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Alicia Keys Latest Artist To Enforce No Cell Phone Policy at Concerts (slashgear.com)
Shane McGlaun, reporting for SlashGear:It appears that artists of all sorts are getting very serious about keeping fans from using smartphones while they are at their concerts or events. The latest musician to ban cell phones at her events is Alicia Keys. Fans aren't forced to give up their smartphones at the door to be locked up in some locker or box until the show is over. Rather, fans are handed a special pouch that is locked up with their smartphone inside the fan keeps that pouch with them during the event, but they can't get to the device to call, take photos, or shoot video. If they need to use their device during the show the users can go back to the door and a worker passes a disc about the size of a bagel over the bag to unlock it and the fan can step outside to use their smartphone.
Banning cell phones so you don't have to try to look around people who insist on holding their phones over their heads. Or banning cell phones because you don't want an amateur video of your concert on youtube. Given my jaded view of the music industry, I'd bet on the latter. However, I've always wondered what the people who insist on taking photos and videos of everything they see do with those. Are they the modern day equivalent of those who used to corner people with their slide projectors while they begrudgingly sat and pretended to care? Enjoy your life, quit pretending everybody else wants to experience every second of it too.
I'm just waiting for the first time that the inability to make a 911 call quickly from one of these shows (heart attack, stroke, active shooter, etc.) results in someone's unnecessary death. After one lawsuit erases the benefits of the entire tour, the insurance companies will start levying huge surcharges for any shows that ban cellphones, and all this nonsense will take care of itself.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
. . . . a Bluetooth Camera/Audio pickup. Unless this "Yondr" bag is a dual-layered Faraday shield. . . .
For those wondering how they block the signal they don't.
It is a just a bag with a lock on it, the phone operates like normal and if you don't put it on vibrate or no sound it will still ring.
The same people who have always been responsible: The on-site security. They don't need access to a phone, they just need to grab one of the guys or gals RIGHT THERE.
We went to concerts before everyone had phones you know...
So who is liable if there is an emergency and nobody in the crowd is able to access a phone to actually report it?
If anything, I believe emergency response times were better before everybody had a cell phone and 500 people called the emergency number at the same time.
The guards presumably still have working phones.
Doing a quick check for venue and stadium security jobs, the primary qualifications are (1) High School Graduate, and (2) No criminal record for 7 years. Being bilingual is nice.
I rather doubt that most venue security types are "specifically trained for it". In my experience, they've been bouncer types, but your mileage may vary. . .
And before someone starts complaining about "But we didn't used to have cellphones!" no we didn't, now we do: It's called progress. One thing that has helped emergency response times quite a bit in high income nations is the proliferation of mobile phones. When something happens emergency services can be notified in seconds, and get the response rolling that much faster.
Happened when I was in a car accident. I was dazed for maybe 20-30 seconds, then got my phone out and called for help. They had fire responders on scene in under 2 minutes, police 30 seconds later and EMS in about 4. In that case, it didn't matter, everyone was fine other than bruises, but had there been something serious, it is much more likely it could have been dealt with. The only reason the response was so fast was that it was in a populated area, and that I was able to call for help almost immediately.
To me it seems like the concert issue is one of acceptable behaviour, not the phones themselves. It is using them in inappropriate ways. Well the answer there isn't "take them away" or "lock them up" it is to let people know what is and isn't allowed, and to enforce that by removing people if necessary. People can learn, it turns out, and most can understand what rules apply to what social situation and obey them. There are those that can't and you have to deal with them, but you do it on an individual basis not by something like this.
Can't you just cut this open with a pocket knife?
I even RTFA but it was not helpful on that question.
Sure, but given that the bag is the property of the venue, you can be charged with willful destruction of property. And bringing a knife to a concert too, which I'm sure is against at least some municipal laws.
Perhaps they're just relying on most people not doing that and making it easier to enforce since there will be few people to chase down.
Yes, I'm sure that this cuts down on the number enough that it's easier to enforce the rule on the rest. Toss out the fucktards with no refund - they knew the rules before they went in, and chose to ignore them and circumvent them.
To anyone so dependent on their phones: Just don't go. Save the money and use it on a shrink instead.
That's an excellent idea! Without cellphones, the movie theatre experience would be much better since we'd only have to worry about people talking to each others during the movie, the noise from people munching on oversized snacks, slurping their two litres of soft drinks, the sticky floors and the fact that you can't pause the movie to go to the filthy public bathroom.
