Many believe TTR is aiming at a different demographic. The phones/video and Instagram come with it. Prior to Renovation there was very, very little problem with phones, it seems the prevalence has increased year on year and the original and wild fun we enjoyed in the early years has disappeared, as have the friends we knew........ thankfully, the Boobs Cruise still continues but not sure that is the "wannabe's" scene .......
Pre reno, a more "mature" party crowd. Post reno, a younger crowd growing in numbers, that have grown up with social media and phones, that think they are entitled to do whatever they want.
Always was a question, why ppl need they phone by the pool??? Emergency call? Business meeting in speedo?
Someone needs to unplug the wifi router at the pool And maybe we should start a collection to gift TTR a cell signal jammer thingy. Do those really exist? Yes? No? Just in spy movies? Anywho - wouldn't fix the photos/videos on personal phones that one could post later, but could prevent live streaming and posting at that moment.
Its becoming a big problems with phones at the pool. Every year we see more and more. I dont get it I lock my phone up in the safe on day one and dont get that thing out until checkout time... Some people cannot disconnect. It bugs the shit out of us that people cannot live in the moment and want to see things through the phone screen...
The "new" crowd demands their "access," so... they get their access. It seems that simple. We, as a rule (pre-reno TTR-goers for the most part) don't understand it as we don't live our lives "through the screen," as someone wrote above, which i thought is right on point. We tend to view the phone as a connection to work or whatever, a necessary evil to be tolerated. When we don't have to tolerate it, i.e. vacation, we ditch it immediately unless there really is a pressing reason (family issue back home, pressing business problem still going forwards regardless of vacation, etc.) I use my phone to get the pics I want of Stacia & her buds doing whatever thing they're doing, sure. It's great to be able to look back on pics from, say... our first BBG/TTR trip back in '07 and see the actual sights (the whole 1 pic = 1,000 words thing), as memory does indeed fade unless you restore it later. But, this is "why we can't have nice things" argument. 1% of people at TTR "spoiling" (comment below) something for the other, uninvolved 99%. Note that the thought that we're "entitled to privacy" concept is on it's way out the door with the younger crowd. Talking with our daughter's generation (~27 y/o's), they don't see things the same... they've Always had that access to be able to see what the people who they wanted to look at were doing, it was "expected of them" that they post it voluntarily. An outside-imposed social obligation, to "put yourself out there" if you were going to be normal. Look at the below dates of introduction... 1st iPhone, 2007. 1st Android phone, 2008. Facebook, 2004. Twitter, 2006. Instagram, 2010. Snapchat, 2011. So, for someone like my daughtter, who's 27 the iPhone has been around nearly half her life, and Facebook was a thing since she was 16. Insta, as she calls it, came around in her senior year of high school... it permeates (intrudes upon?) almost everything she does, what her friends do, how she connects with clients, all of it. "The times, they are a-changin'..."
John – Kayla and I are of your generation, and we still are trying to learn and adjust to our children’s social “methods“ that seem to continuously contradict our life practices. I don’t know about you guys (readers of this post), but when I was 26, the camera was nothing but a gigantic pain in the ass that we had to tolerate for the moments that the pictures were taken so we could hurry up and get on with the party. For our kids today, the picture taking is the party. I laugh out loud When I walk into a bar and watch the people. Back in my day, I had a beer in my hand (and for that matter still do!). But if you look around today, the big square smart phone is being held in the same hand as the cocktail/beverage of choice! In fact, I defy you to find anyone that has JUST the cocktail in their hand without the smart phone! I have to admit that too often I am just a grumpy old fart that needs to adjust and except how times change! Thanks John for an insightful and thought-provoking post!
You're on my team. You're most welcome. Now, don't get it twisted... there ARE several things in the "new tech-society" that I really enjoy.... so, there you go. Watching the singles swiping left/right cracks me up... There's no "game" in that...
Lock it up in the room safe? That'll work too. I haven't even brought a phone with me to Cancun (9 trips since '13). It's awesome to travel without one. It's surprising how easy it is to get along without it. I'm on call 24/7 for work and to be able to cut the string for a couple weeks is the best. When we were going to other resorts (Non TTR) I would bring a small digital camera and take a couple hundred pictures. Now I don't even bring that with. There is value in having an experience, enjoy it, and remember it without having to worry about getting a digital image of it. I do bring a tablet to check on flights,/travel, watch movies on the plane, etc, and that stays in the room. We also connect the tablet to the the TV so we can stream a better selection of adult entertainment. K does bring her phone, but it stays in the room.