Saw an article that led me to do some poking around online. I don't know that this could be used at arena & stadium shows due to the sheer numbers of people but it's an interesting concept.

First Article I saw

2nd article talks about what a user experienced

Company Website (doesn't work that great on my browser but think that's my browser's issue)

If I was "There", I think I'd appreciate this. If I'm not there, I'd miss being able to watch on periscope or youtube the next day.

Peace,
Mr DJA

Thanks for posting. It brings up a lot of questions, and a lot of issues.

I have, in the past, sort of guessed that this is what people of a certain age seem to believe and feel about "being in the moment." That it's somehow risque and "punk rock" and "Zen" as various people said in these articles. But I have always checked myself from believing that---thinking that I was just being an old person with wild uncharitable imaginings.

The fact that these people are almost having anxiety attacks and are at a complete loss when being with other people and no phone is tremendously bizarre, objectively. It is so much less about connecting with each other and more about narcissism--I don't mean that unkindly, necessarily; I mean narcissism, like that of a child, who thinks their every word, thought, sound, movement (of every kind) is going to be fascinating to their mama--and when you're very young, it is.

But to think that they owe it to someone on the east coast (if you're on the west coast) or someone who wasn't able to score tickets to take and share videos and photos of a show...? That's such a radical disconnect from what anyone thought or believed before around 2010! The author of the ars technica piece marvels that the cell pouches will change the way we have been experiencing concerts for the past 1/2 century.

I don't even know where to start. She goes to a reception and doesn't know anyone and she is completely at a loss for what to do without her phone. She even admits she would be pretending to text someone than be, as she says, "in the moment." People in the articles say their cells are their "memory."

Her conclusion that how much a ticket costs has something to do with the intrinsic value of the experience makes my head explode. She writes off small shows with little known bands as not holding much of a crowd experience--and large expensive corporate concerts as the ones where this cell-sock would make an appreciable difference. No wonder bands in small venues are struggling so badly. I have been to thousands of shows--most of them small, which is my intention. I have had some of the best social moments of my life in small venues with new bands (first run Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, Portishead, Beck, Radiohead, Elliott Smith) or old bands (think Toots and the Maytals at the Box on Nantucket, Bo Diddley at Raoul's Roadside Attraction in Portland, Maine, or my first show, Squeeze, at My Father's Place on Long Island), or unknown bands that are amazing. Not just the band but the experience. Who you're standing next to, the collective vibe of the night--different every time, when people are, in fact, present--you become a living organism, for just that time together.

So, at first I was skeptical, like who's going to tell me what to do with my personal property--lock it in a tech broh bag. But the guy who started the company (and not to be snarky but I had to chuckle at his saying he cashed out his "entire 401k" at age 27--mine at age 27 would have been around $217) actually says his primary intent was to reinstill this sense of being in the moment, being "present" for artists and bands who are creating for us.

The only downside I see--is that people might freak after Orlando and Paris--that they would feel "unsafe" without the ability to use their cell phones. Not to ignore the fact that forever before cell phones 400 individuals at a show couldn't call the cops if a person decided to shoot up the joint, but
the current cultural more is that with cell phone comes personal power and autonomy, and a way to effect a different outcome, change reality one way or another...

-swiss


That

I'm a bit tired ....so I will read your post tomorrow swiss ..........maybe it's an idea for BV to add a option were we could post "Voice messages".

1 "Record Your Message"
2 "Post your "Recorded Message"

__________________________

A few years ago I experienced an interesting twist on this subject at a Stones show!
We were at the ABB tour show in Charlottesville's Scott Stadium.
Some bozo called in a bomb threat during the show. We were in the on stage boxes that night, Mick announced what was going on and the band left the stage (and the stadium - we saw them leave)
The entire stage area was evacuated while a bomb sweep was performed, we were moved to bleachers behind the stage. While we were sitting there my Ex tried to make a call on her flip phone to check on our kids. She couldn't place a call because the authorities had shut down/ blocked all cell coverage in the locality of the stadium.
Of course no bomb was found and the show resumed - minus Keith's set - after an hour plus delay.

