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The Average Movie Theater Has Hundreds of Screens
theodp writes "The "average" movie theater reportedly has a capacity of 200-300 people. Which, thanks to the wonder of mobile devices, means that it also has hundreds of screens. And — thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and texting — hundreds of potential annoyances. Which prompts NY film critic David Edelstein to ask: How Should We Treat Texters and Talkers at Movie Theaters? 'Has our culture become so private that no one knows how to behave anymore in public?' Edelstein wonders. 'Is selfishness the rule rather than exception? Are people who say, "Shut up and turn off your phone" today's version of "You kids get off my lawn"?' Jason Bailey argues that the only way to solve movie theaters' talking and texting problem is to give in to it, perhaps with anything-goes phone-friendly talk-amongst-yourselves screenings in the seven and eight o'clock hours coupled with no-tolerance shows later in the evening. Any other ideas?" You could always throw it.
I'd probably just sit there and be quiet.
I have never, ever noticed this, not in a single movie. Talking on the phone would definitely be a problem, but I've never seen this either. Frankly I don't really give a shit if people are texting or surfing on their phone during the movie. I'm looking ahead at the screen. I find it hard to believe that it should really bother someone that much.
I've always liked the notion of enclosing the theatres in a faraday cage. In any new construction, it should be relatively cheap to include a mesh around the theatre itself -- and then you don't have to worry about people's manners. At least not as far as cell phones are concerned.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Just stop going entirely. It is expensive and isn't even as nice as watching at home or with friends. There's certainly no chance that social conventions will make it palatable again within our lifetimes.
Two words...Faraday Cage
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
I haven't had that issue when people have taken out their phones to text or check the time.
Leaving aside racial stereotypes, is this more of a regional or cultural problem? In San Diego, I virtually never see people texting /during/ a movie, and I don't think I've heard a cell phone go off (eg, ring) during a showing any time in the last five years. About the worst thing that happens is people (myself included, occasionally) leaving a phone on but silent (no vibrate).... A flicker of a bright screen might show up if they have their phone facing outwards in a thin pocket or something, but that's it. Anyone who actually talked during a show would be told to stfu by the movie-goers, no doubt...
FWIW, I'm normally just going to the local AMC20 or 18; nothing fancy or unusual, so I have to assume my observations are typical for this area.
Is San Diego just a nice town, or are other places like this too?
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
>"'Has our culture become so private that no one knows how to behave anymore in public?"
Yes it has. A large percent of the population are very rude regarding phones. And the younger the generation, the more rude.
An acquired taste that we no longer have much reason to acquire.
This is hardly a novel problem. All manners of talking, noisemaking, and other disturbances have been problems in theaters for centuries; phones are simply another type of potential disturbance.
Yes, it is to some extent a cultural problem. I also think it tends to be a problem of lack of any enforcement of reasonable etiquette in theaters, perhaps from a concern for repercussions and retribution, but also, at least in many movie theaters, from a lack of staff.
But I think it is only through enforcement by venues, and cultural unacceptability, that disturbances like these can be minimized, especially in this case. I don't think anyone particularly wants to be in a theater full of other people on phones; the people who use them in theaters would likely be upset about others using them were they not using them at that particular time. There are already venues for watching movies on large screens while being able to talk and generally be more casual, and perhaps we could use more of those, but that's not the problem here: the problem are people who are selfish. If someone wants to be able to disturb others, but not be disturbed by others, then letting everyone cause disturbances isn't going to help: everyone will go to the no-tolerance shows, and become upset if they're thrown out.
>"I haven't had that issue when people have taken out their phones to text or check the time."
It greatly depends on a variety of factors:
* How long it was used
* How bright the screen is
* How far away other people are
* How dark the theater is
* How dark the movie screen is at the time it was used
* How sensitive the people are around you
* How the phone is being held (this is a big one)
Generally, it is rude to use a phone at all in a theater because it has the great *potential* to annoy others around the user, just like talking does. I speculate 95% of the texting seen in theaters is totally unnecessary-it is not urgent or something that can't wait until after the movie. But to check the time or for an urgent text, the impact can be greatly reduced by:
* Doing it as quickly as possible
* Turning down the brightness
* Holding the device close to you and never facing in a way someone can see the screen
And you can go to the bathroom without missing that crucial plot twist...
