Well Apple know their customers frustrations, and have patent for a camera that can detect infrared signals, which lends itself to several uses. One of those uses is disabling the use of phone cameras at concerts.
Apple first applied for the patent in 2009, with the function of the camera serving several uses. One use may be that museums could transmit information to your phone when taking photos within it. However included in the patent application is an illustration that shows a phone’s record functionality disabled at a concert.
This could be great news for the masses of concert attendees and bands that have voiced their frustrations about people filming these concerts, although there are a few concerns raised. The ability for Apple, or anyone else for the matter, to disable certain phone functions in certain locations is definitely one of them.
Then there is another question raised. Is it actually that bad that people are filming artists at concerts? Many musicians have commended filming at gigs, as they receive extra publicity online for fans sharing their photos and videos.
Sure, in a perfect world this would be the sole purpose of recording videos at gigs. But the reality is that once we have recorded these videos, they get stored on our phone, never to surface again.
Then there is the argument from many artists that phones distract audiences from the actual experience of the show – quite a valid point. You’re witnessing a mind-blowing guitar solo that you may never see again – why pull out your phone half way and start recording it? EXPERIENCE THE SHOW! You paid to be there, so why try and record some dodgy footage that you may or may not share later on. Get your one happy snap when the band isn’t on stage to brag to all of your Snapchat followers and then enjoy the show!
So the moral of the story: Apple will probably make a lot of people happy with this new technology if it does surface on the market. But, extra promotion isn’t always a bad thing either. Just don’t bring a bloody iPad to a gig.
