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Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

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Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#431
post #87

I experienced the Yondr phone prison last night for the first time (at a Chris Rock show). While I detest people being disruptive with their phones, I don’t think this is the right solution. From a practical standpoint, it took a lot longer to get into and out of the venue when phones had to be locked up. Checking your phone when you pop out to the toilet meant waiting in a queue to have your phone unlocked, and bein…

You underestimate the impact that people using their phones - as cameras in particular - has in a performance setting. To say nothing about ringers going off. It ruins the experience for everyone, so some inconvenience is well worth it in my book.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. This should be a policy and etiquette issue not a forcible restriction of human communication. Imagine your teenage child attends a concert and needs to call you to escape a dangerous situation. There are so many situations of nuance that a blanket ban disrupts in a negative way. This is a very shallow way to deal with a complicated issue.

Maybe the market should decide. No one is forcing you to buy a ticket to the show and separate you from your phone.

If the policy is clearly stated during the purchase process, sure.

If it's something that's just announced at the door, after you've bought the (generally non-refundable) tickets, no.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#435
post #314
post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Checking phones is part of the human experience.

Compulsive, addiction driven behaviour due to the gamification of apps and basic services? I say let's remove that from our experience.

That's not my experience with owning a phone...

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#437
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the viscerality of this response is fascinating. Putting your phone in a case is a "prison", and you must check it every time you go to the toilet, and you're concerned about a terrorist attack -- enough to want your phone, but not enough to stay home, as if your apps could somehow save you. > Treat people like adults. If they break the rules, ask them to leave. Isn't that what we've been trying for the past…

> Isn't that what we've been trying for the past 10 years? Clearly, it's not working. Have we? I've only been to one show in the past decade where a performer called someone out in the crowd for being a jerk with a camera. They wouldn't turn the flash off, so the artist asked them to stop, then they took another flashy picture, so the artist mocked them until they put the camera away for the rest of the show.

I saw Lou Reed do this in 2003. It might have even been about cameras at that point and the issue was the flash, not audience experience. But he was not. Having. It. Stopped playing both times and really was about to walk off. It seemed a little too much at the time. But now I get it, and I feel a little bad that the current generation, at least the phone addicted ones, are never going to experience the level of emotion you get with fuller engagement. This is even more acutely real in the theater and it will probably wither in the current... attention economy.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer Kant.

Doesn't Kant go against your example of Anne Frank? ("To be truthful (honest) in all declarations is therefore a sacred command of reason prescribing unconditionally, one not to be restricted by any conveniences"). Surely a teenager telling white lies to pushy peers is preferable.

Yes, Kant does. I'm not an absolute Kantian by any means, but I do prefer Kant to Twain. This isn't to say I dislike Twain, though.

> Surely a teenager telling white lies to pushy peers is preferable.

That's not sure by any means. In fact, the habit of telling "white lies" is almost certainly harmful in the long run. The same is true for caving to pushy peers.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting they didn't have confidence in the babysitter's ability to take care of you for an evening but still chose to hire them and then monitored them via payphone. Most times when babysitters are hired, now or a generation ago, they're trusted to make reasonable decisions so the parents don't have to worry.

> It's interesting they didn't have confidence in the babysitter's ability to take care of you for an evening but still chose to hire them and then monitored them via payphone. No one questioned the babysitter's competence. They're your children -- you're going to want to call and check to see how things are going.

> you're going to want to call and check to see how things are going

Yes. If you suffer from high levels of anxiety and don't trust your own decisions about who to trust, this is true. Many people, particularly Americans, are this way. It is not true for every parent, however.

Re: Jack White bans phones at gigs for “100% human experience”

#440
post #189
post #87

I experienced the Yondr phone prison last night for the first time (at a Chris Rock show). While I detest people being disruptive with their phones, I don’t think this is the right solution. From a practical standpoint, it took a lot longer to get into and out of the venue when phones had to be locked up. Checking your phone when you pop out to the toilet meant waiting in a queue to have your phone unlocked, and bein…

I think the viscerality of this response is fascinating. Putting your phone in a case is a "prison", and you must check it every time you go to the toilet, and you're concerned about a terrorist attack -- enough to want your phone, but not enough to stay home, as if your apps could somehow save you. > Treat people like adults. If they break the rules, ask them to leave. Isn't that what we've been trying for the past…

I do not have to check my phone every time I go to toilet, but in case performance turns out boring, I like to stay on toilet longer and read on the phone there.

If significant percentage of adults acts certain way, then it is acting like adults by definition. Maybe you are just using "adult" as word of approval and "kid" as insult :).

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