrons are strip-searched on entry to make sure they have declared every cell phone they carry? And when the cinema has to buy replacement phones when they screw up and give the wrong person the wrong phone?

Why not just use the vibrate feature already found on so many cell phones?

In a place like a theatre or concert hall you could either have the same solution or notify the hospital before you go in of the theatre's number and your seat number.

Now, I haven't gone to a theater to see a movie for a long time, simply because there are already so many rude people (without considering ringing cell phones), but I don't recall EVER knowing in advance what seat I was going to sit in. Damn it, before I have to give up being able to get messages on my nearly-silent cell phone, I expect theaters to put a halt to every other annoying disturbing thing that everyone else does. People who read the credits aloud or rip open packages of snacks ought to be physically removed from the theater. But no, they get to stay, and my cellphone becomes the target.

The simplest solution would simply to not go out when you're on call.

Spoken like someone who's never been on call for anything in his life. UNlike those who are on call 24/7 for emergency service activities.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just put it on something hard, like a table. You won't have any problem hearing it.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

Maybe Motorola patented this feature or something?

My LG has it....

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

OK, keep your cellphone on all the time. Just stay out of movie theaters, concerts, libraries, etc.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

What did you do before cell phones? Or are you too young to remember?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Dr Stacy..... is that you......

Re:Emergency Calls?

[SvnLyrBrto]

I have a fairly low-end Nokia (3595) that does exactly that.

It's "time of day" (Return to "normal" profile at 2230.) based, rather than "timer" (Return to "normal" profile in two hours.) based, though. But it's the same general idea.

I use it so often, I don't even have to look at the screen to set up an expiring silent profile. It's [Menu]-[3]-[2]-[3], punch in the time of day the phone should start ringing again, [OK] (Same button that used to be [Menu]), and I'm good to go.

I can't even remember the last time I had my phone ring at a movie. See... no jammers necessary.

cya,
john

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would like there to be a written rule stating that if a cell phone goes off in a movie theater during a movie, that the owner of the guilty cell phone is subject to being bombarded with pop/soda, M&Ms, Skittles, and any other throwable candy. =)

Isaac

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

This "quiet zone signal" solution would work for people who just forgot to turn the silent/vibrate mode on, but it won't work with those that actually talk to the phone in the cinema/theater/whatever.

And yes, these people do exist!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[rxmd]

How about we just give people in group 2 their own, more expensive theater.

Then I suggest giving them their own, more expensive classical music, opera theatre performances as well. Oh, and their own, more expensive church, too. Just to serve the interests of inconsiderate group 3, who have forgotten what life was like before cell-phones were invented. What would the babysitters, doctors and firemen do back then? Oh, the horror!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bravo! I concur.

The world does not revolve around the selfish bastard with the cell phone. If everyone were considerate about where and when it is appropriate to use a cell phone there would be no need for cell phone jammers. At the very least people should know how to set the phone to pager mode and just let it vibrate in their pockets, then get up, go outside and answer the phone, or call back in a few seconds, minutes, hours.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Part of certain jobs is to be on call for extended periods of time.

Sure, and being a student in class is not one of them.

If this takes off, I'm sure a mechanism will soon evolve so that someone who's on call can leave their details at the front desk and be contacted discretely by cinema staff if they do happen to be needed. Alternatively, just don't visit the cinema while you're on call, which is a solution for most (but not all) people I know who sometimes have to be.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, in a dark theater, those backlit LCDs seem incredibly bright, and are definitely distracting. I'll take that over audible ringing, but it'd be even better if the displays had a light sensor that automagically dimmed the display when less light was required, or even switched to a red light. It's much more annoying when I can see twenty or more of them at once, but I've changed my own habits to avoid this by sitting closer to the front than I used to and by avoiding showings that teenagers are more likely to attend, since teenagers seem to get more cell phone calls than any other group.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well... as you think only about yourself being the one with the phone, I think of the 50 other students in the class who are getting their class disrupted after they've paid good money to be there. It isn't about YOU vs. "The Man" (professor). It's about you vs. everyone else in the class who paid to be there and you're screwing it up for them.

Maybe the policy should be set by the class... Maybe you should have to pay them back for the interruption in cash. Or maybe they should be able to beat your snot-nosed ass a few times to get you back in line.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[zakezuke]

It's the responsibility of a surgeon to remain contactable when on-call.

Most surgeons carry old style one way pagers. There is a fear that cell phones might affect certain medial equipment. I've not actually seen it happen, and most people who work in a hospital just use their mobiles out of site. Unless they plan to block those frequencies as well it's not an issue.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[bdcrazy]

I can understand this situation. If you can't trust your babysitter and or the 911 operators to make the right decisions, you have bigger problems to deal with. Also, if being away from your kids for a couple hours is too tramatic for you, i'd suggest other forms of entertainment.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[13thirteen]

When my husband and I go to movies (which isn't very often, frankly, because of people talking during movies) we both turn our cell phones to vibrate. If we get a call, we shield the display to see who it is, immediately hitting the 'silence' button.

I would love it if we could turn in our cell phones, but we need to be able to screen out the non-emergency calls without having to leave the theatre (we would probably each have to leave at least three times - we use our cell phones for our business, plus we have parents that don't really understand that a two-hour movie really takes two-and-a-half hours, so they call back during the last few minutes of the movie), but be able to leave if we get a call indicating that our son (or someone else) requires immediate attention.

I've found most people are polite with their cell phones in the theatre proper. Walking over and standing directly in front of someone talking on their cell phone in a theatre is usually a good way to get them to stop. My pet peeve is the people who think that because they are standing in the entryway of the theatre (inside the doors) they can have a cell phone conversation. Sound carries incredibly well from that area, and it is incredibly annoying that the person is chattering away, loudly and obliviously, for a long time.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

grep -ri 'should work' /usr/src/linux | wc -l

207 in 1.6.8

Re:Emergency Calls?

[megarich]

Yes it won't socially solve anything but everyone and their mother has cell phones now. Even those non trouble causing people may acidentally leave their phone on and you hear a loud ring or they may be one of those quiet/rude people where they'll pick up the phone, talk for a minute, hang up and watch the movie like nothing happenned. Quite frankly, I'm more pissed that the movie theatres charge and arm and a leg for 1) the price of the ticket 2) concessions. But their always trade offs in life. Try to deal with the movie theatre rules including prices and phone jamming or just go rent from blockbuster where you don't have to worry about missing a important call and its cheaper...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Puff Daddy]

Good, so say someone has a phone and knows to set it on vibrate. Now say that person's house lights on fire and they get a call about it. In your version of the world, since other people don't know how to put their phone on vibrate, this guy doesn't get to know about his house until the movie's over. I know its an unusual situation, but it'll be a cold decade in hell before I let the French government say when I can and can't use my phone. Oh, and to all the people who ask what we did before cell phones I ask, "does it matter?".

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

How the fuck would you have survived before cell phones? What if the theater you were in happened to be a dead zone anyway? What if your cell phone died?

Here's what would transpire if your children were hurt at home:
There's an emergency at home.
Your baby sitter calls 911.
Your baby sitter calls you, but you can't answer so she leaves a message.
Paramedics comes to your house.
They take your child(ren) to the hospital.
You left an emergency contact list with your baby sitter so that the hospital can get permission from someone who has your permission to give the hospital permission to do its job. - You did do this right?
In a real emergency, unless you are a doctor too, you are likely in the way anyway.

Here's what would happen if your house was burning down:
Baby sitter calls 911, probably from a neighbors house.
Baby sitter calls you, but you can't answer so she leaves a message.
Firefighters arrive.
They attempt to put out fire without your interference. If you are around they tell you to keep out of the way anyway. If you're retarded and keep trying to go back into your house to retrieve stuff, the firefighters would need to restrain your dumb ass and you'd waste some of their manpower who would have been assisting the others in putting out the fire.

Shall I go on?

There's not much that you personally can do if you aren't part of the group that's emergency services anyway.

Even if you are a doctor, firefighter, or some other emergency service provider, you should be a redundant piece of the whole puzzle. If you really are needed then you would be "on duty" and not "on call" or "off duty".

If you happen to be a doctor and your patient has a problem. That's a little different, but the results will be similar:
The patient is determined to be in need of an emergency operation.
The hospital pages you. (Yes page, Pagers are more reliable than that stupid cell phone.)
The other doctors on duty rush into the operating room with the patient.
Even if you do get the call, you are likely far enough away that everyone is prepped and started before you can even get there. (10-30 minutes can be a long time) They aren't going to need the extra hand unless you are the only specialist that can handle a brain, spinal cord, or heart operation that the hospital has. That's just not even remotely likely at a hospital that does handle those specialties.

If everything is planned correctly, the need for anyone to really call you should be truly redundant and really only a courtesy. The problem with too many people is that they believe that the cell phone call is more important than everything else in their immediate vicinity. I don't answer cell my cell phone whenever it rings. Voice mail is included in every cell phone service. You should learn to use it. Stop micromanaging every detail in your life.

Too many people now have cell phones and don't fucking know when to stop using them. They're talking while they're driving. They're talking while they're walking down a busy intersection and not paying attention to the light. They're talking while walking late at night in a middle of a dangerous city, not paying attention to the people around them and most importantly not paying attention to any possible muggers. They're rudely interrupting the conversation while answering the cell phone.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Donny Smith]

I don't understand - what difference does it makes if you know "right away" or 89 minutes later?
She's already called 911, for Christ.

And if you're so extremely concerned that a disaster could happen during those 90 minutes, just don't go to the theater.
Or leave the place of viewing twice during a 90 minute movie (say, about 30 and about 60 min into the movie) to check your voice mail.
Or go to the theater with the babysitter and leave your wife at home to take care of the kids (now that's thinking!).

My point is, "emergency" is a lame excuse and lamers always find a reason. There are so many ways to avoid using a phone in the theatre.

From my perspective, I don't care who needs to get or make a call and why - I think the price of the ticket I pay should warrant proper viewing and listening environment.
People who cannot avoid disturbing other people should avoid going to theaters or shouldn't be allowed into theaters (or their cell phones should be jammed).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Offtopic, Heh?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Right...and then all the pricks from group 1 and 3 will want to goto that theater because they are the ones most likely to have the prick "me too" syndrome vs group 2.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Presidents generally don't have to go to a public movie theatre. If they do go to a public theatre, I would hope that the secret service, or its equivalent in a country other than the USA, stays nearby to receive the information and tell the president.

Remember what happened on 9/11/2001 when the president was listening to the story with the children? Someone walked into the classroom to whisper in president shrubs ear that a plain crashed into the first tower. He didn't move. It obviously wasn't important. He had other members of his cabinet to take care of matters. Technically, the president's redundant too. Hence a VP and Senate Pro Tem, and so on are listed as his successors in the event that he can't perform his duty.

If the president can forego a cell phone, you can too. He wouldn't have had time to respond to the second tower and the pentagon either. It was a surprise attack. Now that it's happened, future attacks of this nature would not be quite as easily carried out even if there was no department of homeland security.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

"And really, I don't think this is a social problem. The main problem here is not that people are trying to be jerks, it's that they forget to turn off their phones and may thoughtlessly and reflexively answer them when they ring."

I keep hoping the cell phone makers would do something like add an automated "switch to vibrate" capability, triggered by a particular (bluetooth or whatever) signal. If the phone doesn't sense the signal it reverts to the original setting.

That way any place that needs peace and quiet simply puts in a transmitter of this signal, and *presto* no more ringing phones. This costs money of course so it won't ever happen. Oh well.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed. It's a silly law. You can't legislate good manners.

The only effective way to address the problem of inconsiderate people carrying on loud conversations at the theater or at restauraunts is peer and societal pressure. I.e., the law doesn't need to make it legal to block cell calls, the law should make it a legal requirement that everyone sitting next to someone talking on their cell phone in the theater gets to dump their nachos, popcorn, and hot dogs on the inconsiderate bastard.

The problem is that there are a few inconsiderate people out there that don't know when it is and isn't appropriate to use a cell phone... and millions of considerate people that are too considerate to even point out that the other asshole is being inconsiderate. You aren't going to solve this by making inconsiderateness illegal or by trying to make it impossible to be inconsiderate. You're going to solve it by giving the tools and encouragement to society to ridicule, punish, and stain the shirt of the idiots that are inconsiderate.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[seafortn]

You must not be a med school professor - probably 50% of our classes are interrupted by a page... Of course, it's usually the professor's pager, and we understand that it's probably something important, so nobody actualy cares...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[anon*127.0.0.1]

My phone lets me set any special ringing mode so that it will expire at a specified time. So at the start of the movie I set it to "Silent", set silent mode to expire in two hours, and I'm all set. After two hours, my phone will go back to ringing at 120 decibles.

I agree with an earlier poster, that phone calls in theatres are a social problem. People know you shouldn't talk loudly, or pick your nose, or let your kids run around screaming. Some idiots do it anyway.

I wonder how many people don't set their phone to vibrate because they simply don't know how? I'd be willing to bet that neither of my parents could do it without a lot of button mashing and probably screwing something else up along the way.

(And on a totally unrelated side note... if your cell phone gets dirty, just dump it in the washing machine. I did that to mine... actually, left it in the pocket of my slacks when I washed them. Phone came out nice and clean, and still works great.)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Helios1182]

"Sometimes, people need to communicate with each other (and still be in class). It's part of the über-high-tech-life. (or something :)" If you have reason to think you will get an important call leave it on, but put it on silent. There have been a couple days where I was waiting for important calls (family in hospital, etc.) and did that. Just qietly step out of the class to talk. If you don't get out in time to answer just call them back. I almost never turn my phone off, but I set it to vibrate anytime I got somewhere it should be off (class, meetings, restaraunts).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Case #1: Person enjoys the rest of the movie, and finds out his house has burned down. Case #2: Person doesn't enjoy the rest of the movie, and finds out his house has burned down. Case #1 sounds preferable to me!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[frovingslosh]

Yea, it's an insane stipulation. I ran a computer lab at a large university in a past life. I found that some people were calling in on the land lines with "emergencies" and wasting the operator's time trying to track down the people they were calling for. In one case I stayed on the line and found the emergency was "has the cat been fed yet?. I started informing callers that we didn't accept emergency calls and that if they had a real emergency they should go through the "public safety" (campus police) number. One irate caller even responded to me that the campus library accepts his "emergency calls" all the time. I don't think he even realized the irony in that statement.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Then the babysitter does what we did before mobile phones, and calls the cinema. The cinema then gets a couple of ushers to quickly look through the cinema and get your attention.

How in the hell does that work? Does everyone that goes to your movie theater wear name tags? Or do the ushers go into each of the 1-30 theaters and hold up a sign for 30 seconds that says "Mr. Considerate, please go to the theater lobby for a phone call." Or does the person just say, "Yeah, I need to talk to someone named Mr. Considerate. I *think* he went to see Clash of the Titans but they were thinking about Star Wars, so I'm not really sure. Oh, and he had a blue shirt on, does that help?"

I mean, really, I'm all in favor of people putting their cell phones on vibrate and leaving the movie if they need to take a call. But I seriously can't understand how you could call a movie theater and ask them to find one of thousands of people in one of dozens of dark rooms.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[JoeBuck]

I'm a parent. When we manage to get a baby-sitter and go out to a movie, we have our cell phones with us, and they are set on "vibrate". The most likely emergency call we're going to get would be from our sitter, saying that something happened to our daughter. If some non-emergency call comes in, we look at the number and let it go to voicemail. There's no ring, no noise, no problem. How is a cell-phone jamming device going to allow that emergency call through? Answer: it won't, and therefore we wouldn't patronize any establishment that installs one.

Before cell phones, the usual parental practice was to give the sitter the phone number of the theater. But these days, theaters don't give that out; the advertised number just gets you a voicemail somewhere with show times.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Parker703]

Oh yeah, everybody should be just like you and they'd be happy, huh?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[i.r.id10t]

I used a similar policy when I was teaching as an adjunct - keep the phone on vibrate, go out of hte class to answer it, and if I hear it ring, I get to answer it. Beepers had to be kept on vibrate also (I carry one for servers to page me, etc).

Re:Emergency Calls?

[JoeBuck]

It's simple. If you have few friends, and get no calls, a cell-phone jam is all upside, no downside. But without WiFi, life sucks.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[rts008]

"They better damn well inform me in big letters on the back of my ticket that my cell phone is jammed." Do you live in France? I f you do, then what's with tying **AA into your post? **AA isn't in France. If you don't live in France, then WTF are you ranting about. Next time please do the rest of us a favor and RTFA! As for it being a social issue, yes it is, and a timely application of high velocity lead intracranially usually does the trick! Trust me, subject ME to your inane phone calls, and I will subject you to as much unpleasantness as my imagination can conceive.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[kd5ujz]

The White House has a very nice theater. No need to go to the local cinimark.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[invenustus]

Do you mean 2.6.8? If not, I am in awe of your old-school-ness.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[mcrbids]

That is what I like about this new law. It doesn't force anyone to do anything. It does allow movie theaters to implement something, and the public will decide if they prefer going to a theater that allow cells or not.

Didn't you notice that this ruling effectively makes cell phone blocking impossible? It's sort of like suing your city for the right to put a sign up on your easement, and them saying "Sure, so long as it offers no obstruction of the vision of the sidewalk".

By definition, the theatre could *never* satisfy the conditions under which their permission has been granted...

How in the world would a theatre block all calls except "emergency" calls?

RTFA next time, eh?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[AuMatar]

How about we give group 3 their own, more expensive theater? Then they can talk to their hearts content without bothering the general public. Problem solved.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Hobadee]

That's why phones have silent mode.

I know I always put my cell phone on silent mode when I'm, well, anywhere. Movie, church, fancy restuarant, etc.... As to your point that "Is it really necassary to be reachable...and if so you shouldn't be there.", well, I work as a freelancer. That means that I am just sitting around all day until someone from one of the companies I work for calls me up and says "We have a job for you." (Well, ok, it isn't quite that simple) It is a good thing for me to be always availible so that I can get jobs. I'm not about to answer the phone in the place I am mind you, but if I know they called then I can excuse myself from whatever I'm doing, go outside, then call them back right away instead of waiting a few hours and finding a message on my voice mail. I also see this applying to people like doctors and nurses who are on call.

I think a possible solution to this problem is to get a standard for cell phones that allows microcells to force the cell phones into silent mode. Then, when you walk into a movie theater or whatever, your cell phone automatically switches to silent mode.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh my god you're right!!! And to think that people went to movie theaters for 70 years without cell phones ? I really wonder how on Earth doctors and parents could stand this tragic situation.

Remind me to thank God for giving us cell phones.
Amen

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Damned right it's a social problem. At the movies, 9 times out of 10 it's some big black woman jabbering about who said what about who. Just try telling her to shut up, that's the time that I leave and get my money back. Theatres need to have bouncers for this, and not little skinny high schoolers either.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[wcrowe]

And just why the hell do people get so bent out of shape that my cell phone might vibrate a little bit when I get an incoming message?

Yeah, right. The problem is that asshats like you don't set your phones to vibrate. Instead it will be playing the hamster dance song at high volume. Then you will proceed to answer it and carry on a conversation in the middle of the movie.

Emergencies? What a load of crock. Good God, what did everyone with an emergency do all those decades when we didn't have cellphones?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[SeanDuggan]

Oh goodness... I think you misunderstand the pettiness of most people. True, requiring pushing an extra button will deter one or two nice people who'll decide to call back in an hour or so until their friend is available, but I'd wager a fair amount of them would consider their situation "an emergency" and the rest would fake it to get through to their friends.

I'm not really a pessimist but I do play one on stage...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Die?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[miskatonic alumnus]

In my opinion, the problem isn't cellphones so much as people being intolerant of other people.

In my opinion, the problem isn't people being intolerant of other people so much as people thinking they are the only individuals on the whole planet, and thus feel no qualms about being rude, inconsiderate, self-absorbed bastards.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Good GOD! You win today's Self-Important Ass award.

What you need is a different job. Not to mention a sound beating. I bet when you were in grade school, kids used to line up just to punch you in the face.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[guacamole]

For an emergency call, just walk into the lobby and use a land line phone.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Laugh that's funny.

An off duty police rep = a Civilian.

And beating somone up in a "NON-Life threatening" scenario is a pretty minor crime. Or hell bar fights would be non existent.

Woopie you could sue someone!!!

I'd just go sit on your lap. Or next to you and annoy the piss outta you. Thats what I tend to do. Even thou my 6'3" 250lb body can be imposing.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[qray]

So the poor fools who are saddled with 24 hour support basically can't ever see a movie again unless they change jobs. granted they probably should fine other jobs. What happened to using non-audible rings? It's a shame there are jerks that either leave their phones on or leave on the audible ring on. I generally leave my phone in silent mode and occasionally visually check the phone for messages.

For me I'd avoid such theaters, their choice to use such things, but if they are going to assume I'm a jerk I'd rather not patronize such a place.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Proteus]

Fuck the movie, I want that call.

Here's a thought. Have the sitter call the theater, and the usher can come and get you. It's less disturbing, and people are less likely to abuse it.

Yeah, so it takes a minute longer. None of the scenarios I've seen are likely to suffer from a minute or two delay. People did manage to receive emergency phone calls before cell phones. They also did things like find capable baby-sitters.

Yeah, I can see why you'd want to know ASAP if little Betty broke her arm while you were away. Use your cellphone to call the sitter -- outside the theater -- and make sure she knows what movie you're in and what the theater's phone number is. Then, let it be blocked during the film. A delay of a few minutes before you find out about that isn't the end of the world.

In reality, the number of people who get calls from a girl/boyfriend or somesuch during a movie far outnumber those who get emergency calls. So, since the theater is more than willing to convey emergency messages, why have the cellphone on?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

wow. sounds neat. RFID on the ticket associated with your name when you buy it, and a platform that moves across the theater using a series of levers and such like movie cameras have. :-)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[NanoGator]

"if that's the case, please rent your movies instead. Your conditions are obviously not satisfactory enough to attend a public showing of a film."

Nice to see we humans have our priorities straight.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

I shouldn't even dignify an anonymous coward who can't write his first sentence without saying "how the fuck" would you do something or another with a response... but for some reason I feel compelled to. You might not care to know if your kids are hurt or dying for 90 minutes (Hell, why not wait till the next day, or week, there's nothing you can do anyway.) But I sure as hell would want to know IMMEDIATELY! If you're in the same theater as me, and my cell phone vibrates GOOD GOD NO! NOT A VIBRATING PHONE!!! then I'll personally make an apology to you after my crisis is over. Let's just disconnect home phones too.. I mean, we could set up a telegraph system to let people know when there's a problem right?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[flonker]

Why not go the extra step, and implement something like "The person you are trying to reach is in the cinema. If this is truly an emergency, press 1. Otherwise, call back at 10:00 when the movie is over."

Re:Emergency Calls?

[JelloGnome]

If I'm paying thousands of dollars in tuition (and working my ass off to pay that tuition), I would be happy to have a professor that deals with assholes in such a manner. When someone is being disruptive in class and taking away from my educational experience, they need to be bitch-slapped. If you don't have basic manners by the time you reach college, you need some hard knocks for your own good before getting into the real world.

Alright. Let's think straight here. You're paying thousands of dollars in tuition, and working your ass off to pay that tuition. Now who are you more likely to be upset at; the student, for talking in class? Or the professor, for wasting your time and money for public reprimand instead of education?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[BK425]

That's kind of polarizing. How about the 911 center calls the theater, an usher... well, -ushers- you out to the phone, and everyone gets everything they want?

Cell phone users don't -have- to disrupt others and others don't -have- to enforce some sort of massive "manners" dictatorship on tool users.

And, not to soap box or anything ; ) , but that is the problem with general society today. People turn to legislation to solve social ills that would be better and more appropriately handled by turning to the human next to you and starting a conversation with something like "Hi, my names John, how ya doin?". That France had to make a law out of this is more a reflection on the French legal system (and social conventions) then anything else. All IMO. Boyd

Re:Emergency Calls?

[grindking]

look, they find out later, or they don't go to the movie, it doesn't matter what you think about who or who shouldn't receive an emergency call. there was a time years ago, when people could exist perfectly fine without a stupid cell phone. you don't have to break it down like some idiot over analyzer and start asking stupid questions like what constitutes an emergency. if you're worried something might happen, DON'T LEAVE YOUR HOUSE. seriously, some of you people on here make me sick.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

I don't understand - what difference does it makes if you know "right away" or 89 minutes later? She's already called 911, for Christ.

Fine, you might not care if you child is dying for 89 minutes (why not just make it a day, or a week? Where's the cutoff limit where it is acceptable to you to not know something that you should know.

Me, I'd like to know right away. It might not make a difference in whether he lives or dies, but as a parent, I'd just like to know if there's a problem as soon as possible.

Or go to the theater with the babysitter and leave your wife at home to take care of the kids (now that's thinking!).

Yes, because as we all know, once you have kids, you should never be allowed to do anything alone with your spouse for the next 18 years! And the lil' woman's job is to stay home barefoot caring for the children.

From my perspective, I don't care who needs to get or make a call and why - I think the price of the ticket I pay should warrant proper viewing and listening environment.

My phone vibrating and me walking out to the lobby to answer it shouldn't ruin your night any worse than me getting up to go to the restroom.. till they start shutting down the snack bar and restrooms while the movie is running, that arguement doesn't hold any weight with me.

People who cannot avoid disturbing other people should avoid going to theaters or shouldn't be allowed into theaters (or their cell phones should be jammed)

I'll agree that if you can't avoid disturbing other you shouldn't go... but as for jamming, that's just not a good thing because it punishes everyone, not just the people causing the problem. That's like saying that since some people can't drive safely, nobody should be allowed on the road.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[bleckywelcky]

I went to court (traffic court) once for a ticket and they had a sign on the door asking people to turn off their cell phones. I left mine in my vehicle because I didn't want to risk anything even before seeing the sign, even on vibrate. One lady did have her phone go off though, and the judge told her to cough it up. Funny enough, one of the prosecutors had a phone go off as well and gave it to the judge too. Serves the bastard right, lol! j/k :)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

I can't speak for the asshat that you apparently personally know, but asshats like me leave their phone on vibrate AT ALL TIMES, just so I don't accidentally annoy some overly touchy person like yourself.

Oh, before you call me any names too, I always exit the room before carrying on a converstaion.

As for what people with emergencies did before cellphones? They took longer to address the problem. Just like people took longer before the landline phone, and even longer with pony express.

BAN ALL TECHNOLOGY!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Rude Turnip]

The student of course--he's the one interrupting the class. The professor wouldn't have to resort to doing anything if the student with the cell phones would stfu.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Webmoth]

An "emergency" used to be your-house-is-on-fire or your-kid-just-swallowed-drano. Now, it seems that pick-up-milk-on-your-way-home has been elevated to the status of "emergency."

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Eraser_]

If I were in the middle of a movie, as a non-parent, and they stopped the movie to say "mr/mrs smith your baby is very badly ill please come out" I don't think I would be irritated past the lights turning on. That being said there is already infrastructure in place for "emergency" cell phones and pagers. Give doctors and surgeons and the secret police a pager that can be passed through the cell phone jammer. Give parents a $1 rental/$1 deposit ($2 one returned later) pager that the movie theatre can page you on, and leave the number with the sitter. The hearing impaired things already broadcast on low power RF, same could be done for a local area pager.

Give everyone else longer battery life with this inhouse repeater (could that be done with the encryption on todays phones?) that sets your phone to lowest volume-beep once/vibrate/nothing. This could be a user selectable preference, and your phone could even notify you when you are entering such an area. I'm sure a firmware update could address this issue. On my phone, a cheap year old nokia (my last cheap nokia met its maker in about 5-6 peices...), my "meeting" setting, which I use at work, is a almost inaudible beep once then vibrate, it works perfectly in classrooms and such. A movie theatre would completely drown it out save for anyone sitting with the phone in their lap.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[bleckywelcky]

Well, see that's part of your problem. You may care about your kids, but no one else in the theater cares about your kids. They care about their own kids and have their phones set to vibrate only, so that if they need to be contacted then they are the only ones that know. Those backlit LCD screens are really freaking bright in an extremely dark theater and catch your eye very easily (unless tucked away in a pocket or something).

This may seem a bit blunt, but the fact of the matter is that I and many others have taken the appropriate steps to guarantee that we will not bother anyone while at the theater (or other similar event) and you should too.

And on a side note, if you've raised kids to the age of 16 that can't take care of themselves, then you have other issues... Or they're a bunch of hooligans getting into trouble all the time, which means you've failed as a parent.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[wcrowe]

If you had that job, and didn't return a call within an hour, you run the risk of getting fired.

That's not a job, that's slavery.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Uncertain Bohr]

And why should people be penalized because some *reatard* cannot possibly sit two hours without having the urge to feel self-important and stand up and run out of the movie theater.
If you are too busy to watch a movie, stay home, or work, or wherever else you'd rather be.
Just having your phone on vibrate still means that you are one of the annoying people who stands up like an idiot, fumbling around and creating mayhem while other people are trying to get their money worth and trying to actually *watch* the movie, and not you, the standing clown making noise...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[AvantLegion]

What we "need", is a phone that will switch into vibrate mode when it detects a signal. Easy.

Actually, what we "need" is a simple hardware toggle switch on the phones to make turning cell phones to either "silent" or "vibrate" near-instantaneous.

As cell phones get more complex/capable, we now have to traverse menus, and load a phone "profile" that has silent/vibrate as a property of the profile.

It's a pain to toggle phones in and out of "silent" as you move from place to place. I err on the side of caution and usually just leave it silent or on vibrate, but I have been known to miss calls because of it.

A little hardware sliding switch for toggling between "ringer on" and "ringer off" (as many home phones have) is something cell phones need.

There may be cell phones with this feature, but there are far too many that don't.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[NeoSkandranon]

I've got a VX 3200 (i think) Whats yours?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[eore]

No, I think the one that theatres etc. use just broadcasts a busy signal so that all calls coming in see that the phone is in use and thus direct the call to voice mail. White noise generators would be pretty illegal I would think -- although you can buy them here if you really have a grudge...

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it just me or did they stop selling phones with that nifty vibrate feature? No music or beep, call gets through.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[senatorpjt]

My main problem is that I just don't make/take a lot of phone calls, maybe two a week. I can barely even remember to keep the battery charged.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[IncohereD]

My main problem is that I just don't make/take a lot of phone calls, maybe two a week. I can barely even remember to keep the battery charged.

That's my problem to (except I get maybe 5 text messages a week as well). Which is why I just always have it on vibrate. If I occasionly don't feel it and miss it, it's no big deal. I usually only get calls when I'm expecting them, and am therefore paying attention to it.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Tired and Emotional]

I did a live radio spot once and had thought before about turning off my cell, but thought "don't be silly, no-one will call". Of course in the middle I get a phone call - AND when I got back to it later it turned out to be a wrong number.

Talk about those who the Gods wish to destroy!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

What a load of rubbish.

So you get this call that your house is on fire while watching a movie. What do you do? Race out the cimnema and buy a super sized coke on the way out, find your car, drive home, and throw said drink in fire saving all your worldley posessions.

Lucky you weren't in France and you phone worked in the cinema.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Doppler00]

and a total of 0.0001% of the general population knows how to do this?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[jaraxle]

And I take appropriate steps too... except I leave the phone out, so I can quickly see caller id and determine if I need to rush out, or send it to voicemail. Sorry if your sensitive eyes can see my backlit screen while it's tucked up near my stomach. Personally, if you're so busy watching other people and not the screen that you can notice a little LCD screen light up (they're not that bright, I don't even notice mine when I'm driving at night), then you should consider whether the movie is really worth your money.

And it's not that 16 year olds cannot take care of themselves, but accidents can happen. A responsible 16 year old can still slip down the stairs and hurt themself or any number of other mundane accidents that still would require some sort of attention. Or does this mean that I've failed as a parent?

~jaraxle

Re:Emergency Calls?

[golgotha007]

When it appears that we "humans" lack even a basic respect for others (such as it is), then it's no surprise that comments like mine score a +5 insightful from moderators in agreement.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've wished for that feature (timed ring profiles).

An alternative: The alarm on Nokia phones will ring even if the phone is off. You could set the alarm for now+3 hours when entering a movie theater and the phone will let you know if you forgot to turn it back on and turn the alarm off after the movie.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[DrEasy]

There is one, but it's called SACEM (Societe des Auteurs Compositeurs Editeurs de Musique). And they can be just as obnoxious when they want to.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[JelloGnome]

Maybe some kind of transmitter/receiver local to that area which over-rides every other transmission? I'm sure something like that could be designed.

Something has been designed. It's called duct tape and it fastens securely over the movier-goers mouth.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've had fairly serious things happen, such as my friend trying to call me when his brother died because he needed help moving the body.

WTF move dead body? Whose wife was the dead body on top of anyway???

OTOH, maybe he wanted to get his ass arrested for moving the body instead of arranging for cops or EMTs to do so.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[NanoGator]

"When it appears that we "humans" lack even a basic respect for others"

You mean like respecting that one wants to keep in touch with the family members they're responsible for? Or perhaps just assuming that they're not polite enough to set their phone to vibrate?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[roju]

My Star Tac had that. Best feature ever.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[roju]

Does that work? I'm not a big fan of handing my property to people who demand it. Nobody has said "no"? If a prof failed you for not giving him your cell, the ombudsperson would have a field day.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[cynicaleditor]

Hi folks,
I think the real thing to think about here is why, for the span of time of a movie, would most people be worried about receiving an emergency phone call? Most people go to the sorts of places that will like to ban cells as escape places to get away from worry. Ask yourselves how many people you actually know who said -- thank God I had my cell phone on me at the movies -- it absolutely saved my life.

I pay money at the theater to see a show or at the movies to see a flick, not to listen to someone else's cell phone. And the same people who don't shut off their phones certainly aren't paying to listen to mine. It's that simple. A movie fills up with 30 people each paying $10 a ticket--a single rude person on a cell phone at this movie is intruding on $300 of other people's money.

And walking around with a cell phone everywhere you go and leaving it on just because some aspect of your world or the world itself might end isn't a good way to live. There's no sense in carrying potential trouble with you absolutely everywhere you go. Don't get me wrong -- if someone you love is mortally ill and you step out to a movie as a distraction, by all means bring your cell just in case, but then again, the question to ask yourself is whether or not your time will be better spent with that loved one or close by to that loved one.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[golgotha007]

the second one, of course.
these are the same folks that blare they car horn in a neighborhood at 3AM, among other disrespectful acts.

You know what I'm referring to.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

I will do my best to not disturb you and other patrons, but I will still make myself available for three things more important than anything else, because my life is more important than yours.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

It's older... VX10. Just was mentioning it to clear up that motorola apparently doesn't have a lock on the vibrating phone feature.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctors. "Your patient, who was stable earlier, is now convulsing. I know you aren't on call, but he's yours..."

"That's right- I'm not on call. In fact, I'm trying to watch a movie. Call the On-Call."

Parents who do not take their children with them at all times. "This is the babysitter, Beth Anne broke her arm, she's on the way to the hospital..."

Whatever did parents do before cell phones were invented? Stay home all the time??

Children who do not take their parents with them at all times. "Mr. Harris, this is Lutheran General Hospital, your mother is here, unconscious after having a stroke, we need next-of-kin approval for life-saving surgery..."

Approval is not needed for emergency, life-saving actions.

Spouses who do not take their mates with them at all times.

Like the garbage won't wait to be taken out until I get home....

Anyone who owns a house. "Hey, Bill, your house is on fire ..."

Anyone who rents a house. "Hey, deadbeat, we're tossing your stuff out into the street..."

Anyone who volunteers their time and effort doing emergency services. "We've got a lost ten year old, we need searchers..."