#DeleteChrome
Why has “get off my lawn” become code for cranky senior citizen? What the fuck do those kids think they’re doing tearing up my meticulously-mown property, and why is it unreasonable to object to trespassers?
I mean, if you’re just picking up a wayward frisbee or something, fine, but other than that, unless I invited you, seriously, stay off my lawn.
One is "I wanna watch the damn movie", use a cellphone or talk too much and you get tossed out. The other is "I wanna be with my friends", anything goes. Run the experiment a couple months, see which gets the bigger audience. / Last movie I saw in a theater was Return of the King, due to talkative asshats // Second to last movie was The Two Towers
The entire movie theater industry is dead.
Even if cell phones were eliminated (which in my experience have been more or less a non-issue in theaters) you've still got the fact that its $8 for a ticket and then $5 for a popcorn, $5 for a soda, $5 for a box of Junior Mints... Its simply too expensive for the 2 hours of (possible) enjoyment, especially when a couple of months later you can watch the movie on Netflix or pay $1 for it at Redbox. It used to be you could offset this by the fact that you were getting a higher quality picture and sound, but anymore a HDTV and surround sound are pretty common. 3D is simply a gimmick, its fun for a movie or two but doesn't really add much to the experience. I mean, other than for a midnight premiere, does anyone actually go to the movies anymore?
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I put double sided sticky tape on my carpet for that authentic cinema feel.
>"Like I said, it hasn't bothered me when people do it"
I don't doubt it doesn't bother you (nor perhaps many other people), but not everyone is the same. Things that bother one person might not bother someone else at all (and in reverse). As a society, we have to understand that people are different and make a reasonable effort to prevent annoying others, even when it is not something that annoys ourselves.
Exactly. I still only have a 30 inch tube TV, but still enjoy watching movies at home way more than going to the theatre. I'll go 3 or 4 times a year at most. It's just really not worth the cost of going. When I do go, I make sure I pay a couple bucks extra for AVX, primarily because you can reserve specific seats, but also because everybody is paying a little bit extra, so you tend to keep out the people who are going to ruin the experience anyway. That may sound a little "classist" but places that charge a little more tend to have less people who are just there because they have nothing else to do, and not because they really want to see the movie.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I think they need to rethink the concept of the movie theater. The value of "going to see a movie" in this digital age is that you are going out to see a show. So get rid of the "lines of chairs facing the screen" thing, change the layout so that groups are further apart, with more comfort.
Serve booze - they do it at baseball games! That would both offset the cost of the new concept and make the experience more enjoyable for adult audiences.
Nobody really needs movie theatres anymore. They have to make it something out of the ordinary that people will be excited about.
Two words...Faraday Cage
Exactly! Or just line the inside of the theater with dental blankets. No signal, no phone... at least communication. Your still going to have asshats playing apps that don't require signal.
I would support this. Just have the mesh around the theater rooms, rather than the whole building, and let people go out into the hallway if they need to make a call. If they to be available to receive a call, in case of an emergency or for work, then maybe they should go rent a movie instead.
The movie theaters already do this by warning people not to use their phone during a movie. They are perfectly capable of ejecting people who violate the rules. Given that they generally do not, I guess whether or not it's annoying or reasonable to accomodate has largely been decided. I'm guessing the management doesn't really want the bad press around ejecting people and the small chance that what would normally be a quiet occurrence could become a much louder altercation that ruins the movie for *more* people.
I go to the theater about 5 times a year. I admit that I'm not an avid movie goer. But out of my limited experiences at the theater, I don't think I have ever been so annoyed by someone else's phone that I gave it a second thought after the movie. I see a lot of people talking and texting through the previews, but once the movie starts, people seem to stop. I have seen one person answer their phone and run out of the theater. And I see people checking their phones or texting here and there but not constantly and not with sound. Sometimes I wonder if I just live in a more polite region or if people are just anal.