Alicia Keys is done playing nice. Your phone is getting locked up at her shows now.

I didn't read past the head line of the first article.

Alicia, Alicia Alicia... A 1%percenter performer who... anyway...

The vast majority of performers in the world would be delighted that anyone at all would want show up and listen to them play... and if anyone would actually pay them to see/hear them play it would delight them...

The attitude that some of these performers and companies and organizations have drives me away. Things like the NBA and NASCAR..... I used to care and watch and help make them money... then they got short sighted and greedy and stupid and uppity and acted as if they could any damned thing they wanted to and I would keep supporting them.... I walked away. I stopped going to their shows. I turned off the TV. I stopped watching. I stopped listening. I stopped caring.

There are a lot of options in the world... heck this is year is my first year of finally being fed up sick and tired and done with NASCAR's increasing stupidity. I have not missed it one tiny bit. My Sundays are free. and I have been doing tons of other things. Simply not dealing with rain delays is awesome. I am delighted. I dropped those chains, let it go and moved on from a 20-30 year habit.

I dropped the NBA 5-6 years ago the same way. I could not care less about NBA playoffs.

I have walked away from many bands, products, companies the same way.
It seems they get big and rich and over confident and lose track of what it is all about.

Like the old napster case... the artists who were the most vocal about how horrible napster was were already bazillioniares. While up and coming bands were simply delighted that you cared enough to want to down load and listen to their songs.

So go ahead concert venues... and artists... and companies... go ahead and get all upitty. Feel free to start making and enforcing and strong arming people who used to (or might have) use your product or attended your concert... go right ahead, you can do anything you want... and so can I.




She writes off small shows with little known bands as not holding much of a crowd experience-

yeah she is silly to feel that way...
Some of the best music shows I have ever attended were ones
where less than 100-200 people showed up, for some reason.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-22 05:05 by jambay.

I suspect the artists using these cases at their shows are being paid some kind of kickback by the company providing the cases. It's a publicity thing. It's not a very practical idea.

Quote
marianna
I suspect the artists using these cases at their shows are being paid some kind of kickback by the company providing the cases. It's a publicity thing. It's not a very practical idea.

What makes you think people would be getting a kickback, rather than choosing it themselves? What's not practical about it? (honestly curious)

Performers like Dave Chappelle I'd be willing to bet are thrilled not to be looking into a sea of blue screens but at actual people reacting, being in the moment, watching, being part of creating the experience itself and not in their own little world, completely objectifying the artist as a commodity to be captured and shared -- not to mention (re: Dave Chappelle) being extremely happy that he is essentially in control of who gets to capture and share his performance--meaning him.

I don't actually think we have the right to record others if they don't give their consent. And this is a way that some artists and performers make sure that their picture isn't "taken" or sound recorded. I think it's their right.

And gauging from the young people's response to being away from their devices--seems like an extremely healthy paradigm shift for them, and all of us, even if for a few hours.

-swiss

I'm not sure how you can guarantee that people will hand over their cell phones and put them in the case. Will they frisk people at the door? I think people would still be able to bring their phones in without the case. It would also be time-consuming to give them to people and get the cases back at the end. I don't think it would be practical for stadium shows, so it would only be useful for shows of a certain size.

I don't like seeing lit phone screen during a show. This, however, seems too intrusive. People should be treated as adults. If an act doesn't want phones recording during a show, have security take care of it. As it is, security is tasked with more important things to look for prior to and at the beginning of a concert. It seems incredibly self-absorbed of Alicia Keys to be concerned with such trivialities as bad phone recordings turning up on the net.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-22 08:05 by marianna.

Quote
swiss
Thanks for posting. It brings up a lot of questions, and a lot of issues.

I have, in the past, sort of guessed that this is what people of a certain age seem to believe and feel about "being in the moment." That it's somehow risque and "punk rock" and "Zen" as various people said in these articles. But I have always checked myself from believing that---thinking that I was just being an old person with wild uncharitable imaginings.