After experiencing movies at home, on-demand and at the low cost of Netflix, you'd have to pay me to go to the theatre.
But if your phone is in a bag, how can you know if it's an emergency or not?
I saw Weird Al Yankovic this past weekend. Entering the venue, we were specifically told that we could use cell phones if we liked. Part of his show involved everybody getting their cell phone out and waving them over their head - we all have cell phones, so c'mon, let's get real!
In the conflict between people who don't understand how much of a nuisance they are with their phones, and the people who are self-righteously snooty about how other people use their phones, I'm not sure there's a clear winner. I can see the impulse from both sides, a little, but in the long run I think I'm going to say this goes down as a dumb policy.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
Or are we talking about airport-like security scans where thye xray your belongings and make you pass through a metal detector?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I came to see the band, not your fucking cell phone that you insist and holding over your head, blocking my goddamned view.
Saw one of my favorite bands recently. The girl behind us actually had the temerity to ask us to "keep it down" because she was recording the band on her cell phone. At a rock concert.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
The guards presumably still have working phones.
Better: At venues large enough that this is really an "issue" there is often an ambulance already onsite to deal with any medical calamities--for "music festivals" there are often two on site. So the hundreds of bouncers they have working these shows all have walkie-talkie radios and can probbaly get the already-there ambulance crew to your seat faster than you'd get an ambulance dispatched from the fire station by 9-1-1, to the venue, parked, and into the place.
Who did what now?
Somehow, before the age of cellphones, we did ok. I don't know how, but we survived.
But if your phone is in a bag, how can you know if it's an emergency or not?
Apple Watch.
Or, are these actual Faraday bags, not just can't-get-to-the-device-access-control-bags?
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
The constitution doesn't grant you a right to use your cell phone and be an annoying dickhole (thank god). You agree to pay to see a performer, and part of that agreement is their requirements for you to attend. If you don't like that agreement, don't attend.
Let me guess. You're one of the people who likes to stare at your full-brightness-enabled phone during movies and other performances, without bothering to think that it's as much or more the other paying customers you're pissing off, not the performing artist(s). Has it occurred to you that the person on stage might be wanting their paying customers to be able to enjoy the performance without people like you wrecking everyone's dark-adjusted vision and providing a bright visual distraction that, because of perspective, is larger than the person on the stage that everyone's just spent a bunch of money to see? I know, you really just don't care, because it's all about you. I wonder if there's anything the person sitting in front of YOU might be able to do that would make you wish they'd stop? Maybe, shining a flashlight in your face the whole time? Or is that, like, so cool, man!
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
And what precisely would you be able to do if your father was dying of a stroke while you were in a venue, particularly a stadium? Teleport to his side?
Face it, just because it is possible to be in phone contact during an emergency doesn't really mean that you have to be or that it will even help.
Recently theaters have started to catch on to this. Even here in "blue laws" PA, theaters are selling beer. They are increasingly installing electric reclining seats with assigned seating. One theater even serves you decent pub-style food directly to your seat during the movie. It's not for everyone, and it sure does jack up the price - but I've started going to the theater again after a long time of avoiding it.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
60,000 people calling 911 at once is probably not the best way to handle an emergency anyway.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
I wasn't aware that the cellphone bag was made out of construction paper.
They are specifically trained. Not to do anything medical, but to get on their radios and say 'medical emergency in section 123'. Then, as if by magic, the ON SITE EMS team shows up and deals with it.
I'd simply refuse to enter and request compensation (full purchase refund, parking expenses). If not, take the ticket merchant or responsible venue coordinatator to court and also request compensation for lost personal time. This type of information should be made clear before the purchase is made.
I've grown tired of organizations and individuals encroaching on what I consider others' basic rights for their own personal interests. If you're a live performer, cell phones are not hurting your business.
And it's exactly because of assholes like you that going anywhere, movie, concert, etc., had become unbearable. Fuck you and your fucking phone.
I'd simply refuse to enter and request compensation (full purchase refund, parking expenses). If not, take the ticket merchant or responsible venue coordinatator to court and also request compensation for lost personal time. This type of information should be made clear before the purchase is made.
And it likely WILL be. Common sense dictates you read the fine print if you find yourself and your "rights" being violated here. Don't like it? Don't attend the concert. We won't miss you. Refuse to play by the rules? The door swings both ways. Bye.