All these thigns happened before cell phones. Having a cell phone is not essential to any of these. (And WTF are you doing watching a movie if you owe rent, you deadbeat!)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean like respecting that one wants to keep in touch with the family members they're responsible for?

IF you are responsible for others, why are you ditching them to go to the movies?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fine, you might not care if you child is dying for 89 minutes ...
Me, I'd like to know right away.


Then why the Fuck are you at the movies? STAY HOME!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

How in the hell does that work?

Have you ever heard of overhead pages???

"...Excuse me, we have an emergency phone call for John Smith. John Smith, if you're in the theater, please come out to the concession stand."

There. Took all of 5 seconds. And, since it IS an obvious disruption, it wouldn't be done all the time, but only in REAL emergencies, unlike cell phone yakkers who talk constantly.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

once you have kids, you should never be allowed to do anything alone with your spouse for the next 18 years!

Not if you are THAT paranoid about your kids and knowing if they stub their toes.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

The paramedic or surgeon watching a movie does not call every 5 minutes to ask if someone is diyng.

Simple answer- don't go to the movies if you are a doctor and one of your patients is in critical condition!

Re:Emergency Calls?

[NanoGator]

"IF you are responsible for others, why are you ditching them to go to the movies?"

Uh huh.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

Because there has to be more to life than just raising kinds for the next 18 years. That's why. But it should would be nice to know if my kid was dying now wouldn't it? You obviously differ on that opinion, but I feel that the risk of my kid getting seriously injured or dying while I'm away for 2 hours is small, HOWEVER, if it happens, I sure as hell want to know about it.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

Who said anything about stubbed toes? Not me. Actually I'd be pissed if someone called me to report something trivial like a stubbed toe.

But if they rushed the kid to the hospital for some life-threatening injury, as I've said to others... you might be cold enough to not care, but I want to know.

If that means you have to deal with my phone vibrating in the theater, then tough. Me knowing if there's a problem is more important than you *maybe* hearing a slight vibration coming from my phone.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

How in the world would a theatre block all calls except "emergency" calls?

Uh, with a local microcell they can specially program to let through emergency numbers?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[wcrowe]

Overly touchy? Just because I want to enjoy a movie or concert or play or whatever in peace?

Don't call me a luddite just because I don't want to hear about your aunt's boil right in the middle of a pivotal scene. Damn right, I'm in favor of banning all technology WHICH INTRUDES ON MY RIGHTS.

YOU're the one with the problem if you can't live without your damn cellphone for a couple of hours. You need professional help.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

So you're telling me that a phone vibrating in the middle of a pivotal scene is something that's going to disturb you? You obviously can't hear it, so you must be able to feel it through your seat. I'd consider that REALLY GODDAMN OVERLY TOUCHY! And absolutely amazing at the same time. I could care less about a boil! I want to know if my child is being rushed to the hospital and possibly going to fucking die! Unless you're the superman that can feel a little phoen vibrating from another seat, You're not even going to know my phone is ringing, unless you follow me out to the lobby and see me answer it! If wanting to know if my kid has a serious problem, immediately! (AND I MEAN FUCKING SERIOUS! LIFE THREATENING, NOT A BOIL, NOT A STUBBED TOE, DON'T PUT WORDS INTO MY MOUTH.) If you have a kid, and don't care to know if he/she is about to die, or is in serious pain, until you're done with whatever it is that's so much more important then I would say it is you who has the problem, not me.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

The more I think about this, the more I get pissed...

Could you please explain to me exactly how me walking out of the theater and answering my phone "INTRUDES ON YOUR RIGHTS"?

If walking out to the lobby in the middle of a movie intrudes on your rights, then every person who has ever had to use the restroom in the history of movie theaters has intruded on people's rights.

And don't start with any shit about talking during a movie or phones ringing during a movie, because you can't hear my phone ring, and I don't talk in the theater.

If you can give me a good arguement against it, I'll send my phone to you and let you smash it with a hammer... Till then, I'll continue to bring it with me to the movie, and you will NEVER know that I even have it with me.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[wcrowe]

Could you please explain to me exactly how me walking out of the theater and answering my phone "INTRUDES ON YOUR RIGHTS"?

The problem is not YOU. The problem is that the vast majority of cell phone users DON'T set their phones to vibrate; DON'T answer their phones outside of the theater; and DON'T limit their calls to emergencies. This is why we have to consider complete phone bans in places like theaters. If everyone were like you, there wouldn't be a problem, but they're NOT like you.

I used to use the same arguments about gun control (I'm safe with my guns; I don't use them to commit crimes; Why should I have to be persecuted?) But the fact is people DO get hurt with guns from time to time because they're idiots. So we have to have some goddamn laws covering their use. Same with cars. Same with cellphones. People cannot control themselves, so they have to be treated like children.

And, BTW, I do have a child, and until she was sixteen, we didn't even own a cellphone. Somehow we managed to get by without one. If I managed to raise my kid without having a cellphone I guarantee you can spend a couple of hours without yours.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

So since there's a lot of unsafe drivers out there, should be ban cars? I mean, these people aren't like me.

I still do use the same arguement with my guns.. I'm very educated and safe with them. You can even take that arguement further... Ban me from owning guns, and then the only people who will have them are people who are willing to break the law.

We just can't start punish people who do things the right way for the actions of people who don't. Nobodoy would be able to legally do or own anything anymore.

If we have to treat those people like children, then fine, ban THAT PERSON from carrying a phone into the theater...just don't punish me for something I didn't do.

I didn't say I *couldn't* get by without my phone... My point is that I don't like having rights taken away from me because of someone else's actions. Especially when there is a valid and logical reason to have it in the first place.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[wcrowe]

So since there's a lot of unsafe drivers out there, should be ban cars? I mean, these people aren't like me.

The discussion is not about whether cellphones should be banned, but whether their use should be curtailed in certain areas.

To properly compare them to automobiles: Just because a person owns a car doesn't mean they can park it anywhere they want, or drive it anywhere they want. You cannot argue "There might be an emergency, so I should be given a special dispensation to park here." There are private drives, no-parking zones, tow zones, etc. Cellphone jamming in a theater is the equivalent of a no-parking zone.

If we have to treat those people like children, then fine, ban THAT PERSON from carrying a phone into the theater...just don't punish me for something I didn't do.

Nice concept, but totally impractical.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

"Cellphone jamming in a theater is the equivalent of a no-parking zone."

My town has no parking zones, but they don't tell me that I can't use my car. Saing that I can't talk on my phone inside the theater is like having a no parking zone.. and I'm fine with that, I can walk outside to answer a call, and others should be required to as well. However completely banning them is like making your city a "no driving city."

So fine, if some city wants to do something like ban cars and only allow horses or foot traffic, then I think the city's businesses would lose a ton of income, the majority of people would move somewhere where people weren't trying to take away their rights, and the place would turn into a virtual ghost town.

If some theater bans people from attending simply because they have a phone, I would expect (and hope) the same thing would happen... I can guarantee I wouldn't be going to the theater, even if I wasn't planning on carrying my phone that time...just because of the principle of the matter.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember what happened on 9/11/2001 when the president was listening to the story with the children? Someone walked into the classroom to whisper in president shrubs ear that a plain crashed into the first tower. He didn't move. It obviously wasn't important. He had other members of his cabinet to take care of matters. Technically, the president's redundant too. Hence a VP and Senate Pro Tem, and so on are listed as his successors in the event that he can't perform his duty.
How about "remember when the president was walking into the school he was told about the first plane, while he was sitting reading to kids he was told about the second plane.."

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

and because:

c) a cellphone call to the authorities will result in police officers arriving at the theatre before the terrorists explode a bomb which takes only half a second to detonate.

First Post?

[LewsTherinKinslayer]

All I can say is, damn, that's a good idea. I mean, seriously, it should be a law that you can't have a cell phone in a movie theatre.

Although, I can see a downside to this. Such as for individuals who need to be urgently reachable; and use silent means of being alerted, such as vibratration, as to not disturb others and still remain contactable.

Re:First Post?

[ayn0r]

No sweat, just tell them you're a 911 operator and your calls will get through.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you absolutely need to be urgently reachable, you don't go to a movie theatre in the first place, I guess.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

BZZZT! Wrong! Person A goes to movie theatre. God forbid, Person A's sister gets into an automobile accident. Does person A need to be reached urgently? Yes. Is he psychic? No. Cellphones are like everything else in this world, beneficial in moderate quantities....unless we're talking about W, in which case, the less W there is in this world, the safer place it will be (of course, since I think that Internet has no plural, I must be "Against Us".

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

That's defeatist logic and that's not necessarily true.

For one, I do not know when I would get a call - I get calls from clients all the time, and I really cannot route my personal life around it. It's almost impossible.

So the best thing is to do whatever I do, and if something comes up take it up then and there.

I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours. Not a good idea.

It's far less of an inconvenience to listen to the occasional beep than lose reception altogether.

Re:First Post?

[Pieroxy]

That is exactly why I am glad this law passed. You are exactly the type of person I despise having seating next to me in a theater.

You will now choose a theater where cells are not jammed, and I will choose one where cells are.

The public will decide.

Re:First Post?

[Poppageorgio]

If you're life is that important, rent a movie and stay home. Why should I be inconvenienced by your need to take calls? I go to movies because, for two hours, I don't have to deal with real life and become immersed in another time or place. I don't like it when somebody interrupts this for me.

Re:First Post?

[Jugalator]

I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours. Not a good idea.

Then rent the DVD and stop annoying people at the movies if your personal life force you to annoy people at the movies.

Re:First Post?

[farnz]

So how is this different from a world before cellphones? Before I had a mobile, if I went to the cinema, you had to wait until I got home to contact me. Are you really claiming that emergency services have lost so many skills in the last 10 years that a two hour delay in contacting the next of kin is lethal?

In any case, the vast majority of calls aren't urgent. If most calls to cellphones were the "your relative is dying, come now" type, I'd maybe be on your side; reality is different.

Re:First Post?

[farnz]

Do you not have voicemail services in your part of the world? If you're going out of contact for a few hours, let the system take messages, and respond when you leave the cinema. If all your calls are so urgent that a caller can't leave a message and wait until the end of the movie, then rent a DVD, and stay at home.

I have never worked in a situation where I genuinely have to be on call 24/7. I've been in several where people like to assume that you are, but they back down if you guaranteed to answer between (say) 8am-7pm, and possibly available at other times.

Re:First Post?

[Tiram]

What the other comments said, and then some. That "occasional beep" may be only a minor annoyance to you, but if it happens smack in the middle of a suspense scene or a romantic moment it's damned irritating to everyone else! If it's that important to you to be in touch all the time, rent a movie instead. Your availability isn't at all important to all the others who paid to watch a movie.

In fact, a mobile beeping is irritating no matter when it happens. And most of them don't just beep, they play beethoven's 5th or Britney Spears' latest "hit". Horrible.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, well, this is a good example how a few idiots that do disturb others can ruin it for us all.

Re:First Post?

[ExKoopaTroopa]

According to the news on French tv, people such as doctors will be able to receive calls (if ask for it) and everybody will be able to call outside

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

You'll suffer more than the occasional beep one of these days. You obviously have little grasp of the feelings of those around you. When your phone goes off they spend two minutes (at least) hating you with a vengeance, rather than concentrating on the movie. If there are 300 people in the theatre, that's ten man hours of hate directed at you, for every time you take a call. One of these days you'll take a phone call in a cinema, and someone will punch you lights out. And the rest of the theatre will applaud.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Uhh, FYI - I keep my cellphone in silent mode. Haven't had it go off even *once* in the theater.

I merely meant that even if someone's did, I wouldn't care much, that's all.

And besides, people are getting far too anal about things these days. It's just a fucking movie.

Re:First Post?

[WegianWarrior]

I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours.

Just as I - and a lot of other people - would be very pissed if you spend part of the movie we have payed to watch forcing us to listen to your jabbering. Please do not feel offended if I rip the phone out of your hand and crush it under my heel*. Because, you know, it could be your face instead...

Seriously though; if you can't organise your life in a way so that you can be unavilable for a few hours, then you should either do something about your life (get another job) or at the very least stay away from places where people expect you to be quiet so they can pay attention to something.

*) Actually saw that happen in a theatre - a very annoying teenager who couldn't take a hint, couldn't take a stronger hint the next time it rang, and didn't have a cellphone anymore the third time...

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Read my post again.

I did not say that MY cellphone would beep. I keep it in a silent mode so that I know when I'm getting a call, and I can go out and take it up.

If someone else's cellphone DID go off, I do not personally consider it that big a deal.

Man, the IQ of the Slashdot crowd has dropped so significantly. Wonder what's up with all the idiots crowding up the place.

Re:First Post?

[Atragon]

I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours. Not a good idea.

It's far less of an inconvenience to listen to the occasional beep than lose reception altogether.

We did.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

My point was merely that I would like my cellphone to have reception at all times.

I make sure that whenever *I'm* in a theater, my cellphone is always switched on in silent mode but can receive calls. I do not think that is too much to ask.

I meant to highlight the fact that just because there are a few out there who do not bother switching off their cellphones, they're denying reception to all others.

It's an opinon based thing, that's all.

Re:First Post?

[Pieroxy]

This law passed not just for movies. Theaters, concerts, Opera, every public artistic performance falls under that law: They are now allowed to jam cell phones.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Yeah right. Selfish bastards like you always blame it on others. Not one person in a theatre taking calls, making SMSs, talking to their friends, or disturbing people by their coming and going thinks they are wrong.

It's not the people blaming you for being anti-social that are idiots.

Switch your phone off in the theatre. If you think you are too necessary to someone elses life to be uncontactable for the length of a movie, get a DVD player and stay at home.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

You did say that your cellphone would beep. You wrote "It's far less of an inconvenience to listen to the occasional beep than lose reception altogether."

You are talking about YOUR reception, and YOUR phone. Don't try to pretend otherwise (three times already) just because you're getting smashed by everyone's replies!

It's okay though. I forgive you.

Re:First Post?

[Pieroxy]

I would also add that I go to the movies not only to be distracted, but also to take a break from the world, to get submerged by a fiction of my choice. And while a cough cannot be avoided, cell phones can, and very easily. And they are *much* more disruptive.

I pay enough money to get my 2 hours of isolation in another fictional world, without caring for people that cannot be disconnected from their flow of information for more than an hour. Personal choice.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours. Not a good idea.

Yeah. So my profession necessiates cellphone reception no matter where.

It's far less of an inconvenience to listen to the occasional beep than lose reception altogether.

It's far less of an inconvenience listening to the occasional beep of fools who don't bother keeping their cellphones silent, than not having any reception at all in the theater.

If a theater banned all cellphone reception - I'd not listen to the occasional stupid beeps, but it would also make me lose being in touch 24/7.

D'oh!

Re:First Post?

[lachlan76]

Whats to say you need to take a call? If you get an SMS and you have to leave, then if it's on silent, what's the problem?

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Sheesh, okay, here I go ONCE again.

I would MUCH rather have an idiot having his cellphone beep than losing MY cellphone reception altogether.

Get IT?

I keep my cellphone silent - but I would also LIKE to receive calls. If you jammed my cellphone, I would not have to put up with any interruptions, but cannot receive ANY calls.

It's okay, your IQ is higher than those of my shoelaces.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

And besides, people are getting far too anal about things these days. It's just a fucking movie.

If it's just a fucking movie, then don't fucking go. It's not place to decide how important an event is to the other people there. I've just visited your blog.

A) You look very young, which probably explains your selfish anti-social attitute.

B) You go on about some concert as if it was the second coming of Christ. Don't you realise it's just a fucking concert?

Re:First Post?

[arose]

Why is it wrong to have you phone in vibration mode? Say you have a job where you always have to be reachable, but still want to enjoy a movie or play. For some people mobiles mean freedom from sitting home where you can be called.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

What?

When you say "but can receive calls", do you mean that you'll open your stupid mouth and start blathering on to the caller?

Or would you check your voicemail and leave the cinema (theater)?

Either way, you are disturbing people.

Grow the hell up. You are not that important, however much you delude yourself.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just because someone needs to be reachable does not mean he is going to talk in the middle of the movie, just because you think that everyone is an IDIOT just like you, does not mean it's true.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

So the phone vibrates, the person digs into their pocket/purse and brings out their phone, and reads the SMS. And the people next to them and in a 45 degree arc all the way back behind them in the cinema is distracted by this light appearing. Then ordinarily, that person will type in a response, thus extending the distraction. And if they choose to leave, then that's yet another distraction.

People that like cinema go to the theatre to escape for a while. If you don't want to do that, and aren't prepared to cut the umbilical cord for a couple of hours, then don't go to the movies. Watch a DVD.

What do you think people did 10 and more years ago when most people didn't even own a phone? Do you think they never went out because they couldn't afford to be out of touch?

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

If a theater banned all cellphone reception - I'd not listen to the occasional stupid beeps, but it would also make me lose being in touch 24/7.

Good. 99% of the people in the theatre will be happy that you and the rest of the 1% with anti-social habits have been frustrated.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

I understand exactly what you are saying, and I'm saying it's anti-social. If the phone was truly silent, no vibrate (vibrate makes a noise too) and you didn't take it out of your pocket, or leave the the theatre to answer it, there would be no problem. But if that was true, it would be no different from if it were switched off.

Insulting my IQ (136) does nothing to absolve you of the responsibility for being anti-social.

Re:First Post?

[stupid_is]

OK - I've read your other posts in response to the various hate mails with your clarification that you'd have the mobile on silent and you'd slip out before talking to the person on the other end - which is fair enough, although I'd also ask if you deliberately sit on the end of the aisle, preferably near the exit so that you would minimise any disturbance to the other members of the paying public. If you did this, then fine, you are being considerate and you probably wouldn't cause much of a disturbance.

If, however, you sat in the geeky "optimimum sound position" at the centre of the aisle in the centre of the auditorium (or wherever), you may still deserve cricifying :-), as on a par with annoying ringtones is the person that gets up mumbling "Excuse me, excuse me" as they force lots of people to shuffle around so that they can go pee / have a chat on their phone (I'm not saying that everyone should pee in a cup rather than disturb others, but they could think ahead a bit when they buy their 2-gallon supersize coke)

I also disagree that listening to the occasional beep mid film is ok - it distracts from the film. Most people want to actually immerse themselves in the film (isn't entertainment all about escapism, after all), and things like beeps will drag them out of that and lower the enjoyment. If you're not most people, then fine, you're entitled to that viewpoint, but assuming that other people share that view is a folly.

The issue here is the expectation that if you have a mobile phone, you must be reachable. Historically no-one was all that bothered if you weren't in when you were rung at the home phone - they just left a message. However now you are expected to cart around this small device that means you are contactable 24-7. I would question why you would want this? If it's for work and you are on call, then I expect that, but then don't go to the cinema/show/performance during that time as you will annoy everyone else with your job-related emergency. If it's various of your nearest and dearest that you cannot bear to not hear from for 3 hours then what are you doing in a place where you are expected to be silent and sit still for that length of time? You may think you have valid reasons for having your phone switched on, but most other people will view that as a reason for you not being there in the first place.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah. So my profession necessiates cellphone reception no matter where.

So enlighten us. What is so earth shatteringly important that you have the right to impair the enjoyment of others when they have payed to be entertained?

It's far less of an inconvenience listening to the occasional beep of fools who don't bother keeping their cellphones silent, than not having any reception at all in the theater.

Why? What would you do with the reception? You keep insisting that clients need to contact you 24/7, so wouldn't you simply answer the call? Or would you get up to take the call outside, disturbing the people in the rows behind you as you stumble out?

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Go ahead, brand everyone who has any need that does not match yours as being anti-social. My attitude is not anti-social - it is simply need-based.

Denying cellphone reception because a few idiots can't bother switching off their cellphones is ridiculous. Hey, most people in this country don't like alchohol, so let's get rid of alchohol altogether. Those who like alchohol can go to another country.

I still vehemently oppose it. Go ahead, ban cellphones. While you are at it, since you don't like being disturbed, why don't you ban babies too? They seem to cry and make noises too. And if you have a nature's call, just don't let people use the restroom. Because I'm sure it bothers you so much.

Guess what? Those idiots munching on their popcorns and sipping that coke make a whole lot more of noise than any number of cellphone annoyances. So why don't we ban food and drink too? I mean, if they wanted all that, they could rent a DVD and watch it.

I called the AC retarded, not you. And if you happen to be the one who responded anonymously, that comment _was_ retarded.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

"All I can say is, damn, that's a good idea. I mean, seriously, it should be a law that you can't have a cell phone in a movie theatre."

Don't you think we have enough laws trying to govern common sense already? I guess not. Empower the public and you wouldn't need the laws, which is what they are doing in this case.

If you want more laws, move to another country. It is people like you that brings the Patriot Act to the table. *grumble* *rant*

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you think people did 10 and more years ago when most people didn't even own a phone?

It's called progress, dickhead.

Re:First Post?

[tcr]

It's wrong because he said he would sense it vibrating, and leave the theater to answer the call.

People wouldn't object to the distraction of someone stumbling out in front of them if the person had a weak bladder or something, but this guy is extending his business into a place where people have a reasonable expectation of enjoying the entertainment they have paid for without selfish disturbances.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would MUCH rather have an idiot having his cellphone beep than losing MY cellphone reception altogether.

It seems most people have other priorities. Tough shit.

"Copernicus called, and you are not the center of the universe" ("Frasier", I think).

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

A) In quiet places like cinemas, vibrating phones are typically not silent.

B) When you answer/read the SMS/get up and leave the cinema then you are distracting others. Yes, somethims people need the toilet, and that can't be avoided, but that doesn't make it OK to double/triple/quadruple the number of disturbances by taking phone calls.

C) Imagine if everyone did this. Say there are 300 people in the theatre. How many calls do you imagine 300 people would ordinarily take during the course of 2 hours in an evening? Think about a bar, or a train carriage and multiply up appropriately. The only reason that there isn't a constant stream of people getting up and leaving, then returning to their seats is that most people have the sense to realise it's anti-social.

Re:First Post?

[pedestrian crossing]

For some people mobiles mean freedom from sitting home where you can be called.

Fine, but that does not extend them the right to be available anywhere they go.

It's bad enough that I have to listen to the annoying buzz on my headphones that a cell phone causes when it makes a connection while I am trying to listen to music on my portable music device when commuting. I sure as hell don't want to be unnecessarily disturbed when I have paid to see a movie/performance.

Also, people who are on call either signed up for it, or are getting paid a premium to be on call, so it is their problem, don't make it mine!

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Well, my point was merely that people have different needs. Telling people to switch off cellphones is one thing, but banning them by jamming them is another altogether.

I mean, if a cellphone distubs people, then so do babies and people munching on their popcorns and sipping on their cokes. Why don't we ban them, too? And ofcourse, going to the restrooms in the middle of the movies, too.

If cellphones were banned at their workplace, people would make a hue and a cry about it. And come up with reasons. Even if it meant that their cellphones beeping would disturb those around them. Hell, my work is what pays for my living. It's definitely a lot more important than some entertainment. But no. There would be hell broken loose.

Ah, the hypocritic Slashdot groupthink.

Where their right to do something is touted, but not at the expense of their entertainment.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Look, you are obviously more intelligent than you are coming across, so just stop and think for a moment and try and put yourself in the shoes of other people.

Imagine if everyone did what you propose. Say there are 300 people in the theatre. How many calls do you imagine 300 people would ordinarily take during the course of 2 hours in an evening? Think about a bar, or a train carriage and multiply up appropriately. The only reason that there isn't a constant stream of people getting up and leaving, then returning to their seats is that most people have the sense to realise it's anti-social.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

While you are at it, since you don't like being disturbed, why don't you ban babies too?

Most sensible people would never ever consider bringing babies to any movie that I would want to see, but frankly... Yes. Babies should not be allowed in a movie theatre (unless it's a specifically "for children" type movie).

And if you have a nature's call, just don't let people use the restroom.

All people need to use the restroom sometimes (even kings), so we live with the disturbance that creates. If there were a way to harmlessly send out "don't go to the bathroom now" rays so that people wouldn't feel the need to go to the bathroom during a movie, I'd be all for that.

Those idiots munching on their popcorns and sipping that coke make a whole lot more of noise than any number of cellphone annoyances

The amount of noise is not the issue. It's the amount of disturbance that it creates. It's far, far easier to tune out someone chewing popcorn than one end of a cellphone conversation (somewhere in the thread there was a link to useit.com with a study which supports this).

So why don't we ban food and drink too?

Again... that would be fine by me. But I don't get to make up the rules, the majority of paying customers does. They want popcorn + soft drinks so they get what they want. I just deal with it instead of mouthing off about why my my needs supercede the needs of everyone else.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

As is this introduction of call blocking ...

Re:First Post?

[arose]

A) ... B) If you find someone reading SMS disatracting you shouldn't go to a cinema, there will be other people there you know, breathing, moving around in theri chairs. C) Imagine only answering important calls and calling back the rest after the movie. Mobiles in bars or trains don't bother me, I'm not there to enjoy a show. You sound even more anti-social then me...

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think mobile abusers should be put in an arena with people like you. You could kill each other and the rest of us would live on.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you mean your work is more important than your entertainment, then you should avoid the theater. If you mean it is more important than everyone's entertainment, you (or your company) should pay for their tickets.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

What's with you and anti-social anyway?

See, banning something just because the majority do not like something is stupid and more anti-social than anything that I suggested.

It's not the question of how many people would be taking up calls. Guess what, statistics show that where I live (Atlanta), Blacks commit more crimes than people of other races. And not too many blacks attend this particular pub that I frequent. But let's not let any other Black attend the club either, he's more likely to commit a crime than not.

Sounds good? That's how your comments come across to me. I have a need, and just because there are fools out there who misuse their cellphones does not mean you rule out MY legitimate need. It may not be important to YOU, but it sure as hell is important to me.

By saying that because the majority does not receive calls on cellphones and find it annoying, and therefore you'd ban cellphones altogether is STUPID and more anti-social than anything I suggested. You're effectively telling me not to go to movies so that you can have a good time.

Why can't people learn to fucking accept that there may be others with different needs? Is that so hard?

It's funny, Slashdot groupthink amuses me. Essentially, the theater is infringing upon my personal rights. Sure, there'll be a stream of idiots who'll ramble on that if I do not like it, I do not go to the theater. Well, that's defeatist because then all theaters will have the same thing - minority voices are simply drowned.

Re:First Post?

[stupid_is]

I fail to see the hypocrisy regarding phones ringing at work. If you work in a place where phones are going off and it's expected of you to actually answer them, then fine. Lots of companies explicity have terms in contracts about personal calls and mobile phone usage (I know I do, lots of ppl in my office are given mobile phones) and if they are allowed then this is fine by me and the disturbance I view as part of my job and when you are surrounded by people in a similar position you tune it out (this does not apply to a show as you have a reasonable expectation of being able to devote your concentration on being entertained).

If you work in a place where phones should not be present - e.g. airline pilot, cinema/concert usher, burger flipper even :-) - then you should not have a phone with you as the use of it is counterproductive to your job - i.e. it degrades the customer experience or potentially violates working regulations. If you are employed to do a function, that function has environmental parameters that shapes the way you perform it. It seems that your parameters include being in contact 24-7, in which case the participation in any other activity where your function interferes with the enjoyment of others in their pursuit of paid for entertainment is just plain rude.

I would agree with you that babies should certainly be banned from the cinema, that people rustling sweet wrappers should be dragged out and shot. I can live with the toilet thing up to a point as taking a dump/piss is a necessary part of everyone's everyday life - irrespective of what they are doing at the time (up to a point, I mean - if you are going on a long journey with no anticipated stops, you try to take the opportunity to go when it is present, and not at the point of maximum inconvenience to others).

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Slashdot - where expressing one's opinions is a flamebait. Yay!

Moderators on crack - read what he said - he was clarifying his post, not baiting someone.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

My mother is a gynaecologist, but she also is a human being who occasionally may need to see a romantic comedy or something to wind down. All she does is put the phone into silent alert, and that's it. She *needs* to know she can be contacted. 10 years ago it would be her pager, and she would have to look for a convenient phone nearby. It is helpful technology, you can use it and abuse it, and if you cannot use it, why are you at /. ?

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Uhh, FYI - I keep my cellphone in silent mode. Haven't had it go off even *once* in the theater"

So by your own admission, you would have never missed a call if it were jammed in a theatre anyway.

Quit your selfish whinging, especially as you have just proven it to be baseless.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait a second, so even if I went to a theater, sat silently with my cellphone on silent - leaving only if I get an emergency call - I'm somehow doing something wrong?

Asking for cellphone reception so that my calls come through is wrong?

Wow. Brilliant.

Re:First Post?

[Asic Eng]

I don't think your phone would be just jammed - there would be a sign clearly indicating that there is no reception in that theatre. So you could chose whether you want to see a movie there or not. It seems there is considerable interest in cellphone-free theatres, so jamming reception could be good for business.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhh, sure, take away my rights because other people don't like them.

Sounds like a brilliant idea, Einstein.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Uhh, silent mode does not mean you do not notice an incoming call. Ever used a cellphone?

There are such things as vibrator and visual alerts.

Re:First Post?

[Asic Eng]

Asking for cellphone reception so that my calls come through is wrong?

Yeah mate, that's what everybody has been telling you. No theoretically it doesn't matter if your cell phone is on, but never rings - if that was the case you wouldn't want reception, though. You want to get calls which are important to you, at everbody else's expense. Everybody else feels that the expense should be yours, since the gain is yours. Do you understand it now?

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Yeah, so all it's only a matter of time before all theaters would have jammers.

Which would effectively prevent me from going to any except at the cost of my work.

Re:First Post?

[Tiram]

Not that big a deal to you, maybe. Express yourself more clearly if you have problems being understood.

Re:First Post?

[thomasa]

They had pagers. Same thing. Vibrate,
tone, even voice pagers. If you are an
emergency responder on call, then you can
not go to a movie if the movie theater
has a jammer.

Re:First Post?

[Washizu]

"You go on about some concert as if it was the second coming of Christ. Don't you realise it's just a fucking concert?"

His only comment on the concert was, "It was simply awesome!" That doesn't sound like the "second coming of Christ" to me.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

No theoretically it doesn't matter if your cell phone is on, but never rings - if that was the case you wouldn't want reception, though.

That is the case. There *is* something called a vibrator alert, you know? In which case, I would need reception

Basically, no matter what you're going to jam my cellphone. Even if it means I've a legitimate reason, and a non-intrusive way of taking calls.

Eh, and people here rant on about freedom of speech and rights and stuff like that.

Re:First Post?

[animaal]

It sounds to me like it's your work (and not these theoretical cinemas) that's imposing unreasonable demands.

If you're an employee, then your boss is being extremely unreasonable having you on call 24/7, and needs a good talking to. If you're self-employed, then you should think about running your business in a way that doesn't require your whole life. Can you take turns with somebody else to be on call? Can you hire somebody to take some of the pressure off your shoulders? Do you really need 24/7 support stipulated in all contracts you sign?

If there's no solution, then I'd question whether your choice of career is really worth such a high price.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are distracted by light from a cell phone? WTF is wrong with you? Phones generate very little light. Stop staring at people and watch the fucking movie.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Why can't people learn to fucking accept that there may be others with different needs? Is that so hard? It's funny, Slashdot groupthink amuses me.

Metlin, the funny thing is that you don't realise that that is exactly what you are doing.

When the vast majority disagree with you, that's not evidence that you are wrong, but it should give you a clue to think about the possibility that you may be.

And don't try and equate the predicament of being shunned because you are anti-social with racism. You have a choice to behave in a way that doesn't annoy the majority of other people.

It's clear that you and people of your mindset aren't going to change, which is a very good reason why jammers are necessary and inevitable. They are a good thing.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

The obvious thing to say would be "And before pagers?", But I don't even need to go that far. The problem didn't exist when there were only pagers. You never got pagers going off in the theatre. Was it because there were far fewer people around with pagers, or because the people that did have them were more aware of the anti-social aspects? Who knows.

If you are on call, then you will be being paid to be on call. That there are a few places that aren't acceptable places to go whilst you are earning your money for being on call goes with the territory. Go to the movies when you are not on call.

Re:First Post?

[noodler]

that may well be true for you but how about all the other people in the theatre?
i mean, if everyone had beeps going off during a movie, not just you, dont you think that the movie would be spoiled?

compare it to this,
say, you need to throw up proffesionaly at arbitrary times.
but you still want to go to restaurants.
would you still go to restaurants and hurl during dinner
when you know you are offending other people?
wouldnt a tv-dinner be a better and more dignifying choice?

and what if everyone started doing it?
would it still be fun to go to a restaurant?

how about all the lawsuits the restaurant owner gets from people breaking their legs while trying to get out of the place?
have you ever thought of that?

i mean, you KNOW clients can call you, why not wrap your personal life around the fact that you can either swith the thing off or set it to vibrate?

why being so egotistical to the point that your life is more important than other people's (well payed for) movies?

i'd proplably smite you if you started beeping in a theatre near me.
these kinds of things are starting to get on my nerves lately.

!!Death to the Cellphone Overlords!!
uuhm., wait.,

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well here's the second coming of Satan... and he's a sheepshagger! Check out what he says here:

"After that idiot Peter Jackson seriously screwed up Lord of the Rings by making a mockery of it in his most pathetic and lousy excuse for a movie in ways that would make JRR Tolkien cry out loud in his grave, I've never quite really been able to take up reading fantasy again.

I almost keep thinking how another moron with the IQ less than that of my shoelaces such as Peter Jackson would screw things up and spoil it all over again. Peter Jackson did more than kill Tolkien's works, he desecrated them and spat on them in the ugliest of ways - he could have shot Tolkien dead, and that would have been a lesser crime. He not merely killed the books, he killed memories of it, too. I shall forever regret having seen the movies, since they went everything against the pleasant childhood memories I had of reading Tolkien."

Worst. Movie. EVAR! Says Simpsons Comic Book Guy.

Now people have their issues and I don't know anyone who doesn't wish Bombadil wasn't written out. But Karthik, you're just a silly child.

Re:First Post?

[noodler]

i find your comparison to racism disgusting and totaly unnessesary.

Re:First Post?

[noodler]

"If a theater banned all cellphone reception - I'd not listen to the occasional stupid beeps, but it would also make me lose being in touch 24/7."

no it would not.
it would, however, if you would choose to go to theaters that ban mobile phones.
it's your phone, it's YOUR choice.

Re:First Post?

[0x0d0a]

Try using a pager. They operate on a different set of frequencies, at least in the United States.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Do you have an e-mail address I could contact you at?

Re:First Post?

[0x0d0a]

I meant to highlight the fact that just because there are a few out there who do not bother switching off their cellphones, they're denying reception to all others.

Could be true. The point is that this is a chronic social problem to which people have tried other solutions (installing signs asking people to turn off cell phones, building peer pressure and social etiquette, even placing a short bit at the beginning of the movie). They haven't worked. I'm sure that if you can propose a better system that is more acceptable to people, that it will be used instead.

Re:First Post?

[clare-ents]

Crikey, how do you cope with planes, tunnels, hospitals, underground buildings and large buildings with poor reception?

Must be a real bugger to come up to a subway when walking through town and know that you can't use it.

Re:First Post?

[0x0d0a]

You know, I'm not going to argue that there can be some benefit -- I'm not really interesting in arguing who is right or wrong on this.

I did however, start to think about this, and the kind of life workers have to lead:

For some people mobiles mean freedom from sitting home where you can be called.