The fact that these people are almost having anxiety attacks and are at a complete loss when being with other people and no phone is tremendously bizarre, objectively. It is so much less about connecting with each other and more about narcissism--I don't mean that unkindly, necessarily; I mean narcissism, like that of a child, who thinks their every word, thought, sound, movement (of every kind) is going to be fascinating to their mama--and when you're very young, it is.

But to think that they owe it to someone on the east coast (if you're on the west coast) or someone who wasn't able to score tickets to take and share videos and photos of a show...? That's such a radical disconnect from what anyone thought or believed before around 2010! The author of the ars technica piece marvels that the cell pouches will change the way we have been experiencing concerts for the past 1/2 century.

I don't even know where to start. She goes to a reception and doesn't know anyone and she is completely at a loss for what to do without her phone. She even admits she would be pretending to text someone than be, as she says, "in the moment." People in the articles say their cells are their "memory."

Her conclusion that how much a ticket costs has something to do with the intrinsic value of the experience makes my head explode. She writes off small shows with little known bands as not holding much of a crowd experience--and large expensive corporate concerts as the ones where this cell-sock would make an appreciable difference. No wonder bands in small venues are struggling so badly. I have been to thousands of shows--most of them small, which is my intention. I have had some of the best social moments of my life in small venues with new bands (first run Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, Portishead, Beck, Radiohead, Elliott Smith) or old bands (think Toots and the Maytals at the Box on Nantucket, Bo Diddley at Raoul's Roadside Attraction in Portland, Maine, or my first show, Squeeze, at My Father's Place on Long Island), or unknown bands that are amazing. Not just the band but the experience. Who you're standing next to, the collective vibe of the night--different every time, when people are, in fact, present--you become a living organism, for just that time together.

So, at first I was skeptical, like who's going to tell me what to do with my personal property--lock it in a tech broh bag. But the guy who started the company (and not to be snarky but I had to chuckle at his saying he cashed out his "entire 401k" at age 27--mine at age 27 would have been around $217) actually says his primary intent was to reinstill this sense of being in the moment, being "present" for artists and bands who are creating for us.

The only downside I see--is that people might freak after Orlando and Paris--that they would feel "unsafe" without the ability to use their cell phones. Not to ignore the fact that forever before cell phones 400 individuals at a show couldn't call the cops if a person decided to shoot up the joint, but
the current cultural more is that with cell phone comes personal power and autonomy, and a way to effect a different outcome, change reality one way or another...

-swiss


That

This: " She goes to a reception and doesn't know anyone and she is completely at a loss for what to do without her phone." - indicative of someone who has lost their social skills by spending too much time staring at a smartphone.

I get sick and tired of these tech evangelists wearing their social ostracism like a crown.

this is all so funny to me because the cell phones, I- phones ,and so on are the new CRACK .Where is my phone? i can't find it ,then panic attack insues .They are so dependent on these so called devices that their minds are programed to only work if they have there phone .I should correct that because there minds are dependent on the info from the phone ,there minds can not think independent from the phone .Where do i go for dinner ?where do i go to shop?and on and on and on.What is the real contribution of phones? instant gratification from online pornhub?I for one am glad that i am not from this mindless generation and am a old fart !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-22 13:45 by TheGreek.

Why stop at cell phones?

Dave Chappelle and Alicia should also come up with a bag for all of the other things and people that distract at concerts, most of which are far more distracting than people recording.

Before bagging cameras and phones they need to bag up al the people who YELLsing badly to every song.

And how about the people who SCREAMtalk to each other the whole show, can they be put in a bag too...

And go ahead and bag up all the people who love to push and shove their way up front... and bag up all of the people getting sick, people who are getting up and down and in and out constantly.... AND BE SURE TO BAG UP those 2 damn tall people who somehow are always in front of me at every show with their arms up in the air fingers interlaced holding the back of their head.

