The NY Times reports about a theater set to open in 2014 that will actually encourage cell phone and mobile device use:
It’s a taboo of the digital era: using a cellphone in a darkened theater. Some performance spaces, like Carnegie Hall, politely flash a notice reminding patrons to turn off electronic devices, while others, like the Alamo Drafthouse cinema chain in Texas, go so far as to eject violators.
One new hall near Seattle is turning that logic on its head by encouraging patrons to send texts and update their Twitter and Facebook accounts to their heart’s content. The Tateuchi Center in Bellevue, Wash., is expected to open in 2014 with a policy of smartphone laissez-faire, as a bet that allowing technological engagement will draw younger audiences.
“This is the wave of the future for the people we worry about attracting,” said John Haynes, the theater’s executive director. “Simply forbidding it and embarrassing people is not the way to go. So we are wiring the building in anticipation of finding ways to make it work over time.”
Theaters and performers often ban cellphones or digital cameras because they disrupt the performances. The ban also prevents unauthorized images or audio recordings from circulating. But those bans are often difficult or impossible to enforce. The Tateuchi has not broken ground, but its designs have been completed and it has raised $62 million of the $160 million it needs, Mr. Haynes said.
The building will have a 2,000-seat concert hall and a 250-seat cabaret, and plans to present theater, classical music, jazz and pop. To improve cell signals within, it will have a 12- to 14-foot antenna. That should also help provide another source of revenue: renting out space for corporate events during the day.
The theater will have a standing policy of allowing nondisruptive cell use during performances, he said, and will perhaps distribute small screens to patrons to place on their phones and dim the light. Artists booked there can request no phone use, and in time an etiquette might develop.
“I don’t think this is something that changes overnight,” Mr. Haynes said. “We didn’t want to build the last great concert hall of the 20th century, but maybe the first one of the 21st century.”
Look, I used to love going to the movies as a kid, they were my sanctuary. This was in the 80s and 90s before cell phones were all the rage.
When I moved to LA in 2000 to pursue a career in film, I had very little money, but tried to keep up with new releases when possible. Cell phones were still not much of a problem until about mid decade....and that's when there was a huge drop off in theater time for me.
I rarely go to the cinema anymore. Arclight is a godsend, but at $14 a ticket, cell phones are the least of my worries.
But honestly...this is just appalling to me. I rarely even use a cell phone. I have a couple good friends and when we want to talk, we, you know, actually TALK, face to face over some beers or wine. And when it's time to take or receive a call, or even text or check messages, it's never so urgent as to interrupt the theatrical experience...not just because I paid for an expensive ticket, but out of respect for the other patrons. I just don't see why everyone is so fucking impatient. I guess they call it the "Crackberry" for a reason.
Forget inside the theater, I can't stand texting period. I have no problem with people exercising their freedoms, but people have become so zombified and singlemindedly selfish, things like common courtesy have gone out the window. It's like people can't even conceive of the idea of a shared reality. Sometimes I ride the subway, so don't get me started on the Cro-magnons who actually use their cell phones as miniature boom boxes.
And to even raise hell about stuff like this outside of chud is to be seen as a sensitive jackass. It's like living in the twilight zone.