Who in their right minds wants to work a job where they must always be reached? I mean, you maintain a server, okay, someone needs to be reached quickly. Then maybe you can rotate with six other guys and be on call one day a week. But I honestly think that if you have to be on-call all the time, that you simply aren't living a reasonable life. You *deserve* to not have to be at some manager's beck and call when you go home. Even coal miners, who worked shitty, long, and dangerous hours, still got to be *home*, *not at work*, when they came home. Until they walked in the front door of their work next morning, *they* were master of their own lives, living in their own castle.

Re:First Post?

[0x0d0a]

Where their right to do something is touted, but not at the expense of their entertainment.

Where is it that you were granted the right to be reachable via phone anywhere you go 24/7?

Heck, phone access isn't even a right, much less that kind of much stronger statement. If you defraud all the cell companies and landline companies, you may not be able to get service at all.

Re:First Post?

[mko]

Try using a pager.

There's a little problem here: Most European pager operators went bankrupt about 5 years ago, there are countries without pager coverage.

Re:First Post?

[swillden]

The obvious thing to say would be "And before pagers?"

Before pagers people called the theater and the manager or an usher came into the theater to find you. Hopefully, you told the manager this might be an issue so he could see where you sat. I was in a couple movies when I was young where the theater got an emergency call and stopped the film and turned the lights on so the manager could announce the names of the people who had an emergency phone call.

A vibrating cell phone and a small lighted screen are much, much better. For everyone.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll just show you why (from the Blog) --

"A lot of things, but that's a personal opinion.

I read Tolkien's books as a kid and have very fond memories of it - Peter Jackson did a lot of things that I felt went against Tolkien's world.

Consider the simple case of the rings, they are rings of power - Arwen could never conjure up the water, that was done by Glorifindel who had the ring of water. Gandalf defeats the Balrog because he holds the ring of fire, Narya and does not die and come back. Faramir never takes Frodo and Sam to Gondor - he was trained by Mithrandir and frees Frodo and Sam immediately after seeing the ring. Tom Bombadil wasn't even there (who could even have been a Vala). Bilbo is portrayed as someone who is taken over by the ring, while in reality Bilbo is someone of infinite greatness, which one would understand if you've read The Hobbit. And let me not even go into way Gimli was portrayed -- he is a brave and great Dwarf, not some comic character that he was portrayed to be. They are children of Aule the Smith, not simple things to be mocked at. Caradhras the mountain is what attacks, not Saruman - there are things in middle-earth that even Sauron cannot control. The way reason and the Saruman fell and the significance of white is not shown at all. Elrond is not an evil father, he's a great Elf with blood of Dunedain and his lineage is simply too fabulous to have him portrayed the way they did. And ofcourse, the scouring of the Shire was missing, too.

I could go on and on and on, but yeah, these are reasons enough to call it a bad adaptation - I'm sure if I looked harder I could spot a whole lot more.

But then again, that's just me. I've an almost religious liking to Tolkien's works, so when people mess them up it gets to me :-)"

Re:First Post?

[infinite9]

Movies are shown in a room full of other people. That's a social experience. If you want to exercise that much control over the environment, watch a DVD.

Disclaimer: I hate rude people in theaters also, but I don't overreact to the situation.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

People are so inconsiderate.

Yes. Inconsiderate.

You really can't stand it if someone gets up in the middle of a movie? "Sorry, noone can go to the bathroom, I'm watching my movie!" Or if someone reads an SMS? Maybe people on Slashdot have a miniscule attention span, and they can't tolerate the slightest distraction? Being part of society means allowing people their minor annoyances. When someone getting on the freeway cuts in front of you because their lane is ending, do you try to run them off the road or do you give them some space? Do you need to yell at everyone who doesn't put the cap back on the toothpaste? I've been forced to listen to my share of inane people talking loudly on the train. I didn't feel any need to drag them to the door at the next stop.

Reading through most of the posts on this topic, I've come to the conclusion that most people here need a little stress relief. They're so wound up they can't cut anyone a little slack. After all, maybe something you do annoys someone else, too.

Re:First Post?

[tepples]

If you are on call, then you will be being paid to be on call. That there are a few places that aren't acceptable places to go whilst you are earning your money for being on call goes with the territory. Go to the movies when you are not on call.

And for those people who are on call 24/7, then what? More and more professions are moving in that direction. Then what will be the MPAA's market?

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

I go to the movies once a week on average, and have done for 20 years. So that's about 1000 screenings I guess. The only time a movie has even been stopped in the manner you describe is when the building next door but one to the cinema was on fire, and the place had to be evacuated. It's a none issue. On the other hand disturbances made by people with mobile phones is an all to regular occurance.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

No. The number of people who want to watch a movie in peace outnumbers the anti-social people. Abandoning the theatres to the anti-social people is bad for the regular movie going public, and bad for the takings of the theatre. Jamming the signals is a much better solution.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

There is a reason why some people understand the issue, and some people don't. Some people go to the movies, and the large screen and dark surroundings and quality sound reproduction enable them to almost enter the movie. They almost forget that they are in a theatre at all. It's pure escapism. These are the people who absolutely love cinema. But that level of being engrossed in a good movie is ever so delicate. Someone being anti-social with a phone can easily jar you out of the movie for a couple of minutes, or even the entire movie.

Some people never experience that. They are always mantally sitting in a theatre with some action happening on a screen over there. For them it's more like watching a TV. It's these second group of people that don't understand the problem of distractions. And I feel sorry for them, not ever having enjoyed a movie fully, in the way it was intended.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

I'd say to those people: Don't give me your problems. It's not my fault that you are on 24/7 call. You are being paid extra to be on 24/7. If you aren't you are a mug. You have to take the rough and the smooth with that. So go during your vacation, or not at all.

What's the world coming to? It's a sad world for people who never have 2 hours to call their own.

The good thing is that these people increasingly won't have a choice. Theatre jammers will mean the can't be anti-social.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Well, a lot of people.

The sad part is, the Slashdot response would be, get another job. Or it's your problem.

I say I need to be reached immediately, and the Slashdot crowd goes, "Oh he must be maintaining a server". Bzzt! Wrong! There are others who do have other jobs and other responsibilities. Where they do not have a choice. A _lot_ of other people. And guess what? We are the folks whom you do not notice in a theater, because we've learnt to get by silently. And you are affecting us because of the noisy few who're the actual noise-makers.

And besides, it's not a question of what you deserve. It's a question of what you have.

I'm not aiming this at you in particular, but the last thing I need is the Slashdot crowd telling me that I need to get a new job, a new life, a new family and what not - just so that they can enjoy their movies. You know, it's not always that simple.

And the way my comments have been modded up and down, I realize how little actual responsibility most people here have. They've apparently not had toddlers to be taken care of, or had their jobs on the line if they did not answer that phone-call.

If they did, they'd know what I was talking about. Oh well, kids.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

So you're asking me to change my job because people can watch movies undisturbed? :-)

That seems to be the consensus of the Slashdot crowd here. If it's that important you're either thinking too much of yourelf or you need to change your job.

I'm surprised that they don't realize how much deep their heads are stuck in their asses.

Regarding my job -- I'm not at liberty to disclose that here on a public forum, but suffice it to say that it is absolutely justified. And it's something that I do out of choice, and not something I would want to change because the whiney crowd at Slashdot thought so.

Apparently, their job hasn't been on the line because they were unavailable. Apparently, they've not had a family or a baby.

It's quite sad. I look at my posts, and I'm surprised at how people could think that they'd go to any lengths to have their enjoyment in a two hour movie, even if it meant someone losing their job. Eh, funny and sad.

People need to grow up and maybe if they got some real responsbility in life, they'd know. Just wait until this is modded down, too ;-) Flamebait or Troll, one of the two, I bet.

Re:First Post?

[Thomas Shaddack]

Elrond is not an evil father, he's a great Elf with blood of Dunedain and his lineage is simply too fabulous to have him portrayed the way they did.

Oh, come on! Everybody knows Elves paid Tolkien to portrait them better than they are.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Metlin, the funny thing is that you don't realise that that is exactly what you are doing.

And what exactly am I doing? Asking not to ban cellphones entirely because otherwise I would not be able to enjoy a movie? So that I could save my job?

When the vast majority disagree with you, that's not evidence that you are wrong, but it should give you a clue to think about the possibility that you may be.

Clearly, the vast majority do not have an idea of my problems, nor are they me. The kind who are in a situation similar to me would understand. Sadly, it seems that most of the Slashdot crowd (yourself included) have not been in a position where their job is on the line if they are not available.

You have a choice to behave in a way that doesn't annoy the majority of other people.

And what is that? Leave my job?

It's clear that you and people of your mindset aren't going to change, which is a very good reason why jammers are necessary and inevitable.

No, we're the kind who get by without anyone in the theater ever knowing that we got a call. The ones who're obnoxious are still going to be, with some new gadget or the other.

Your attitude disgusts me. That there are so many people like you who just are willing to be inconsiderate to the minority because you can enjoy your three hours like a compulsive obsessive maniac scares me.

Get out a little more often. Realize that you in a society. And learn to adjust and adapt.

You're trying to solve the social problem of obnoxious people with a technological solution, and in the process you're causing a great deal of harm to people who've genuine needs and who aren't the people who caused the problem in the first place.

What an absolutely selfish, inconsiderate and immature attitude.

There are other people who have thoughts other than you. You know? People? Things that form the society? For someone who keeps using the word anti-social, I think you'd know what that means.

Quite honestly, if I knew someone like you in real life, I'd be scared to meet you. Lest I offend thy holy self and you trash the shit out of me.

Re:First Post?

[tepples]

You are being paid extra to be on 24/7.

You try supporting a wife and kids on minimum wage.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Then you haven't enough money to go to a cinema in the first place. Problem solved.

Re:First Post?

[Blakey Rat]

The first movie I saw where that REALLY hit home was The Abyss. Now I know some people don't think it's all that great a movie, but when I was a young teenager and sitting in that theater and you're surrounded by the ocean, under the ocean, and it's just amazing. And I don't care what other people think of the movie, the fight sequence between the two mini-subs is the most amazing action sequence I've ever seen.

Fortunately, this was before cell phones were popular and there were no distractions.

Re:First Post?

[animaal]

That seems to be the consensus of the Slashdot crowd here. If it's that important you're either thinking too much of yourelf or you need to change your job.

No, I'm suggesting that if you're on call 24/7, then your job is probably imposing on the rest of your life. If it isn't, then you are unusually well suited to your job.

People who must be available on the phone 24/7 wouldn't be able to:

- Go for a swim. (most phones aren't waterproof).

- Drink alcohol. (must be totally sober during work-related calls).

- Go to the cinema/theatre/concert hall without having a phone ready to receive calls. Regardless of how much of a bother you think it is or isn't, it must be somewhat unpleasant to know that what you're doing is annoying others.

- travel by plane (use of phones not usually allowed onboard).

- Visit friends in those parts of hospitals that don't allow the use of mobile phones.

- Frequent a shop/resturaunt that has a "no cellular phones please" sign. (they're getting more common, at least in this part of the world!)

Alright, some of those are straining the point a bit, but adding them all up must be some bit of a nuisance. The fact that you're obviously stressed/flabbergasted about the whole cinema thing shows that your job is already having at least one negative effect on you.

Separately, I also believe that it's rude to engage in any behaviour that upsets people in the immediate area. I would never (purposefully):

- Eat a hotdog around a muslim mosque

- Fart loudly during a concert/play

- Eat fries and a burger in church during a service.

- Play my music loud around the office during work.

- use a mobile phone in a ciname/theater

It's not that I have strong beliefs about all the above, or that any of the above are illegal. It's just that I don't consider it good manners to place my own comforts above others'.

Re:First Post?

[rxmd]

I was in a couple movies when I was young where the theater got an emergency call and stopped the film and turned the lights on so the manager could announce the names of the people who had an emergency phone call.

Just how often did it happen again? Once in about 100 movies or more often?

A vibrating cell phone and a small lighted screen are much, much better. For everyone.

Except that at least in my country, everybody over 15 has a cell phone, and hordes of schoolkids are using theirs in cinema, resulting in a much, much higher annoyance factor than if it was the occasional emergency.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Well, not a big deal to many.

My girlfriend's a doctor who gets emergency calls all the time. I get emergency calls all the time. We both keep our cellphones on vibrate everytime we are in a movie. But from what the Slashdot crowd seems to be suggesting, it's a cardinal sin to be having the cellphone in the first place. Ahmm.

Yeah, the way this thread has gone, I should stop expressing myself altogether -- Slashdot groupthink says that I should get a new job, get rid of my girlfriend and family, not have kids etc - just so that they can watch their movies in peace. Yay!

You know, those of us who genuinely need the cellphones aren't the ones who're obnoxious. We're the ones you never notice. The ones who are obnoxious will always be - they were the ones who played on their nintendos 10 years ago, talk on their cellphones today and will do something else tomorrow. In the process of banning cellphones, you are affecting people with genuine needs.

Idiots seem to crowd this place (that was a general statement, not directed at you :).

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Get the message. It's not just slashdotters that think you are a jerk, it's people in movie theatres too. Let it sink into that skull of yours that your selfish attitude is the problem, not everyone else.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Yeah, my job is imposing on my life. It does suck sometimes, but I've gotten used to it.

Hell, I gave up my favourite sport (rock climbing) because that would amount to me being out of touch for a long time.

Btw, I keep my cellphone in vibrator mode almost all the time, even when I'm outside (especially because I get so calls so often).

My point is merely that my job requires me to, and trust me, I'm quite considerate about the comforts of others. You would not even know that I've gotten a call, simply because I've just gotten used to handling it. And trust me, there are several such people out there who do not have a choice.

On the other hand, by banning cellphones you are restricting me from ever even visiting those places.

Placing social graces over the needs of the few is not something I approve of, maybe because it affects me personally.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Regarding my job -- I'm not at liberty to disclose that here on a public forum, but suffice it to say that it is absolutely justified. And it's something that I do out of choice, and not something I would want to change because the whiney crowd at Slashdot thought so.

Oh fuck off you pretentious twit. Your home page makes it quite clear you are a student and do web development. You're just trying to pretend you are more important than you are. You also look to be only about 18-21 years old, so quit it with all the "responsibilities", "toddlers" and "grow up" talk. That doesn't actually make you sound important either.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

No need to make excuses. It was a very good movie.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Dude, what's your problem?

I've a life where I've my responsibilities. It affects me, so I talk about it.

You don't have the same problem? Great! Go ahead, enjoy your life.

But don't make it personal - my opinions are mine and yours are yours. If you don't like mine, fine.

But name calling (selfish bastard, jerk blah blah) just shows who's anti-social - someone who needs a cellphone for their work or someone who takes it so personally that they abuse anyone with an alternate opinion.

I do not expect you to understand my predicament, nor do I care. You'd continue calling me a pretentious twit while you exaggerate and talk me down.

*shrug*

Too bad. It's not the Slashdot crowd that makes those laws, and I'm glad it's that way.

Re:First Post?

[roseanne]

You also look to be only about 18-21 years old, so quit it with all the "responsibilities", "toddlers" and "grow up" talk. That doesn't actually make you sound important either.

Since when can't 18-21 year olds can't have responsibilities? I looked at this guy's homepage, and it looks as if he's trying to run his own company. Now, I don't think that's something that ought to take up all his life, but yeah-- if I was 21 and figuring out where to get my next lead from, I'd be pretty attached to my phone too.

On the other hand, going through this thread, we don't really know anything about you, do we? Except that you (ooh, the intelligence!) have an IQ of 136, the social skills of a worm, and a predilection for abusive language when reason fails you.

Seriously-- given the choice between watching a movie and being out of touch with those that I need to be in touch with, I know what I'd choose*. If you want untrammeled silence while watching a movie, get a damn DVD and watch it at home. You'll be doing the rest of us a favor by keeping your sociopathic self away.

*And I'd love it if someone set up a cell-free theater to prove me right or wrong -- though I suspect I'm right.

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

If you had read my posts, which it looks like you haven't, you'd see that I've mentioned that several times that I _do_ keep my cellphone in vibrate mode. Please read the whole thread - I merely advocated not banning cellphones because I tend to be on call 24/7, and therefore would need hate it if it were jammed. Cellphones in theaters is a social problem - people like me who get calls all the time are quite polite about it and keep our cellphones in silent or vibrator modes - you'd not notice that we even get a call. It's the obnoxious ones that you need to take care of.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Seriously-- given the choice between watching a movie and being out of touch with those that I need to be in touch with, I know what I'd choose*.

So one anti-social theatre phone user sticking up for another. You have no need to be in touch with anyone whilst you are in the cinema, any more than the other guy does. If you can't be out of touch, don't go to the cinema.

Re:First Post?

[roseanne]

Most people, whether they "mantally" sit in a theater or not, go to the movies to have a social experience. Forget cellphones: there have always been people standing up, sneezing, making rude sounds etc at theaters. It comes with the territory.

On the other hand, by your own admission, you have a deep fascination for the immersive experience cinema gives you. I'm sorry to break this to you, but you're in a minority.

I'd suggest: start a film club with your fellow serious film lovers and run your own movies. Else, lobby theater owners to eject those who let cellphones ring at theaters.

And I feel sorry for them, not ever having enjoyed a movie fully, in the way it was intended.

That's all right, the rest of us feel quite sorry for you as fail you see Dungeons and Dragons "the way it was intended".

Re:First Post?

[roseanne]

So one anti-social theatre phone user sticking up for another.

It's called the tyranny of the majority, baby. If you don't like it, start your own theater :-).

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Count the posts, kiddie. And count the mod points. You're in the minority. You're in the minority of obnoxious arseholes at the cinema too, but you're too lacking in awareness to realise it.

Re:First Post?

[Tiram]

You know, those of us who genuinely need the cellphones aren't the ones who're obnoxious.

Of course, but other than frisking ppl on their way into the theater, can you think of a way to allow the first to have their phones on and on vibrate and at the same time stop the idiots from disturbing everyone else? As long as there are arseholes out there, some of the "good guys" are going to feel the effects of the idiots' actions too.

On a side note, I wonder how we managed only a few years ago, when mobiles were not common as dirt :)

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

Yeah, which is what sucks.

On a side note, I wonder how we managed only a few years ago, when mobiles were not common as dirt :)

By staying at home. My girlfriend is originally from Eastern Europe. She used to stay at home during the "peak hours" in case any call would come. They had a list of doctors they'd call, if something happened so that atleast _one_ would be home to attend.

Besides, that's what progress is about isn't it? Each new technology brings with it it's own bunch of problems, idiots and radical opposition :-)

And oh, I'm sorry about the language in the original response, was just irritated (still am) at the general way the slashbot think responded, without bothering to think whether or not people would have a genuine need. Oh well.

Btw, this is probably a stupid question - but is Norwegian a Germanic language, too?

Re:First Post?

[roseanne]

Two or three obnoxious arseholes (yes, that includes you, o great connoisseur of the moving picture) can create quite a bit of noise online; it doesn't follow the real world shares those opinions (as Howard Dean found out).

So your pathetic little majority on Slashdot counts for nothing, and your mod points count for even less. Go out and play Real Life, and convince your city council, state body or whoever it is you have to convince, instead of masturbating over your amazing slash-fu.

And oh, I hope your next movie outing is a rotten one. Love and XXX.

Re:First Post?

[Temporal Outcast]

>"...obnoxious arseholes"

Says a guy who's abusing a lady. Hah, the irony of it all. I think you could learn to be polite, I hear it helps in real life.

Honestly, am surprised at the way the mods have plundered this thread. Didn't moderation meant "expressing one's personal opinion". Would be fun if Michael bitchslapped this thread, and $rtbl'ed everyone. Heh.

Re:First Post?

[roseanne]

Oh, he can go abuse all he likes. Don't need the condescension crap. Besides, he needs the abuse to cover up his largely empty argument, which is -- I am a movie geek, the theater is my second home, how dare you disturb my immersion (LOL!) here?

Re:First Post?

[Tiram]

Each new technology brings with it it's own bunch of problems, idiots and radical opposition :-)

One of the reasons why I love going to my grandparents' cabin in the summer is that there is actually no mobile phone coverage there, or internet. No TV either, and radio reception sucks. Two weeks of bliss:)

And oh, I'm sorry about the language in the original response, [snip /]

Understandable and forgivable! No worries :)

Btw, this is probably a stupid question - but is Norwegian a Germanic language, too?

Yep! Are you reading my comments? Hehe :D

Re:First Post?

[metlin]

And btw, am not the parent poster you replied to.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

So that makes the films terrible? Without merit? Yep, Simpson's Comic Book Guy all over.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Bad time of the month?

Re:First Post?

[SandiConoverJones]

When I was a kid, my friend's mother was a paramedic. She carried a scanner to church. They sat on an aisle, in the back, and kept the volume down, but as a paramedic, she was always on call, therefore the radio had to be there. The same applies to some people and their phones, but now, I do realize that most cell phones are used more for social, rather than emergency use.

Re:First Post?

[roseanne]

No, beating sociopaths like you with a cluestick makes any time of the month look good.

Re:First Post?

[Neoncow]

Yeah, so all it's only a matter of time before all theaters would have jammers.

Well doesn't that indicate that the majority of the people would rather have interruption-free movies?

As the number of blocking-theatres increase, cell phone users, people with intense social lives, and those with other emergency needs will flock to non-blocking theatres. At some point, there will be no $$ benefit of blocking because it will alienate the cellphone users and profit will go down.

On the other hand, you might be wrong and the situation could end up the other way around. (With blocking theatres being less popular)

I'll admit I've never run a theatre before so I may be wrong.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Says a guy who's abusing a lady.

You sexist fucker.

I think you could learn to be polite, I hear it helps in real life. Not with these arseholes that insist on using mobile phones in theatres. A punch in the mouth is all they understand.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Says the girl that's into fantasy and manga comic books. ROFL. Rosie, when you get some friends, and actually make it to a cinema one of these days, then you might understand.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

Sounds interesting. When are you going to start? After you put the comic book down?

How is this possible techincally?

[SmilingBoy]

I really don't understand how it could be possible to block mobile phone reception while at the same time allowing emergency calls - either you are connected to a network or you aren't.

Can somebody explain how this should work, please?

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Kiffer]

you cant ...
i think its just to stop people whining ...
if you can block calls with out blocking 112 / emergency calls then you can have a jammer ... otherwise shut the hell up.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[MegaT]

I can't see that it does work. It's the most pointless bit of legislation ever. Better would be new standard whereby a signal can be used to tell phones to set themselves to silent mode. Or just remove the fucking ringtones entirely from all phones... I don't understand why everybody can't just use the vibrate function.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[DrXym]

It could mean setting up your own "emergency calls only" cell in the cinema and blocking all other frequencies. If this were the case, your phone would 'roam' to the cinema network and patrons would make emergency calls through that. It would be very expensive for the cinema to shoulder the cost and possibly have some interesting legal repercussions.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[castlec]

i could see it being possible by having their own "tower" for the cinema. make the signal strength so hi that every phone chooses to listen to that tower, rather than other towers, then don't connect the tower to anything other than emergency calls. granted, it would be easily hackable, but it would be 99% effective.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[forgotten_my_nick]

Here is how I Think it works.

They have their own base station within the movie room. So any phone trying to ring goes through that exchange. The exchange blocks everything except emergency calls.

After that you block any frequencies getting into the room.

That may not be how it works, but it is how I would set it up.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

It is possible, although not as simple. First put a lot of metal in the walls and ceiling to block all radio signals. (cell phones are nothing more than advanced radios)
Then put a small cell phone tranceiver (a small version of those cell phone towers) inside the room and program it to only allow outgoing calls to the emergency numbers (e.g. 911).

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[SmilingBoy]

Hm, not sure. This might work in the US, but in Europe, phones will not generally roam to a cell that does not belong to your operator. Maybe if you can convince the phone that it is abroad!

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Kiffer]

sigh ... how is my last modded troll... it makes no sense.
let me rephrase said post.

you cant jam calls with out jamming emergency calls, i think its just to stop people whining about not being able to set up a jammer in there place of bussiness. If they can block calls with out blocking 112 / emergency calls then they can have a jammer ... otherwise they should shut the hell up.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

A high power transmitter close to public. Bad idea. Second it's very hard to control how far it will block the cell phones. Rather use a low power version and put a lot of metal in the walls and ceilings.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[famebait]

You don't need the metal, you just have to fool the phone to use your cell.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[ectizen]

Maybe install a low-power cell base-station thingy in the area you want to block. With it being low power, it shouldn't affect usage outside the blocked area, but it should still be able to provide a strong enough signal for most phones to prefer it over a real one that's outside the blocked area. Then simply configure the blocking cell thingy to only allow pass through outgoing emergency calls to the "real" network. And since the phone's not registered at a real cell, it won't receive incoming calls.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Gentlewhisper]

Welcome to Windows Mobile for Smartphones

You have just entered an area where Phone Rights Management is enabled, while you are in this area, you would be unable to:

-deactivate vibrator mode
-speak on the phone

Circumventing these control restrictions may violate the terms and conditions regarding your entry into XYZ Theatres and may be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by the law.

Currently you have the following prerecorded responses available:

-I'm currently in a shower
-I will get it done tomorrow first thing tomorrow.
-OMG! Is he aright? Which hospital is he in?
-Go fuck yourself .....

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Anonymous Coward]

Where in Europe is that? In Finland mobile phones use whatever network is available, preferring the "home operator" if possible, but settling for the other ones when not. It is a standard GSM feature.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't know what you're talking about I'm afraid. Try to at least understand the technology you're talking about.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[DrXym]

It works in Europe just fine (where I am right now). My Irish phone has no problem roaming to Belgium or Germany and picking up networks whether they are affiliated or not. For example if I take my Vodafone Ireland mobile to the UK, it will prefer Vodafone UK, but I can use O2, Orange or T-Mobile too. The phone is preprogrammed with networks it prefers and if they're not found it will pick whatever network will have it.

However networks in the same country might stop customers from competing networks inadvertantly roaming onto their own. I doubt this is out of malice, but is seen as way to prevent the hell that would result from millions of phones winking in and out of each other's networks and furious calls to customer service.

But even so, networks do allow roaming for "Emergency calls only". Your phone will say as much when it can't find it's own network. In other words, you can still dial an ambulance.

I'm not au fait with GSM protocols but I assume that the network says what services it supports when you establish the link, with emergency (outgoing calls) service being the most basic. I also expect that very few GSM operators block any mobile user from this service. Even a deactivated SIM in an old phone can often make emergency calls - something worth trying out before tossing a phone.

So I don't see any issues here. The phone's regular network might be missing (because it is jammed), but the phone will see the "cinema" network and it will start using it. The phone is unlikely to not work when the only network it can find offers some service even if it is emergency calls only.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[pwagland]

Then put a small cell phone tranceiver (a small version of those cell phone towers) inside the room and program it to only allow outgoing calls to the emergency numbers (e.g. 911).

Actually, going by the GSM standard the emergency number is 112. As an interesting sidenote, 112 will also work in America, since it is defined in the GSM standard, 911 also works, but not in Europe (which is where the story is set)

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[JackRabbitSlims]

My Irish phone has no problem roaming to Belgium or Germany

Your experience is right but only when you roam internationally. Your phone is locked to the network you have suscribed when you are in the country of origin of that subscription. If you try to change to other operator's network in the same country, it will reject your petition.
Setting up a proper network infrastructure is a lot of money and letting other operators use your network presents a competitive disadvantage.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[BeeRockxs]

In Germany, several of the providers have roaming contracts with other providers, so in-country roaming does actually work. And whenever I switch my phone on without a SIM card in it, I have the option to make emergency calls.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[DrXym]

Your experience is right but only when you roam internationally.

I went on to explain what happens within a single country...

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[mark-t]

The answer is in the article:

Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected.

Only calls made from or to _inside_ the performing areas within the theatre are to be affected. In fact, the article does not say anything at all about allowing emergency calls inside the theatre.

I know this is slashdot, but I thought I'd read the artcle anyways.

Re:How is this possible techincally?

[Anonymous Coward]

Now thats a troll. It's insulting and provides no actual information. the GP said "I Think" not "I'm a super expert"

In soviet russia...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cellphones jam you!

oh wait.. that's everywhere else in the world.

Re:In soviet russia...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cellphones jam you!

Oh, i always figured it was something like "in soviet russia, you give cellphone cancer."

I for one really welcome this.

[luvirini]

I have been to many theater preformances where suddenly in the middle there is some totally unsuitable melody ringing from the mobile phone of someone sitting nearby.

For me atleast it causes a loss of the "magic" that I get from a good preformance and thus it really affects the overall impression.

Like once in middle of a serious scene there were double mobilephone rings with some really annoying happy tunes at highest possible volume. If I had been armed at the moment there might have been two extra bodies...

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well how is this different from someone farting really loudly during a really tragic scene? It's happened, and I can tell you the result was a shyte-sight worse than somebody's mobile going off. They pretty much converted their tragedy into a comeby on the spot!...and it was the last time I visited the theatre after eating a burrito!

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[luvirini]

Well, the difference is that someone who is talking loudly is missbehaving, whereas most people with the mobile on have simply forgotten to switch it off. From the reactions of most of the people I have seen with the mobiles in the theaters, they seem very embarrased, but by that time others have allready been disturbed.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello? The Grand parent is talking about Flatulence...you seem to have missed the topic....

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Anonymous Coward]

have been to many theater preformances where suddenly in the middle there is some totally unsuitable melody ringing from the mobile phone of someone sitting nearby.

Or the people who talk about the movie to the person who called...

I've always wondered if I could be held liable if I stood up and shouted "Let's get him!" and started a lynch mob in the movie theater. Anyone know?

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Anonymous Coward]

I always wonder about this too... It seems to me that in every darkened theatre there must be enough people sitting there wondering the same thing to successfully start the lynch mob you propose.

I wonder how we could test this theory? Maybe next time I'll just yell "get off your fucking phone!" and see if anyone supports me... in the dark it should be easy enough to evade a beating if I am wrong.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[arose]

I propose a low-tech solution. Warn people that they will be trown out if their mobile rings. Enforce.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Anonymous Coward]

I have been to many theater preformances where suddenly in the middle there is some totally unsuitable melody ringing from the mobile phone of someone sitting nearby. For me atleast it causes a loss of the "magic" that I get from a good preformance and thus it really affects the overall impression.

Oh get over it. Just rent the DVD and watch it at home if you're so easily annoyed.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Anonymous Coward]

s/trown out/lynched/

At my vacation cabin, ringing cell phones (or beeping laptops) get tossed in the River.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Politburo]

The problem with your solution comes in your last word, 'enforce'. Enforcement of your simple policy would require employees of the theatre to monitor all of the screens. I doubt the large theatres want to hire 20 more workers just to cut down on cell phones. In any case, theatre workers would have to create a disturbance above that of the ringing cell phone to remove the offending patron, who would most likely object. If the theatre was lax with enforcement, the policy would be ignored and rendered useless.

It would be great if your low-tech solution could work. However, we live in a 'me-first' society (at least in the US), and far too many people do not realize the disturbances they create for everyone else around them.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Technician]

My old boss told me of a pub he visited. The policy was to leave the outside behind. Right beside the door was a cell phone nailed to the wall with a very large nail. The message was clear. If your phone rings, it goes next to the first one.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[pla]

I propose a low-tech solution. Warn people that they will be trown out if their mobile rings. Enforce.

I've gone to a number of live performances that do something very much like this...

I've heard a number of variations, and seen them carried out about half the time (just the threat helps remind people to act civilized and turn the damned things off)... My favorite (at a play), the entire cast just stopped in mid-sentence, all turned toward the idiot with the ringing phone, and the main actor on stage asked him to answer it, insisting over rude-boy's mumbled apologies, that he please go ahead, take his call, all the rest of us would wait politely.

I have never seen another human turn that shade of red.

Most importantly, about six seconds later (you could almost hear the cogs turning in peoples' heads), a wave of soft little clicks and low bleeps moved across the theatre as all the other potential rude-idiots-that-ignored-the-initial-warning turned off their phones. Truly beautiful.

Who needs technology when plain ol' public humiliation will work? Unfortunately, most for-pay venues don't have the balls to carry through on threats like that.

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Minstrel Boy]

Like once in middle of a serious scene there were double mobilephone rings with some really annoying happy tunes at highest possible volume. If I had been armed at the moment there might have been two extra bodies...

People at gun ranges (who are, as a group, much politer than society at large) are very, very good about having their cell phones turned off. The two times I've heard one go off, they've been visitors (family/friends/whatever). I just told them that cell phones qualify as targets of opportunity. ;)

KeS

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Psychotext]

Kevin Spacey did the recently in London: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3675 592.stm

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[Psychotext]

Damnit... this, or that but definitely not "the".

next, the cafes and restaurants

[davejenkins]

It will be a short hop from here to allowing any business the right to install a cell-phone jammer. Restuarants and certain cafes in the Latin Quarter will jump at the chance to push out that vile modern convenience.

Pretty soon, we will see little icons in windows:
*WiFi ici!
or
*cell non!

Re:next, the cafes and restaurants

[luvirini]

Personally there are times I would welome this too, as long as there are clear signs at the doors telling about it. So i would not go to such a place if I needed to be reachable, but would go if I need to relax without the disturbances they cause.

Re:next, the cafes and restaurants

[Anonymous Coward]

What about Non-cell areas of of restaurants similar to non-smoking areas? Would be kind of neat. :-)

Re:next, the cafes and restaurants

[lfilipoz]

> *WiFi ici!
> *GSM non!

Ok, let me install my USB headset, fire up my VoIP soft client, redirect my calls to my laptop... all set.

Don't you just love technology?

Re:next, the cafes and restaurants

[photon317]

Actually, with the interventionist picocells discussed above for allowing emergency calls, I suspect it's only a matter of time before they twist this right to the local airwaves in their establishment into a right to intercept local cell calls and precede them with audio advertisements. Imagine a shopping mall installed one of these, allowing all calls through, but injecting a 15-second audio-ad about a sale at some store in the mall before letting you proceed with your call... :(

Re:next, the cafes and restaurants

[TFloore]

davejenkins wrote:

It will be a short hop from here to allowing any business the right to install a cell-phone jammer. Restuarants and certain cafes in the Latin Quarter will jump at the chance to push out that vile modern convenience.

Frankly, that would be fine with me. If they post those signs, like you suggested, I'd be very happy with that.

SO LONG as they didn't interfere with cell phones in the movie rental store next door, or the hair salon on the other side.

That whole "your rights stop where mine start" works both ways. If I'm not on your business premises, you'd better not interfere with my service. And if I am, and you post an obvious sign... then it was my choice to give you my business, and you can assume I'm voting with my dollars/euros/pounds.

Re:next, the cafes and restaurants

[Anonymous Coward]

For the "WIFI ici", its allready done, many "cafés" have setup hotspop, at least in Paris.

(I know, I love working from them :-) )

Re:I wonder

[Anonymous Coward]

By doing what? Upping the wattage on his phone's transmitter? That'll just help finish off his batteries... With the way phone jammers work, there really isn't any other option.

Yes!

[caitsith01]

Eat it connectivity junkies! The rebellion has begun!

Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7? I would suggest that if you are really that important, you might want to skip the movie and stay in the Oval Office doing your job.

And if a friend or relative is dead or dying, well, if it takes until the end of the movie for you to find out, they'll be just as dead after as they were during. Plus you will have had an extra 2 hours of Matt Damon (or Gerard Depardieu?) induced happiness before the terrible news reaches you.

Basically anything that reduces our addiction to instant satisfaction of our every wish is ok with me. We don't NEED to be hooked up to a communication network all the time. They should also install these things in:

- university lecture theatres
- conferences
- crowded public transport
- you could have one in your house to turn on during mealtimes and other gatherings to encourage actual social interaction with people who are physically present

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Basically anything that reduces our addiction to instant satisfaction of our every wish is ok with me

When do you want it?

Re:Yes!

[quetzalc0atl]

>Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7?

superheroes

Re:Yes!

