Alton Towers trials ban on PDAs
"PDA spotted at 200 yards, GO, GO, GO!"
So-called quiet carriages on trains where the use of phones and laptops is frowned upon are to be avoided if you’re tech-obsessed. But now theme park Alton Towers wants to ban the use of PDAs from its grounds.
Until 1 June, Alton Towers is piloting a “PDA Free Zone” in an effort to force parents to disconnect from the office and reconnect with their family. PDA police have been shipped in to ensure that work-obsessed parents don’t break the park’s strict PDA rules. Any parent that does will be asked to hand their device into one of five “PDA drop off zones”.
Russell Barnes, Divisional Director for the Alton Towers Resort, said that the park is “prepared to take drastic action to ensure that parents really leave their work behind”. Register Hardware isn’t sure what extremes the park will go to, but let’s just hope PDA police don’t start dropping devices from the top of the Oblivion rollercoaster.
If the scheme is successful, then Alton Towers will consider enforcing the PDA ban on a permanent basis.
COMMENTS
@AC
Alton Towers is a privately run business.
IT is also a theme park - a family day out.
Banning the use of PDAs within its grounds is no more drastic than a restaurant banning the use of mobile phones, or even having a dress code.
OF course, the policy should be that anyone caught using a PDA be immediately ejected from the park.
PDA (Pretty Damned Annoying)
Another first for the Adolph brigade. Let's hope thay they are given the bums rush and totally ignored. It's about time that legislation, public or private, was curtailed and I gravely doubt whether in this case it has been thought out thoroughly.
It is a certainty that the legality of it cannot be established and the removal by an "Adolph" constitutes theft but would the local plods have the balls to enforce the law as it stands? I very much doubt that. I agree that it is annoying to have people
Gibbering away electronically and spoiling your enjoyment, the easy way to circumvent this would be to have a blanket jamming device fitted which would deal with the problem but, again, no-one has the balls for doing that either. Looked at objectively, it cannot be legally enforced. I suppose that they could come the custard about "elfin safety" but there would need to be incontravertable proof and quite franklly I do not see that happening. Francis Offord.
drastic?
I think this is a cross between a good and totally ridiculous idea. Good in the sense that the idea is to "force parents to disconnect from the office and reconnect with their family" but totally stupid in that parents "will be asked to hand their device into one of five “PDA drop off zones”". My god! First of all, im pretty sure I wouldn't want to leave my phone/PDA/PDA phone with anyone I didnt know, let alone someone whose main job it is, is to dish out candy floss. And second, most of the time, its been a while since parents were at school... with the obvious exception of the 15yr gym slip mums. Having your pda 'confiscated' until home time seems a little over the top.
Russell Barnes, Divisional Director for the Alton Towers Resort, said that the park is “prepared to take drastic action to ensure that parents really leave their work behind”.
Drastic action would be to have snipers shoot the devices out of peoples hands if they were seen using them within 50 feet of another person. "Excuse me sir/madam, can you, for the benefit of the future of man kind and the possible reversal of all things global warming related, as well as the fact that you almost got ran over by three dodgems, please hand your device in to the nearest spotty youth in the stupid looking costume"... doesnt have the same effect as a sniper would.
... the things people rant about when they're sat at work with nothing to do...