No no no. People still need the ability to call 911.
Pretty sure we there was a time, not long ago where we were able to go out without constant ability to dial 911. If there is an emergency then you can easily go to the counter and have the staff call.
I would support this. Just have the mesh around the theater rooms, rather than the whole building, and let people go out into the hallway if they need to make a call.
Ditto for airplanes: just line the cabin, and let people step outside if they need to make a call.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
like this
I find that supporting the Movie or Music industry is like giving money to my local mafia. Something I will NOT do.
So going to theaters is out of the question.
Be seeing you...
I was watching G.I. Joe: Retribution in a theater with a "zero tolerance" cell phone policy, and the jerk in front of me took his phone out and texted several times during the movie. I considered asking him to stop, but I just don't like getting into confrontations. I further considered going and telling a staffer, but I didn't want to miss part of the movie to do it. Also the guy was there with a kid, and I didn't want to be responsible for ruining the kid's movie experience.
I'm just too nice. :P
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
I cannot drag myself to the movie theater anymore, unless it's something I desperately need to see, or the wife really wants to go. Together, both situations add up to maybe two or three times in a year. I'm just so spoiled when it comes to entertainment. Why should I drive to a movie theater to see a movie that starts at a specific time, paying for both myself and and my wife, when I can watch Netflix, or movies on HBO or Showtime on demand, or rent via the cable box or iTunes? The movie starts when I want to, pauses if one of us has to go to the bathroom, and I don't have to pay twice.
Like others have said, the picture and sound are really the only reason to go to the movie theater anymore, and I have HDTV and surround.
The movie theater experience sucks. The only thing keeping it in business is people's impatience to see movies NOW.
------RM
Why? Did the world change so that now you need 200 phones able to call 911 immediately as opposed to walking out of the theater like everyone did before cell phones? Or were we in a pre-civilized barbaric society before cell phones removed all need for social manners? Yes, person next to you has a heart attack; stop the movie, turn on the lights, turn off the phone jammer; and simultaneously with using the phone ask if there's a doctor in the audience. Don't use a remote 911 possibility as an excuse to be an asshat, you're just answering the phone because you're addicted to it.
I have actually been at a movie premier, full theater, movie is actually running and past the opening credits, when the guy in front of me gets a phone call. After lots of shushing he says loudly enough for everyone to hear "I have to go, I'm in the middle of Star Trek". There is no possible way that the phone call can be that important. If someone is actually worried about some incredibly vital call, they should stay home and sit staring at the phone.
I was having dinner with an old friend of mine (I'm early 50's and he's early 60's). you might think its only kids (relatively speaking) who are rude and will break out their phones and start thumbing thru stuff while in the middle of a dinner conversation, but NO - here he was, dinking around with his stupid iGadget while I was trying to carry on a conversation with him. yes, it really annoyed me.
I don't do that to others. when I'm with someone, I won't whip out my phone and start messing around with it. not sure why people think this is the 'new normal'; its new but its still NOT polite and should not be considered acceptable social behavior.
its bad enough that you cannot find people walking on the street looking where they are going, anymore; they all look down and are thumbing thru their phones and wearing earbuds while walking. car drivers, too! I see so many people wearing earbuds while driving. so unsafe! but do they care? of course not.
I don't like the direction all this is going in. and I realize I'm in a tiny minority, on this subject matter ;(
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Yea, I use those lockers all the time. Get a buck off my $8 big gulp. Keep my phone in my pocket so that I don't miss any calls. That way I don't have to waste time getting my phone out when the movie ends and the crowds all try to claim their phones. And I get a nice locker key out of the deal too. If I remember to bring it next time I can even use it for another huge savings off of my reasonably priced drink without having to buy another discount key.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
No no no. People still need the ability to call 911.
Leave the theater and call. The ability to call 911 from anywhere is not guaranteed, nor is it a right. But if it makes you feel better, they can put emergency hard line phones on the end of every row.
I have. Tap, tap, tap, bleep, tap, tap, bleep, tap, tap, tap.