[luvirini]

Well, I agree on most of these, but not the public transporation part. One of the specific reasons I took often public transportation when in my previous job, was that I could work while traveling, I had my laptop open, and was actually handling email and then making occasional simple calls and such. Now travel with car is just waste of time.

Re:Yes!

[caitsith01]

When do you want it?

Later!

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey asshole, your mom's been trying to get thru to you on your phone - she says you left your diaper at home. Don't wet the cinema seat. Bitch.

Re:Yes!

[Chanc_Gorkon]

Take a chil pill and start fine tuning your senses. I personally can block out when someone insists on yammering loudly in public. I really think it's annoying that some people seemed to have a problem blocking out things when they don't care to hear it. Sure, thast polyphonic ringtone can be a bit annoying, but it's off in a few seconds. After that, it's usually a hushed conversation. And yes, some calls ARE that important. If I and my wife are out for dinner and a movie sans child, we're using our phones for emergency contact numbers. Granted, we aren'd dolts who have the ringers ON in the theature, but we do want to have it on.

Re:Yes!

[caitsith01]

I really think it's annoying that some people seem to have a problem blocking out things when they don't care to hear it.

So basically you think we should all be like George W Bush? :P

Explain to me how it's not ok for me to be annoyed by some dickwit talking on his phone in the middle of a quiet bit in a thriller that I have paid to see, but it IS ok for you to be annoyed at me for being annoyed?

As for you and your child... well, that's what DVD players are for. Having children involves certain sacrifices, one of which is your ability to go out alone for a while. Either trust your baby sitter or rent a DVD, but don't let your stupid phone ring in my movie!

Re:Yes!

[heli0]

That is why I always took the JR-line in Kyushuu, no talking on cells allowed.

Re:Yes!

[gl4ss]

- university lecture theatres
if the phone is on silent, theres minimum hassle and you can still arrange a meeting with fellow students for lunch/project meeting/whatever.

- conferences
same as above. this is not a problem at all.

- crowded public transport
this is really a problem?? it annoys you if someone speaks on the phone on the bus?? wtf?? does speaking on a crowded street to a payphone then annoy you too? or people talking together in a crowded bus?

- you could have one in your house to turn on during mealtimes and other gatherings to encourage actual social interaction with people who are physically present

you hook off the normal phone during dinner at home? this is never a problem around here, if the guys present werent worth talking to then having the mobile phone or or not doesn't really make a difference.

seriously though, even the theatres aren't a problem if people don't act like assholes. I live in a country with one of the highest(if not the highest) mobile phones per people ratio.. and guess what? practically nobody leaves 'em on in theatres. it's considered EXTREMELY RUDE, same as speaking (at all) in there. if there's people who are thinking that talking to a phone is ok in the theatres.. it's not the phone that's the problem, it's those assholes(they would be talking loudly to the guy next to them weren't it for the phone).

Re:Yes!

[CraigGraham]

Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7?

Parents?

Yes, I hate hearing cellphones in cinemas etc. But when I'm in such a place and I have a babysitter, I always have the cellphone on, and on silent/vibrate. That way, if something needs dealing with, I can go out and call them back. Afterall, before mobiles came along there was still the ability to contact someone in an emergency- restaurants etc would be able to take calls and pass the message along.

The comment about someone dead or dying is absolutely stupid. If someone's been hit by a car and they're not dead yet, but will be soon, I'd rather like to go and say goodbye.

I'd like to see the option of remaining contactable. There's a few ways to do this given a local base under the cinema (etc)'s control- the simplest would be to be able to hire personal vibrate-only pagers that are automatically fired by the local base, and the most elegant would be to be able to register your mobile number in advance, and if you make a noise or take a call inappropriately you get blacklisted and lose the service. As well as being cut off mid-call and perhaps booted out- if very few people do it, then you can come down much harder on them.

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Please, any superhero who can't immediatly sense the impending danger is a pretty crappy superhero.

Re:Yes!

[caitsith01]

The comment about someone dead or dying is absolutely stupid. If someone's been hit by a car and they're not dead yet, but will be soon, I'd rather like to go and say goodbye.

Thank you, your comments are extremely stupid too.

How did people manage as recently as 1990? When people were dead or dying, however did relatives get by not knowing the *instant* their loved ones were crushed by that tractor/mauled by that pit bull/swarmed by those killer bees? What about earlier, say 1900... without phones at all, you would have had to wait a shocking couple of hours for a telegram delivery guy to find you... or in the Old West, you might have had to wait weeks and weeks to hear news of a loved one's passing.

But you can't wait 2 hours? 2 lousy hours. 120 minutes... 180 if it's an Oliver Stone film. Well, maybe you should sit at home crouched over your landline muttering "can't go out... loved ones might die... might miss the call... could all die at any second... can't miss their deaths...". Or maybe you could get out there and live your life without the need for the constant psychological umbilical cord of your mobile phone, taking the outrageous chance that if your entire family is slaughtered by cannibals while you are at the cinema the police will probably fill you in on the parts you missed when you get home.

Better yet, why not kill your family now? That way you wont miss a precious second of it, and I can enjoy The Bourne Supremacy in peace.

Re:Yes!

[dasunt]

Yes, I hate hearing cellphones in cinemas etc. But when I'm in such a place and I have a babysitter, I always have the cellphone on, and on silent/vibrate. That way, if something needs dealing with, I can go out and call them back.

Other people have not mastered that skill. If people would keep their cellphones on quiet and leave the theatre to check them, there wouldn't be this problem.

However, even with jammers, its easy to give the babysitter the number at the theatre in case there is an emergency.

Re:Yes!

[Vellmont]

And yes, some calls ARE that important. If I and my wife are out for dinner and a movie sans child, we're using our phones for emergency contact numbers.


I'm sorry, but that's just a load of crap. Everyone is worried about there kid, but unless you're a doctor with ueber-specialized knowledge of your kids deadly medical condition I think others will be able to take care of any emergency better IN PERSON than you can over a cell phone perhaps 30-60 minutes away.

I don't know if you know this.. but before cell phones people trusted their kids to babysitters and didn't sit on pins and needles worrying about little Johnny every single second (and thus needed cell phone contact for some emergency). Ok, some insane parents probbably still did, but cell phones have only seemingly broaded that insane impulse. I recall some episodes of crappy sit-coms making fun of such parents. Children can survive quite nicely for the length of dinner and a movie in the care of others. In the event of true emergencies some babysitters even know to call 911! Believe it or not there are better resources for emergencies than you on a phone (poison centers, 911 operators, and good babysitters).

Re:Yes!

[fearlezz]

who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7?

Actually, I do. If one of my servers goes down, I get notified immediately. My phone is next to my bed when I'm asleep. It shouldn't be blocked, ever. Also, I think people should take their own responsibility and switch their own phone off/to vibrating alarm. You just should not fix everything the tech way.

Re:Yes!

[arose]

I'm sorry but what problem do you have with people who do not have ringers on and do not talk on the phone?

Re:Yes!

[Darren Winsper]

You know, you can't account for every eventuality. There are cases where a babysitter may urgently need to contact the parent.

Re:Yes!

[Darren Winsper]

Every time my parents left me or my sister with a babysitter, they left a contact number. Now that everyone has a mobile, the parent just gives the babysitter that, just in case the parents happen not to be where they said they'd be.

Re:Yes!

[Vellmont]

I dunno, getting up to and disturbing other people to make a call outside the theatre because the babysitter called to ask where the ice-cream scoop is?

The other point is there's a sickness people seem to be developing about being in constant contact. It works both ways in that some people expect to always be able to reach cell-phone users, and some cell-phone users expect to always be reachable.

Re:Yes!

[Darren Winsper]

Should we halt all progress simply because people managed OK in 1900?

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well let's see. In 5000000 B.c. they did just fine without electricty. So tell you what, bitch, just disconnect yourself from the modern world, because your posts are annoying comprendo? We did just fine without electricity and antibiotics and slashdot. So fuck off. Maybe, fuckhead, if you could call your son wherever he was and he could tell you where your medication was kept, in time, you'd end up saving your life. Fuckhead. STFU.

Re:Yes!

[BasilBrush]

You are lucky to be from Finland. Finnish people have a strong instinct to obey rules. Watch as they stand at a pedestrian crossing with a red light, not crossing the road, even though there are no cars in sight.

Unfortunatly some other countries like the US and the UK are filled with anti-social assholes who take no notice of the request before the movie to switch their phones off. That's what makes jammers required, when they may not be in Finland.

Re:Yes!

[ceeam]

I dunno, Mighty Mouse is totally normal superhero and IIRC he was called up by a phone.

Re:Yes!

[Twylite]

Hint: not all countries work like the US. In particular:

• Emergency services may take longer to respond that you would expect, and will not respond to certain classes of call-out.
• Healthcare facilities may require details of your health insurance before admission.
• Some facilities will not admit children without the consent of a parent or guardian, unless the situation if "life threatening".

So if your child has an incident that is not immediately life threatening (e.g. concussion, asthma attack, large cut) they may not even be able to get to a hospital (unless the baby sitter can drive and has a car), and even once there they may not be treated until their condition worsens severely.

Re:Yes!

[lachlan76]

Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7?

Doctors, pilots, reserve firefighters, I'm sure that there are others that I haven't thought of.

Re:Yes!

[CraigGraham]

Other people have not mastered that skill. If people would keep their cellphones on quiet and leave the theatre to check them, there wouldn't be this problem.

Technology exists, though, to allow calls only to someone who has pre-registered and perhaps signed a declaration to accept whatever hefty consequences if their phone rings audibly or they answer there and then. Consequences could include things like loss of a substantial deposit, barring from the service in future etc. Since people would pay for pre-registration (if you're not willing to pay, you've made the judgement that the 2 hour wait isn't worth the money) this would seem to be good for everyone.

However, even with jammers, its easy to give the babysitter the number at the theatre in case there is an emergency.

At a restaurant I know this can be done. However, I've never heard of anyone successfully phoning a cinema and being able to get a message to someone watching a film. The cinema generally has no way of finding them without going to the extreme of halting the film and making an announcement- and I don't think anyone would do that. Or want that. The only case I've seen anything like that was a cinema at a holiday camp where there was a messageboard next to the screen, but that was quite distracting.

Re:Yes!

[pedestrian crossing]

Listening to your "low battery warning" beep...

Re:Yes!

[Vellmont]

True, but slashdot is mainly a US, and to a lesser extent Europe centric site. I'd expect most developed nations to have some equivalent emergency service as we have here, and liberal policies for emergency treatment of anyone. For people living in South Africa I suppose it's more of an issue.

I still think the same principle applies though. If you're truly in need of that constant contact, don't put yourself in situations where you don't have it.

Re:Yes!

[teg]

Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7?

Quite a few, actually... many of these aren't contacted that much (e.g. 24/7 support for selected customers in some companies, volunteer fire fighters etc), but needs to there if the need suddenly arises.

Re:Yes!

[FraggedSquid]

Well the time my wife went in for an ultrasound scan expecting to see a 12 week embryo only to find she had had an undetected miscarrage, I can say she wanted to contact me there and then.

Re:Yes!

[surprise_audit]

Don't they watch out for the big searchlight shining their call-symbol on a handy cloud??

Re:Yes!

[Kombat]

seriously though, even the theatres aren't a problem if people don't act like assholes.

And therein lies the flaw in your solution.

Re:Yes!

[Kombat]

There are cases where a babysitter may urgently need to contact the parent.

There was a time, not so long ago, when cell phones didn't exist. And guess what? Parents still hired babysitters and went out for the occassional movie. The truly paranoid ones simply stayed home until their kid got a little older.

What's wrong with suggesting parents of today do the same thing? As the GP said, having a child requires certain sacrifices. Suck it up and stop complaining, or don't have kids.

Re:Yes!

[Kombat]

Should we halt all progress simply because people managed OK in 1900?

As recently as 1990, I could enjoy a movie without it being interrupted by 3 different pathetic polyphonic ring tones emulating the pop-music-pap-du-jour. Nowadays, I cannot. That's progress? By my accounting, that's a step backwards.

Re:Yes!

[Zutroy Of Earth]

Who are you to tell people to 'wait untill the movie ends' to see a dying loved one? The problem isn't with people who have cell phones! The problem is with jerks (or forgetfull people) that don't turn off their cell phone in a movie. So, basically, because of a few inconsiderate people, you block everyone else. What if I'm a very busy person, and I'm waiting for an important call in the next .. oh ..3 hours. Should my life suddenly stop? no! I would use the vibration mode on my phone and go to a movie to escape from the daily grind ... but wait .. I can't do that now can I? Nope, not in a movie, because of *you*.

Btw, I don't live that kind of a life, just playing devil's advocate :)

But I do get annoyed when people talk during movies. Maybe we should mandate duct-taping everyone's yap trap during movies (except for emergencies of course). What's the difference with cell phones?

Re:Yes!

[Politburo]

None. As usual, it's the assholes ruining it for the rest of us. Sorry.

Re:Yes!

[Technician]

Believe it or not there are better resources for emergencies than you on a phone (poison centers, 911 operators, and good babysitters).


True, but try getting little johnny admited for emergency services without parental consent. The delay can be life threatning.

Re:Yes!

[Hooya]

police will probably fill you in on the parts you missed when you get home

i take it you don't have kids. i don't either. but i'm planning for one. i don't intend for the police to fill me in on any such part since i don't intend on missing it if something does happen. fuck y'all if my cell phone irritates you.

1900,1990... i don't know what they did back in the old west but i'm damn sure they didn't spend the day posting to /. either. if you want to live in the past that's your choice. the rest of us would like to enjoy the progress.

what i don't get about people is why a person talking on the cell phone is irritating. if it were two people talking in person it seems ok. but if it's a person talking into a cell phone many people seem annoyed. is that because they only get to hear half the conversation?

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Bull. Emergencies,TRUE emergencies, especially with children, are always taken at high priority in ERs, in the U.S. anyways. Now, if Johnny has a sprained wrist, maybe he has to wait a bit...but how life-threatening is that?

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

its a movie theater.

if you want to talk, LEAVE.
we dont care if you do, in fact we hope you do. and get hit by a bus too since you obvisousely havent learned the concept of SOCIETY yet.

people dont talk on cellphones like they do in person, they seem to think that speaking louder will somehow make the transmission more effective.

when you have kids, turn the phone off, or do the rest of the planet a favor and stay out of theaters. it's called being a respectful part of society (life exists for everyone else regardless of your children)

Re:Yes!

[Suidae]

The truly paranoid ones simply stayed home until their kid got a little older.

What's wrong with suggesting parents of today do the same thing?

Because I have a cell phone and I'm smart enough to put it in silent mode.

The vast majority of people with phones turn them off/silent in theaters and other locations where it is appropriate.

Don't try to punish everyone for the transgressions of the few idiots out there.

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Really. I can just imagine it:

Bruce Wayne to a waiter at a posh restaurant: Excuse me, can we open up the roof in the place, I need to be reachable....

Re:Yes!

[infinite9]

I think the point is that if the babysitter calls 911, I would want to know immediately. Of course, I'm more considerate than a teenage anti-social jerk, and would set the phone to vibrate.

In the past, the babysitter would have called the theater, who would have stopped the movie and turned the lights on to find me.

Re:Yes!

[Stiletto]

I've got to give you the "post of the day" award for this one. Good stuff, you're exactly right. To think you are so important that you need to be reached 24/7 is the height of selfishness and hubris.

Re:Yes!

[anakin876]

The real problem is that people will say to themselves "what a jerk, he was too busy watching a movie to answer the phone and come to mother's deathbed for her last words" or something along those lines. The problem, so many others have stated already is that people feel you not only can be connected 24/7 these days but that you SHOULD be. Anyone who isn't "in" is a loser and in this case, a deliberate jerk. We need better social attitudes (and less judgemental insanity) before any of this will get better. Sadly I don't think we can install judgemental idiot blockers around the theaters.

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

i take it you don't have kids. i don't either. but i'm planning for one. i don't intend for the police to fill me in on any such part since i don't intend on missing it if something does happen. fuck y'all if my cell phone irritates you.

There is nothing worse than stuck up parents with their bratty children. Newsflash: No one cares about you, or your snotty kids. Why don't you go to the theatre? Your kids will be fine. And even if the house catches fire, would you rather the babysitter call you or the fire department?

what i don't get about people is why a person talking on the cell phone is irritating. if it were two people talking in person it seems ok. but if it's a person talking into a cell phone many people seem annoyed. is that because they only get to hear half the conversation?

Since when has two people having a conversation in the middle of a movie theatre acceptable?

Re:Yes!

[Blakey Rat]

Sure. Sounds like a plan.

Re:Yes!

[Obfuscant]

Thank you, your comments are extremely stupid too. How did people manage as recently as 1990?

How DID people manage in 1990 without slash-dot? If everyone else ought to give up their cells phones because a few of them annoy you (not all of them, just a tiny tiny minority), then YOU ought to give up slashdot because YOU are annoying the rest of us. And no, the fact that you've grown dependent on it is not an answer.

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey dipshit, if you're so concerned about receiving a call that you leave your cell phone on (even in vibrate mode), then you aren't going to "escape from the daily grind", are you?

And what about the folks next to you in the theater who have to listen to you take that oh-so-important call, or the ones you clamber over to leave the theater? You're just another dipshit trying to inflate your sense of self-worth by claiming that *you* *must* *be* *reachable* *at* *all* *times*. Secretly, you're hoping your phone goes off at the theater--"Look at me! I'm important! So important that I MUST fuck up the experience for the rest of you peons!"

Re:Yes!

[Zutroy Of Earth]

Ah! You haven't even read my post. I said that I *don't have that kind of life*. Anyway, that's beside the point. If I were to act that way, I would never anwser a phone during a movie. You can just as well use caller-ID, leave and call them back. That's okay for one call I guess. I would'nt want to be the jerk that keeps leaving his seat and coming back every minute or so. When you have a stressfull job, escaping the daily grind, even for a minute, is still better then nothing. Way better that staying outside waiting for the phone to ring :)

As for leaving my seat, that's also another issue. Is it okay for me to go to the restroom?Maybe we should lock the doors to prevent people from going to the restroom during the presentation. I can hold it in, but some people can't. BAN THEM FROM MOVIES I SAY! Oh, btw, that's why they have popcorn in movie theaters. The salts helps you retain more water in. Just don't guzzle in that giant size coke/pepsi/whatever while you are there :)

You, my anonymous friend, have an issue with people who have cell phones and are jerks. That's just fine. Leave the rest of us alone :p

Re:Yes!

[CodeMunch]

Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7? I would suggest that if you are really that important, you might want to skip the movie and stay in the Oval Office doing your job.

Why do you feel being available 24/7 MUST be a life or death/important situation? I completely agree with you - jerks having their cells go off during a movie is rude & uncalled for. The perp should be smacked & yanked out of the movie flick. But why not receive a silent page/text message - things to be taken care of after the movie but might be received during. As a side note, in the past 10 years of movie watching in a theatre (about 6 or flicks/yr) , I have only heard a cell go off twice - I must be extremly fortunate.

We don't NEED to be hooked up to a communication network all the time

Why not? What gives you the right to dictate when I'm allowed to/not to receive a message and communicate with someone? The whole beauty of cell phones is that it gives you the ability to be free from staying at home waiting for a call - An incoming cell call is sorta like an Interrupt Request which you can choose to accept or ignore while doing something.

I whole heartedly agree that nobody has the right to interrupt something you have paid for that requires silence and concentration (e.g. lecture/conference/movie) with their noisy device - which is why mine is ALWAYS on vibe (or off).

However, I must disagree as far as public transit/places go - "crowded" public transit is usually noisy - not with human banter, but the noise of the actual vehicle carrying on. Why the hell should I keep silent and not speak with people on my cell just because you aren't? It is your choice to sit there staring out the window trying to avoide eye contact with the people around you.

It is the "few" annoying cell phone users that ruin it for those of us that use it responsibly and courteously.

Basically anything that reduces our addiction to instant satisfaction of our every wish is ok with me. We don't NEED to be hooked up to a communication network all the time.

And that is fine - for you. Why do you get to decide that my use of a mobile phone is an "addiction"?. Also, I'm not sure where you pull "instant satisfaction" out of - it is unrelated to using a cell. I can be "hooked" up to a communication network all the time if I want - I do not fear communication and can handle the requests/responsibilities carrying a cell entail.

Re:Yes!

[Zirnike]

"you might want to skip the movie and stay in the Oval Office doing your job."

Actually, in that case, see a double feature!

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

few inconsiderate people, you block everyone else.

A FEW inconsiderate people? Only a FEW? Try MOST. MOST (practically ALL) cell phone users are inconsiderate.

Yep, they ALL should be punished.

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

When you have a stressfull job, escaping the daily grind, even for a minute, is still better then nothing. Way better that staying outside waiting for the phone to ring :)

Along with the modern convenience of the cellphone, we also have VCRs, DVDs and Tivo. Stay fucking home to escape the grind. Why is it so important that those with a stressful life can't wait for a DVD release, but have to show up right now on opening day to spread their fucking stress on the rest of us?

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

i take it you don't have kids.

God, I hate you mealy-mouthed fuckers who thinks that anyone who doesn't share your selfish views must not share your life experience. I have two kids, so read on to find out how a real man deals with it.

i don't either. but i'm planning for one.

More's the pity.

i don't intend for the police to fill me in on any such part since i don't intend on missing it if something does happen.

Then fucking don't leave the goddamned house -- it's going to take you twenty minutes to get home, during which time the little darlings will be without you in their moment of crisis.

fuck y'all if my cell phone irritates you.

Fuck you, son of a bitch -- stay at home with your spawn and wait until the movie comes out on DVD.

Re:Yes!

[Zutroy Of Earth]

There are a lot of angry people today! You are spreading your stress all over /. Please refrain from doing so :P ... What if I like to see movies to escape from work? Am I limited to VCR and DVD ? If you think that someone that gets up once during a movie stresses you, I believe you're the one who should stay home. You'll never be happy. People will move during a movie, if not for a cell phone, then for a bathroom break or simply because they want out! Now if I were to *anwser* the phone *in* the theater, I would certainly agree with you, but there are ways to use a phone while still being considerate to other people (leave quielty -> don't come back -> answer a non-ringing phone OUTSIDE or just plain call back).

Btw, I've never had to use my cell phone during a movie, but it's always on, with sound out and no vibration. But I don't think it's fair to cut off all cell phones just because of a few inconsiderate people.

What if we had a 100$ penalty for people who used the phone during a movie? I bet you'd be the first one to point the usher in the right direction when he comes to see who forgot his phone on :)

Re:Yes!

[bogado]

Even people who are not assholes can forget. I usually check 3 or 4 times if my cell is off when I go to a movie theater, but it already happen that I forgot it on for the entire movie. Luckly no one call me in that period.

Re:Yes!

[DrEasy]

"180 if it's an Oliver Stone film"

Your previous comments in this thread got me close, but that's it, now I'm laughing like an idiot at my monitor. Thanks!

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

So if your child has an incident that is not immediately life threatening (e.g. concussion, asthma attack, large cut) they may not even be able to get to a hospital (unless the baby sitter can drive and has a car), and even once there they may not be treated until their condition worsens severely.

When my kids were in boy scouts or brownies or on church activities, this was covered by leaving with the caregiver a signed note giving them temporary permission to consent to care.

Or you could become a Christian Scientist and the problem would disappear because they don't give that kind of professional medical care.

Re:Yes!

[Darren Winsper]

The vast majority of progress has had negative side-effects. Strangely enough, I go to the cinema all the time and it's been getting on for a year since somebody's phone went off (audibly) during the film.

I'm packing my bags

[Magickcat]

If they eventually include art galleries, libraries and restaurants, then I'm packing my bags.

I've seen a person unabashedly use a mobile at a church funeral service. Perhaps churches would be keen on them, however in Australia, most church steeples are used as mobile antennas. In many cases, the cross on the steeple is disguised to match the original building's features.

If I was an alien, I'd probably assume that God had a mobile phone.

Re:I'm packing my bags

[rarel]

If *I* was an alien, I'd buy a mobile phone and pretend I was God ;)

So dumb, when we resort to technology

[tod_miller]

Instead of education.

This will not stop idiots who have a 50,000 ansi lumens bright display playing some dumb-ass mobile game right in the corner of your eye when watching a movie (wtf, why did they go to the cinema?)

Also, those stupid giggly-bitches who laugh/scream/cry at the dumbest of moments, or who have not left the house for months on end, and the cinema is their biggest social event, and they catch up on all the gossip until about 10 minutes into the start of the film, at which point the hushes from other cinema goers has long since drowned out thier mind numbing dialogue.

The worst, when the stupid do not use your mobile advert comes on (Orange has some great ones - but trigger happy tv should be commissioned to do them worldwide) people take out thier mobile, check for messages, and then slide them back, not even switching them.

Or if they are on silent, they bloody answer them and talk in that hushed-shouting whisper that is actually about 50 decibels above normal talking.

Using technology to enforce peoples social awareness is lame. Just make it legal to hit them repeatedly with a length of lead piping until they learn.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[farnz]

I often look like I'm taking my phone out to check for messages when in the cinema; this is because I sometimes leave my phone on silent without vibrate anyway. Once I've confirmed that the phone won't ring or vibrate, I can just put it back, leaving it registered to the network, and thus making it quicker to return to normal when I leave the theatre.

This also has the added advantage that once I leave the theatre (and pull the phone out to set it back to vibrate), I can see if I've got any messages and respond quickly.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[neuro.slug]

Or if they are on silent, they bloody answer them and talk in that hushed-shouting whisper that is actually about 50 decibels above normal talking.

That's some fierce punk-rock concert whispering...

-- n

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[WoodenRobot]

IMHO, the problem's not really the technology, but it's something you've pointed out - people's stupidity and complete lack of concern for other people.

I've lost count of the number of times that a film has been spoiled to some extent by teenage kids - who seem to be trying to impress one another - shouting, laughing, making stupid noises and generally annoying everyone else in the cinema. I think they genuinely don't understand that they're doing something that others might get annoyed by.

I didn't pay £5 to listen to them screech at each other. The worst I've ever experienced was during Hero where two groups of kids were constantly running around the room, and shouting smarmy comments constantly.

Having ushers in cinemas might help with things like this, but in the end it's down to people's common sense and respect for others - which means that to be honest, we're fighting a losing battle.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[Anonymous Coward]

You're part of the problem. "O dear god and baby jesus, imagine having to wait 30 seconds when I get outside the cinema before I can see if I have messages! I'd like *die* or something." Other people see you with your phone on and decide to do the same, but without putting it into silent mode.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[Wudbaer]

I'm afraid I can only agree to you. The main reason why I have been to a cinema only one time for the last three years and why I also only rarely visit public classical concerts is the really stupid people you meet there. Old ladies gossiping in organ concerts in the Cathedral, parents with crying little children in a classical concert, and busloads of people like mentioned above.

My solution (not completely satisfactory, but better for my health as I really can get pretty mad about such disturbances) is to watch movies on DVD (which additonally gives me original language in English-spoken movies as I am in Germany) and to listen to music on CD. Especially in case of church concerts it is a pitty to lose the athmosphere, but still much better than having to have a conniption fit every time and not being able to strangle the originators.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[geminidomino]

No comment about the 50k lumens LCD screens?

Methinks grandparent is fond of hyperbole. ;)

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[David Byers]

Hey, don't you badmounth the giggly ones! Giggly teenagers can be a real asset!

Watching "I know what you did last summer" sitting right behind a gaggle of giggly girls was an experience to be treasured. I swear, you can THX me to death but you will never get close to the sound effects emanating from those kids.

Octophonic screams of terror! Trembling advice to the characters on screen! The thrills! The chills! The spills[1]! Oh, it was magnificent!

[1] The spills are why you want to sit behind, not in front, of the giggly gals.

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[gidds]

Exactly. If the problem is inconsiderate and antisocial behaviour, then fight inconsiderate and antisocial behaviour!

This is exactly comparable to the current fuss about P2P software. Mobile phones have perfectly legitimate and non-infringing uses. (SMS messages, for example. Genuine life-or-death emergencies. Incoming calls where the user doesn't speak, or leaves the cinema before speaking.) Jamming prevents all those, whilst still allowing all the antisocial behaviour people have the rudeness to pull off!

A jammer is just a tool for management too cowardly to enforce a proper nuisance policy.

And of course, this is the thin end of the wedge. If jammers become accepted in cinemas, theatres and churches, they may well spread to restaurants, galleries, museums, shops, cafés, pubs, stations, workplaces...

What's worse is that in this case there is a possible technological measure that would do pretty much what people want. Instead of jamming the phones, how about a short-range transmitter which told the phones to go into 'silent mode', turning off the ringtone, and maybe the microphone, whilst still allowing vibrating alerts, text messages, and maybe incoming calls. It's a bit more technology than phones currently have, but it can't be too hard to implement.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[farnz]

I get my phone out of my pocket, push a button, and the screen goes off (no backlight, no display) and the phone goes silent without vibrate turned on. If someone sees that and thinks, "Gee, I could leave my phone on", they'll do the same if I take my phone out of my pocket and switch it off fully (which is 3 button presses to get to the same apparent state).

As it is, my phone (a SonyEricsson P900 with plenty of add-on software) is set to a non-disruptive state in a minimum of time; if switching it off was faster than disabling the disruptive features, I'd switch it off, and just wait the 10 minutes it takes to restart all my usual extras.

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[seraphina]

Amen, brother!
The worst are those crappy camera phones - I went to see Eric Clapton live at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I was sitting near the back and every half minute some moron would stick their camera phone in the air to try and grab a shot and a majorly bright little screen pops up in otherwise perfect darkness, apart from the cool light effects which are *supposed* to be there.
I nearly threw the morons sitting in front of me off the balcony:-(

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[Blakey Rat]

The difference is that a jammer works *now*.

A technology to automatically switch the phone into silent mode would require the cooperation of all the phone makers to install the circuit in their phones, PLUS it wouldn't work with existing phones which will be around years from now, PLUS you always end up with the situation where maybe one of the companies refuses to put the circuit in, or makes it so it can be easily turned off.

Jammers work right now this instant, not 5 years from now maybe.

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[Morpeth]

"If jammers become accepted in cinemas, theatres and churches, they may well spread to restaurants, galleries, museums, shops, cafés, pubs, stations, workplaces..."

And this is a bad thing how? I can see work/pub access for obvious reason, there's no real expectation of silence/quiet. But as for the rest of it, fine block em all.

If you are expecting some important call, or HAVE to have your phone on, then maybe you shouldn't be at the theater, restaurant, or museum. You DON'T have any right to 24/7 cell access; when I pay to go into a museum or enjoy a meal at a restaurant I don't want to be force to hear some jackasses conversation, 99% of time of which it's NOT in any way, shape, or form an emergency or even important (to anyone but the self-absorbed cell phone user)

While I agree it's best to fight the behavior, the reality is some people are rude, absent-minded or just plain assholes, and will leave their phones or pagers on, and it will interrupt someone else's movie, dining, etc experience. So I say a big 'screw you' to those people, if you can't be considerate of others, then no cell access for you - too bad, so sad.

Yes, I'm pissed off, I'm sick of people being so self-absorbed (not referring to poster, but people in general), that they think their lives and activities count more than mine or someone else's; and happily interrupt or intrude upon my own without considering anyone around them.

If people showed some common courtesy and respect, this wouldn't be an issue, but since they don't, technological enforcement is fine in my book.

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[Anonymous Coward]

• 
  If jammers become accepted in cinemas, theatres and churches, they may well spread to restaurants, galleries, museums, shops, cafés, pubs, stations, workplaces...
  

Don't get my hopes up like that...

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[gidds]

You DON'T have any right to 24/7 cell access

I'm not suggesting that mobile access be a right. Just that there should be a more important reason for jamming it than just "It gives some people an excuse to make a nuisance of themselves."

Of course people shouldn't rely on their phones for anything absolutely vital. Coverage can be lost due to intervening architecture, weather, or heavy use by others. Batteries run out. Networks go down. And so on. You can't assume you'll be in coverage in restaurants, cinemas, or anywhere else.

But the 'Jam them' reaction makes me very uncomfortable. Have we become so intolerant of others that anything we don't personally like should be banned? Do we want to live in a society where we're only allowed to do things if everyone explicitly agrees?

Remember: you can't force people to be nice to each other. You can only encourage them by example, and where necessary punish gross infringements.

Jamming phones is a coward's way out. If people are making a nuisance of themselves, then ask them to stop it, or have them thrown out. After all, that's what would happen if people spoke loudly to their neighbours in a theatre; why should speaking loudly into a phone be any different? If a kid takes in a handheld game that makes loud beeping noises, then it should be removed or disabled; again, why it different if a phone makes loud noises? Just because something's technically possible doesn't make it a good solution.

Jamming treats people like children. It effectively says "Since some of you aren't using their phones responsibly, we'll stop anyone using one." And, like many other childish reactions, it doesn't teach people anything. If someone got bounced out from using their phone inconsiderately, then they'd learn something from that! But is it right to punish the majority because of a small minority of inconsiderate people?

As I said, it's exactly the same argument as for P2P. In fact, more so -- if you believe the figures, then the vast majority of P2P traffic is illegal, whereas it's only a minority of mobile users who behave obnoxiously. Most people argue that the former should be allowed for the small proportion of legitimate traffic; yet you're asking to jam phones where a much larger proportion of use is considerate!

I understand why you're sick of obnoxious bastards using their phones offensively, and I share your feelings. I just think that jamming is the wrong solution. Use your feelings in a constructive manner! Stand up and tell someone that they're disturbing everyone! If you want to say a big 'Screw you' to them, then do so -- to their faces, loudly and publicly! If necessary, threaten to stick the phone somewhere anatomically impossible! (Seriously. I expect you'll get cheers from most of those around you.)

Rudeness is the problem, so fight rudeness. Don't fight phones, otherwise the rest of us will suffer, and rude people will just find some other way to be obnoxious!

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[rob_squared]

Technology can solve anything, just like violence.

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[Tonytheloony]

Some people seem to see the world in black & white. Tbe fully social solution (educating people) has an enormous cost (both in time and money). Jamming phones at the cinema/theater works *now*.
Moreover the jammer's primary function is probably not so much to stop rude people from phoning, as it is to prevent cell phones whose owner has forgotten to turn them off from ringing.

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[gidds]

Tbe fully social solution (educating people) has an enormous cost (both in time and money).

Enormous cost? A simple sign up saying "People making a disturbance, using mobile phones or otherwise, will be asked to leave"? Enforcing it a few times? I think people would learn rather quickly...

the jammer's primary function is probably not so much to stop rude people from phoning, as it is to prevent cell phones whose owner has forgotten to turn them off from ringing.

Same problem. And it's still not a good solution.

My phone, for example, is set to vibrating alert, and a ringtone that starts silently, and only gets really loud if I haven't answered/rejected it after 10 seconds or so. In practice, I've usually felt, retrieved and answered/stopped it before anyone else has even heard it. I still turn it off for performances, anyway, but even if I forget, and (even less likely) it started ringing, chances are it wouldn't annoy anyone else. (And for something important, I'd treat it as a pager -- reject the call, see who it was, and then leave the room to return the call.)

I'm not suggesting that this is exactly what everyone should do, but it does show that even ringing phones need not be a disturbance.

People need to find their own ways to reconcile what they want to do with showing respect for other people; not have cumbersome, partial, troublesome 'solutions' forced on them.

How about another analogy:

I don't like being woken up in the small hours by noisy cars (I'm a light sleeper). Should I lobby to make it illegal to drive between midnight and 7am? Yes, it would harm the milk delivery business, but at least I'd get my sleep! And regulations on noise would never be obeyed, so a total ban is the only sensible solution...

Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology

[Anonymous Coward]

"If jammers become accepted in cinemas, theatres and churches, they may well spread to restaurants, galleries, museums, shops, cafés, pubs, stations, workplaces..." And this is a bad thing how?

Churches? They can't do that!!! You won't be able to ring some clueless old bat, having previously put yourself in her phonebook as "Jesus"....!

Just phone calls?

[jginspace]

The technology has been around for ages but it hasn't been implemented due to legal concerns.

...and then just when it looks like reality mobile computing comes in ...so I wonder: are we going to be blocking phone calls only or will PDA functions in general get blocked? How about SMS?

Re:Just phone calls?

[Professeur Shadoko]

or will PDA functions in general get blocked? How about SMS?

I hope they block everything.
I'm even OK for an EMP when I enter he room : kill ALL devices, those that ring, those that vibrate, those that have annoyingly bright screens - we are here to watch a MOVIE. Keep all tech-savvy-gadgets OUT of the freakin' theater.

And kill also the laser pens.

You can

[caitsith01]

Contrary to other replies, you can actually do this. I imagine it's some sort of flag built into the GSM system that forces handsets not to function.

The reason I know you can do it is that there is an area in the building I used to work where signals are intentionally blocked somehow, and my phone comes up with "Emergency Calls Only" when I am in that area.

Re:You can

[SmilingBoy]

The reason I know you can do it is that there is an area in the building I used to work where signals are intentionally blocked somehow, and my phone comes up with "Emergency Calls Only" when I am in that area.

Doesn't it show this in some countries if you have only reception from other operators than your own? (At least that's what I remember from the time I lived in the UK.)

Re:You can

[csteinle]

Depends on the phone. SonyEricsson GSM phones certainly do this. Nokias don't. However, as the UK operators don't actually route emergency calls for phones that are not registered to there network, it won't actually work.

Re:You can

[SmilingBoy]

Ah, must have mixed it up with another country then... Maybe Germany.

Re:You can

[Anonymous Coward]

Contrary to other replies, you can actually do this. I imagine it's some sort of flag built into the GSM system that forces handsets not to function.

Even if there were such a thing, and I seriously doubt there is, there would be no way to locally add that to a signal that's originating elsewhere.

The reason I know you can do it is that there is an area in the building I used to work where signals are intentionally blocked somehow, and my phone comes up with "Emergency Calls Only" when I am in that area.

That simply means there's no (workable) signal from your "home" network, in which case your phone will register with a competing network (the one with the strongest signal, if several are available), which will rather logically only allow you to make emergency calls.

Re:You can

[Pakaran2]

Here in the US, I sometimes get a notice "extended service area" meaning "we're going to bill you through the nose if you call while you're here", but I don't know if that has anything to do with carriers.

Re:You can

[Anonymous Coward]

GSM networks allow you to use any network to make emergency calls.

That message could be because your phone isn't picking up a signal that it can make normal calls with (ie. signals from your provider or a 'partner' tower), but it can sense another provider transmitting.

In fact, you don't even need to have a SIM card, or be 'logged in' to make an emergency phonecall on most GSM phones. 112 normally gets a signal from any provider and calls, not caring too much about identification of the phone.

Re:You can

[Nestafo]

I am not a telecommunications engineer, but AFAI, when there is no operator network available (your operator or roaming contract), you get this emergency option. And when you make an emergency call, the phone uses all its transmitting capacity trying to reach some base receiver station. At that point any operator goes, because emergency calls have the highest priority.

By this logic you could build a DIY jammer by generating a precise amount of noise so that normal calls get jammed, but the phone could still reach the base receiver station in a case of emergency. This is not very reliable way, so I guess commercial jammer systems do this by some sort of content analyzing firewalls.

I suppose France had to

[tod_miller]

If anything is more annoying than someone talking in a cinema - it is French people talking in a cinema :-) I guess they had to impose a law!

Hahah even though this is true, I love France, and French people.

It *is* true though!

Jam at the network level

[jolyonr]

The best way to do this is to jam at the network level. Rather than having a jammer installed in these places, you actually get the networks to install a short-range cell transmitter/receiver in the building (would need to be carefully placed). The network would control this, so that when a phone is connected via that cell, incoming calls won't get connected (except with operator intervention, so that emergency call you're worried about will get through), but emergency calls can still be made.

In places where there are a great number of cells already, it may even be possible for the networks to triangulate positions, and stop reception of non-emergency calls when they can see that the cellphone is currently within an area on their 'quiet' list.

Best of all (for the networks), they get to be in control and charge for the service.

Jolyon

ps. Somebody print this out and keep it in the Prior Art folder just incase someone tries to get rich :)

Re:Jam at the network level

[Anonymous Coward]

In places where there are a great number of cells already, it may even be possible for the networks to triangulate positions, and stop reception of non-emergency calls when they can see that the cellphone is currently within an area on their 'quiet' list.

It's quite possible to triangulate to within a few feet, no special equipment required. Software for the existing switches that did this in order to locate cloners has been around since the AMPS (Analog) days.

Can anyone tell me why, with this software already available, the cellular companies aren't using it for 911 location? (They claim that they needed new towers and special GPS phones, but they were doing it long ago with none of that!)

How about...

[Gentlewhisper]

1. before admitting them into the venue, they must be subjected to a bag check, and their cellphones would be kept by the staff temporarily and they get issued a cordless phone with just one big button on it that says "Polis"
2. No more crappy phone calls during movies
3. Advertise this advantage and raise ticket prices
4. ????
5. Profit!

Re:How about...

[famebait]

I'd prefer a national "no-watch list" for offenders.

Re:How about...

[lachlan76]

Would you trust your phone to some guy at the cinema?

How this can be done technically

[Anonymous Coward]

For all those who are wondering how this can be done technically, here is a possible solution:

Install a picocell in the theater. Jam all GSM/GPRS/UMTS frequencies except for the one used by that picocell. Give that cell its own network id and accept roaming from any other operator network, but only let emergency calls through.

What the users would see when the enter the theater is exactly the same thing as if they were roaming to another country. The phone would display "emergency calls only" and would display the id of the theater (or the company providing the jamming equipment) instead of the usual id of the operator that user is subscribed to.

Re:Yes! (OT)

[Anonymous Coward]

It's YOU! You're that Dad who switches the TV off and asks "Why don't we ever do things as a family?" You suck, and no-one wants to talk to you - deal with it!

Is that really necessary ?

[herve_masson]

I must be over tolerant or lucky, but I don't suffer from such annoyance in theaters really; it may have occured once over the year (I see about a movie per week), and people usually get out promptly.

Also, imposing a complex and costy solution sounds somewhat strange to me (it must be an intelligent box that filter calls): who really need to place an emergency call that cannot be done from a few metters away, outside of the room ?

Anyway, it must be good for someone...

selective jam?

[MrSpiff]

how would they go about jamming all signals but emergency calls? that would require screening the actual numbers people dial no?

emergency

[PerlDudeXL]

In germany the firefighters (usually two fireman walking around and taking care that everything is fine) have to attend theater performances in case of some emergency. I'm almost sure france as similar regulations. Cinemas are something different, but the personal can make emergency calls using conventional phones.

My cell phone doesn't even work in the local cinema. I don't get a signal. and why should I take my cell phone anyway to a movie theater?

I REALLY WONDER

[imsabbel]

how everybody was able to survive 10 years ago, when NOBODY had a cell phone in the cinema or on a concert...

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[mikael]

how everybody was able to survive 10 years ago, when NOBODY had a cell phone in the cinema or on a concert...

Emergency service workers like doctors, anaesthetists and consultants had pagers. This device would allow simple text messages to be received (if not just a telephone number), and could be set to vibrate rather than play a polyphonic tune at 120 decibels.

I think I may have seen one in a museum, but that was a long time ago...

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[MmmDee]

They were called pagers, and from about 1974 that I know of, pagers plagued cinemas (the cell phone emerged in popularity mid-80's I think). The more annoying pagers were those that allowed someone to simply give a voice message. And since you asked... Before 1974 or so, folks would leave the phone numbers of places they'd be with whomever might need to contact them (phone numbers on refrigerators for baby sitters, with your secretary, partners, etc). It was not uncommon to have an usher come into a theater and walk the isles calling someone's name softly.

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[Thomas Shaddack]

when NOBODY had a cell phone in the cinema or on a concert...

Because nobody had a cellphone, nobody was expected to have a cellphone. Who needed to be on call, had a pager.

Today the pager networks are being replaced with cellphone ones. People are expected to be immediately available, both by their families and their employers. Being unavailable for periods of time is becoming a luxury only few lucky people can afford.

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[White Roses]

And before they had pagers, they just notified the theater that they were there, and what seat they were in. An usher would come in to get them if a call was made to the theater for them. In fact, you can still do this at some of the better theaters, if the management is nice enough to let you know the direct line (there is one theater near me that will do this - I use that for babysitting purposes, and they get all my movie business - plus it's in a conveniently dead cell either by luck or building design).

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[JoeBuck]

In those days, theaters advertised a phone number that was answered by a person, and parents could give the baby-sitter the theater's phone number. Just try that today. You will find that there is no published phone number that is answered by a human being in the evening; everything is voicemail, and often a whole chain of theaters will have only one number.

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[Anonymous Coward]

how everybody was able to survive 10 years ago

Try 20. And before that pagers. It's been a good 30 years since people had no annoying electronics on them in a theater.

How lame can you get?

[pedestrian crossing]

I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours. Not a good idea.

And I would be quite pissed if you took a phone call while I was trying to watch the movie. Your attitude is so frigging self-important. If you cannot be out of touch for 3 hours while you watch a movie, stay at home!

I swear, you see all of these posts that claim, "I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit. You know what I hear when someone takes a call in a movie theater? I'll give you a hint, 100% of the time it is banal blather. Grow up.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit.

There are people that do earn a living by being reachable 24/7...many of them. The reason you don't notice them is they've had to learn to be discreet about it, or else they would piss off the entire world, affecting their paycheck.

I've been in that position. When some random ass server went down, I got paged to go fix it...4PM or 4AM. Nothing I did would ever qualify as an 'emergency' in some grand humanistic scheme, but if I didn't want to choose between eating and paying school loans next month, it was certainly an emergency to me.

Is this really such a "frigging self-important" attitude as you say? Step back and put yourself in some other people's shoes before you start ranting. I did my best to avoid annoying others when I got called from a movie. I used silent/vibrate and sat as close to the aisles/exits as I could. Next time you are in a movie, notice that many people do get called away. I only started noticing when I was one of them.

However, if I still had that job, I could not afford to see movies in theaters that simply jammed signals, and I'm not alone.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

There are times when it is important to be reached at a movie.

The babysitter comes to mind.
If my kid is injured, or on the way to the hospital I would like to know this instantly.

ALL cellphones I have ever owned or used have a vibrate feature and I ALWAYS use it at a movie. When a call comes in from home, I politley exit the theater and answer the call. All other calls are ignored. I am even carefull to be descrete so that the lights from the phone do not distract other patrons. For all they know I am headed to the consession stand to refill my soda when I exit.

Once there really was a family emergency that needed my attention. To deny my ability to receive communication is absolutly unjustified and I would never attend such an event nor sponsor such an estabishment by giving them my cash.

It would be better to fine/ban/kick-out the indivdual that failed to put their phone in vibrate or silent mode when entering the theater.

Most theaters I attend have a very catchy reminder before the movie starts to remind people to set their phones to vibrate or off.

But when I go to a newly released kewl movie where there are lots of teenagers, I expect to hear a few distrations and to me, this is part of the experience of going to the movies and adds to the enjoyment of 'going out' which is rare.

Re:How lame can you get?

[swillden]

I swear, you see all of these posts that claim, "I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit. You know what I hear when someone takes a call in a movie theater? I'll give you a hint, 100% of the time it is banal blather. Grow up.

No, it's you who need to grow up. At some point you're going to acquire some real responsibility in the world, and then you'll begin to understand why people say such things.

In my case, I have four kids. Sure, I get a babysitter who I think is trustworthy, but there are lots of things that can go wrong enough to require my intervention. They're extremely unlikely things, but if they happen I *do* need to know.

Fifteen or twenty years ago, the solution was simple: Parents (and others who needed to be reachable) gave the theater's phone number to whoever might need to contact them and told the theater manager upon arrival that they might get a call. Try that today when you're at the 16-plex with 3000 other people on a Friday night, staffed with 16 year-olds who don't really give a shit what your problems are.

Today, the solution is also simple: You take your cell phone, leave it on and put it on vibrate. If it rings, you look at the Caller ID on the screen. 999 times out of 1000, you put the phone back down and go on with the movie. That other once in a thousand, you leave the theater and take the call.

So, with cell phones jammed, what's the solution? And don't tell me that it's just not to go to the movies. Anyone who argues that either (a) has no idea what being a parent is like or (b) wants to see an increase in the child murder rate.

What really sucks about this situation is that all of the people who argue that they need to be reachable because of their responsibilities are also the people who use their phones responsibly. They're not the problems, but they are the ones most severely punished.

IMO, cell jammers are stupid. It's an attempt to solve a social problem with technology.

The best solution is to stand up and scream Quiet, you asshole! at anyone who talks on their phone or allows it to ring audibly. If someone did this in every theater every time it happened, the problem would pretty much go away. If everyone did it in every theater, the problem would evaporate completely.

Re:How lame can you get?

[dummondwhu]

I couldn't agree more. I'm tired of hearing people whining about how they can't be out of touch. They way I see it, if a family member dies when I'm in the theater, then they'll still be dead when I get out. If someone I know has an emergency, then I would hope they'd have enough sense to call 911, instead of calling me. When I walk into a theater with my phone in my pocket, I turn it *off*, because there just isn't any reason that I want to be bothered in the middle of a movie that's costing me $9+.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

sorry, but no sympathy for those people. they chose that lifestyle.

that lifestyle does cause problems in other areas, ie entertainment, and a cellphone is not the solution.

most people put their volume up to 13000 so it can be heard in the next county (with some really stupid ring tone) and then they answer and many people talk while in the fricking theater.

there is a difference between: vibrate and slipping out the back, and being blasted with an absolutely horrid sound then having hte person talk.

the latter are so annoying, that the former lose out now.

tough luck. like i said, cellphones are not the solution for someone who chose the life that they have to be available all the time.

Re:How lame can you get?

[tepples]

sorry, but no sympathy for those people. they chose that lifestyle.

I'd like to see you "choose" not to eat for the next month and see how it makes you feel. Some geographic areas have a monopsony on greater-than-minimum-wage labor.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

Attitudes like yours are riduclous. I chose my present career and with it, I have to be reachable 24/7 unless I am on vacation. YES a cell phone is the solution including a pager. Sorry we can't all cater to the working at Burger King lifestyles! And yes my phone is always on vibrate.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sad really. If one of my parents has a stroke or heart attack, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT NOW! If work needs to get a hold of me 24/7 they can. It's simple really, be polite and courteous and put your damn phone on vibrate. Just because you have one attitude does not mean the world should cater to your one lifestyle. It's called meeting in the middle. I think setting phones to vibrate works great. It's the people who couldn't care less that are the problem. A total lack of respect in a bunch of areas.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Just Some Guy]

And I would be quite pissed if you took a phone call while I was trying to watch the movie. Your attitude is so frigging self-important. If you cannot be out of touch for 3 hours while you watch a movie, stay at home!

My wife is a doctor. If one of her post-op patients develops complications, she has to know about it now, not at the end of the movie. So by your standards, we can never see a movie in a theater again? I'll let you be the one to break that piece of news to her.

And yet you talk about self-importance, as though your enjoyment of a movie is more important than my wife discretely responding to an (true) emergency text message. Ironic, huh?

Re:How lame can you get?

[dummondwhu]

I understand your point about wanting to know if someone gets hurt or sick, but the difference is that I'm not going to live my life attached to a phone in case someone gets hurt or sick. I have a cell phone, in fact, I replaced my land line with a cell this year, and I use it. But, I have no issue with turning it off and being out of contact for periods of time. I'm 30 years old and 10 years ago this was never even an issue, as others have pointed out in this thread. I don't understand why everyone needs to be in constant contact now (I'm not talking about doctors or people like that who need to be in contact all the time).

Your point about putting the phone on vibrate is fine, except many people don't do that. That's why we're having this discussion in the first place.

Re:How lame can you get?

[mrsev]

Maybe it is just me but ........... what is everyones problem in this forum?. I mean just put your phone on vibrate. Simple your phone vibrates you decide to take the call or not. If you want to take the call just leave the room and make the call. If not just hang up.

Taking the call in the teater is just a matter of the cinemas policy. Round where I live if your phone rings they come over and ask you to leave.

So far everyone is so high an mighty about this whole thing. To the parent and in defence of the grandparent post. Yes some people cannot be out of touch for 3 hours. Some people are on call 24/7. Some people have a babysitter looking after their small child at home. Some people have a elderly relative who might be in trouble.

May I suggest that the parent post "grow up", this has nothing to do with self importance. Usualy people who are "on call" 24/7 are that way because of resopnsibilty.

(On a side note people talking in cinemas is bad either into a phone or to their freinds next to them.)

Re:How lame can you get?

[Blakey Rat]

Try that today when you're at the 16-plex with 3000 other people on a Friday night, staffed with 16 year-olds who don't really give a shit what your problems are.

Don't be an asshole! Have you TRIED? I usher at a theater in 2001, a brand-new, just-opened theater and yes it was staffed with young people but, you know what? We ALWAYS would note where people expecting calls were sitting, and we would ALWAYS enter the theater if they got a call and tell them about it. You say the statement above but, and be honest, have you TRIED it?

If your attitude to the staff of the theater is anything like your attitude in this post, then it's no wonder they won't help you!

Re:How lame can you get?

[BasilBrush]

Most theaters I attend have a very catchy reminder before the movie starts to remind people to set their phones to vibrate or off.

Are you sure? Really, really sure? Sure you aren't inserting the words "vibrate or" into what the reminder actually says.

But when I go to a newly released kewl movie where there are lots of teenagers, I expect to hear a few distrations and to me, this is part of the experience of going to the movies and adds to the enjoyment of 'going out' which is rare.

Yeah right. Teenager distractions. Every one loves those.

Re:How lame can you get?

[BasilBrush]

The best solution is to stand up and scream Quiet, you asshole! at anyone who talks on their phone or allows it to ring audibly.

And a near fight nearly breaks out, or a slanging match at least. And of course everyone misses 5 minutes of the film. Far better for the cinema loving majority that there is a jammer.

Go to the bowling alley instead.

Re:How lame can you get?

[BasilBrush]

Yet, ironically, you are saying your wife's enjoyment of a movie is more important than the other 300 or so people there.

Re:How lame can you get?

[metlin]

Well said, thank you. My girlfriend's a doctor too, and she gets emergency calls all the time. And I have a job that necessiates me to be on call all the time.

It's just sad that the crowd here does not even seem to understand the needs that some people may have, and somehow places their need to watch the movie undisturbed over all that.

When I see posts that say, "my dead relative will stay dead even after the movie" - it just strikes me that these very people who call those that need cellphones antisocial are so much more antisocial themselves.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

I am genuinely glad you are not my son.

I have teenage sons myself. When I see comments like these it really shocks me. I pray to God and hope that my kids do not grow up to be like you.

I lost my wife when I was at a football match. Do you even have an idea how that feels? Son, you need to rearrange your priorities.

I pity your parents. I really do. I would be ashamed if my kids grew up to be such insensitive and arrogant people.

Re:How lame can you get?

[megarich]

Good "mature" come back.

Anyhow, its the movie theatres RIGHT, yup that's right RIGHT to do what they want with their OWN establishment. Wether you like it or not its not important, what's important they can do it, they can get away with it, and one way or the other you/we whoever is gonna have to live with that decision.

Re:How lame can you get?

[psmurf]

Taking a position which requires being on call 24/7 every week, every month, all year is like asking for a permanent psychotic condition. I mean, just because the job offer is there it doesn't mean you have to take it! I would personally NEVER accept a position that had me on call on a permanent basis. This is what's wrong with our society - corporations make up the rules and we just go along with them saying "well that's the way it is".

Well walmart moved into town, I guess that's where we should start shopping...

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know where you live, but, where I live, medical authorities can require a family member's consent before proceeding with some types of care. They may be able to make basic emergency gestures, but they can't admit a child for surgery or a cast without parental consent. This can result in the child waiting in unneeded pain. Likewise, this can apply to other situation, where "heroic measures" come into play.

Other emergency situations include a teenager who's at a party where everyone is drinking...or where the teen is babysitting the client/parent is supposed to provide a ride home -- but has been drinking. Although the teen should have had some taxi cash, these situations sometimes arise in unexpected circumstances.

Of course, people concerned about such situations should set their cell phones to vibrate. I hate it when a cell phone rings in public...and I avoid taking mine with me.

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank the careless people who don't switch their noisemakers to vibrate (or off) for jamming that takes place because of them. Sadly, we can't selectively block based on ringtone. But I have a reasonably simple solution. Insta-Death rays that go off and disintegrate the cell phone before you really notice that it's ringing. Fzzzt! Might smell a bit toasty, that's all...

Re:How lame can you get?

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny that you call him "selfish" when YOU can't stand hearing a ring tone.

Just use the Theatre's payphone in an Emergency

[legomad]

You can just install payphones in the lobby of the cinema.

Re:Just use the Theatre's payphone in an Emergency

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, an emergency is just the time where you'd want to run around "where the f**k did they put the phones", "come'on, finish speaking, I'm in a hurry here", "Damn, it requires a calling card and I don't have one from that company" and/or "Who broke the phone", like it is always the problem with pay phones.

Ideal solution?

[antivoid]

In my honest optinion, the most suitable solution for this would be a cooperative effort between cellphone manufacturers and the companies selling the jammers. Of course, doing it the way I am about to describe will only apply to new phones being manufactured, but hey.
Here's how I see it working; In the cellphone being manufactured, the software should include a feature where it listens for a certain signal, on a certain band (not the GSM band.) This signal will originate from a transmitter placed in the centre of the cinema room for example, with the range extending just over the boundries of the room. The cellphones must obey these signals, and automatically place the cellphone on silent, for example. Also, when the people leave the cinema, the phone will detect the signal has dissapeared, and un-silence the phone autmatically. This way, cell-phone jammers (which use a substancial amount of power, for one thing) would be simplified to the point where they are easy to make and affordable as it only needs to transmit a weak signal on a well-known frequency.

BUT, for now, I dont forsee any simple method of only allowing emergency calls through when they're dumping white noise over the GSM band to block phones.
Maybe they can put emergy phone calls on their own special band which doesnt get blocked. It will be interesting how the get the "only allow emergency calls" system up and running...

Re:Ideal solution?

[lintux]

And actually, your idea would be quite effective. The people who are most annoying with their phones are usually the people who buy new cellphones every three months. :-)

A great idea.

[neuro.slug]

I can tolerate a mobile phone going off in a movie theater, but I shall bring down fiery justice on those who leave their bloody phones on during a live performance. There has to be intervention when people don't have the decency to turn off their damned phones during a classical performance, an opera, or a play. It's not only rude to the audience, but it's also insulting to the performers.

-- n

Re:A great idea.

[Anonymous Coward]

I can tolerate a mobile phone going off in a movie theater, but I shall bring down fiery justice on those who leave their bloody phones on during a live performance.

I know! I've been complaining to the bootleggers' union for years now, but nothing ever gets done...

Re:A great idea.

[JDHawg]

Or even worse, when someone's cell goes off in Church! Just a few weeks ago we had some idiot's phone start ringing during services and they answered it and started carrying on a conversation during the sermon. The Pastor just stopped preaching and gave them the "when you're done I'll continue" look for about 15 seconds before they realised everyone was staring at them. While I was on Active Duty in the military, I occasionally had to be 'telephone reachable' over the weekend. I would be required to have my call phone with me if I left my house. But I always had it on silent when I went into church.

Re:A great idea.

[crazy_monkey]

I can tolerate a mobile phone going off in a movie theater, but I shall bring down fiery justice on those who leave their bloody phones on during a live performance. ... It's not only rude to the audience, but it's also insulting to the performers.

I think most of the discussion here is about how it's rude to the audience, and in that respect, how is a movie theater different that a live show? They're not going to stop the film.... or maybe they should

Re:A great idea.

[johnnliu]

I read this article once.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/10/109210 24 51586.html

It just reminds me how a great artist can be, at times.

Re:A great idea.

[MrSellout]

Try at a funeral. A distant relative had his phone ring (loudly) during my grandma's service. He then proceeded to answer the phone while walking out.

Re:A great idea.

[Anonymous Coward]

I can tolerate a mobile phone going off in a movie theater, but I shall bring down fiery justice on those who leave their bloody phones on during a live performance. There has to be intervention when people don't have the decency to turn off their damned phones during a classical performance, an opera, or a play. It's not only rude to the audience, but it's also insulting to the performers.

Oh, "fiery justice" indeed. You pompous piece of shit. How dare you suggest that what the average Joe pays to see a movie is of less importance than your prissy little concert and therefore more worthy of tolerating boorish behavior. Fucking classical music pussy-lick. And how goddamned psuedo-Brit to inject the fearsome word "bloody" into your smarmy judgement.

how will it be implemented...

[Yousef]

I'm all for this. great idea that should be law everywhere.
However, the question is, how each cinema/theatre will go about implementing this "feature".

I hope there are some uniform guidelines about this...

Re:I wonder

[famebait]

Actualle, the way GSM jammer work, that is not an option. You could do it by modifying the how you negotiate cell stations, but that would require new low-level firmware.

My Solution to Cellphones in Public Places

[kagaku]

Instead of outright jamming cellphones, I propose a new feature for cellphones. This feature, when it detects a signal on a certain frequency, would automatically put the cellphone into silent/vibrate mode. When the cellphone no longer detects the signal, it'll go back to standard ringing mode. This would, in my opinion, keep almost everyone happy. You wouldn't be annoyed by ringing cellphones, and everyone would stll get their calls, as well as be able to make emergency calls.

This seems easy to impliment in my opinion, we'd just need a law that states that all cellphones sold in the US need this feature. Then theaters, resturants, concert halls, churches, etc.. would just need to buy 'cell-silencers' that emit a signal telling the phones to go silent.

Re:My Solution to Cellphones in Public Places

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually; wouldnt one solution be to use the virtues of BlueTooth as a way of disabling/re-configuring phones into silent/vibrate-mode ?

Heck, if you can control somebody's phone and send SMS's from it, i'm sure there's gotta be a way to make it shut itself off. Or what about sending an SMS to the phone itself, with the message "You're now entering a NO-PHONE zone... Shut this thing OFF you IDIOT!"... sent from.. hey!.. That was me!

Muhahahaa..

Oh wait; sorry... evil got me there..
--
Justaaaa

Re:My Solution to Cellphones in Public Places

[allanj]

Great - and I could get to carry one of those "silencers" in my pocket, and everywhere I go cellphones are silent. Oh joy, the silence. And so would a lot of other people, and before long the feature would get an override on new phones to allow it to actually ring again and we'd be back to status quo.

I'm afraid you'll need to make it IMPOSSIBLE to use it in certain areas if you want people to not do so. Blocking the ambient signal and setting up a pico-cell with emergency-only functionality would seem to accomplish this.

Re:My Solution to Cellphones in Public Places

[surprise_audit]

It's not just the ringing that's the problem. The person with the phone often sits and talks without moving out of the area. Talks real loud, too, because the caller is saying, "What? What? I can't hear you over all that noise. Are you at a party?"

Great Wired Tool's Article...

[aLe-ph-1(sh)]

Intelligence
from Wired:home
fullarticle

Just brought back memories of an article way back..

Emegency calls made from OUTSIDE the venue

[mcrypt]

So basically they're limiting the range/coverage of the jammer.

Lit displays

[ddum]

Quite frankly, what really cooks my goose isn't as much the _occasional_ ringing. It is the _constant_ glimmer of backlights and lit keypads from dweebs who just can't seem to handle being without their SMS-capabilities for the duration of a movie.

Re:Lit displays

[Lucky_Norseman]

Also, the MPAA and their counterparts in other countries are pissed about all the SMS messages "This movie stinks" that are sent by those who were lured in by the advertising.

Before SMS it took days before the audience discovered how lousy a bad movie was.

Hoo Boy...

[aLe-ph-1(sh)]

need to check those dang links... Sorry about that. Here.

In the meantime, in China...

[Enoch Root]

I live in Shanghai and I don't even bother turning off my cellphone when I go to the movies. Why should I? Nobody does it. Not only that, but if the movie is really exciting, they won't even pick it up until the really exciting part is over. And when they do, they'll walk to the back of the theater and speak on the phone from there, yelling so they can be heard above the noise of the movie.

Unfortunately, even if they DID install scramblers, it wouldn't prevent all the people from explaining the movie to their neighbors. Sigh. :)

Re:In the meantime, in China...

[surprise_audit]

That's where night-vision goggles and a paintball gun come in handy. Arm the projectionist and give him a nice brightly colored paintballs. That would work for the talkers, the persisent SMS users *and* anyone who wouldn't move to the back, or out of the room completely. Or maybe some device to make the seat really uncomfortable...

This idea sucks.

[syukton]

The problem with cellphones are twofold: People use them where they aren't supposed to (ie, taking calls during a movie) and people forget to turn off their ringers. Why don't we solve THESE PROBLEMS instead of CREATING NEW ONES by eliminating this mode of communication all together?

How about an RFID chip which, based on its proximity to certain defined locations, would automatically switch your phone into vibrate mode, or display a message onscreen such as "Please leave this Quiet Area to receive this call" instead of this draconian jam-all-calls-but-"emergencies" sort of thing. I would like it if I'm in a movie and somebody is trying to alert me of, say, my mom having a heart attack (which *I* consider an emergency), and I could get that notification immediately. It is not too much trouble to step outside the theater, and all things considered, if it's an emergency I'm likely to be leaving the theater ASAP anyhow.

I'm all for making it mandatory that phones automatically switch into vibrate mode when they are carried into libraries, schools, theaters, and so forth. It doesn't necessarily have to be vibrate mode, it could be an RGB LED which flashes a given color (any given color, as it's an RGB LED) depending on incoming call / incoming call from XYZ person / incoming text message / you have new voicemail / whatever. Just as long as it's silent and not so bright as to make anyone freak out in a theater/school/whatever.

The point is: silence. People don't want to be bothered with others around them taking cellphone calls and they don't want to hear other peoples' cellphones ring, but only under certain circumstances. ADDRESS THESE ISSUES DIRECTLY, don't create a blanket which covers these issues and more, a blanket which creates more problems and more public unrest instead of relieving the public as intended.

In sum: this idea sucks and a better one could be had.

Re:This idea sucks.

[Mr_Silver]

In sum: this idea sucks and a better one could be had.

A good point - but, you've completely forgotten a few things:

1. Hardware manufacturers design products 1-2 years in advance. Therefore for the implementation of an RFID chip, you're looking at at least a year.
2. A protocol would need to be devised that all the manufacturers agree on (both handsets and the systems that will trigger them)
3. People would need to purchase these phones. Typically they'd be on high tier phones first. A phones lifetime is approximately 18 months before they are on low tier (ie. your pay-as-you-go mass market) where adopotion is the greatest.
4. You'd need all the phones to adopt this before it would work. The first WAP phone I saw was in 1996 (and i'm pretty sure that they were around before then) and only now is it commonplace enough for companies to sell content through it. That is a lead time of 8 years.

So in short, it's a great idea, but you're looking at 8 years+ before its going to be installed on enough handsets to actually work in the cinema. What is the point of blocking 20% of the handsets, when its one of the other 80% that ring?

Alternativily you could implement signal blocking today which will work on every phone the moment it is turned on.

Sometimes the best ideas aren't the most practical to implement.

Re:This idea sucks.

[pwagland]

And so does yours!

how many phones have the capabilities that you mention? How many phones exist? 0/100's millions is not a lot. Remember, humanity survived before teh advent of the telephone, let alone the mobile...

Re:This idea sucks.

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

Given that most movie theatres nowdays have a giant reminder to turn off any cellphones etc. Think if a cellphone goes off, a couple of security guards should come down and throw the person out. You wouldn't have to do it for very long before people started to get the message.

Of course, your RFID idea sounds good for future devices.

Re:This idea sucks.

[Vellmont]

I would like it if I'm in a movie and somebody is trying to alert me of, say, my mom having a heart attack (which *I* consider an emergency), and I could get that notification immediately.


When did we get to the point where everyone needs to be alerted of significant events immediately? Your mother having a heart attack is terrible of course, but this need for instant communications has gotten a little out of hand. I'd suggest if you're really that worried about being incommunicado, then don't go places where you are. Unless you're someone wildly important (Dr. on call, bomb-squad guy, etc) the issue only exists in your mind. I'd look inward for a solution rather than feeding this sickness by _constantly_ having to be reachable.

Re:This idea sucks.

[ajs]

On the other hand, if we start deploying blocking today, we reduce the incentive to produce the correct solution (one which prevents audible, and perhaps visual alerts from wireless electronic devices within an area).

The real problem isn't even a social pressure on cell phone and pager companies, but a financial one. If the public views the problem as "solved", then no one is going to buy the new style jammers when they come out, thus it's a losing proposition to even develop them.

No, like it or not, we've developed a new "on-call class" and to say that they can't go to the movies with us is not just wrong, it's not going to work. I think France is about to find this out. I wonder what the percentage of groups of people of size 4+ going out for a night of fun is that contains one person who is on-call for some sort of work... from now on, such groups are going to have to choose a new venue, or patronize those venues which do not block reception. If that percentage is large enough, this becomes a massive financial burden for cinemas.

As an example, my work has me on-call 1 out of 5 weeks. I can go and do what I want, but I have a wireless Internet card in my laptop in the car. If I get a call or page, I have to go respond. I won't make a "choice" not to patronize such places with my friends, I simply cannot, even though I'm a well-behaved cell-user (set to vibrate in large social situations, etc.)

I wonder which cell companies are already working on the set-to-silent-proximity devices and how close they are to deploying. It would be quite nice to have a proper solution, and I would enjoy not having to sit through "inconsiderate cell phone man" ads any longer at the movies.

Re:This idea sucks.

[Kombat]

People use them where they aren't supposed to and people forget to turn off their ringers. Why don't we solve THESE PROBLEMS

It sounds like you're advocating a behaviour-modification education campaign. While this certainly sounds like an effective, warm-and-fuzzy, "everybody wins!" solution, empirical evidence suggests that such campaigns simply don't work. Even if you achieve a 95% compliance rate (an absurdly high level), that remaining non-compliant 5% will still cause unacceptable disruption.

"Education" campaigns have been/are being employed against alcohol abuse, drunk drivers, smokers, gamblers, STDs, infidelity, aggressive driving, and more, and yet people still do all of those things. However, in all of those examples (except gambling [yes, I've left you an opening here for a joke about "infidelity"]), failure to heed the warnings and act responsibly can result in death. So if people hear the "education propaganda", and ignore it anyway, even in cases risking death, what makes you think people will respond do your "turn off your phone" drive?

Re:This idea sucks.

[Kombat]

No, like it or not, we've developed a new "on-call class" and to say that they can't go to the movies with us is not just wrong, it's not going to work. I think France is about to find this out.

I'm a right-leaning capitalist at heart, so I believe that the government should back away with their legislation, permit all kinds of jamming, and let regular market forces sort this issue out. The only exception should be that establishments employing jamming technology should be required to display prominent signs alerting patrons that jamming tech is in use, and describing the specific nature of the jammer (cells blocked but not pagers, emergency outgoing calls permitted, etc.).

