PDA-free zones
May 27th, 2008
The Alton Towers theme park is going to experiment with a PDA-free zone:
Alton Towers Resort will be piloting a “PDA Free Zone” during May Half Term (May 25th - June 1st inclusive), to encourage parents to disconnect from the office and reconnect fully with their families. PDA police will be onsite to enforce the ban and any adult caught using a PDA whilst at the Resort will be asked to report to one of five “PDA Drop Off Zones” where they can safely leave their PDA’s (sic) for the day. If the scheme is successful, it will be introduced full time.
Russell Barnes, Divisional Director for the Alton Towers Resort explains; “What we have here is the ultimate short break location where every member of the family can unwind and have fun. We feel it’s so important for parents and kids to focus on nothing more than having the best possible time, we are prepared to take drastic action to ensure that parents really leave their work behind!”
Three observations:
- The PDA Police had better be crystal clear on the difference between a PDA and a Smartphone.
- If the idea is to ‘force’ parents to pay attention to their families, shouldn’t they also be ‘asking’ visitors to surrender their mobile phones?
- Alton Towers had better have a bulletproof system for keeping track of who handed which PDA in, whether any given PDA had a memory stick in place and so on…
- Contrary to the comment in the Ars Technica post, this isn’t similar to cinemas playing reminders to patrons to silence their mobile phones; Alton Towers aren’t inviting you to keep your PDA in your pocket, they’re proposing to temporarily confiscate it if they see you using it.
[Via Ars Technica]
May 28th, 2008 at 3:57 am
when i read the first couple of sentences, i thought alton towers was banning public displays of affection during the may half term holiday. no snogging on the rides!
May 28th, 2008 at 6:20 am
That’d make the job of the ‘PDA Police’ even more of a thankless task.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I read this story with interest, I actually do not know the difference between a PDA and a smartphone. Will Blackberries be banned too?
When i went to alton towers recently I did not see the PDA free zone around.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I personally think they’re mad.
They’ll potentially loose punters if they start threatening to confiscate PDAs. I certainly wouldn’t give my PDA to some teenager staff member for the day. And I’d resent the idea that I’m incapable of knowing how to spend time with my kids.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I agree: I wouldn’t dream of leaving my backup brain in the hands of their staff.
July 31st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
The thought of them trying to enforce this is really going to cause hassle. It’s a public place that people go, families want Dad to come. Dad can come if he has the option to use his PDA if required.
August 19th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I personally think they’re mad.
August 25th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
i think banning PDA’s is a bit overkill, it should be the parents choice whehter to bring their PDA to alton towers or not, i need my PDA with me at all times for my business and nobody is going to tell me i cant have it, but thats just me
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I agree that the use of pdas have become overkill in social and family settings (aka the crackberry). However, banning smartphones will not teach people how to effectively, efficiently, and responsibly use these awesome and powerful communication devices. I’m obviously a big fan of blackberries and also a big fan of them being used responsibly. This ban doesn’t help anyone.