*IF* I were to go a movie theater, I'd do the same thing I do with the smartphone at Church.. put it on vibrate. Yeah.. I know, why take your phone to Church? I volunteer with the local Redcross chapter's Disaster Action Team (DAT Team) and am often oncall over the weekend and have to respond quicky.. We're the guys/gals who provide food/clothing/lodging from the Redcross for people whose house/apartment burns down. Normally we have two volunteers oncall from Friday night to Monday morning for the weekend shift, but Las Vegas had a very large apartment fire (70 people displaced) several weekends ago, and we had to call out additional volunteers to get everybody taken care of, and since I was the primary oncall person, and I was in Church at the time, I had to leave kinda suddenly...
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
The ushers should escort the phone users from the theater. Stop the movie first and turn up lights so that everyone can see who it is and provide sufficient negative reinforcement. If you don't let the puppy pee on the carpet, then why not use the rolled up newspaper on the mentally incontinent as well?
Throw the offender out and don't give them their money back.
I also say bring back the jamming technology to stop any signals coming in and going out.
Want to talk/text? Go outside, go to a cafe, or stay home. Want to watch the movie? Shut up and watch the movie.
It's good press though. Austin Drafthouse even use the outraged drunken phone call from an ejected patron as part of an advertisement.
... but it would only happen once. Frankly, I like the idea. I actually have very little tolerance for disrespectful, selfish, self-centered, oblivious, inconsiderate #@ckheads who use phones in theaters. Death penalty for violators would suffice.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
The Austin Drafthouse is also completely different from most movie theaters.
But theaters that do this also get increased business.
So, after you've fired off your ElectroMagnetic Pulse Pulse and the projectionist is tearing his hair out looking at all his fried electronics, you'll be happy?
No no no. People still need the ability to call 911.
They can do that out in the hall.
Be seeing you...
Wait for the DVD or Blu-Ray to come out and watch it at home without all the annoyances.
I don't understand why anyone still goes to a theatre today with all the rude behaviour from the audience. You can't enjoy a movie at the theatre any more.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
then why are you at the theater????
Really. You are paying $10 or more ... to play sudoku on your phone? When people are in a theater, why can't they just watch the movie? Or leave if they are bored? Are attention spans really that short?
Being jammed into a seat for 6 hours listening to multiple phone conversations would be hell on earth... or in the skies.
"Hell is other people" - Sartre
That is all.
Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
Besides being able to drink a nice beer, you can be sure that you won't see phones out at the Alamo Drafthouse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3eeC2lJZs
The current generation is taught through the education system a great deal about their rights, but very little about their responsibilities.
Consequently we get a very inward-focused generation with a false sense of self-entitlement and, rudeness in general.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
... but it would only happen once
... in every movie. Maybe the populace would learn after a while, but it would take months, and then ten years later there will always be some teen with their first phone who never experienced the "movie shutdown and public shaming", so it would start up again later.
We get it. It isn't a problem for you, and thus anything that is done to address it for those who it is a problem for is (doomed to fail | more trouble than it is worth | etc). Furthermore, anyone who it is a problem for should be (paying attention to the big screen | ignoring it | not going to movies | etc ) because they are (inattentive | reflecting an outdated view of society | whining).
This is the kind of nonsense that makes you cringe at what bothers people.
Anyone who mentions "first world problem" is setting themselves up for a humiliating game of reductio ad absurdum. A game they won't win.
Alamo Drafthouse seemed to get a good bit of business from it, but then it's not typical. People I presume will not want to return to a theater that has lots of interrupts, and return to those that doesn't.
" A large percent of the population are very rude regarding phones."
To the point of driving a car while texting, subjecting everyone sharing the road in their immediate vicinity to a much greater risk of injury/death, much like someone that has been drinking. Yet, for some reason, laws regarding texting while driving are effectively neutered compared to DUI laws. Why is that?
I suspect the "guvment" doesn't want to clamp down on cellphone use in any way as cellphones/smartphones are apparently the most used means of gathering data about everyone--"The Goose that laid the Golden Egg" sort of thing (although it appears the Goose just shit in their collective lap).