If there is a big enough market out there of people who are not in dire need of being in complete networked contact at all times, as well as those who prefer an environment where they can be confident that they will not be bothered by such interruptions, then establishments using jamming tech to enforce such an environment will flourish. However, if you are right, and most people are afraid to break contact with Verizon for 2 hours, then those places will fizzle, and they'll likely drop the jammers.

But my point is, they should be allowed to make the choice and see for themselves. Supply and demand. Let the market sort it out.

Re:This idea sucks.

[ajs]

But my point is, they should be allowed to make the choice and see for themselves

You have a valid point, and yes that is a conservative point of view. It's funny how many conservative positions I take, given that I'm a liberal at heart. ;-)

Re:This idea sucks.

[genner]

This would work except,
NOT EVERY PHONE HAS A VIBRATE MODE!
Sorry, but I thought this seemd obvious. Their dealing with
it the only way that would actually make a diffrence given
the the wide range of phones that are out there now.

Re:This idea sucks.

[syukton]

Not every television has a v-chip.

But that doesn't mean they won't eventually become legally required.

So you're right, not every phone has a vibrate mode, but if it were suddenly required (like it's required that any cellphone--with paid-for service or not--be able to dial 911 and get an emergency services operator) then somebody would step up to the plate technologically and provide a solution to the consumer at the price point they needed. It wouldn't be the first time the passage of a law cost joe america $25.99. Let's face it, if somebody's phone doesn't have a vibrate mode, it probably doesn't have anything else that's on a newer phone, and what a Taiwanese company could cram into a product retailing for twenty six dolla' would be more than enough for these people with their old nonvibrating phones.

So it would work if it were legislated, period. Especially if there was a trade-in program, you trade in your old phone for one that's government complaint, then we ship all the old phones back to the companies who made them so they can refurb them for resale in third-world markets with booming cellular economies. The government could eat the difference ($40B for the war on drugs per year, $80B for the first war in iraq, $120B or somesuch for the current war in iraq, etc. I'm sure they could subsidize some cellphones if some legislation were written up for it).

And then suddenly the public is happy and all phones made henceforth are compliant.

What did people do *before* cellphones?

[blorg]

It wasn't that long ago, you know. Did parents never take a night off with a trusted babysitter at home? If you want to, you can call home yourself once or twice to check on things - just not in the middle of the movie!

People who *really* need to be contacted (doctors on call, for example) had pagers; and a blocking system based on a mini-cell station could be configured to allow such urgent calls/text messages through.

And you are quite wrong about the annoyance value of mobile phone conversations - a study has found them to be dramatically more annoying than face-to-face conversations, probably due to the one-way nature.

Re:What did people do *before* cellphones?

[Anonymous Coward]

SIgh...it's called minding your own business. That's 90 percent of the countries issues today is they don't mind their own damn business. I hear people talking on th ebus all of the time and it does nto annoy me. If it annoys you, well, YOU ARE THE ONE WITH THE PROBLEM!

The cure is worse than the desease

[tobozo]

Hey what about the radiations ?

The phone jammers use a strong signal so nobody will get a call during the movie (no annoying bells), but every spectator's brain (and body) will get cooked by the microwave effect of the jammer and the mobile phones not switched off...

And of course this system won't jam the sponsored mobiles phones we see on the screen when the good Characters get called by the Evil ones.

Or maybe it is another attempt to prepare the spectator's brain (googletrans) to be more receptive to advertisement ?

Re:The cure is worse than the desease

[DiscoOnTheSide]

Microwave? No. Not sure about TDMA and CDMA, but GSM here in America operates on any combination of 850Mhz/900Mhz/1.8Ghz/1.9Ghz. 800 Mhz range = police analog radios. These have been around long enough. 900 Mhz range = cordless phones. 1.8 and 1.9. Both higher, but not the 2.4 Ghz to constitute "microwave" You're exposed to these frequencies majority of the time anyways.

Re:The cure is worse than the desease

[tobozo]

okay, the word 'microwave' was ambigous, but I've read somewhere (maybe that was here) GSM and microwaves have some kind of relationship (probably not about food).

So you mean I'm permanently exposed to these frequencies ? wow ...
Thanks for the tip, now I'll have to wear my Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie ;-)

Did you mean won't route non-emergency calls?

[blorg]

However, as the UK operators don't actually route emergency calls for phones that are not registered to there network, it won't actually work.

I'd be very surprised if the operators didn't route emergency calls from a subscriber on a different network; as they will route those very same calls if you don't have a SIM card in your phone at all (e.g. not registered to any network).

Re:Did you mean won't route non-emergency calls?

[csteinle]

They don't do that, either. No UK network will route any call by IMEI, or by non-registered IMSI.

Re:Did you mean won't route non-emergency calls?

[blorg]

That is amazing, but a quick google shows you to be right. It's not like that in other countries, I presumed it would be the same in the UK.

Re:Did you mean won't route non-emergency calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd be very surprised if the operators didn't route emergency calls from a subscriber on a different network; as they will route those very same calls if you don't have a SIM card in your phone at all (e.g. not registered to any network).

Frome a technical perspective, those are two very different scenarios.

One: There's no SIM in your phone. If you simply switch it on, it will not attempt to interact with any network, although it will probably be quietly (with regard to the user) and passively (with regard to the networks) checking for signals. Only if you actually dial 112 will it attempt to connect to a network (starting with the one with the strongest signal, if several are available) ant tell it it has an emergency call.

The other: There is a SIM in your phone. If there is no (workable) signal from your "home" network, it will immediately attempt to register on a competing network (again, starting with the one with the strongest signal, if several are available). If a network accepts, your phone will say "Emergency Calls Only". If not, it will say "No Service", but it will still attempt to connect to a network if you actually dial 112.

Thus, I can very well imagine that in some countries, operators are required to route emergency calls for non-subscribers, but not to let non-subscribers register on their network (just in case they would have to make an emergency call, if you like).

Re:Did you mean won't route non-emergency calls?

[mark2003]

Not quite true.

The UK mobile telco I work for will route an emergency call even if there is no SIM in the phone.

I believe (and I have just checked this with one of our Radio Access Network guys) that it is the same for any network...

Faraday cage, anybody?

[shepd]

Why aren't new theatres being built with a grounded screen sandwiched inside the walls? We're not exactly talking megabucks to do this when you're building the theatre, and, AFAIK, there's no law against simply making it impossible for signals to enter a space.

I'm sure someone will say "what about emergency calls?" What about them? Your phone quits when you go in a tunnel, it quits when you're in some buildings, it quits when you're on the fringe of town. And, unlike that theatre, those places won't even be signed as "cellular service unavailable".

Oh yeah, as far as doctors being on 24-7 call missing their major emergency call, there's so many other ways they can miss such a call daily (on the toilet, having a shower, under a tunnel, out of batteries, whaterver) I am 100% certain the hospital has a backup plan (ie: Call another doctor).

Re:Faraday cage, anybody?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh yeah, as far as doctors being on 24-7 call missing their major emergency call, there's so many other ways they can miss such a call daily (on the toilet, having a shower, under a tunnel, out of batteries, whaterver) I am 100% certain the hospital has a backup plan (ie: Call another doctor).

Actually, most specialties that people are on 'home call' for (aren't taking call from the hospital) usually have only one person on call. And this is at relatively large academic institutions. If people don't return a page promptly, they are usually paged again, then called at whatever secondary contact number (usually a cell phone) is listed.

Now, most one way pagers won't be affected by this blocking. The questions is, will two way pagers which, I believe and may be wrong, use the same band as cell phones, be affected? In that case, you will have problems, and there will be a delay in response.

Re:Faraday cage, anybody?

[Anonymous Coward]

a cage is not a good idea. If an emergency (eg. a fire) happens, communication between rescue crews is vital. Especially in places with a lot of possible casualties...

Pointless

[hopethishelps]

on the condition that emergency calls can still get through.

This is stupid. Jam the things completely. If you're on-call, you've no business in a movie theater or concert hall.

Re:Pointless

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

If you're on-call, you've no business in a movie theater or concert hall.

Why?

Besides. I think by emergency, they're talking about 911 calls. You know, 911, the emergency phone line?

Re:Pointless

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, that's a pretty knee jerk reaction.... The issue is, for most people, being on call means you're on call for when you're needed. In other words, if it is my decision to risk having to leave the theatre to go into work on the off chance I might get called in, that's my decision. Should I really have to be forced to forgoe reasonable entertainment? Sure, there's no excuse for leaving a ringer on in those cases, but this is overkill.

Re:Pointless

[Anonymous Coward]

Or 112 in France... And the rest of GSMland.

Re:Pointless

[Moskit]

That comment is pointless, no insightful.

"Emergency calls" means for example that if someone at the audience has a heart attack, it is possible to call emergency right away, even if jamming is active for other calls.

It doesn't apply to receiving calls from outside. While I agree that people "on-call" shouldn't go to the cinema, original poster most likely misunderstood the intent.

Re:Pointless

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

Or 112 in France... And the rest of GSMland.

Not quite. It's 111 in NZ.

Re:Pointless

[Anonymous Coward]

"Emergency calls" means for example that if someone at the audience has a heart attack, it is possible to call emergency right away, even if jamming is active for other calls.

Bullshit -- if someone has a heart attack in a theater, you scream for help from any medically-trained people who might be present, demand that the house lights be turned up and yell for the manager to make a 911 call on a reliable land line. One call, not one from every freak in the house so that the 911 center gets racked up. The land line call will additionally provide instant, unambiguous location information for the 911 dispatcher rather than having all the cellphone wannabe-heroes asking each other where the hell they are, what's the cross street and other such mindless shit as the cell service cuts in and out.

Haven't you ever heard the people sounding like gibberish on radio callin shows because of erratic cell connections?

Yeah, only the French...

[ThinWhiteDuke]

... would surrender their cell phones.

Re:Yeah, only the French...

[Anonymous Coward]

And Americans wonder why people laugh when their troops get killed. Listen carefully francophobe:

tick, tick, ... Kaboom!, har har har!

Re:Yeah, only the French...

[Liquid Len]

You, sir, are a moron...
And yes, I am French...

Edgar wouldn't like this.

[heikkih]

But what if I'm at this great concert. Suddenly my computer at home fancies the music he hears live on the radio, and wants to join in and jam with the orchestra through my cell-phone.

He would be really upset if he wasn't able to reach me.

Re:Edgar wouldn't like this.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hahaha......

A nice and (unfortunately nowadays) obscure 80s-reference.

Back in it's day, Electric Dreams was one of *the* essential tech-movies. It even has a penguin in it ;)

Trust the french

[Anonymous Coward]

Only France would pass laws that take away my freedom to use my cell wherever I please.

It's just a matter of time before someone finds a way around this. I expect there will be a rush of patriotic american electronics manufacturers creating phones to get around the jammers.
I for one will be buying an "All American FreedomFone" as soon as it's available.

Re:Trust the french

[Craig Davison]

Actually, this is exactly what you'd see in your libertarian fantasy world. The government is _not restricting_ the freedom of the theatres to block cellphone signals if they wish. It's private property.

"Taking away freedom" would be for the gov't to make it illegal for any business to implement this, or forcing all businesses to implement this.

Re:Trust the french

[Anonymous Coward]

It was a joke. Laugh.

Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy people

[caitsith01]

it's not the phone that's the problem, it's those assholes

Well obviously.

How do we manage the 'assholes'? Let them piss us off by taking calls during the movie/conference/lecture? Or block their asshomophone so that their asshole friends can't call them repeatedly to chat about the latest in asshole fashions? I know which I think is better for the non-assholes of the world.

Likewise regarding the silent vibrate feature on most phones - OF COURSE it would not be annoying if people all turned their phones to silent in cinemas/lecture theatres/conferences, provided of course that they didn't answer any calls and start talking. The problem, as you astutely point out, is assholes. They won't remember to turn their phone to silent. How often do you see everyone lunge to turn their own phones to silent when the first asshole's phone goes off? The reason - none of those lunging people (aka 'potential future assholes') remembered to turn their phone to silent either.

Yes, it's considered EXTREMELY RUDE (sic) to take calls in a theatre. This does not stop your average asshole. If I can encourage cinemas and universities to install the Asshol-Blok 5000, with asshole-silencing technology, I will.

Standard needed

[spectrokid]

The current systems work by a hack: impersonating base-stations and working like a kind of firewall. Why don't manufacturers get together and define a standard? A localised radio signal (bluetooth?) saying "silent please" (Concert) or "turn off" (intensive care). The telephone could simply switch to silent mode or switch itself off. When you leave the cinema, it comes on again by itself. I wouldn't mind paying extra for avoiding the embarrasment of my phone going off in the wrong place.

Re:Standard needed

[Anonymous Coward]

because someone like me would walk around the mall with one turning off other peoples phones?

Re:Standard needed

[man_ls]

If the control sequence is embedded in the network protocol, that'd be no problem. Nobody has the equipment to mess around on cell bands anyways.

Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Amata]

How about emergency personnel, such as EMTs and Firemen? I'm from a rural area, where these people work on a voluntary basis. They get paid per call, so they have "normal" lives, they just get called in for emergencies. There's noone sitting in an office 24/7 just in case something happens, other than the person to relay the calls to the actual workers.

A buddy of mine who is a volunteer fireman has a pager at all times. I've seen him have to take off from all sorts of situations to respond to calls. That would be one person that I *hope* would still be able to get his calls in the middle of a movie theatre.

Other than that I can't think of any other examples, tho.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[caitsith01]

Yeah, but these people are special cases, and special cases can be dealt with individually. As you already noted, pagers are a very good solution, and firemen and other action heroes can wear them all the time on the silent-vibrate function as a matter of course. These people could also get CDMA phones so that they are not on the GSM network like ordinary phone-abusers.

I would still be overjoyed if that non-fireman fucktard three rows in front of me couldn't discuss the weather with his buddy while I'm watching the movie I just paid $15 for.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Anonymous Coward]

but in france, it is illegal to use anything but gsm. after all, gsm was invented by the french.

Also, the condition that emergency calls would need to go through. well, calling rescuers to do their job would be an emergency call.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is france we're talking about, not the US where you need three cell phones just to be able to make a call from a random place in a major city. You're going to need one hell of an antenna and amplifier to get a signal for a CDMA phone in a french cinema, the nearest CDMA tower would probably be on an american aircraft carrier somewhere in the middle east.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Anonymous Coward]

Many, many people do. I am a funeral director, I am on call 24/7. Yes, I know, you are all saying, so what if a guy is dead, he is not going anywhere. That's exactly right - and the next time you are stuck in traffic for a few hours on a highway because somebody was killed, just remember, you are stuck there because ME - the guy who actually comes to pickup the body form the place of death (outside of major cities, it's all us little guys who do the hands on work) cannot make it ther eon time because my cell phone is jammed.
What did we do before cell phones? We had pages - when they worked, but more importantly, we never, and i mean never, went to restaurants, theatres, ball games, nothing. The advent of th ecell phone meant we coudl live like the res tof society for the first time in our lives, or so it seemed.
It is not jsut me - many two ytruck operators are smnall, self employed buisness people who work on call, even if that means through the night. Was your house damged in one of he recent hurricanes that swept through Florida? Many small contractors who work on emergency call basis - such as replacing that glass window at 2:00 am after a break in - you got it - on call, 24/7, using a cell phone.
How about yoru local plumber on emergency call? You may think this is a joke, but wait until your sewer backups in the middle of the nigh or on a holiday weekend,a ndyou ahve 2 feet osewage inyrou basement that needs to be removed NOW. You will be very grateful that ht eplumber has a cell phone. Imagine if his/her cell phone were jammed because he decided to take whis wife out to dinner for thier anniversary. Yes, these things do happen - I had to cancel our 19th wedding anniversary dinner this year because I got called in.
Remember people, outisde of large, urban centres, most on-call or night work is covered by small companies or self employed individuals who place themselves on call 24/7 because ther eis simply no one else to do the job. So if you are a police officer, a lawyer (criminal lawyers are on call 24/7 fro example), any sort of emergency respone personell - fire, ambulance, paramedic, etc, contractor, plumber, tow truck operator - well,t he list goes on and on.
All of these people have individual on call 24/7. All of these popel never take regular days off, never get statutory holidays, never get time off that the rest of ht eworld takes for granted or some sort of God given right. The only way many of these people ever get to spend an evening with their kids watching "Spiderman 2" at the theatre is because we have cell phones.

Which leads me to one, main question .

My cell phone is always, always set to vibrate. I NEVER set it to ring. When a call does come in, I excuse myself from the theatre, and answer the call in the thatre lobby. Why doesn't everybody else do the same thing? Simple, common sense.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[MichaelSmith]

The thing is, this issue goes beyond firemen, cops, etc. Consider:

• Doctors
• People with young children at home, waiting for a call from the babysitter
• etc

I used to have a job working on the traffic signal systems in my city. I could get called 24x7 and if I got called out it was because of a safety issue. If I had to go out then I always muted my phone in these places. People still have to live

Note also that radio waves do not recognise straight lines. Does this apply right outside the front door of these places?

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Anonymous Coward]

And what did these same people do before mobile phones?

Pagers, or backup staff on-call. You should not have been responsible alone for a system like traffic control 24/7, everyone should have some time off.

Doctors are not on call all the time, when they are, they have to avoid situations like this.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Amata]

Which leads me to one, main question .

My cell phone is always, always set to vibrate. I NEVER set it to ring. When a call does come in, I excuse myself from the theatre, and answer the call in the thatre lobby. Why doesn't everybody else do the same thing? Simple, common sense.

Because common sense isn't.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[ckedge]

I remember when I was little.

The town had a *few* phones in various volunteers houses, and the housewives (yes, way back in the 70's) were trained to take the emergency calls. There was a red button beside the phones. It set off the big-ass siren on the top of the fire-hall that could be heard by farmers in their fields 3 miles outside town.

In the late 80's and 90's, before cellphones in Rural Saskatchewan really took off, all the firefighters carried big-ass radio's, the type police used to carry. And yes, if youg forgot to charge it or forgot to put it on in the morning, you'd occasioanlly miss a call. Which really pissed you off because "action" and a real emergency was so rare in a town of 800 people.

I think they still use those instead of cell-phones. Can't rely on cell phones, and the radios double as the actual on-site communication system.

Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7?

[Theaetetus]

Other than that I can't think of any other examples, tho.

Here's one - I'm a radio engineer, on call for 6 stations. I carry a cell, and a pager, and set them to vibrate when I'm in a theater, concert or class, and to vibrate-then-ring for the rest of the time (I usually catch it on the first or second buzz, before it starts ringing).

How about a really simple solution, that relieves on-call people from having to worry about things like this - a lot of new phones are bluetooth capable... expand that to all, and have "gates" that you walk through at theaters, concerts, restaurants, etc., that set your phone to vibrate when you walk through them, and ring when you walk through the other way (really, two gates - outer one is ring, inner one is vibrate). Then, people don't need to think about it.

-T

Only inside the teather room but not outside.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is additional problem, the phones must work outside, people often call before and/or after attending then show. The jammer must be inside secific and not covering all the area.

being a parent/ carer means always on call

[fantomas]

even parents / carers are allowed to have a life. But sometimes their children/ elderly relatives might have an accident at non-scheduled times...

Re:being a parent/ carer means always on call

[vrai]

Then get a baby sitter that you can trust! If there's an emergency then the baby sitter can call 911/999/112 (delete as applicable) and summon professional help. This is how things used to work as recently as the mid-nineties, before mobile phones became ubiquitous. If you can't bear to be out of contact with your offspring for two hours then I suggest you seek professional parenting advice - before you smother the poor kids under a blanket of over attentive molly coddling.

What about personal emergencies?

[mccalli]

I keep my phone on the cinema, but on silent. My reason is simple - I have kids, and if the babysitter needs to contact me for an emergency I don't want them to have to wait until after the film. Silent is the compromise - it still vibrates to let me know of the call, and I can leave the room to take it.

This system would block the sitter's call to me, yet that is no less valid as an emergency than a 999 call is.

Nope - I'd like to be in favour of a tech. solution to this problem, but the difficulty in knowing what's important and what isn't cannot be surmounted by base-station filtering. The only answer is just to throw the offenders out.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[radja]

tell the sitter you've gone to the movies, and to what theatre. for real emergencies, call the theatre. problem solved.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[mccalli]

...for real emergencies, call the theatre...

But what will they be able to do? They don't know who I am, and may not know where I'm sitting. Perhaps I'm at the bathroom when they come to look for me. Inevitably, there will be delay in trying to find me, if they can be relied on 100% to make the attempt.

Nope, in something as serious as whether my kids are ok, I prefer direct contact please.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[thbigr]

My gawd! How did I an my friends ever grow up in the 70's with out cell phones.... hmmmmm....

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[clare-ents]

"This system would block the sitter's call to me, yet that is no less valid as an emergency than a 999 call is."

-1 Wrong.

If your kids are so important they can't be left for two hours in the hands of a trusted sitter then you need to find a better baby sitter. Your baby sitters problems are a less valid emergency than a 999 call, because if the emergency merits a 999 call it probably merits a paramedic too and you aren't going to help, and your baby sitter should call 999 and not you.

Got it yet ? If your sitter suspects your child has broken an arm while you're in the cinema, the correct thing for your sitter to do is to call an Ambulance on 999 and deal with the problem. Your sitter should not have to call you to be told to call an ambulance. If your house catches fire, your sitter should call the Fire Brigade, not you. If a nutter with a big knife attacks, call the police, not you. In the cases where you can help, it's less serious than a 999 call and your sitter will be okay for an hour or two until you come home.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[mccalli]

You don't have kids, do you? Trust me - you really start learning what responsbility and dependancy is when you do.

Cheers,
Ian

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[mccalli]

My gawd! How did I an my friends ever grow up in the 70's with out cell phones....

Same way I did, also in the 70s - luck. If you can improve your kids' chances without wrapping them up in cotton wool, then why not?

Cheers,
Ian

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, please. That's not responsibility you're showing. That's paranoia. Poor kids!

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[jabuzz]

Funny I bet your parents went out and left you trusted to a baby sitter, without a cellphone contact. I know mine did. As they said you either need a better baby sitter or are being over protective. You don't need to be in 24x7 contact with your baby sitter period.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[pedestrian crossing]

I am a parent as well.

You are paraniod beyond reason, my friend. Just stay home until they're grown up if you really feel that having your cell phone on during the relatively miniscule amount of time that you will be in a theatre will make a difference.

I strongly suspect that you are "wrapping them up in cotton wool".

Cheers,
Ped

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[thbigr]

No wool, three broken bones, lots of cuts, asthma, bla, bla, bla.

Trueth is you can live with out cell phones, you just can. Do they make life easier, yes. But so what? Is it realy right to bother other people?

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Asic Eng]

This system would block the sitter's call to me, yet that is no less valid as an emergency than a 999 call is.

It's a lot less important, actually. The reason for letting emergency calls through, is that there may be an emergency right there in the theatre (e.g. someone has a heart attack) - in this case there may be no other way to reach help, but to place a call. However the fact that your sitter can call you, also guarantees that there is another way to reach help - the sitter could call someone else.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[jabuzz]

Except if there is an emergency that would threaten the life of your child/children when they are in the care of a babysitter then YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST POINT OF CALL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.

Here is a clue, when your child/children go to school, if they have an accident they will call the emergency services and deal with your child *BEFORE* calling you on your cellphone. If there is some lifethreating problem the emergency services are *ALWAYS* more appropriate.

Even if it is directing the babysitter to do first aid, the trained professional at the other end of a 911/999 call is a much better bet that an emotionaly attached parent that is likely to panic.

If you honestly think you are improving your childs chances by being contactable by cellphone then you are a self deluded fool.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[mccalli]

Here is a clue...If you honestly think you are improving your childs chances by being contactable by cellphone then you are a self deluded fool.

Ah, the sweet, seet sounds of reasonable discourse. The people telling me I'm being unreasonable to sit in silence and leve if an call came in are also being super-agressive, telling me to "get a clue", or calling me a "self-deluded fool". Calm down, it's a talk site - you must surely expect to run into people who don't share your opinon once in a while, right?

So, on to the substance of the reply. Firstly, at no point in my post did I suggest I would be the first point of call - I merely need to be a point of call. Let's assume my kid is injured and requires hospitalisation - I'm not the first point of call, the ambulance is. But do expect me not to want to know, so that I can be there at my kid's side? You don't think emotion comes into this? On the kid's side too - you don't think they'd want me to be there?

Secondly, not everything in life that requires my attention needs escalating to 999. Perhaps the kid is having a nightmare. Perhaps they're fighting and won't listen to the babysitter (note: I have two truly excellent babysitters who I trust entirely, but kids are not especially predictable so who knows?). Perhaps the babysitter has forgotten where the cough medicine is. Nothing to trouble the emergency services with, but still enough reason to give me a quick nudge.

In those circumstances, I fail to see how me having a silent phone, which alerts only myself, can be a problem for you. At the most, it will mean that I need to get up to walk past you in order to take the call outside.

If you're raging at the misuse of mobiles in cinemas and theatres then please understand I'm on your side. The solution isn't technical though, it's society-based discipline. Phone makes an audible ring? Throw 'em out. No questions, no comeback - out. Phone alerts but doesn't make a sound and the owner doesn't suddenly start using it in the middle of the auditorium? Well then, who has been harmed?

Cheers,
Ian

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Anonymous Coward]

At the most, it will mean that I need to get up to walk past you in order to take the call outside.

At a pivotal point in a film, the blocked view could be just as distracting as a phone going off.
Because your kid is having a nightmare or refusing to obey the babysitter?

Sorry if the opinions in this thread offend, but you chose to become a parent.
Them's the breaks.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Anonymous Coward]

Translation : My needs trump your needs because of my lifestyle choice.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Anonymous Coward]

responsibility would be to stay at home

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[0x0d0a]

If your sitter suspects your child has broken an arm while you're in the cinema, the correct thing for your sitter to do is to call an Ambulance on 999 and deal with the problem. Your sitter should not have to call you to be told to call an ambulance. If your house catches fire, your sitter should call the Fire Brigade, not you. If a nutter with a big knife attacks, call the police, not you.

The English are a wonderful people. :-)

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[radja]

*Urgent telephonecall for Mr. mccalli*

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[clare-ents]

Correct. I don't have kids. Should I have kids I suspect I'll follow your example and move from reasoned discourse to argument by patronisation.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Anonymous Coward]

The solution isn't technical though, it's society-based discipline. Phone makes an audible ring? Throw 'em out. No questions, no comeback - out.

Oh yeah. THAT'll happen. Who wants to be the first pimply-faced teenage movie employee to try to throw out the loud-mouthed black water buffalo using her cell phone? Anyone?

Technical solutions DO work. That's why we have traffic lights, stop signs, etc. Or, would you rather we just take them all down and rely on drivers' courtesy?

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Jim McCoy]

not everything in life that requires my attention needs escalating to 999

And not everything that you think needs you attention actually requires it. It is hard to accept, but sometimes your kids will benefit from you not being there more than if you are always there to "solve" their problem.

If you're raging at the misuse of mobiles in cinemas and theatres then please understand I'm on your side.

No, you are not.

You are among the large group of people who say that they agree with limiting cell phone interruptions in principle but think that for some reason or another these principles do not apply in their specific case. What everyone else is pointing out to you is that your preceived need to be in constant contact is not a valid reason. The social pressure that might otherwise seem a good solution to this problem has been proven not to work, particularly in public situations where the offender can feel protected in the anonymity of the crowd...

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Minstrel Boy]

Secondly, not everything in life that requires my attention needs escalating to 999.

That's not what you started out saying:

This system would block the sitter's call to me, yet that is no less valid as an emergency than a 999 call is.

Yes, it is.

KeS

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[/dev/trash]

I wonder what we did in the 60s before cellphones.

Re:What about personal emergencies?

[Anonymous Coward]

The reason for letting emergency calls through, is that there may be an emergency right there in the theatre (e.g. someone has a heart attack) - in this case there may be no other way to reach help, but to place a call. However the fact that your sitter can call you, also guarantees that there is another way to reach help - the sitter could call someone else.

You fucking moron -- what makes you think the theater doesn't have a land line?

GPS Can Do It More Elegantly

[TM22721]

Just put GPS in every phone. Any cell calls originating from/to the cinema's coordinates can then easily be blocked via an entry in the provider's database.

Re:GPS Can Do It More Elegantly

[pklong]

Oh thanks, now how am I suppost to get my Orange Wednesday's 2 for 1 cinema ticket.

not only in France

[lovebyte]

Apparently Mexican priests are also interested !
But the funny part is that (obviously) the mobile phone operators are against it but it also seems that it could contravene the EU legislation. So more is expected to come from this.

Re:not only in France

[Asic Eng]

"Our church was the first to use the technology and now we are getting calls from all over the country asking about the system."

Unfortunately the interested people were unable to reach the church for some reason. :-)

Why bother letting emergency calls through?

[Gordonjcp]

You're in a cinema. They have landlines. You could even (gasp!) leave the auditorium to make a call!

Jam at the ass level

[MMercurius]

The best way to jam the phone is up the owner's ass.

Then you can't hear it ringing at all!

Mod parent up

[quintessent]

A lot of people are missing the point.

Emergency calls OUTSIDE, people.

Re:Mod parent up

[tha_mink]

A lot of people are missing the point.

Emergency calls OUTSIDE, people.

RTFA man, it says

"Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

It says nothing about emergency calls OUTSIDE.

you pointed out the solution

[Trepidity]

If you really need to be contacted, you can still be contacted the old-fashioned, pre-cellphone way: leave information on where you'll be, and then the restaurant/theater/etc. can pass along a message. It worked 10 years ago, and it still works.

Re:you pointed out the solution

[Anonymous Coward]

You propose a low-tech solution to a problem wich comes from a high-tech solution to a problem that could have been solved with a low-tech solution in the first place?

Here in Denmark ...

[zonix]

In (most) Danish cinemas, just after the trailers and before the movie starts, there's a little funny reminder for people who forgot to turn off or silence their mobiles. It's actually a commercial - a joint effort by various mobile phone service providers.

The lights are dimmed and the screen is completely black. Suddenly a phone rings in some corner of the cinema, only it's not a phone, it's actually coming from the surround sound speakers. One of the commercials has one of those annoyoing teenage girls answering the phone - you know, the kind who is blabbering on and on about everything with one of her friends. :-)

It's very humerous and convincing at the same time. Of course in the end the reminder on the screen tells you to turn of the phone.

IMO, this is great way to handle the issue.

z

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[stubear]

In the US we have a funny ad as well. It starts out with a bunch of American Indians preparing for their biggest, and possibly last, hunt for buffalo, without which they will starve during the winter. The audience thinks this is another trailer for an upcoming film. The scene cuts to two Indians overlooking the buffalo stretched out along plains from a hilltop when suddenly a cell phone rings in the background. The two Indians come to the conclusion that the sound is coming from the audience and turn to tell the audience to turn their cell phone off but not before the buffalo become spooked and begin to run away. It's a funny ad and it's seems to be somewhat effective as I've noticed more than a couple people checking to see if their cell phones are off after seeing the ad.

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[PeDRoRist]

Yeah, reminder adds are nice -especially when funny- but they only work with people who are willing (or at least not reluctant) to turn their phone off, or silence them in the first place.

I mean, I've seen people here in France purposely making phone calls during a movie, because the movie was annoying them but they didn't want to leave, and rather chat with their friends and annoy people around. The trouble is usually, telling this people to remain quiet is useless, as they will make even more noise to annoy you, and additionnally use you as a target for pop corn throwing. Of course I'm exagerating, but not that much.

The problem is that nowadays, with major theater networks offering cheap monthly subscriptions (like 18 euro a month), people can watch all the movies they want for the price of two regular tickets. So if they see a couple of good movies within a month, anything else they see is regarded as a bonus. And if they think the bonus movies are lame, that's no big deal since they virtually don't pay anything. That (and an obvious lack of manners) is why some people assess they can ruin a movie for everyone if they feel like it.

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[Anonymous Coward]

There's only one problem... those who come in late will miss that ad. :/

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[Suidae]

All they need to add to that is a picocell that doesn't block calls, but does ring all the phones in the theater about 30 seconds after the ad, while the lights are still up.

That way everybody can see the inconsiderate fool who can't follow directions.

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[Blakey Rat]

There are ads like that in the US, also. One has a catchy theme-song:

"It's inconsiderate cell-phone-man! So inappropriate!"

And shows him answering phones during his own wedding, at funerals, during church, during a first date, etc.

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Extremely cool idea! Mod parent up up up!

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmmm. That probably works well in Denmark, where everyone is the same race and fairly educated. Now, here in the States...

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[bmrh]

Yeah in Hong Kong they have that too.

And then everyone just takes calls all through the movie. And I mean *takes the call* - no hushed request to call back, just sit and yack to your friend/family/nighbour/mortgage broker.

Man that sucks.

Re:Here in Denmark ...

[DrEasy]

Well, if they were all great people in Denmark, surely they wouldn't need such an ad?

For sale: 15 Watt powerphone

[thrill12]

As many people now are experiencing that their cellphones are blocked in most public-places (theaters, trains, libraries, cafe's, hospitals, restaurants, buses, subways, stations, etc.), and the only alternative is to use the payphone provided there, this powerphone is THE solution for nowadays connected businessman/-woman.

It contains a 15 Watt transceiver, capable of transmitting through even the most powerful GSM-blockers (proper headshielding required, no medical guarantees).
In emergencies, it can provide a 25 Watt burstmode (wireless headset required, do not operate within 20 feet of humans) for 1 minute.
Comes packed with standard 100VA-batterypack that will last at least 30 minutes.

Re:For sale: 15 Watt powerphone

[Anonymous Coward]

"Guaranteed to give you a tumor in two weeks or less or your money back!!!!!"

Re:For sale: 15 Watt powerphone

[pe1chl]

Of course, with a local phone jammer operating in the theatre the problem is not your weak signal getting out (this is the same with or without jammer) but the base station signal overpowering the jammer.
So you will gain nothing by using more outputpower; you need some receiver that ignores the local jamming and receives the remote base station anyway.

Simple solution

[Deternal]

Allow the phonecompanies to charge for cell-phone like they are abroad while in theaters - after someone gets a 40$ bill for talking 10 mins in the theater they'd probably remember next time - and emergency calls would still come through :D

Can I take these jammers with me on a date?

[TheLoneCabbage]

Here's something you won't read too often on /.

#1 pet-peve on a date, just short of picking your nose, is picking up a cell phone.

I take my phone with me, and it goes OFF the second I am within talking distance of my date. If it goes back on again, that means I'm more concerned about a random friend asking me (for the 50th time) what sites are best for downloading mp3s, than I am in the flow of our conversation.

Is there anything more uncomfortable than to be mid-stride in conversation, and having that blasted ring interupt. So now she's giving driving directions to a friend and your picking at your food. (or your nose, as at this point it's a lost cause)

So help me, if that phone rings it better be your family priest/rabbi/immam telling you that your mother/brother/father/sister/dog is dieing.

Now that I think about it, I don't want a portable jammer with me on a date. I want to know as soon as possible that the womman is a classless waste of my time.

Here's a better idea though. Let's install electroshock devices on cell phones, that are like that video game James Bond (Sean Connery) played in "Never Say Never Again". When you start talking it's all good, but as time passes the voltage/pain goes up. If the conversation isn't worth having you hang up before you have to feel the pain of everyone else sitting near you.

Re:Can I take these jammers with me on a date?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is there anything more uncomfortable than to be mid-stride in conversation, and having that blasted ring interupt.

Burning to death is more uncomfortable. Try it sometime.

Re:Can I take these jammers with me on a date?

[zenaida_valdez]

Are you dating Paris Hilton?

Re:Can I take these jammers with me on a date?

[TheLoneCabbage]

were I dating someone of such 'caliber' it would not be her conversation I would be interested in.

Fortunately I set my goals higher.

Missed the point?

