I was discussing this with a co-worker, as we work in a research library with a no cell phone use policy and constantly have to ask people to leave if they want to use their cell phone. So I told him about threatres asking the FCC about using jammers and being shot down. Then I suggested using a Faraday cage. He is not tech savy and I had to explain that the cage would have to have gaps smaller than the wave length of the cell phone EM waves, and debating the cost effectivness of this.
So I decided to google "movie theatre cell phone faraday cage" and I came upon a hotly contested anandtech thread from 2006. Rather than resurrect that, I figured I would start a new one.
Let us pretend for a moment that threatres didn't have to charge $4 for 12 ounces of soda, or $5.50 for popcorn that it only took them $0.50 to buy and pop, just to turn a profit and stay afloat.
beginning of ramble...skip down to the next bolded line if you are prone to post TL;DR
The old thread debated emergency personnel (doctors etc.) and just plain emergency situations. Of course, the rebuttals which I agree with, was that those people shouldn't go into a theatre when no call, or should find alternate means of being contacted.
I've found recently that phones lighting up over and over from teens text messaging is nearly as annoying as phones ringing and people actually answering them.
Anyone who has worked any sort of public services job before will know that
1) People don't read signs
or
2) Ignore signs that they have read, or at some points reading what they want to read, wether the sign says it or not.
There are too many inconsiderate people in the world, for messages before the movie asking for cell phones to be silenced to actually work. Those messages only remind the responsible people that they need to turn off their cell phone.
Attention lacking people begin here...BTW #1 and #2 above apply to you
Most theatres I go to now have a NO GUNS sign at the door. Those CCW permit holders who wish can choose to leave the gun in their car or not patronize the theatre.
The same can and SHOULD be done for threatres using a Farady cage to block cell phone EM radiaton. Those who cannot do without their cell phone for the length of a movie can do as the CCW holders above must do.
OR
For new and popular movies, theatres could have individual auditoriums which block cell phone use, and auditoriums which do not block signals. This would act more like the now fading tradition of Non-smoking areas in restaurants. While cell phone use is still discouraged in the non-blocked auditorium, those who choose to view a movie there will have to deal with the occasional distraction.
For older movies the could alternate which auditorium they show them in from week to week.
In my area most of the 15+ theatres are owned by Regal. So entire theatres could be blocked or not (possibly a choice that would require extensive rennovation or need to be made before construction)
So I decided to google "movie theatre cell phone faraday cage" and I came upon a hotly contested anandtech thread from 2006. Rather than resurrect that, I figured I would start a new one.
Let us pretend for a moment that threatres didn't have to charge $4 for 12 ounces of soda, or $5.50 for popcorn that it only took them $0.50 to buy and pop, just to turn a profit and stay afloat.
beginning of ramble...skip down to the next bolded line if you are prone to post TL;DR
The old thread debated emergency personnel (doctors etc.) and just plain emergency situations. Of course, the rebuttals which I agree with, was that those people shouldn't go into a theatre when no call, or should find alternate means of being contacted.
I've found recently that phones lighting up over and over from teens text messaging is nearly as annoying as phones ringing and people actually answering them.
Anyone who has worked any sort of public services job before will know that
1) People don't read signs
or
2) Ignore signs that they have read, or at some points reading what they want to read, wether the sign says it or not.
There are too many inconsiderate people in the world, for messages before the movie asking for cell phones to be silenced to actually work. Those messages only remind the responsible people that they need to turn off their cell phone.
Attention lacking people begin here...BTW #1 and #2 above apply to you
Most theatres I go to now have a NO GUNS sign at the door. Those CCW permit holders who wish can choose to leave the gun in their car or not patronize the theatre.
The same can and SHOULD be done for threatres using a Farady cage to block cell phone EM radiaton. Those who cannot do without their cell phone for the length of a movie can do as the CCW holders above must do.
OR
For new and popular movies, theatres could have individual auditoriums which block cell phone use, and auditoriums which do not block signals. This would act more like the now fading tradition of Non-smoking areas in restaurants. While cell phone use is still discouraged in the non-blocked auditorium, those who choose to view a movie there will have to deal with the occasional distraction.
For older movies the could alternate which auditorium they show them in from week to week.
In my area most of the 15+ theatres are owned by Regal. So entire theatres could be blocked or not (possibly a choice that would require extensive rennovation or need to be made before construction)
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