I don't know where you live, but in big city's downtowns, these things are big problems. One or two people yapping on the phone, 3-4 newborns crying themselves out, countless teens yelling at each other continually, a bunch of people hitting the back of your head with their feet while "getting comfortable" and leaning them on your seat, the bunch taking pictures or camcording the movie to post it on the net, and the countless people playing with their phone at max brightness (super distracting)....
Every additional bad habit that comes up just pile it up. And in this day and age, you won't get any support for complaining about it, no matter how polite (or not) you are. Everyone is either being an inconsiderate prick, or have been dealing with inconsiderate pricks for so long that they stopped trying.
Its not just in theaters either... Living in an apartment or condo without ultra restrictive rules and expecting to be able to sleep is not happening, even in high tech ultra insulated places. And even if they have the rules, without lawyers getting involved, they may as well not be there.
I'm not even that old (I'm 30), but its seriously getting ridiculous. Part of it is I'm from Canada, and it was seriously a cultural shock when I moved south of the border, how in every city I went, people were just dicks all around and would never be reasoned with. Even Toronto has nothing on the likes of Boston or NYC. Its easier to find peace and quiet in the middle of a mall in downtown Montreal than it is to find a theater where you can actually watch a movie or an apartment/condo where you can sleep in pass 7:30.
Well, the few seconds you take to go into the hall will allow you to calm down before your freaked out ass babbles incoherently at the operator. You clearly overreact if you think the 5 seconds it takes you to get outside the theater is going to be relevant compared to the fact that someone is going to have to put down their sand which, and drive the ambulance to your ass. They aren't going to rush either, its in fact, part of their training to not over react and rush ... because more shit goes wrong than right in those situations.
While you're flipping out, the medical emergency is going to continue on and those seconds are going to be lost on you.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
"And the younger the generation, the more rude."
More rude, or just practicing a different set of values than you?
Umm, "rudeness" by definition is "practicing a different set of values."
Politeness is simply a social construct -- there is no absolute objective standard. That said, there are social conventions that have little effect on others if violated. For example, for many decades it was considered important to come to a black-tie event wearing a black bow tie. In the past 10-15 years that convention has turned into black buttons, other clasps, and most recently long black ties seem fashionable. (Of course, at some events these variations may be more or less likely.)
Such a change in polite etiquette doesn't really have any broader effects other than a personal fashion choice. I may think someone looks idiotic in some faux "tuxedo," but it's not going to do any harm to me or probably anyone else except in unusual situations.
Similarly, your example of music choice probably doesn't harm anyone else, except if the sound is actually disruptive to others -- but you could be playing a Mahler Symphony too loud and also have that same problem... the actual choice of music isn't usually problematic.
On the other hand, one of the main reasons people go to a movie theater and pay the extra money is to experience a high-quality sound and visual experience on a large screen.
If you're shining a bright screen in a theater, you're degrading others' experience. Same thing with talking through the whole movie.
Violations of social conventions that have substantial effects on others are generally seen to be more disruptive than a personal choice that has little impact. "Rudeness" of this fashion is actually a bigger change in our culture than simply picking a different song to play on your stereo for your own experience.
So does some fsking common sense. Let's not drive cars. let's confiscate steak knives. Let's get rid of lawnmowers. Life is about risk management, not risk avoidance.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
...and get another glass of wine on the way back.
In an emergency, seconds count. They fucking count.
Which is why theatergoers died by the thousands before the invention of the cell phone. It's how movie theaters got the nickname "the popcorn mausoleums" back in the day. Back then, you put your life on the line whenever you wanted to see a movie, and since most of them were Roger Corman films and general Universal releases, most people felt it wasn't worth the risk and killed themselves afterward. Thankfully, with the invention of the cell phone, people could finally go see a movie without nearly as much risk of death, something that was literally impossible beforehand.