And bag up the stupid security idiots who at some shows love to be overly aggressive as they seem to enjoy trying to interfere with everyone trying to enjoy the show... and bag up the people who constantly scream "PLAY FREEBIRD" or whatever song they want to hear... and bag up the drunk chick who thinks she can share my good seat, plus bag up the shirtless hippie guy at every show who comes around asking everyone if they have a lighter and/or rolling papers... and bag up the people behind us who feel obligated to throw crap like water bottles...

And what the heck... go ahead and bag up all of these bands trying to retire on one tour by charging $100-300-750 1500 per ticket... AND BAG UP Ticketbastard for charging another $50-60-200 fee on top of the band's outrageous prices.... and bag up the opening band who comes on late and DOUBLE BAG the main band who takes over an hour or two to finally get off their asses in gear and get in stage... etc etc etc.

All of those people and things are more distracting than people usually quietly recording.


But I never let ANY of those people or the things they do come close to ruining my enjoyment of any show. I know it is all part of the deal/risk of going to a concert and if/when someone or something becomes too distracting I simply move to another area, I have done that a over a 1000 times for 38 years. I dont care what people do at concert... all you people can do whatever you want to at a concert... ya bunch of nuts... it is all part of the concert fun.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-22 15:25 by jambay.

Quote
TheGreek
this is all so funny to me because the cell phones, I- phones ,and so on are the new CRACK .Where is my phone? i can't find it ,then panic attack insues .They are so dependent on these so called devices that their minds are programed to only work if they have there phone .I should correct that because there minds are dependent on the info from the phone ,there minds can not think independent from the phone .Where do i go for dinner ?where do i go to shop?and on and on and on.What is the real contribution of phones? instant gratification from online pornhub?I for one am glad that i am not from this mindless generation and am a old fart !

I suspect younger people will outgrow their smartphone addiction when they get to the age where they need reading glasses to see the tiny font on the phones. If they're not vain about wearing glasses, they will at least be too inconvenienced by constantly having to take their glasses out and put them on.

Quote
marianna

Quote
TheGreek
this is all so funny to me because the cell phones, I- phones ,and so on are the new CRACK .Where is my phone? i can't find it ,then panic attack insues .They are so dependent on these so called devices that their minds are programed to only work if they have there phone .I should correct that because there minds are dependent on the info from the phone ,there minds can not think independent from the phone .Where do i go for dinner ?where do i go to shop?and on and on and on.What is the real contribution of phones? instant gratification from online pornhub?I for one am glad that i am not from this mindless generation and am a old fart !

I suspect younger people will outgrow their smartphone addiction when they get to the age where they need reading glasses to see the tiny font on the phones. If they're not vain about wearing glasses, they will at least be too inconvenienced by constantly having to take their glasses out and put them on.

Best Post of the day and all so true .

Quote
TheGreek

Quote
marianna
I suspect younger people will outgrow their smartphone addiction when they get to the age where they need reading glasses to see the tiny font on the phones. If they're not vain about wearing glasses, they will at least be too inconvenienced by constantly having to take their glasses out and put them on.

Best Post of the day and all so true .

truex2

Freekin reading glasses and old decaying eyeballs. What kind of prank is that?

I would never admit that this is the main reason I do not even own a cellphone smartphone or any mobile device like that. Nor would I admit having my home computer connected to a 32 inch flat screen that hangs on the wall so I dont have to deal with small screen and those freeking reading glasses which I would never admit to owning.

The only thing worse than having to put readers on over a pair of contact lenses would be not having them to use.



"Oh Uncle, you need to get a Kindle, it is so cool! You can read books on a ittybittyteenytiny screen, so there is no need to ever look at a BIG book again."

"Oh yeah, that sounds like the best idea ever!! I will pick one of those up soon!"



side idea- I like the idea of not making a friend have to buy their first pair of readers. As with Sake it is a good thing to pour them them their first pairs of readers. When I have seen a couple of friends needing them, I did them a favor and bought them a 3-pack with +1.50 readers and gave it to them with no pomp and circumstance, I just layed it there.


freekin tiny writing... could they make it all just a little bit smaller!

