In the near future, if you’re attending a concert, comedy show or performance, you might be required to put your smartphone in one of these little cases first.
A company called Yondr makes the cases that would be handed out at the door, requiring users to place smartphones inside. The case then “locks” once you enter the “phone-free zone,” or performance space, preventing you or anyone around you from accessing their phones during the show.
Need to use your phone? No problem. Step outside the “phone-free” zone, and you can use it.
Brilliant.
The report comes from Vulture, which states that comedian Dave Chappelle, who has had issues with people recording and posting his shows in the past, will be one of the first to use it.
“If you plan to see Chappelle perform at Chicago’s Thalia Hall this week, you will be required to place your phone in one of Yondr’s wireless-blocking phone pockets. The bags will then lock once once you enter the venue for the duration of the show.”
Several music venues in San Francisco are also already using it, too, according to San Francisco Weekly.
As we all know, people increasingly using their smartphones is becoming a real hassle for everyone, audience members and performers alike. Remember Broadway great Patti Lupone snatching one away from an audience member earlier this year?
As someone who remembers seeing shows without having to look around a sea of smartphone screens, I can honestly say that I love this idea so hard I can barely stand it.