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An advertisement by the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation to promote considerate use of cell phones in public places.
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Once upon a time it was incessant fidgeting or noisy coughing that gave concert-goers their biggest headaches. But now it's cell phones causing unwelcome disturbances at concerts. In Austria, concert organizers tried a novel method to make people aware of the bothersome rings and beeps their phones emit: they purposely broadcast loud ring tones inside the concert hall to make people experience just how unpleasant an unwelcome phone call can be. In fact, an untimely ring during a lyric movement can be called a music-lover's public enemy number one.
In an ideal world, everybody would simply turn their phones off before the concert. But many busy people today simply must be connected at all times, so they set their phones to "manner mode", which alerts them to incoming calls by vibrating. But while manner mode might be fine during a powerful orchestral movement, those vibrations can be heard plainly during more quiet andante or largo moments. During vocal recitals or chamber concerts in particular, the vibrations can be an unwelcome and resonant supporting sound.
Setting the phone to soundless mode might take care of the problem, but even then some phones still make beeps or bloops to signify incoming voice or text messages. It's not uncommon to hear short, sharp sounds that break the mood at concerts. Usually it's those little alarms for incoming messages.
So can you feel safe if you remember to turn off your message alerts, too? Not always. This writer must confess to a certain barbarous act at a concert. I made sure that I had turned off both my call and message alerts, of course. But during the encore, my cell phone made the most disastrous noise: it began beeping to let me know my battery was low. I wanted to make a quick escape, but the exit was too far away. If you don’t plan to turn off your phone, you need to check your battery.
What's the best way to be absolutely certain you won't embarrass yourself as I did? Simply remove the battery. It's safest way. Some people try to fake it and pretend that it's not their phone that's ringing, but everyone around them knows who's responsible. It's an unpleasant moment, but it's easily avoided. After all, it's not such a task to turn off your phone for a while when you're about to enter a different world.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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