[c4miles]

I suspect this means that emergency calls OUT to police, fire, ambulance services can still be made FROM the theatre.

Hmm...

[Pakaran2]

If you jam cell phones, won't that just lead to people shouting louder? Knowing most of the cell phone users I do, I can just picture...

(Phone goes off) "Hello? ... Oh, hi, John, they have a cell phone jammer in here. JOHN, I SAID THEY HAVE A CELL PHONE JAMMER IN HERE. CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER NOW? ... DAMMIT JOHN, EVERYONE IN THE THEATER IS STARING AT ME. ... YEAH, I'D LOVE TO MEET YOU FOR A BEER, BUT I'M IN THIS MOVIE FOR THE NEXT HALF HOUR. Oh, never mind, they just dragged me out by my shirt collar. ... Yeah, there's much better reception out here, where do you want to go?"

Already jammed in some cinemas in Paris.

[achilstone]

E.g. UGC chain at Les Halles seems to of got phone jamming right.
The walls are so thick with concrete that no signal gets through. Infact you probably need to switch your mobiles off otherwise you'll drain the batteries as your phone desperately tries to find a signal.

Re:Already jammed in some cinemas in Paris.

[PeDRoRist]

Maybe you should mention that the UGC Les Halles Multiplex is located some ten meters below ground level

Re:Already jammed in some cinemas in Paris.

[achilstone]

True the complex is underground, people can still make calls in the cinema reception area and the rest of the shopping complex which I dare say is more like 20m underground. Maybe that's the best way, use low tech engineering rather than laws and social pressure to silence mobile users.

Re:Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy peo

[arose]

If you can make it to only block assholes I'm all for it.

Or just kick people out

[Mark Hood]

Make it a clear policy - if your phone rings, leave and don't come back.

There's a chain of supermarkets in Holland (Albert Heijn) with a neat little 'no-cell' sign on the door. A friend of mine was in there when his phone rang, and he answered it. Within 2 seconds, one of the shop staff told him to take the call outside and took his shopping basket from him.

You could tell the rest of the people in the shop were pleased, so they could shop without someone yammering away behind them.

My friend was less amused, but for some reason still couldn't figure out that if he turned the phone off for two minutes he could do his shopping and leave instead of complaining he couldn't do both...

Mark

Re:Or just kick people out

[Anonymous Coward]

Episode two: He never shopped there again, told his friends never to shop there again, they told their friends, and a month later, the shop closed.

That's how it works when you treat your customers bad. Personally I don't have enough friends to make a difference, but I've seen shops close after treating my brother bad. Of course it doesn't help them either that he's the type who will still go into the shop just to make the sales people make a fool of themselves in front of other customers.

Re:Or just kick people out

[Mark Hood]

Well, that's a chance they're taking.

The point is, there's enough people who appreciate it to keep the shop alive - if they find they're having to shut down because everyone has enough friends who want to jabber on cellphones constantly, then I'm sure they'll reconsider.

It seems from reading the comments here though, that plenty of /.ers will be happy to patronise places that don't like cellphones...

Mark

Re:Or just kick people out

[Xugumad]

Can we comprimise on, if I set it to silent, and leave to take the call, I can come back in afterwards?

Re:Or just kick people out

[Anonymous Coward]

come on, that's really childish. shopping is not such a important sensual experience that it would be severly disturbed by somebody nearby phoning. Maybe he needs to know from his wife which kind of sausage to buy?

Do you really expect people to keep turning on and off their phones every time they enter or leave a shop? Apart from the fact that every turning on draws on the batteries it would quickly annoy all cell phone owners (i.e. practically everybody).

Get used to it. People have mobile phones. People use mobile phones, that's what they are intended for. No, people don't phone to impress you, that was 10 years ago.
While there are situations where using mobile phones is not apropriate (cinemas, restaurants, church, lectures, etc.) I find it perfectly OK to use phones in shops, public transport and even cafes and bars. It's a matter of good manners to use a phone in such a way that it does not disturb nearby people more than a normal conversation would. This basically means to not shout when phoning. If you have to shout, it is an indication that you should go and look for a quiet spot to make the call.

Re:Or just kick people out

[DCheesi]

Ok I can understand blocking phones in a theatre, but in a supermarket?! Who cares if someone is talking on the phone while you're shopping for canned peas? There are always plenty of people/families talking in a supermarket anyway (or screaming, in the case of unruly children). Maybe Holland is a lot different, but I've never been in a grocery store where you'd even notice someone chatting on a cell phone...

Re:Or just kick people out

[Mark Hood]

It's a matter of good manners to use a phone in such a way that it does not disturb nearby people more than a normal conversation would.
And everyone in the world is good mannered, obviously... :) My pet peeve is people who shout into their phone "Hello? UI can't hear you, no. Hello? Are you there? What? No, I'm in a shop".

I know people use phones (my job depends on it, I work for a large multi-national telecommunications equipment supplier, so I have every interest in phones being as widespread as possible)

I think we've got off the point - I was saying 'ban people from the cinema' rather than using a technological solution, and giving the example of a (small) supermarket where I'd seen that approach used. I know it's not like having someone natter away all through a movie!

Re:Or just kick people out

[Mark Hood]

That's all they did - his rang and he answered it in the shop, so they politely asked him to take the call outside. He came back in and all was well...

My point wasn't 'string them all up', but that it's possible to ask someone politely to stop doing something that annoys people - bring back the human touch instead of 'block frequencies a-z, and install re-routing software so they get an announcement'... I know it's SlashDot, but sometimes technology isn't the answer :)

Re:Or just kick people out

[Animats]

Why shouldn't you be able to make calls from inside a retail establishment? Do they want to eliminate comparison shopping?

"Hello, Best Buy? What's your price on a Denon 217. $314? Thanks. Bye. OK, sales rep, would you like to match that price?"

Re:Or just kick people out

[Anonymous Coward]

>Episode two: He never shopped there again, told his
>friends never to shop there again, they told their
>friends, and a month later, the shop closed.

Episode three: Our characters wake up from a hideous nightmare only to discover that the events in Episode two never actually happened because there were more people in the grocery store disturbed by the cellphone user than there were people inconvenienced by being required to behave like decent people. So, all the decent people tell all of there friends that there's this grocery store around the corner where they can do their shopping in peace. The store's profits boom, and they open a whole chain of store's with the same rule.

Re:Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy peo

[Darren Winsper]

Great, so the innocent can be punished along with the guilty. Great strategy there. I guess you're in favour of the INDUCE act, too.

No, don't mod (grand)parent up

[Anonymous Coward]

The grandparent poster has reading problems or doesn't know what the word "and" means.

Re:Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy peo

[Anonymous Coward]

Block my asshole? HUH? Whoa there people. Let's not constipate the universe, you anti-American, terrorist french-fry-eating left-leaning twats. It's a conspiracy I tell you! They want to block my bodily fluids! The Children, someone think about the Children. It's the Economy, stupid, in Soviet Russia. All your cellphone are belong us. For great Justice! ???? Profit...in Japan! With some hot grits down my cellphone-loving ear, naked-and-petrified by Goatse boy.

You're damn right :)

[lxt]

I was working as a lighting technician at a theatre in Edinburgh this year during the annual festival - I was putting on around 8 shows a day for a month, and at every single show someone recieved a text message / phone call...we even had one guy take a call during the show (which did provide the stand up comic at the time with some good material!)

There is a slightly less severe approach to jamming which I know one theatre I work in uses - the cellphone detector, which as the name suggests detects, rather than jams, cellphones. It can be programmed to play a message such as "Please switch off your phones before the show starts", or simply to alert crew backstage. Quite useful when you're recording a performance and what to ensure nothing happens to disturb it...

PC fuckwad

[quintessencesluglord]

Oh dear, someone has interrupted my right to an undisturbed performance.

Shall we kill the next person who coughs or has to use the bathroom?

It might be wise to consider how any new technology disrupts the social fabric, and it takes a little time to adjust.

Or that maybe other people are just as self-absorbed/rude as you are.

But fair is fair. If they are bugging you with their cells, why not harass them back by jamming their calls? Hell, legislate it to make it seem more credible. And the chants of "But that's illegal!" that are soon to follow.

I mean the fact their kid has just been involved in a 7 car pile up and a mother is seeking confirmation on their kid's medical history/medical release is so benign compared to my perfect evening.

What even bother having a cell at all?

*laments when smoking and public tolerance/responsibility were ushered out of the public space*

Re:PC fuckwad

[Reene]

Melodramatic much?

It wasn't too long ago that we all got by just fine as a society and as individuals without the convenience of having an obnoxious little chatterbox at our sides which allows us to be at the 24/7 beck and call of whichever bored twit happens to have our cell phone number.

Just for curiousity's sake, when was the last time your evening at a movie or the theatre was interrupted by a mother receiving a call about their comatose kid (or something comparable) versus someone who just wanted to chat it up with their friend about who got the clap from who's boyfriend (or something comparable)?

Re:PC fuckwad

[quintessencesluglord]

It wasn't too long ago that we all got by just fine as a society and individuals without the convenience of antibiotics, automobiles, and computers. Your point? The point is a cellphone could be used as such. It's a tool, nothing more. I myself don't own a cell phone. Think the devises are evil. But I'm perfectly aware that several people do own cellphones, and may have reasons to want to be connected at the hip 24/7. It's their choice. They certainly don't have to justify it to me. And on the topic of melodrama, which is more melodramatic- someone being obnoxious with a cell or have to legislate someone being obnoxious with a cell? Pray to god your nose-picking behavior doesn't come up for review.

Re:PC fuckwad

[Reene]

I never said the devices are evil. I know they have uses, indeed, I acknowledge that there are good reasons for people to need to be avaliable 24/7, such as in the case of volunteer firefighters (of which we have many in my area). But why should one person's desire to be able to have their cellphone blast an annoying ring-tone and chitter chatter with their friends precede my desire to enjoy a show I have paid for?

They're not making a law against having cellphones in a theatre, they're granting theatres the right to prevent one person from bugging a roomful of other patrons because their (usually) unimportant conversation can't wait an hour. Theatres should have that right. Why the bloody hell not?

It's a shame people in the US are sue-happy, else I'd prefer seeing more theatres here with signs that say something along the lines of "Please shut off your cell phone or switch it to vibrate. We reserve the right to escort out anyone whose phone disrupts our other customers' enjoyment of the show."

People would bitcb bitch bitch though, which is a shame. If people would just be courteous and considerate of others, shit like this wouldn't even be necessary in the first place.

Re:PC fuckwad

[Anonymous Meoward]

Mind-numbingly stupid analogy. If we take it to its logical conclusion, we "got along fine" without fire or the wheel.

If I'm paying for a service (in this case, a movie, or a play, or a sporting event), I expect to receive the goods, regardless of what the other spectators think. It's just plain sad that polite decent behavior has to be legislated in the first place, let alone be labelled "politically correct".

Your kid was in a car crash? Yeah, that sucks.. but take the call out in the lobby, since you're on your way out anyway. You're on call 24/7? Yeah, that sucks too, but check out this next phrase: "Vibrating pager." Ooooh, what a concept.

Let's be real: 99.999999999% of the calls in the theater are totally unnecessary bullshit that only ruins the experience for everyone else. Anybody with a brain and an ounce of courtesy wouldn't use a cell in such a situation. As for people with neither, who just have to mess things up for everyone else, screw 'em: yank the phone out of their hands and throw it into the lobby.

Re:PC fuckwad

[quintessencesluglord]

Agreed. People should be more considerate.

If a facility wishes to put up a jammer, fine. Their choice (and they really shouldn't have to ask permission by law) as well as asking the person to leave.

The point is that while trying to combat the inconsiderateness of others, the theatre is also being inconsiderate. A responsible party, when recieving a call, would excuse themselves. Those people now do not have the option to be connected at the hip by the actions of a few bad players. Couldn't an usher ask an obnoxious party to tone it down or leave instead of installing a jammer? Which is a more reasonable response?

Mostly I object to technology that forces you to be a good citizen. And after reading several of the justifications posted, the degree in which others took their right to be undisturbed during a show struck me as incredibly melodramatic (others paid their ticket price as well, sorry).

There are other issues at hand. Can I demand an absence of disturbances while going to see Rocky Horror? Can I bring in my laptop and write notes if I'm doing a review? Can I dress as Chewbacca during a Star Wars premire? I'm certain any of these actions would irritate someone else (and as you mention lawsuit; the potential for lawsuits with installing a jammer is enormous). It just strikes me as mutually intolerant, and attempting to make a law for a circumstance that would eventually die out anyways.

France already has phone jammers

[2$ Crack Whore]

I live and work in Toulouse, and I was somewhat surprised at this article - there already are phone jammers operating in cinemas here, possibly illegally?

It's a good idea though, there is no need to have a mobile phone when watching a film ;-)

Sure...

[thrill12]

if you had an analogue system. We are talking about GSM kinda, which is digital :)
In any case, shouting won't work - the bits don't get through :-)

Excellent idea !

[TractorBarry]

This is an excellent first step.

Next I'd like to see the use of mobile phones being given the same social status as smoking i.e. not allowed in enclosed public places such as pubs, restaurants, theatres, buses etc. etc.

If you want to make or receive calls you can go outside with the smokers. (Actually wait a minute I'm a smoker so fsck that, they'll have to have the other side of the entrance)

In the case of trains there should be a single carriage in which you can send and receive calls.

For fucks sake society functioned perfectly well before these intrusive, obnoxious devices. If I were to start carrying round a trumpet and intermittently playing it tunelessly and loudly then shouting away to myself I'd get arrested/battered pretty quickly.

As usual its not the technologys fault but the fucking morons who are misusing it...

Now what I'd really like is a portable, unobtrusive, mobile jammer that would put a 5 metre "Phone disruptor" screen around myself.

Just steal the damn thing and THROW IT

[Anonymous Meoward]

It's bad enough when a movie is interrupted by some idiot on a cell phone. It's worse during a play. The tickets are usually more expensive, and the phone runs the risk of disturbing the production. Our favorite playhouse (Playmakers Repertory in Chapel Hill, NC) has a similar reminder two minutes before each opening act. Unfortunately, there is always that one idiot who disregards it, or just forgets to check his phone, and the rest of us have to deal with the Nokia jingle during a performance. The actors love it, let me tell you..

The worst case I've ever seen was in a touring production at Duke University. We were sitting in the back, the seats were terrible, and yes, some waste of space ahead of us just had to field that phone call right then and there. The conversation was filled with discussions of emergency issues.. like "Oh, nothin'.. just watchin' a play.. what are you up to?"

If I wasn't with the wife, and if the phone itself wasn't more than two rows ahead of us, I'd have swiped it and thrown it into the lobby. (Oh darn, it could hit the door and shatter. So sorry.)

So I say, if you know the callee is just being a jerk, take matters into your own hands. Literally. But just long enough to test Newton's theory of gravitation and to mutter the phrase "go fetch".

Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[BCW2]

You are a very emotional, reactionary type. Get a grip. If assholes would just set the phone to vibrate and leave the room to answer, this would not be nessesary. No big deal, just a complete lack of common manners and good judgement have caused the situation. The realization that others have rights seems to have escaped most cell phone users.

Necessity

[Tom]

Very good. A step into the right direction.

Funny coincidence, I've started shopping for a jammer today. Yesterday's train ride was the final drop. When will people learn that your private interest is not more important than the comfort of the 50 other people on the train?

I would expect that people talking on the phone in a crowded, public place would at least have the basic courtesy of not speaking twice as loud as everyone else.

And it's not like it's impossible or hard to do. I was in Tokyo last year, and while everyone there has a cell phone, I never, ever, found anyone using it in an obnoxious way. There were no loud rings, and people talking on the cell phone talked to quiet that they were no disturbance even to those standing nearby.

All it takes is a little respect for your fellow humans.

Until then, I want my jammer.

In other words, it's forbidden.

[DdJ]

It's permitted, as long as emergency calls can still get through? What the fuck?

It seems to me that this is like saying microwave ovens are allowed to interfere with 802.11 as long as TCP packets with a ToS of 0 or 1 get through unmolested. That'd be great, sure, but physics does not care.

Wrong solution!

[gidds]

Yes, of course a loud ringtone, or answering a phone during a performance, is rude, inconsiderate, disruptive, and insulting. I don't think anyone here disagrees.

BUT a jammer isn't the right answer to that! It prevents perfectly legitimate and polite uses of a phone (silent alerts; text and photo messages; genuine emergencies; leaving the room before answering) without actually stopping people from being rude and inconsiderate!

If they don't jam phones, and instead actually enforce a nuisance policy, then people will have to learn to use their phones responsibly (turning them off, or to 'silent running'). And everyone benefits.

Collateral damage

[Renaud]

I'm relieved that our cinemas are going to be quieter at last (even though the amount of annoyance really depends on the kind of movie and audience), but there are unintended benefits for some greedy people, too:

I'm sure tour promoters and record companies are very pleased with this, now at last they can require concert halls to block off those pesky cell phones sending unauthorized pictures and recordings of live acts...

In a crowded theatre

[joshuaobrien]

is it ok to call the fire department?

Re:In a crowded theatre

[thbigr]

well, you can't yell "fire" in a crouded movie theater...

Why not do the opposite of jamming?

[RedLaggedTeut]

Why not do the opposite, install a cell repeater station that fakes a call to every cell phone that is switched on, with the message (voice+SMS) "Please turn off your mobile phone. Seems you forgot to turn it off. Thank you."

As a movie operator, check now that all in the audience have turned their mobiles off( no ringing anymore).

As the audience, "ask politely" that people with mobiles on turn them off.

So people can still receive SMS and voice, but switch off the signal and switch on the vibration alert.

emergencies not just for professionals

[Washizu]

Just because you aren't an emergency professional doesn't mean you don't have emergencies.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:only the french

[Anonymous Coward]

Congratulations on visiting every cinema in Australia. How long did it take you?

I hate cell phones

[Jacek Poplawski]

Am I the only one on Slashdot who hates cell phones?

It is most pathetic moment ever when something interesting happen, then cell phone rings - "hi! how are you?". Even Microsoft Windows doesn't have so huge control over people as cell phones.

And no, I never had any cell phone.

Re:I hate cell phones

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope, you're not the only one. As cruel and evil as this may sound, I kind of hope they find something horribly wrong with cellphones that can't be fixed, like they cause brain cancer or something, so people will have to stop using the dumb things.

Re:I hate cell phones

[c_oflynn]

Can't Agree More :D

Re:I hate cell phones

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I the only one on Slashdot who hates cell phones?

You and the AC below you are the only two people left on slashdot that hate cell phones (and don't own cell phones).

I personally hate SUVs (I also don't own one).

Re:Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy peo

[Kombat]

If I can encourage cinemas and universities to install the Asshol-Blok 5000

I believe a product with such a name is already on the market, although it has a very different purpose. It's been widely endorsed by paranoid right-wing homophobes.

The answer is called a pager

[SmallFurryCreature]

Far simpler and far more reliable, since it consumers less power and doesn't need to transmit it needs very towers.

Set it to vibrate. When it goes off the doctor leaves the theather and makes the call. All problems solved. Just like they do it already and did it long before cell phones existed.

Re:The answer is called a pager

[Suidae]

Why should i have to carry a cell phone AND a pager? Cell phones have a silent mode, just put up an ad between the trailers and the feature to remind everyone to put their phones in silent mode (be sure to turn up the house lights so everyone can see their phones).

If you must use a pico-cell, don't use it to block calls, use it to identify each phone and then ring it after the above ad, so anyone who has neglected to turn their phone off can be identifed and lynche^H^H^H^H^H^Hcorrected before the lights go back down.

I've been to many movies in the past 5 years, and not once have I heard a phone ring. I don't think this is a big problem.

Re:The answer is called a pager

[pVoid]

Holly inefficient thinking there Batman!

For starters, you can not identify every cell phone in the room. What if one is off during the beginning of the movie?

Second, say you've actually identified the 120 phones in the room. Now, they're all buzzing and blurping. How do you know which one is which? Are you going to sequentially call each one?

If you're a doctor, you get a pager. It's that simple. Either that, or you make a modification to the system where users can 'register' at the entrance stating they are doctors or whatevers, and that their phone in particular shouldn't be blocked ever.

Re:The answer is called a pager

[Suidae]

you can not identify every cell phone in the room.

If a picocell does not provide service to every phone in the vicinity, what good is it?

Now, they're all buzzing and blurping. How do you know which one is which?

I don't need to. The point is to alert those few people who have forgotten to turn off their phones, or forgotten that they had their phone with them.

After ringing them a few times before and after the various ads and trailers all the phones will be off (and with the lights on, anyone who insists on leaving theirs on can easily be removed).

Re:The answer is called a pager

[JoeBuck]

Cell phones have "vibrate" mode too, and the surgeon is perfectly capable of letting it go to voicemail, leaving the theater and returning the call.

Re:The answer is called a pager

[bleckywelcky]

You actually have a good idea here that I have never seen implemented in any theater I have visited. After the previews but right before the movie starts (to ensure that as many people are seated since a lot of people skip the previews and come in right before the movie starts), they should flash a banner on the screen that says "Please take the next 20 seconds to silence all phones."

Then start the movie.

Re:The answer is called a pager

[pVoid]

you can not identify every cell phone in the room.

If a picocell does not provide service to every phone in the vicinity, what good is it?

Way to pull a quote out of context, you should work for Bush. The full quote said:

you can not identify every cell phone in the room. What if one is off during the beginning of the movie?

Aside from that, you're point about 'reminding' people about their cell phones being on is as useful as 'cooperative multitasking'.

Re:The answer is called a pager

[DoXaVG]

I have a co-worker that once had an emergency and had his doctor paged. The idiot had decided to take a golfing trip three states away and was PISSED that he had to return. Teaches him to leave the area when he's on call :)

--Dox

Re:The answer is called a pager

[Anonymous Coward]

Way to pull a quote out of context, you should work for Bush. The full quote said:

you can not identify every cell phone in the room. What if one is off during the beginning of the movie?

Looked like two seperate, unrelated statements to me, perhaps you should have combined the sentences to make it more clear.

Anyway, if the phone is already off, it wouldn't be necessary to remind the user to silence it.

Performer's perspective

[kottos]

I think that this is great. I'm a classically trained musician and a sound engineer so I spend a lot of time either performing or recording concerts. When I'm onstage, I'm already a bundle of nerves and have to concentrate like hell for fear of messing up. Whenever I hear a phone go off, it is very distracting. I can ignore it and carry on, but it does throw you for a moment. 99% of the time it won't result in any audible wobble, but if it happens at the wrong time it can throw you completely and you screw up bigtime. When I'm recording, it is even worse. Even if somebody has their phone on silent but are sitting close enough to some of the gear, you can get the lovely du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du-duuuuuuuuuu sound captured in your recording. Again, this happens very rarely, but when it does I have to be physically restrained... I also lecture at a university - whenever students use their phone in class, it shows a distinct lack of respect for me and for the other students, some of whom are finding it difficult enough to follow the course content as it is.

Re:Performer's perspective

[Theaetetus]

A bit short-sighted though. What about on-call people: doctors, firemen, EMTs, network engineers, broadcast engineers, etc. We who carry cells and/or pagers for work nearly always remember to set them to vibrate... but they have to be on vibrate - they can't just "not get a call". That could mean the difference between life and death, for some people, or between having a job and not having a job, for others. Is the theater going to be responsible for the liability lawsuit if they block a firefighter's pager?

Re:Performer's perspective

[Idarubicin]

A bit short-sighted though. What about on-call people: doctors, firemen, EMTs, network engineers, broadcast engineers, etc. We who carry cells and/or pagers for work nearly always remember to set them to vibrate... but they have to be on vibrate - they can't just "not get a call".

This is where common sense kicks in. Even live performers will tolerate a pager vibrating, as long as you're sitting near the back of the hall. Take a seat on the aisle, so you're not climbing over other people if you're called away. If at all possible, wait for a suitable break in the performance to leave.

There are very few jobs for which a person is required to be on-call 24/7 for the entire year. Physicians and EMTs often have at least some time (alternate weekends, or one weekend a month, or something similar) where they are not on call. Plan to attend live performances at these times. Network/broadcast engineer? Haven't you got an assistant? Somebody trained to fill in if you're deathly ill or on vacation? If not, your employer is being dreadfully negligent, wouldn't you say?

Attending a play, or the orchestra, or the opera isn't a right. If an individual can't attend without disturbing members of the audience or--worse--the performers, then perhaps he or she should find alternate entertainment. If you're on call for a job, that is an obligation for which you are being (or should be being) compensated--whether explicitly, or as part of your salary. In exchange for that, you do have to sacrifice some freedom. Remember, it could be worse. It wasn't so many years ago that on-call doctors had to leave a landline number where they could be reached at all times.

Re:Performer's perspective

[zx75]

I also lecture at a university - whenever students use their phone in class, it shows a distinct lack of respect for me and for the other students, some of whom are finding it difficult enough to follow the course content as it is.

Have you tried throwing chalk at them? It works extremely well. Warn your class beforehand that you will do it, and then follow through if it happens. I had one prof in my 2nd year (I'm a 4th year student atm) who did that, and the entire semester I only ever heard 1 phone ring.

Re:Performer's perspective

[kottos]

Well, I'm also the sysadmin for the department I work in so I tend to gain my revenge in proper BOFH style....

(sound of cattle-prod charging)

Put up with bad habits

[thbigr]

I agree with people who don't want cell phones in theaters, but something does bother me. I was always tought that when you go out in public you are required to put up with other peoples bad habits.

Things like, smoking, bad driving, bad breath, obscene language, talking in a movie theater, a couple making out, chewing their finger nails, picking thier nose, caughing, sneezing, and even farting in an elevator.

I have done them all. And I am sorry. Please forgive me, but maybe we SHOULD put up with other peoples phones, so they should put up with a good picking of a nose.

Even older methods exist

[SmallFurryCreature]

The person gives the number of the theather. Hospital calls the theather who then sends someone to get the person involved.

Of course only a tiny handfull of people need to really be on call. How many cell phone calls have you overheard or even had that were important?

Re:Even older methods exist

[Suidae]

Hospital calls the theather who then sends someone to get the person involved.

Yes, by turning up the lights and hollering for the guy in question right.

How is this better than asking people to put their phones in silent mode, then using the picocell to ring all the phones in the room?

The point is not that cell phone calls are not important, it is that some people need to be in contact all the time. I'm a parent, if I want to go to a movie, I have to get a babysitter. I need to be reachable by phone in case something happens. That doesn't mean I need to play 'Ride of the Valkyries' at 110dbSPL in the middle of a movie. Phones have a silent mode for a reason.

Re:Even older methods exist

[Anonymous Coward]

it is that some people need to be in contact all the time

Short of being the President of the United States or a member of the armed forces, nobody *needs* to be in contact *all* the time.

For God's sake, society somehow managed to survive for millenia without the majority of the population needing to be in contact 24/7.

If there is a true emergency (not: the server is down or your kid sprained an ankle) and someone in a movie theater needs to be contacted, then turning on the house lights and calling for the person is appropriate.

What has so fundamentally changed in society that vast amounts of people all of a sudden need instant contact capabilities with everyone else? The Internet? Pagers? Get real.

Just because we can contact each other all the time doesn't mean we should. We're stressing ourselves out enough already.

Re:Even older methods exist

[mikael]

Of course only a tiny handfull of people need to really be on call. How many cell phone calls have you overheard or even had that were important?


The majority of calls seem to be a running commentary of the location of the train/bus; "Oh, we're just going over the bridge now, we should be stopping at the station in 10 minutes, we're just going under the freeway now.....", followed by the first two lines of Beethoven's fifth symphony then, ".... sorry about that, I got cut off going under the freeway, we're just passing the a row of houses, we should be at the station in a couple of minutes".

Re:Even older methods exist

[Suidae]

The point is not so much that we need to be in contact, any more than we need to have digital cable and numerous other gadgets and services. The point is that disabling cell service is a poor technological solution to a probably that is mostly sociological.

First answer the question 'Why do people let their phones ring where it will annoy others?' I think the primary reason will be that people have forgotten that the phone was on, didn't realize they had it with them, or were unable to correctly put it in silent mode. Most people really aren't inconsiderate jerks who will insist on keeping the ringer on.

Is cutting off cell service really the best solution to helping people to remember to be aware of the effect their phone has on people around them? I don't think so. I think that a better solution is to remind them, and draw the attention of those around them.

Since a picocell is used to block normal calls while allowing emergency service, it can also be used to ring all the phones in the vicinity at a specific time (ringing one theater and not another might be a problem, I don't know how well localized then can make them), such as during the ads and trailers before the film or performance.

It simply is not necessary to deny wireless service to solve this problem.

What has so fundamentally changed in society that you expect to be completely undisturbed when you are in a croud of 100 other people?

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[account_deleted]

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Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[ggvaidya]

Don't most movie theatres already have actual humans?

Re:only the french

[animaal]

It's not ony the French. I've found Austrarians more likely than most to shout abuse or complain about being discommoded. Many other societies are different though. In many cultures, people are averse to shouting abuse, or even complaining. I've seen this particularly in Asia and northern Europe.

I've often seen people complain bitterly to their companions about bad food in resturaunts, only to say "lovely, thanks" when the restuaraunt owner asks how they find the food.

Their Only Calls...

[fire-eyes]

Their only calls are to the nearest mildy threatening country/group, to surrender.

No big loss here.

My god this makes me feel old...

[MarkedMan]

...that no-one has mentioned this. Before cell phones, when someone went to a public place (theater, symphony hall, restaurant, nightclubs) and they might be called, they mentioned it to the manager when they arrived. They had previously given the phone number (of the place they were going to) to whoever it was that needed to contact them (emergency service, baby sitter, whatever). The maitre d', usher, etc would note where they sat. If a call came in, someone would come and get them. This was normal for something like fifty years. I witnessed this myself any number of times. It worked.

Re:My god this makes me feel old...

[swillden]

Before cell phones, when someone went to a public place (theater, symphony hall, restaurant, nightclubs) and they might be called, they mentioned it to the manager when they arrived.

Yep, worked fine.

Imagine what kind of irritated look you'd get if you tried to do that now. "You want me to what? How the hell am I supposed to remember which theater you're in, much less where you sit?".

Re:My god this makes me feel old...

[Blakey Rat]

I was a theater usher in 2001 and I did this all the time for people. They were always polite about it, and I was always polite to them... you don't realize how BORING it is to be an usher when all the movies are going. It's like 10 minutes of work between features, then 1:30 of sweeping before the features let out. I'd MUCH rather go fetch people in theaters than sweep the halls. Plus, sometimes I got tipped.

Re:My god this makes me feel old...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was a theater usher in 2001 and I did this all the time for people. They were always polite about it, and I was always polite to them...

Where did you live??? In San Francisco, for the past twenty years, the best you'd get for calling a theater's listed number was a rundown of show times and prices off a recording.

Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[RobotRunAmok]

The funniest thing I have read today -- and probably for the week -- was you putting "technicians at your small hosting company" in the same sentence as "doctors, fire fighters, [and] people waiting for an organ transplant." It is, as they say in The Biz, "comedy gold."

(I have this image of weary, grim-faced grimey first-responders -- the firefighter in helmet, with his axe; the policeman, in cap, with his gun drawn; the doctor, stethescope around his neck, medical kit in hand; all emerging slo-mo through a thick curtain of smoke that blankets a rain-slick urban landscape. Background sound effects include sirens wailing, women sobbing, a toddler crying out for her mommy, the crackle of a police radio, maybe even the chum-chum of helicopter rotors overhead. Soundtrack is something suitably somber, like Enya's "Only Time," or perhaps a solo bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace." Suddenly, a high-pitched cry cuts through the scene and the mood: "Hey Guys!! Wait Up!!" The battle-weary first-responders turn slowly to see a technician from a small hosting company, "Buckaroo Banzai" baseball cap on head, router under his arm, racing out of an otherwise abandoned movie theatre (Marquee: "Star Wars Marathon!") to join them. The emergency-response professionals then look on in helpless horror (and a smidge of amusement that will haunt their consciences for months to come) as an Armored Personnel Carrier loaded with a troop of National Guardsmen barrels around the corner and flattens the hapless tech into the damp asphalt.)

Yeah, sure, I got better things to do then give it away on /., but you inspired me, dude, and for that I thank you.

Re:Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[Thomas Shaddack]

Repeat this later, after you won't be able to reach somebody you need during a system downtime that will cause you losing a contract worth a lot of money and send you into bankruptcy.

Don't diss the people who maintain the technological infrastructure you are dependent on.

Maybe the small hosting company maintains a line over which a SCADA system of your local power company operates, and its downtime in a wrong moment can subject the mentioned firefighters and doctors to a blackout. Combine this with their slashed budgets and resulting lack of maintenance of their generators. Even a seemingly unimportant part of infrastructure can have a great impact.

Also, given the proliferation of VoIP, even phone services are becoming dependent on computer networks.

Re:Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[RobotRunAmok]

Repeat this later, after you won't be able to reach somebody you need during a system downtime that will cause you losing a contract worth a lot of money and send you into bankruptcy

Oh, puh-leeze! I don't need a "technician from a small hosting company" to send me into bankruptcy. I can do that fine on my own, thanks.

Re:Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks dude. As someone that works as a tech that was funny.

Re:Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

If being unable to reach one person for a couple of hours can result in losing a big contract and sending you into bankruptcy, your management team are incompetent and a much greater liability than any technician. What were you planning to do if he accidentally switched off his phone, or got hit by a bus on the way into town, and then that incident occurred? You seem to be missing 98% of your sense of perspective here...

Re:Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[leonmergen]

I figure it's not that hard to guess what his job is... :)

Re:Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

I'm guessing he used to be a manager who couldn't reach someone and hadn't planned properly so he had a fall-back position. I'm guessing that right now he's unemployed. :-)

Re:How do they determine what's EMERGENCY???

[Anonymous Coward]

In case of emergency, sensible people just don't call their relatives but 911 or whatever emergency number.
If you're a 911 operator I'd bet you wouldn't go and watch a movie, would *you* ?

In other words they only let outgoing emergency calls...

Pointless in 20 years...

[Anonymous Coward]

By 2025 we'll have neural implants for cell phones so we'll be having conversations with people without anyone else nearby knowing...

Or we'll be looking at pr0n mpegs we downloaded to our DNA hard drive embedded in our skull when our wives/girl friends made us go to another chick flic.

What about incoming Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

A child's babysitter calling from home, your kid just swallowed half a gallon of toilet cleaner. A heart surgeon, a patient just went into cardiac arrest? Do the French think? Or do they have thier heads stuffed so far up thier @ss that they just don't care?

Re:What about incoming Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, like, totally, man. Gotta wonder how the hell anybody survived the dark ages before the invention of the cell phone. Good thinking. Gotta wonder how people cope in regions with little or no coverage.

Look, if your kid is home with a babysitter and swallows toxic materials or gets into some other medical emergency, and YOU are the first person the sitter calls, you need to fire that sitter. Unless, of course, you happen to be a medical doctor or paramedic and can be expected to react more quickly than EMS. And if *you*, as a parent, go out without leaving the sitter with a list of places you expect to be and attendant phone numbers/appropriate contact information, then your parenting skills may need a bit of work.

Doctors tend to use pagers for notification anyway. Far more reliable than cell phones, and better coverage.

Unless humanity has changed so much in the last 15 years that we can no longer cope adequately without cell phones--which we haven't--then disallowing cell calls into performance venues will not impact our survival rates.

Is this solving a non-problem?

