Welcome to the Future

Congratulations, Chuck, an important statement wrapped in a pithy container. Well done.

Posted on Sun, Apr. 24, 2005 At concerts, cell phones are the new lighters BY ANDY RATHBUN Newsday An appropriate time to ask, "Can you hear me now?" might be during a 115-decibel concert. But concertgoers aren't pulling out their phones to chat during shows. Instead, they're pointing them away from their ears and toward the stage, as they did at a recent stop on U2's Vertigo 2005 tour. According to one review, as the band launched into the hit ballad "One," the stadium filled with the soft blue glow of the phones' displays. Bono urged the crowd, with the help of video displays, to text message for information from the One Campaign (www.one.org) to raise awareness about global poverty and AIDS. The phenomenon was repeated recently at Madison Square Garden as Simon LeBon, frontman for '80s pop group Duran Duran, urged the crowd to take out cell phones and lighters before launching into "Save a Prayer." "It makes it look like the stars at night," LeBon said of the glow. "And it makes you all look so much more beautiful." Tom Ryan, senior vice president of mobile and digital development at EMI music, explained why people take out their phones even when Bono and LeBon aren't telling them to. "The phone in general is being used as a method of sharing the unique experience," he said.