What kind of nice, quiet airplanes do YOU fly on? There is plenty of white noise to drown all of that out. The only noises that people make that I can ever hear over the din of the plane itself from more than a seat or two away are the piercing cries of babies with nasal congestion who can't be taught the valsalva maneuver and have no other way to equalize pressure than to cry out in pain for hours.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Most slashdotters *think* they are multitaskers. Turns out they are wrong.
Hear! Hear!.....Bravo! (I just finished using all my mod points on the previous Fine Article)
While I find the sound level of the musical scores annoyingly too loud, I would rather hear that distraction, than to put up with being subjected to the inane conversations within earshot.
I guess I'm sub-consciously paranoid that stupidity is transmissible...*Hint: There is a valid reason why the President's speech writers have to write the speeches targeting an 8th grade educated audience in the USA...*
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
I have actually been at a movie premier, full theater, movie is actually running and past the opening credits, when the guy in front of me gets a phone call. After lots of shushing he says loudly enough for everyone to hear "I have to go, I'm in the middle of Star Trek".
Yeah, the obliviousness of some people to others knows no bounds. I was once at an opera, where everyone had paid at least 4-5 times what one pays per person to go to the movies (and many quite a bit more), and the guy in the row in front of me -- in the middle of the opera -- answers his phone after it rings and begins talking loudly: "Hello!? Yeah. I'm at the opera! [speaking louder] I said I can't hear you, because I'm at the opera!!"
Everyone for rows around was glaring at this guy. At this point, a seeming stranger next to the guy (who had been shushing him) yanked the phone from his hand and turned off, then handed it back.
And sometimes the effect simply destroys the entire event. I was at a symphony concert a few years back where a 90-minute piece ended with a slow gradual dissolution of the music, gradually getting softer and softer, fading away over a period of some 10 minutes. (Some people may find such a thing boring, others sublime, but obviously most people at such a concert probably are closer to the latter.)
Most people here had probably paid at least 10 times what a movie ticket costs... a couple thousand people in the hall. For the last few minutes of the concert, you could have heard a pin drop (almost literally).
About 3 minutes before the end of the piece, a cell phone starts going off loudly. It keeps going off -- for about a minute as a guy in the fifth row from the front or so gets up and actually works his way out of the hall (these rows were not spaced to allow people to pass while everyone was seated, so it took some time)... all the while with phone blaring.
The concert was completely ruined for the orchestra and the entire audience -- the profound effect of the music was lost.
This event was so notorious that it actually got written up in major newpapers. If I remember correctly, the guy actually came forward (anonymously) and apologized -- explaining that he had just received an iPhone as a gift in the past couple days, had someone else put it into "sleep" mode, had it on vibrate, but somehow had mistakenly set an alarm... which he didn't realize could sound aloud even when the phone was on vibrate or "asleep." When it sounded, he was too unfamiliar with the device to figure out how to make it stop.
Since that event, I ALWAYS turn my phone and any other devices COMPLETELY OFF at important events. An accidental alarm or other noise just isn't worth ruining an experience for thousands of other people who may have paid hundreds of dollars each.
A movie theater may not quite be like this, but a similar etiquette principle applies on a smaller scale.
I brought a water pistol. A nice small one that fit up my sleeve. Not even those around me noticed
when I beaned the bastard in front of me with the screen full bright. But did that guy jump! Went
back to texting, and one more squirt. He quit texting and turned the phone off. Milk instead of
water is also good.
But you need one that doesn't leak or seep. Otherwise when you leave the theater you look as if
you peed yourself. Or worse.
And you can pause the movie while you pack the bong.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
>"It is probably to get away from their parents so that they can text in peace. . . : )"
And now we have come full circle. The teens (and even young adults) don't NEED to get away from their parents to text in peace, they text constantly, all the time, regardless. And they do it at the dinner table, while you are trying to talk to them, in the car while driving, in the classroom, at a wedding, in a theater, in church, just about anyplace they want and often where it is rude and/or unsafe.
And that is not a matter of just having a different set of values". Most of them KNOW it is rude or unsafe and just do it anyway.
I own and operate a movie theatre. I do eject people who violate the rules and one of the rules is "turn off your cell phone". I have a notice posted at the entrance to the auditorium, and I play a policy trailer before every show which says the same thing (with a little cartoon).
