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Subscribe to RSSDespite all the reporting on that iPhone ring tone shut that down a New York Philharmonic performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, nagging questions remained.
Why did it take the phone's owner so long to silence the offending marimba? It seemed especially unlikely behavior coming from a concertgoer sitting in an expensive front-row seat. Was he a boor? Was he hard of hearing?
Man's marimba IPhone ring stops Mahler symphony dead
A New York Times reporter got to the bottom of it by securing an interview with the man identified only as "Patron X." You can read it here.
It turned out that the cellphone owner did not realize it was his phone making the sound to begin with because he had turned off the iPhone ringer, the Times reported. Patron X says he swapped his Blackberry for the iPhone just a day earlier and didn't realize that the alarm was set and would sound even if the ringer was silenced for incoming calls.
Patron X was mortified by the idea that he disrupted the performance, according to the Times. He said that he had been irritated many times in the past by disruptions during performances--coughing, inappropriate applause, and ringing cell phones.
"Then God, there was I. Holy smokes," he told the paper. "It's horrible. Horrible."
If there is a silver lining, it is that Patron X's experience offers a valuable lesson that may benefit other iPhone-wielding concertgoers and conductors: Just turning off the ringer does not ensure that the device will remain silent.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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Than God with all the trivial wars and famines and financial difficulties going on in the world today we have solved the ringtone mystery at the New York Philharmonic.
I will certainly sleep better tonight knowing our elite media investigators are on the job cracking this case!!
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We hear enough every day about famines and wars and such, time to lighten up
"Just turning off the ringer does not ensure that the device will remain silent."
Perhaps not, but turning the dang thing off does.
Yeah right. Like he couldn't tell the ringing was coming from his pocket.
Obviously Patron X is sooooooo important the 'turn your cell phone off' announcements don't apply to him.
Hooray for classical music. On a major news website, the story generates 1 comment and 3 follow ups. No wonder no one wanted the NY Phil Exec. job.
Not to be boorish, but...
I have a problem with the very first sentence. It reads: "Despite all the reporting on that iPhone ring tone shut that down a New York Philharmonic performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, nagging questions remained."
It is hard to consider a news source, or writer for that matter, credible or legitimate when the very first sentence of an article contains a phrase that is totally incorrect and out of context. Did the writer or editor not catch this? Did no one even bother to proofread, at least once, before disseminating this to the general public?
Goodness, and people wonder why journalism is dead...(Sigh). Thanks MSNBC. I am not surprised.
REPLY: Marc, maybe you would be more heartened by the 549+ comments left yesterday for the original MSN story (rather than this short followup to that story?) http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10141114-mans-marimba-iphone-ring-stops-mahler-symphony-dead?commentId=61507025#c61507025
The ghost of John Cage, or perhaps PDQ Bach, is alive and well.
The poor man had just gotten a new phone, and he really didn't know how to use it. Jeez, maybe we should just cut off his head, and ban his friends and family from concerts for life. Like no one else has ever made a mistake. I saw the conductor on t.v. and he was being a pompous ass. The (elderly) gentleman felt bad. I could so see my dad having done something that lamebrained when he was alive. We should not take it that seriously.
Thanks kimkan2! I'm glad someone else has some forgiveness and compassion for this obviously embarrassed music patron. I'm a choral conductor, and I know how frustrating concert interruptions can be, but it should not be a platform for a conductor to be a jerk.
I agree, kimkan21. I, too, would have thought that turning off the ringer would keep the phone silenced. I don't have an iPhone but I do have an old (2 years) cell phone that is usually off unless I want to make a call. Heck, I'd still be using my first "brick" if it still worked..
Why bring the freakin' thing to concert anyway ?? his excuses just sound phony to me, yet another uber-rich, self entitled A*hole who thinks because he makes a ton of money he does not think the rules common courtesy apply to him.
He's only upset because the Conductor (God bless him) showed him up for the shallow, self centered pond scum that he is. Too bad it's not a Hanging offence !! :) His claim that he din't know how to use it are pathetic, these kind of Wall St parasites are always up to date on the latest gizmos, it gives them the edge over the "great unwashed" middle-class who they are busy destroying.
What makes you think that he was a "Wall St parasite"? Because his seat was described as "expensive"? I bet a lot of middle-class people have paid more for a seat a championship football or basketball game than this gentleman paid of his ticket, but I don't see people attacking them as "pond scum."
Can't we as a society attend a function and go without our cell phones and other"necessities" for a couple hours. It's getting ridiculous anymore.
And if you are going through a a checkout line in a store, stick that cell phone somewhere and have the courtesy and manners to pay attention to the clerk trying to serve you. Grrrrrrr! And for God's sake, don't talk or text and drive; it's as bad as driving drunk.
An old Luddite signing off......
That is almost funny. My husband was Best Man at a wedding a few years ago, and his new phone kept beeping. He is a little hard of hearing so kept denying that it was his because he had turned off the ringer. Thank God it was a small backyard wedding of close friends, because the minister finally threw the phone to me so that I could take it out of earshot. It is still a source of laughter for all of us who were there to this day.
I agree with so many of the other posters. Turn it off and don't talk/text if driving. Too many people have lost their lives for a phone call.