There would have to be a disclosure on the ticket and at the point of sale stating all cell phones entering the building would automatically become locked
during the performance. If not, this would be a liability issue for the promoter, artist, etc. Seems to me this would be a large negative and may make a fan think twice about accepting the $750 seats at checkout.

Quote
swimtothemoon
There would have to be a disclosure on the ticket and at the point of sale stating all cell phones entering the building would automatically become locked
during the performance. If not, this would be a liability issue for the promoter, artist, etc. Seems to me this would be a large negative and may make a fan think twice about accepting the $750 seats at checkout.

True.

And re: marianna's post - it would be touch to make it scale - most practical for club and small theatre shows.

I was wondering what would keep someone from surrendering their old phone to the pouch, while keeping their active phone in their purse or pocket?

Quote
jambay
Why stop at cell phones?

Dave Chappelle and Alicia should also come up with a bag for all of the other things and people that distract at concerts, most of which are far more distracting than people recording.

Before bagging cameras and phones they need to bag up al the people who YELLsing badly to every song.

And how about the people who SCREAMtalk to each other the whole show, can they be put in a bag too...

And go ahead and bag up all the people who love to push and shove their way up front... and bag up all of the people getting sick, people who are getting up and down and in and out constantly.... AND BE SURE TO BAG UP those 2 damn tall people who somehow are always in front of me at every show with their arms up in the air fingers interlaced holding the back of their head.

And bag up the stupid security idiots who at some shows love to be overly aggressive as they seem to enjoy trying to interfere with everyone trying to enjoy the show... and bag up the people who constantly scream "PLAY FREEBIRD" or whatever song they want to hear... and bag up the drunk chick who thinks she can share my good seat, plus bag up the shirtless hippie guy at every show who comes around asking everyone if they have a lighter and/or rolling papers... and bag up the people behind us who feel obligated to throw crap like water bottles...

And what the heck... go ahead and bag up all of these bands trying to retire on one tour by charging $100-300-750 1500 per ticket... AND BAG UP Ticketbastard for charging another $50-60-200 fee on top of the band's outrageous prices.... and bag up the opening band who comes on late and DOUBLE BAG the main band who takes over an hour or two to finally get off their asses in gear and get in stage... etc etc etc.

Haha.
You bag up society, that's your problem. You're a bag-upper. In fact, you double bag.

Quote
jambay

Quote
TheGreek

Quote
marianna
I suspect younger people will outgrow their smartphone addiction when they get to the age where they need reading glasses to see the tiny font on the phones. If they're not vain about wearing glasses, they will at least be too inconvenienced by constantly having to take their glasses out and put them on.

Best Post of the day and all so true .

truex2

Freekin reading glasses and old decaying eyeballs. What kind of prank is that?

I would never admit that this is the main reason I do not even own a cellphone smartphone or any mobile device like that. Nor would I admit having my home computer connected to a 32 inch flat screen that hangs on the wall so I dont have to deal with small screen and those freeking reading glasses which I would never admit to owning.

The only thing worse than having to put readers on over a pair of contact lenses would be not having them to use.



"Oh Uncle, you need to get a Kindle, it is so cool! You can read books on a ittybittyteenytiny screen, so there is no need to ever look at a BIG book again."

"Oh yeah, that sounds like the best idea ever!! I will pick one of those up soon!"



side idea- I like the idea of not making a friend have to buy their first pair of readers. As with Sake it is a good thing to pour them them their first pairs of readers. When I have seen a couple of friends needing them, I did them a favor and bought them a 3-pack with +1.50 readers and gave it to them with no pomp and circumstance, I just layed it there.


freekin tiny writing... could they make it all just a little bit smaller!

that is so true i have to use readers also i think they are the +1.50



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-23 13:34 by TheGreek.

I wonder if these are all cell phones, maybe some lighters. . .