It’s happened to everyone. You go to a show, super-psyched to see Grimes or Ty Segall or whoever, and there’s someone holding up their iPhone to record the whole thing. It’s worse than Ticketmaster surcharges, and worse than talking loudly through the opener. It’s possibly the worst instance of substituting technology for the actual enjoyment of the moment. You wonder, "Do people actually watch their wobbly, badly lit videos? Or do they just throw them on YouTube hoping for a few dozen hits? Worse, is that guy recording me while I’m swaying and taking a few hits?"
But now there’s a new device called Yondr, which, as SF Weekly noted, is an ingenious little contraption meant to thwart such antisocial behavior and make sure everybody has a good time – performers included. Upon walking into a venue, the staffers will put your phone into Yondr cases, which lock upon entering a phone-free zone (that may or may not be the entire club). You still have your phone on you, but you can’t text or record anything – and if you somehow evade it by sticking your phone next to the bag of pot in your boot, you’ll be tossed out. So far, the Stock Club in Uptown Oakland and the Milk Bar in the Haight have signed on.
Camaraderie is so much richer when everyone’s on the same wavelength. Holding up your phone for more than a couple quick pics, on the other hand, is like causing a total solar eclipse. There’s the umbra of people whose views you’re directly obstructing, but also a much larger penumbra of people who you’re driving to distraction and who really, really fucking hate you now.
[Via SF Weekly; photo via Thinkstock]