[tfb]

I live in the UK, and I go to the cinema probably about once a week, to our local multiplex (so, not to some art cinema full of people who would make a huge fuss). I can remember a time when mobiles were a problem in cinemas, theatres and so on, but not in the last few years. This isn't because I've got used to phones ringing, it's because social pressure has worked to make sure people don't talk on phones (and set them to vibrate) in cinemas and similar environments. Very occasionally someone will send texts and the screen will be annoying, but even this is pretty rare. I can't remember when I last heard a phone ring in a cinema. We do have (network-sponsored, and often very funny) ads/warnings to remind people to turn their phones off, but these are reminders - people know to do this but occasionally forget.

Noisy popcorn eating is a much worse problem than phones in cinemas in the UK.

This is very different than the situation in trains and so on, where people do use phones, even in the `quiet' coaches. There is clearly more social pressure in cinemas, and it has worked.

Of course, it may just be that British people are very polite: we like to think so, anyway.

Evil Business Oppurtunity

[indiancowboy]

When restaurant,theaters and other public places are allowed to use such things, they will start tie-ups with certain operators and allow signal of only that operator. If Vodafone has a tie-up with this theatre conglomerate with 1000 theaters nation-wide that allows only Vodafone calls through, I would want to be a Vodafone customer.
Food for thought?

Re:Evil Business Oppurtunity

[So_Belecta]

I would imagine there are anti-monopoly laws to prevent that kind of thing.

text+vibrate

[khrtt]

I really need to be reachable at all times, and I won't go to a movie theater that jams calls. It's bad enough they make you turn the thing off on airplanes and in hospitals. I never let my phone ring in the theater, though. I set it to vibrate, and, if the call is really important, go out of the theater to talk. If it's less important I let it go to voice mail, and maybe text back.

So, instead of jamming, why not allow the cell to automatically set the phone on vibrate? Or, at least, not jam text messaging.

Re:Emergency Calls? -- True Friend

[Anonymous Coward]

Did anyone else pause while reading this?

I've had fairly serious things happen, such as my friend trying to call me when his brother died because he needed help moving the body.

Do you live in New Jersey? Oh well, you know what they say "A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body."

Said it before, I'll say it again..

[Anonymous Meoward]

Just swipe the cell phone and THROW IT.

Throw it far away.

And away from innocent people, of course.
But by all means, throw it.

Make the annoying moron go pick it up off the theater floor. If you're lucky, he'll make more than one trip to get all of the pieces.

Anybody who is trying to annoy you.. who knows what they're doing is wrong, and persists.. deserves the worst treatment possible for the situation.

If that doesn't work, a nice piece of hard candy to the back of the head (or something harder, like an American quarter) should work.

Re:Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy peo

[timmyf2371]

Which innocents are you referring to?

Most cinemas I go to these days - which I might add are private businesses - have rules which state before the film to switch cellphones off.

So if your cellphone is off and you are innocent, how does blocking cellphone signals punish you if you won't be receiving signals or transmitting anyway?

The FRENCH are enforcing courtesy?

[erik_fredricks]

Wow. They MAY actually be ahead of us in some respects.

Sorry, but I'll repeat what's already been said here: if it's so $%&*ing important, take care of it elsewhere. You have no right to inflict your lack of courtesy on others.

The last time I went to see the Emerson Quartet perform in Atlanta (which has the rudest audiences I've ever seen), the whole experience was repeatedly interrupted by ringing and "hushed" conversations. It screwed up the audience's (and worse) the performers' concentration and made the whole performance an excercise in frustration. I paid sixty bucks--I deserve to enjoy it.

Pagers

[Anonymous Coward]

I can understand why people support jammers - someone talking on their cell phone is disruptive in a movie - but I'd hate to see the notion extended to all forms of incoming communication eg. pagers (which you can leave on vibrate only, anyway) on the premise some have cited that it's disruptive for people to have to leave. It's like this - some doctors (and this probably applies to some other professions too) are on call for prolonged periods. It's not enough to say that those people can't use any of that time in a movie / other location with blockers, because that increases the personal cost of an on-call arrangement that is a social good. I don't know what it's like the in States, but in Australia health is a primarily public system and these on-call arrangements are poorly remunerated, producing difficulties with getting sufficient cover (I know of one large hospital that stopped its Obstetrics service entirely because it couldn't get enough anaesthetist cover). Blocking *all* incoming communication just makes things harder for these people and thus for many others (eg. the pregnant mums who had to travel longer distances to an obstetrics service when they want into labor). As such, the arguments about the self-importance of needing to be contacted at all times, and that they managed fine in the 1950's (you'd wouldn't think Slashdotters would take such a Luddite stance, but there it is) seem pretty hollow - it's in everyone's best interest that some people are contactable at all times, and if the anaesthetist / surgeon / guy-with-a-pager next to you needs to leave part-way through (though not to have a conversation in the movie on their cell phone, which I agree is unnecessary) then that seems a reasonable balance of everyone's interests.

cultural solution

[wikinerd]

I think a cultural solution should be found. there is no need for technological or legal solutions. See this: http://nsk.wikinerds.org/blog/index.php?p=65

Let's All Go To The Lobby!

[HarveyBirdman]

Movie theaters would be great if it weren't for all the other people, the cell phones, the crying babies, the expensive food, the sticky floors, the uncomfortable seats and the boring crap projected up on the screen.

Other than that they are perfectly fine.

Re:Let's All Go To The Lobby!

[valkraider]

All that for only $10 a person.

Re:Let's All Go To The Lobby!

[Legion303]

And don't forget the 15-20 minutes of commercials they slap at the beginning of every feature as a friendly convenience.

You don't have to answer every phone call

[cabjoe]

Something that has always pissed me off is that if I'm talking to someone and they get a phone call, they always give the phone call priority, no matter who the caller, whereas if someone came by in person, looking to talk, they'd make a decision, based on who dropped by and what they're talking to me about, on who they need to be talking to. The phone call isn't always more important you know!!

Totally Off-Topic...

[the phantom]

but I noticed this article at the same moment that it was mentioned on NPR. Odd.

You really can't do much

[WormholeFiend]

if someone not sitting next to you starts a cellphone conversation.

Whenever I go to the cinema, I tell my friend(s), loudly enough so that people around me can hear it, that if someone's cellphone rings, I'll grab it and throw it at the other end of the theatre.

Never had a cellphone ring near me during a movie.

Also, there's one thing that cellphone jamming/selective calling systems wont solve:

Cellphone lighting. Even if set to silent mode, a lot of models light up like a fricking christmas tree whenever a call's being received or if you open the clamshell or whathaveyou.

About vibration...

[Pig Hogger]

At $JOB-3, I was developping a "silent alarm" (one of the owners didn't trust one associate, so he asked me to rig a silent alarm to the stock room door which called a pager when activated). So, for a few weeks, I carried a beeper, which was set to "vibrate". When it got a message, it would vibrate for something like 5 seconds every 5 minutes until you reset it.

At the same time, I was packing my shit because I was moving. So I put the pants with the beeper in one suitcase without removing the beeper.

When the boss asked for the beeper back, I told him that I misplaced it; it's not lost, I'll find it, but he'll have to wait...

The next day, I opened the suitcase to get something I remember putting it there; just as I put my hand in the suitcase, feeling for the buckle of the belt I was looking for, I feeled the vibration. Total luck!!! Can you figure out the probability of hitting the "vibration window" of the beeper?

Screw theaters

[SlashDread]

I want this in my HOUSE.

I have this uber conncted friend, that thinks its quite ok, to have lengthty conversations with random strangers (to me) from the comfort of MY couch.

All the while increasing his voice level whilst gesturing to ME to lower the TV output.

If he wasn't my best friend, i'd kill him.

"/Dread"

easy

[RMH101]

faraday cage in the theatre, and a GSM picocell that only routes emergency (i.e. 911 or 112 in Europe) calls going OUT to the emergency services - everything else blocked. This is pretty easy: the same thing is effectively happening (albeit without the trivial faraday cage - an earthed liner of chickenwire behind the wall coverings will do this) everytime your GSM phone says "SOS calls only" on the display - it's telling you there's a GSM network nearby, but (usually because your phone provider doesn't have a roaming agreement with that network provider) you can't use it, bar emergencies.

Newsflash

[Anonymous Coward]

The rest of the world doesn't give a shit about your stupid kids. There will be NO cell phone-related noise in movie theaters. Deal with it.

No escape from the MPAA

[tepples]

This is France. There is no MPAA.

BS. The MPA, the MPAA's export arm, is in every developed country. Please read about the MPAA and MPA.

Sounds good, but isn't

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a bit of a complicated issue....you can't jam rooms selectively. For instance, everyone seems cool with phones being jammed in a lecture....but what about the hallway? Calls are jammed there too, even if someone is walking by. Why should their calls be interrupted? (granted, they shouldn't talk loudly in the hall)
Or what about rooms in a building where no meeting is taking place? Shouldn't I be able to call from there?

What bothers me about this measure is the famous slippery slopy. Now it's movie theaters. Pretty soon it will be the whole public sphere - restaurants, museums, cafes, everywhere. Using a cell phone could become like smoking is now - marginalized and vaguely dirty - you'll see people huddling outside of buildings, giving passersby surrpetitious glances as they whisper into their cell phones.

Basically, the deal is this - if using cell-phones in a theater is a Bad Thing (tm), then we could make it illegal, and arrest/fine/sue people for using them. If we're not making it illegal, businesses don't have the right to combat it using vigilante tactics. You can't allow some portion of society to enforce their views on others. Really Bad Things (tm) happen when you do that.

The real solution would be for people to be respectful and well-mannered, but hey, this is the 21st century! We live ultra-fast-paced lives and don't have time for such shit. Much better to create problems, and in solving them, create more.

Btw, the idea about movie theaters putting reminder reels before the movie sounds nearly perfect - it does remind people without being draconian.

Another option

[sootman]

Go to the movies in grey slacks and a white shirt. Carry with you a black vest with a gold name badge. If you're annoyed at someone's phone usage, and the theater ushers won't give him the boot, walk out, put on the vest, walk back in, and escort the incosiderate twerp out. AFAIK the punishment for impersonating an usher is much less than impersonating a police officer and well worth it.

Why must people make this so complicated?

[Guppy06]

1. Vibrate--Nobody else should ever know that your cell phone is ringing, ever.
2. Caller ID--If the call isn't from a number that you know a truly important call would be coming from, don't answer it. For paranoid parents, if the call isn't from your home number, it's not the babysitter.
3. Voicemail--If it's important, they'll leave voicemail. If you're really that freakin' curious, you can check your voicemail without anybody else in the room knowing you're listening to your voicemail (don't talk, just push buttons).

Am I the only person to figure this chain out?

Re:Why must people make this so complicated?

[a24061]

4. Use text messages (and switch the ringer off). Then no-one else in the train, cinema, bus or (in the near future) airplane has to listen to your mindless prattle.

No the beep is no good

[SuperKendall]

Sure the beep lasts only a moment. But then I spend a minute wondering if I should be evacuating or what.

No mattre how short, a loud noise is a distraction that really detracts from the experience of going to the theater. I can't rewind to hear what I've missed because your beep interrupted my attention to a soft paort of the movie or something.

Use vibrate. If the phone does not support vibrate, turn it off, or get a new phone.

Re:No the beep is no good

[bhtooefr]

In reply to your sig...

If there were no Apple, there would be no Microsoft to create one (well, there would be, but it would have disappeared in the late 1970's)

Opposed

[havoc]

I must say I am opposed to this. I will not patronage any place that jams my mobile. A good technical fix for this would be "silent" zones that told the mobile to go into vibrate or one beep only mode until it left the zone and then went back to its default mode. This could easily be achieved with Blue Tooth. But for the record, who really can forget to change their ring setting when they are in such an enviornment?

Re:Opposed

[prshaw]

I wonder what would happen if people had the choice between going to a movie in two places, one that jammed cell phones and one that didn't.

You are saying that you would go to the one that didn't jam, while I think I would go to the one that did jam.

I think that if businesses can decide which they want to do it would be a good thing for everyone.

As it's been pointed out before...

[wantedman]

If the theatre cannot find a parent, they stop the movie, turn on the lights and call a list of names.

I've had it happen twice
1) The whole movie stopped during an important monologe, so I had no clue what was happening.
2) The ushers just started shouting names during a movie.

Your mom

[Anonymous Coward]

Your mom gets over it. All night long.

Re:Your mom

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like someone might be getting sued for back child support then doesn't it.

How do they flag emergency calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

When they're talking about emergency calls, where are the calls originating from? It's not clear from the article.

"emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

"on condition that emergency calls can still get through"

I go to the movies with my wife and we live the kids at home with a baby sitter. If there was an emergency, I need to know that my baby sitters call would get through. I can't imagine an instance where an emergency call would originate from within the movie theatre. So technologically, how do they flag the call from my babysitter as an emergency call?

Re:How do they flag emergency calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Problem: How to identify emergency calls
2. Technology: Use this thing
3. Problem solved
4. ???
5. Profit!!!

Cartel

[tepples]

And if I am, and you post an obvious sign... then it was my choice to give you my business, and you can assume I'm voting with my dollars/euros/pounds.

So what if all the businesses in the geographic area have made the "choice" to interfere with mobile phones? Then for whom do you vote? It's like the US presidential election, where both of the candidates on TV are same shit, different pile.

I've never had a problem with phones

[Stone316]

in the theatre. I've frankly almost given up on going to the movie theatres and cell phones are the least of my issues.

The biggest issue for me is the number of rude and inconsiderate people out there these days. Talking in movies, letting their kids run wild and most annoying of all, people who laugh at everything.

I went to see the last Star Trek movie and this 'lady' (hard to tell sometimes in low light) would cackle at everything Data said. It was this every annoying, extremely loud laugh.

You can ask people to stop talking, etc... but if they are the type that consciously do these things in a theature then they quite frankly couldn't give a rat's ass what you think. So unless your willing to get in a fight, move to another seat (most times not possible) then you have to live with it. My solution, 51" TV and nice sound system.

411 on the 911

[Doc Ruby]

This rule is a great boon not only for silencing the cellphone yahoos that I routinely eject, physically, from movie theaters here in NYC. It also creates a new class of incoming emergency calls. Now the State is no longer the only entity privileged to receive emergency calls.

Of course, we're all paying jacked up prices to the State for "911" service, most of which is sucked out to pay for other pork^Wnecessary projects. Incoming emergency calls should cost $5:call, covered by the recipient's insurance in the event of an actual emergency.

Even these calls shouldn't just ring out publicly in the venue. One person's emergency is another person's irritating conversation about whether to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home. All these jammers ought to set all phones to silent/vibrate, and allow emergency calls to vibrate for 30 seconds, then ring out loud for another 30s if unanswered at first. If the call is about groceries, maybe their insurance will cover them when I "help them out of their seats" to tend their "emergency".

Interfering appliances

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Quoth the AC:

Fuck that! It's not MY DUTY to make sure my appliances does not interfer with yours.

Yes, it is. Aside from simply being courteous to those who are less privileged that you in this particular case, in many places you are legally required not to use equipment that interferes with certain frequencies. Try setting your amateur radio to broadcast white noise on the police band and you'll get a fantastic demonstration of how this stuff works.

I used to work for the engineering department of a telecomms company. People/equipment that transmitted on the wrong frequencies could bring down whole areas of the network (don't bitch, it's an inherent limitation of radio technology) and were chased down as fast as humanly possible. In most cases, it turned out to be some sort of hardware fault with the guy's radio and he had no idea, but you did get the occasional smart-ass, and nobody liked them very much.

Re:Interfering appliances

[realdpk]

Big, big difference. Sending white noise on a police band from your amateur radio is a very deliberate act -- you could do it on accident, but you couldn't do it thinking it was normal operation.

Using a cell phone, on the other hand, is widely considered normal. It's rare that people will use them to harass others, especially those who wear hearing aids.

If Motorola et al were putting out cell phones that interfered with FM radio (wild example I know), wouldn't the manufacturer be responsible, rather than the people who think it's just a regular non-interfering cell phone?

Re:Interfering appliances

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Using a cell phone, on the other hand, is widely considered normal.

Sure; I was responding to the generic "not my problem" claim made by the AC. That said, I would guess most people would describe using a mobile phone as antisocial in the cinema context we were discussing previously, and obviously they are often banned in hospitals, on the forecourt of a gas station, etc. precisely because in some places the risk from interference is greater.

If Motorola et al were putting out cell phones that interfered with FM radio (wild example I know), wouldn't the manufacturer be responsible, rather than the people who think it's just a regular non-interfering cell phone?

Depending on where you are, there's a whole load of testing and approvals required before a new unit is allowed out into the market. For example, when we tested a new mobile radio (not quite a mobile phone, but similar principles) we would go through a formal spec with literally thousands of different types of call, to numerous other models, using the service provider's network in numerous different ways. Only after several weeks of testing just about every type of call possible does the unit get approved for use on the network. Without such approval, using it to transmit on the designated network channels would be illegal in most places.

Clearly something known to interfere with other frequencies wouldn't be approved in the first place, and I imagine someone at the network and/or the manufacturer would take a hit if such a device was ever approved.

As a result of the testing process, the risk of approved hardware causing problems is relatively low. Of course it does happen from time to time due to hardware failure if nothing else, and you sometimes have to track down a "rogue" handset and get the owner to have it serviced/replaced. I'm guessing (but it probably varies with jurisdiction and I don't know the exact law anywhere) that the user of approved hardware isn't responsible until they're informed that their hardware is playing up, but then they become liable if they don't immediately switch it off.

How About A New Branch Of Government?

[Austin Milbarge]

Nevermind, Homeland Security! A new branch of government needs to be created. The CPI (Considerate Persons Initiative). All it does is go around reminding people to be more considerate of others. The government could setup special offices where training would take place to teach people how to act like human beings. Perhaps a course on cell phone usage in theatures or waiting to get where you're going before applying lipstick in traffic.

Here are some laws that should go in effect...

- banning the use of personal checks in the supermarket.
- 3 strikes and your out rule for talking in the movies.
- requiring all bank tellers to have an IQ in the positive range
- requiring all company's phone systems to enable the zero key for customer service
- banning all restaurants from automatically adding tips to a check. That's why they are called tips!

- Im sure you can think of more.

Re:How About A New Branch Of Government?

[Anonymous Coward]

>Here are some laws that should go in effect...
>(...)
>- banning all restaurants from automatically adding
>tips to a check. That's why they are called tips!

No. Waiters work for tips in most American restaurants, and they can only work a limited amount of tables and still be able to provide good service to all the tables. A part of six or more (where most restaurants begin mandatory tipping) puts a serious damper on a waiter's ability to make money if that table won't tip properly.

I know this may come as a surprise to you, but there are a lot of assholes out there who refuse to tip, and a lot of waiters who wouldn't be able to drive their cars home some nights if this wasn't in place.

Have you been automatically gratuitied in a restaurant where you received poor service? Talk to the manager, otherwise, let the waiter have his or her money.

Re:Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy peo

[Obfuscant]

Yes, it's considered EXTREMELY RUDE (sic) to take calls in a theatre. This does not stop your average asshole. If I can encourage cinemas and universities to install the Asshol-Blok 5000, with asshole-silencing technology, I will.

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety

A more hypocritical pair of statements I have rarely seen. Of course, give up everyone's liberty of getting even simple SMS messages while in a public place, just so you won't be annoyed at those who forget to put their phones on vibrate.

Come up with a way to punish the assholes, by all means. If it punishes anyone else, it is a bad system. In fact, as soon as it starts punishing me, I'll remember to forget to put my phone on vibrate just so I can annoy you even more.

Phone calls in class

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Sure, phones are annoying, but it's ridiculous to lower someone's final grade by that amount (easily a pass or fail margin) because they forgot to turn their cell off once. That takes a grade A asshole.

Or, presumably, a grade B asshole if his phone rang at the wrong time?

But seriously... Teachers have to do more than just teach kids facts and figures. Do people not believe in teachers setting a good example of how to behave generally any more? What happened to pastoral care? How did we get to this state where school was all about passing exams, and not learning and growing as a human being?

Anyone who objects to that sort of policy is probably exactly the sort of person who desperately needs to be subject to it.

This wouldn't work with CDMA

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

CDMA phones can't be jammed this way. Since a CDMA phone talks with multiple towers simultaneously, there is no way to "override" a remote cell using a more powerful local cell. It would take extensive cooperation with the carriers for the handset to recognize a jamming signal as anything other than noise (a CDMA signal without the proper code to decode it looks like white noise).

Moreover, white noise jamming is unlikely with CDMA, as a CDMA handset can communicate (because of extremely high process gain) with a signal-to-noise ratio of as low as -40db. It is unlikely that anything other than a very strong source of noise very close to the handset would be able to prevent the handset from registering. Worse, such a noise signal would likely interfere with voice operation (which requires a much higher signal to noise ratio then registration) far outside of the intended area.

Mod the AC up

[TamMan2000]

My solution to that is to not wear a watch.

So, if I want to know the time, I need to look at the phone. For some reason, I always want to know what time it is when I leave a movie, so I look at the phone--blank screen. Oh yeah, turn phone back on.

Good idea; that should work...

silly

[austad]

Is this really that much of a problem? I've gone to a ton of movies, and maybe heard someone's phone ring twice during a movie. Maybe these theaters should just ruthlessly enforce a rule that if your phone rings during a performance, you will be kicked out without a refund.

You put up a sign that tells people to turn their phones off or to silent mode, listing the consequences if you don't.

Signs are cheap. Cell phone jammers are not. Plus, what about the people that rely on their cell phones or pagers for their job? IT people, or more importantly, doctors. Cell phone jamming is simply a poor idea since our society has come to rely on it.

In any case, I certainly would not give any theater my money that chose to do this. I would encourage others to boycott them also.

Unjustly penalized

[edsterino]

Why should I be penalized just because some retard either can't figure out how to turn his phone to vibrate or thinks everyone should hear Mozart's "Ode to the Piezoeletric Buzzer"?

You get penalized for the same reason other decent people do because they do the decent thing:
- You pay higher insurance because there are uninsured drivers
- You pay higher taxes because you need a police force because there are criminals out there
- You pay higher taxes because some people don't pay their share
- You die younger because other people smoke
- You die younger because of pollution
- In Singapore, you can't buy gum because a small number of dickwads used to spit their's on the sidewalk. (I imagine there are similar statutes closer to home but none come to mind)
... and so on ...

It sucks. It would be nice if some of these things got rolled back once society got the message but that unfortunately rarelh happens.

Where is Politenessman

[onkelonkel]

These morons need a thwack from the steel hankie.

What? No righteous Europeans today?

[edsterino]

The social ills of cell phone use comes up on /. pretty regularly. Without fail, a European will post, "What's wrong with you Americans. Here in (my country), everyone has cell phones and we just get along with one another". I lived in Europe for many years. I can certainly believe that in many parts, cell phone users are more considerate of others and that those others are more tolerant of any trangressions. However, stories like this show that problems exist on both sides of the ocean.

EXACTLY. Mod parent up.

[celerityfm]

Guppy06's description should be the next soap, ballot, jury, ammo meme for the cellphone century.

How to use your cellphone in a theatre: Vibrate. Caller ID. Voicemail. Go outside and call back. Do this in that order. Starting now!

-

No seriously, it is *very rare* that I've actually heard someone EVER talk on the cellphone in a theatre. Anyone care to share some horror stories?

There's that thing called Vibate Mode

[Anonymous Coward]

Only in France! (I hope) - they just gotta protect the Art going public's sensibilities... Wouldn't it be easier and safer to just put up a sign - or like what they do here in most US cinemas - an ad about Mr. Telephone Man, regarding how rude it is to hae your phone ringing in the middle of the show - Just set the Fr*king thing to vibrate!

Okay but...

[mitchellandrews]

How will we reach them the next time there's a war?

Well, i for my part

[imsabbel]

allow myself the luxury of deciding myself if i want to be available, as much as possible.
And IMHO, if its not possible on a cinema or theatre evening on a free day, then something is REALLY wrong...

Re:Well, i for my part

[Anonymous Coward]

>Well, i for my part allow myself the luxury of
>deciding myself if i want to be available, as much
>as possible.
>And IMHO, if its not possible on a cinema or
>theatre evening on a free day, then something is
>REALLY wrong...

And *I* "for my part" allow myself the luxury of watching my movie undistracted by others using their cellphones rudely, or noisy people in the theatre. If you use your phone while I'm watching a movie in a theatre, I'll take their slide's suggestion and "inform the management of anything which detracts from my movie-watching experience." Which, in this case, would be you.

responders calling out

[aberson]

People can give all sorts of examples of the babysitter calling (time isn't critical if she already called the fire department)... As for the doctor on call - most doctors who receive critical calls use PAGERS, because they are much more reliable than cellphones. I wouldn't trust my cellphone to receive a critical call, ever.

As for people calling 911 from within the theater - I have no problem there either. Go run to the ticket counter and have them call.

But here's my problem - let's say there's a medical emergency IN the theater, and I am the emergency responder, but I'm relying on a cellphone for medical command or to call poison control or to call for backup... let's say because this theater is inside some giganta-megamall, my regular radio doesn't work, so my cellphone is my backup. Sure, the theater manager could shut down the blocking system, but is he going to remember to do that?

Baby scream jammer

[TwoPumpChump]

Now if only they'd come up with a baby-scream jammer, popcorn-crunching jammer, and a candy-wrapper crunching sound jammer I'd be all set to go back to the movies!

Oh, Please...

[Anonymous Coward]

The only catch some people are on call so frequently that this would simply deprive them of a social life.

Jesus, with the melodrama. Being denied entrance to movie theaters does not depirve one of a social life.

Already Happening In The US...?

[ravingsanity]

I went to a movie with a few friends last year at a fairly new theater complex that I hadn't been to before. After entering the theater and beginning to make our way to our auditorium, we all looked at our phones (we were going to turn them off) and noticed that we had no signal at all. Out of six people, not a single one of us had any signal at all. After the movie we left the auditorium but were still in the building and we still had no signal. As soon as we got outside, however, our phones suddenly came back to life and found their respective carriers. That struck us as a bit odd and made me wonder if they shouldn't be required to post a sign that says "cell phones will not work on these premises".

Re:Already Happening In The US...?

[Not-a-Neg]

There would be no reason to post a sign, if an emergency occured in the theater, everyone would rush to the plentiful emergency exits, where they would be outside and able to use their phones. Your personal life does not take priority over the 100's of people that paid $10 to see, AND HEAR, a goddamn movie/performance.

Re:Already Happening In The US...?

[ravingsanity]

I never said my personal life did take priority over everyone else that paid to see the movie. If you notice, I did mention that we were turning our phones off anyway, we just found it odd that the signal didn't come through at all in the building. However, if someone wanted to keep their phone on, they could keep it on vibrate and then get up and leave the auditorium if they needed to answer the call. I fail to see how that would disturb other patrons any more than going to the bathroom or hitting the snack bar would. Incidentally, I happen to agree that people who yack on their phones or don't turn off their ringers during a movie should be drug out in the street and shot.

YOU BASTARD: YOU ARE DISTURBING ME....

[Anonymous Coward]

by getting up in the middle of a performance.

Define Emergency Call

[Anonymous Coward]

Define Emergency Call. Case closed.

Still short sighted

[Theaetetus]

Me: A bit short-sighted though. What about on-call people: doctors, firemen, EMTs, network engineers, broadcast engineers, etc. We who carry cells and/or pagers for work nearly always remember to set them to vibrate... but they have to be on vibrate - they can't just "not get a call".
You: This is where common sense kicks in. Even live performers will tolerate a pager vibrating, as long as you're sitting near the back of the hall. Take a seat on the aisle, so you're not climbing over other people if you're called away. If at all possible, wait for a suitable break in the performance to leave.

Maybe you didn't RTA, but the "common sense" is what both exists now and what I was advocating shouldn't change. People should have freakin' common sense, and put their pagers on stun, not deafen... and they do. What I'm opposed to is the response of "well, some people are taking unnecessary calls, so lets block all messages - including silent ones and vibrating pages - from getting through, even those going to emergency personnel.

There are very few jobs for which a person is required to be on-call 24/7 for the entire year. Physicians and EMTs often have at least some time (alternate weekends, or one weekend a month, or something similar) where they are not on call. Plan to attend live performances at these times. Network/broadcast engineer? Haven't you got an assistant? Somebody trained to fill in if you're deathly ill or on vacation? If not, your employer is being dreadfully negligent, wouldn't you say?

Yup - I'm on call 2-4 weeks out of every six. For those 2-4 weeks, I'm not allowed to attend a public performance with a working pager? Keep in mind that I always have my pager on vibrate ('cept when I'm sleeping). What about volunteer firemen, who are on call for months at a time - pretty much whenever they're not physically out of town on vacation. Can they only go to the movies in those two weeks a year that they're on vacation? Keep in mind again that they will tend to also have their pagers on vibrate all the time.

If an individual can't attend without disturbing members of the audience or--worse--the performers, then perhaps he or she should find alternate entertainment.

Sure - when have I ever disturbed members of the audience or performers due to my pager/cell? Never. I am no more disturbing when they go off than someone who shifts in his chair to look down, then quietly stands up and leaves (like to go to the bathroom, which many people do). Fortunately, I'm not a firefighter/doctor/EMT - I'll wait until after the movement during a concert, but if it's a movie, I'm off like a prom dress... quickly and quietly.

-T

Re:and the american

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you just need to grow some balls. I went to the largest public university in the US (UT Austin) for 4 years and never ran into a single person packing heat.

well i can think of one example

[Anonymous Coward]

if i go to the movies I use the vibrator on the phone just in case something happens to my kid id like the babysitter to be able to get ahold of me no matter what I could care less about the distraction others will see in the movie, somehow my childs wellfare is more important. go figure.

Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[BCW2]

The truth gets modded as flamebait. Someday these self centered children will grow up.

Somehow...

[SquierStrat]

Somehow, I'm not upset. Wish they'd do it here! I'm sick of going to a movie and some 12 year old starts having a cell phone coversation in the middle of the freakin movie! I don't see where it's even an issue...just tell the customers you're doing it before hand and if they don't like it, then go away.

Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[theLOUDroom]

Sure the law "says" emergency calls will make it through, but writing it down doesn't make it so.

Okay, what asshole moderator modded my comment troll?
The point I made above is 100% valid.
Maybe you don't like it, but it's a real problem.
Do me a favor metamods, look at my comments and look at my history.
The reality of the situation is that they simply cannot guarantee that "emergency" calls do make it through.

There's really no reason to risk interfering with emergency services. Put a frickin human in the theatre, have them throw out people who talk on their cellphone. It's not really a difficult concept people.

Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[theLOUDroom]

Don't most movie theatres already have actual humans?

They have customers but they don't actually have somebody there watching those customers, throwing out annoying SOBs.
Customers really can't do much about the situation, they just don't have the legal status.

Hey dumbshit!

[Anonymous Coward]

Your idea is stupid. Calls from a certain prefix? Or a list of numbers? Who's going to maintain that? How incredibly stupid and labor intensive! And, prone to accidental problems!

Example: Your entire family was just in a car crash, and your neighbor is calling to tell you that you've got maybe 1/2 an hour to get to the hospital to spend with your mom/dad/brother/sister before they die. Oooops. The theater blocked your call. Sorry. We hope you enjoyed The Dixie Chicks.

Don't you think this whole thing would be much simpler if the theater owner simply made each and everyone aware that, if they leave their ringer on, or attempt to carry on a conversation inside of the venue, they will be escorted out of the building immediately. Possibly dragged by the ear? Vibrate only, and if you need to make/receive a call, you go outside the venue. End of story.

Blocking communication in any way is simply not the way to solve the problem.

Better yet, put a fine on violations. $100 for a public ringer in a theater or other venue. Hang a sign out front in 23 different languages. No exceptions.

Re:Hey dumbshit!

[Anonymous Coward]

>Don't you think this whole thing would be much
>simpler if the theater owner simply made each and
>everyone aware that, if they leave their ringer on,
>or attempt to carry on a conversation inside of the
>venue, they will be escorted out of the building
>immediately. Possibly dragged by the ear? Vibrate
>only, and if you need to make/receive a call, you
>go outside the venue. End of story.

Bullshit. I can only assume that you've never worked in the service industry before. Almost no one working in the service industry would be willing to enforce such a rule, and those who would be willing to enforce *that* rule are likely to be fired pretty soon for being rude to the customers in other situations.

Blocking all cell signals is a much more elegent, and passive action that doesn't involve directly stepping on the toes of the public. Therefore, if establishments *could* do it, they'd me more likely *to* do it.

vibrate mode.

[agent2]

whats all this shit about having your cell phone ringing. i cant even hear mine ring half the time so i always have mine set to vibrate first. just turn the fuckin vibrate on and nobody will have problems. this is so simple. i never turn my cell phone off and if someone calls me i just take it out when im either done with class or when i get free time to see who called and call them back. i think of it as if i never had my cell phone, i wouldn't even have known that i was trying to be called until was done with whatever i was doing.

France is stupid

[rofthorax]

France is stupid

you shall not be absent minded

[Anonymous Coward]

its your own fault.

Cellphones and mime

[Dire Bonobo]

> I shall bring down fiery justice on those who
> leave their bloody phones on during a live performance

I went to a performance by Marcel Marceau in LA once, and someone's cellphone went off.

During the mime performance.

Which is dead silent.

And it went off twice.

Most inappropriate cellphone timing I've ever come across. (And, btw, good mime is actually very interesting and impressive, bad street mimes notwithstanding.)

Hardware solution need not be costly...

[Anonymous Coward]

Based on the current lifetime of phones, I'd guess taht nearly everyone has a digital phone capable of recieving text messages and more importantly - bios updates. Cellphone companies need only define one additional control code to activate "quiet mode" and flash the bioses remotely over the network. Then cinemas can start installing transmitters to transmit this signal, or subscribe to some sort of location based service by the cell companies

not anymore

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know about France, but Norway closed its pager network last year.

I live in Paris...

[icantblvitsnotbutter]

...and I think I've already seen this in operation. I go to the movies a lot, especially at a couple of major theaters.

Ever since the start of summer, at certain screens I've noticed that my phone shows "emergency calls only" when I go to silence/turn it off before the film (and sometimes during the film, when I remmeber part way through).

It doesn't always seem to be on, but there definitely seems to be some sort of system like this already in place. Maybe it was a testing/proof of concept phase?

In any case, man am I looking forward to this system being on all the time. The worst are the kids who have entire conversations during the film, and this is the only kind of thing that will shut them up.

Re:Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy peo

[Darren Winsper]

Last I checked, it wasn't just cinemas they were going to put jammers in.

sorry if dupe, but I didn't had time to read all

[dvhh]

we're talking about emergency calls, then well for such emergencies I guess the theater would be more than pleased to give you a courtesy call.

My answer to this growing problem.

[Celsius10]

I got so fed up with the ignoramuses of our society, that I now go to the movies on a wednesday night at the latest showing possible. The result? you can almost here a pin drop it is so quiet, and there is never usually more than 5 people in the theater.

Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

It's ok. I metamoderated the flamebait giver down.
Excuse the ACness though ;)

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[BCW2]

It's the thought that counts, thanks.

Re:Stupid Stupid Stupid

[theLOUDroom]

I guess people just rolled over and died before there were cellphones.

Well, before cellphones they used pagers but otherwise, yes. If you got to the emergency room and they didn't have anyone to work on you, good luck.

If the cellphone isn't working, the 30 seconds to run out of the theater will not make that much of a difference. I promise.

You're totally missing the point. The INCOMING calls are the big deal. Who gives a fuck about outgoing calls? You just go outside.
The problem comes for emergency services personell who are on call, sometimes 24/7.

I wonder if it's possible to relay outgoing calls, but block incomming calls though? That would solve both problems...

The solution is to go back to having a guy in a red jacket with a flashlight. That not only solves the cellphone problem, but as solves the problem or people talking loudly to other people sitting next to them AND doesn't put anyone's life at risk, however slightly.