I've grown tired of organizations and individuals encroaching on what I consider others' basic rights for their own personal interests. If you're a live performer, cell phones are not hurting your business.
How about you encroaching on my basic right to enjoy a concert without having to see or hear cell phone addicts all trying to capture their version of what should be an evening enjoyed by humans instead of machines? I'd say my basic right during those two hours trumps the shit out of yours. You pay for a ticket and attend a concert for YOU the human to see and hear the artist, not to record a damn documentary of your evening.
Needless to say, I've grown tired of this basic rights bullshit argument, especially when it mainly exists to feed people's narcissistic addictions to social media. And cell phones are not mandated by fire departments and emergency responders, so you can drop the bullshit 911 argument too.
On-the-job training is something you've never heard of?
I'd really like to see this at children's plays and recitals. You ever see 100 parents pull out iPads to video their first grader at a school play? It's very hard to see... sometimes its easier to watch the play on the screen of the fool in front of me.
http://github.com/gbook/nidb
But if your phone is in a bag, how can you know if it's an emergency or not?
Duh, you just look at your iWatch to see who is calling. What idiot would have a smartphone without a smartwatch?
I guess people will have to survive just like those dark times before cell phones were invented.
Well, technically, the majority of people who lived before cell phones were invented have not survived at all.
I really don't understand why movie theaters can't be built with a single-occupant unisex toilet and soundproof door (to keep the noise from being audible to the rest of the theater), a speaker inside simulcasting the audio track from the movie (if not one or more LCD TVs showing the movie itself, since it's all digital now anyway), and a queue area from which the screen can be viewed while waiting in line. They'd sell more mega-sized drinks, because people wouldn't have to be afraid of spending half the movie either desperately having to pee or missing 5-10 minutes running to the restroom after drinking a half-gallon of Diet Coke.
The constitution doesn't grant you a right to use your cell phone
You're right. You know why? Because governments cannot grant rights. You are born with the right to absolutely anything you can imagine. The only thing any law can do is TAKE RIGHTS AWAY. The constitution doesn't have you grant you any right.
You're correct, but you have neither a civil right nor a Lockean or Hobbesian right to trespass on private property. If you're invited in, your invite can be revoked for any and all reasons not otherwise contrary to civil law relating to discrimination against Protected Classes in public establishments. "Cell phone user" is not one of those, so the owner of the hall is free to kick your ass out.
You have no liberty right on private property.
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
And in the age of cellphones, he died while you were at the concert too, but now it actually ruins the show.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Except when the entire first two rows are filled with overzealous mothers that form a roman-shield formation of iPads taking video.
In this case, since it's illegal to shout "fire" in a crowded hall if there is no fire... First set the place on fire and then shout "fire".
"And it likely WILL be"
Future tense?
The more I think about it, perhaps not. Likely weeks before the artist made this venue policy, lawyers were drafting the fine print. They are much more wise to any arguments by the average layman, and saw this shit coming a mile away.
"How about you encroaching on my basic right to enjoy a con..."
Where do you get that he 's encroaching on your 'right'
I paid a considerable amount of money to enjoy a concert, not try and enjoy a performer while dozens of cell phone screens around me blink, beep, and flash photos and videos throughout the entire performance.
In this sense, you are correct. It's not a "right" per se for either argument. In this sense, I was regurgitating the ridiculous argument brought forth by the parent, and it's rather childish to use the "he/she started it" argument, so I'll just concede and say I was wrong in perpetuating it.
Either way, the argument is pathetic, and my statement still stands. You don't NEED a fucking cell phone to attend a concert. If you feel you MUST, then don't fucking attend concerts. Stay home and save your money. You're certainly not taking advantage of a LIVE performance and venue when your eyes are staring at a cell phone screen all night.
And yes, I'm well aware I'm a dying breed of humans who remember a life before cell phones and the internet. A life that still enjoyed some semblance of privacy. This generation cares more about "free", so our future is rather fucked.
You know, cell phones haven't been that ubiquitous for that long.
It wasn't that many years ago...we went to concerts with *GASP* No cell phones at all!! No one owned them.
We all survived just fine.
I'm gonna throw you a REAL curve ball here..but a LOT of us around that are maybe middle aged, grew up and children with no such thing as a cell phone, no helicopter parents....nothing around but land lines in each home. And yet, somehow we managed to survive.
In many ways....it was nicer without fucking smart phones and their cameras everywhere back then. I love my smart phone, but there are times I wish they'd all be turned off for a week or so at a time.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........