I'll tell you once to turn off your phone. The second time, you're leaving.
I rarely have to actually throw people out, though.
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
"I ALWAYS turn my phone and any other devices COMPLETELY OFF at important events"
I used to have a Nokia N82 that would wake up from the "completely off" state to sound an alarm. Only removing the battery would do the job.
Fortunately I didn't discover this while attending a concert (or worse: while being one of the performers in a choir).
I'm actually not sure whether Android doesn't do this. Nowadays I always check that there is no alarm set at an inconvenient time before going to silent mode.
Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
Absolutely agree. But I think this article is hinting at a bigger problem. Time Magazine did an interesting article that analyses the upcoming generation and there is some truth in the analysis. (Cue flame war in 3... 2... 1..). But the key here is the analysis on the view of authority and the introspective narcissism that is much more prevalent. These factor in when we consider things like cell phones on in the theater.
I am also friends with a number of high school teachers and they echo the issues raised in the Time Article.
Select from tblFriends where interesting >= 4;
You do realise that the older generation has been saying versions of this complaint about the younger generation for all of human history, right?
Honestly, the cellphone thing has gotten *better* by me. It used to be pretty bad; maybe 10 years ago people would talk on the phone and stuff or have TXT chats back-and-forth with the thing beeping each time. Now I guess the people that do / did that are either more discreet or realize that it sucks and stop all-together.
But, what still annoys me... bringing an infant to a 10PM+ showing of a loud / scary movie. What. The. Hell. You're ruining the experience for lots of people, which is inconsiderate as hell. Obviously the infant isn't to blame, it's just a child.
Whenever I bring this up people treat me like the Devil, but it's flippin' annoying when some parent brings their kid to a 10PM or 11PM showing of a loud and scary movie. The infant inevitably freaks out at some point and starts crying and crying and CRYING. And only half the time does the mother carry the infant outside to try to calm it down. Of course the whole theater lets out a collection sigh or F-bomb because the parent is being inconsiderate.
Listen, I get it... you're a parent and you still want to have a life. Well, having a kid means making some changes: you don't get to get to the Bahamas every year, you don't get to go out drinking every Friday night, and you shouldn't bring your infant to a 10PM airing of a horror flick. They have matinee showing of colorful and cheerful movies for kids: learn to the theaters then. Wanting to have a life doesn't mean you get to poop on 100+ people's evening.
So either get a baby sitter, ask a relative to watch the kid, go to an earlier showing, or wait until the DVD.
The same kind of goes with fancy restaurants... if your kid is too young and/or you can't control them then please don't ruin the experience for the whole place (or just the surrounding tables).
You annoy me at the theater because you can't get up out of your seat and move yourself the hallway then you threaten me. Be prepared to wake up in the hospital. So while I am no PC Cop. I payed to enjoy the movie. You are stopping me from enjoying said movie. You are free to use your phone until it becomes a hardship on others, then it's time for you to show consideration to your fellow man.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
24/7 3-4 days a week
So then you don't go on those 3-4 days a week. Problem solved.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
When you're sitting next to someone who's on the phone non-stop for the entire flight... and you're unfortunate enough to have no headphones and no earplugs.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
Theaters that don't enforce no-talking/no-texting rules don't get my business anymore. If I go out to see a movie anymore, The Alamo Drafthouse gets my business. They don't set texters on fire, unfortunately, but they do deal effectively with those inconsiderate fucks.
Give in to it? No. Not now. Not ever.
I was actually thinking of a remotely steerable limelight overhead, illuminating offenders. There are a few who will go the extra mile to receive this treatment, however.
I read an article on this once. Unfortunately, I'm unable to find the link, but I'm sure enough searching would turn it up if you're interested. The article referenced a study that found that people experienced an increased level of distraction when they could only hear one side of a conversation taking place around them. The writer of the study believed this was due to the fact that your brain feels the need to "fill in" the part of the conversation that it can't hear. Doing so requires a greater degree of mental resource and, thus, leads to greater distractioin.