Glastonbury Festival goers used record amount of Data

[Crazyfool01]

https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/24441154.glastonbury-festival-goers-used-record-breaking-amounts-mobile-data/

[Crazyfool01]

will this just keep increasing year on year ? or do we reach saturation point at some time ? and people put phones away . Im definately guilty of taking more photos than. usual this year but for very short portions of sets and then its phones in pockets . Coldplay did a standard I think now phones in pockets and it really does make a difference in atmosphere . 

[gooner1990]

Just now, Crazyfool01 said:

will this just keep increasing year on year ? or do we reach saturation point at some time ? and people put phones away . Im definately guilty of taking more photos than. usual this year but for very short portions of sets and then its phones in pockets . Coldplay did a standard I think now phones in pockets and it really does make a difference in atmosphere . 

 

I mentioned this elsewhere...but before TDCC at the Other on the Sunday night I was waiting for a friend up the back near the Sams Pies stall, from just observing pretty much everyone was on their phone, either stood texting/scrolling, talking to someone on it, shouting down the phone where they were on it etc, two people walked into each other right in front of me as they both weren't looking where they were going as they were both texting,  and another girl walked straight into a set of bins as she was texting on hers.

 

Its not a Glastonbury specific problem I know but if people just got off them for a while I think it would be a positive move, there was a sweet spot a few years ago when smartphones were common place in the outside world but battery packs still weren't a thing so people brought dumbphones or just had no phone at all from the Friday onwards. 

 

I do use my phone like everyone else but I also try to keep it in my pocket when I'm at the festival with friends!

 

[MilkyJoe]

The phones aren't going anywhere. Yes people use them for cameras and why not, saves carrying a camera about but a massive part of it is social media and the 'look I'm here' crowd.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

Pretty amazing numbers. Not a fan of being online at all during the fest, apart from WhatsApp for locations and keeping in touch with my wife and kids at home.

 

I'm curious tho because last year coverage was very patchy, very difficult to get in touch with ppl sometimes for seeing shows and finding others. Was it the same this year or better?

[balti-pie]

TBF i did stream the last ten minutes of the Fremantle/Sydney AFL game at 7am saturday morning, cos it was a really close game (and my boys won by a point!) but otherwise wanted my phone to essentially just become a camera for the weekend. I'm very much up for one of these digital detoxes and avoid the bloody thing, live in the moment etc! 

[gooner1990]

Just now, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Pretty amazing numbers. Not a fan of being online at all during the fest, apart from WhatsApp for locations and keeping in touch with my wife and kids at home.

 

I'm curious tho because last year coverage was very patchy, very difficult to get in touch with ppl sometimes for seeing shows and finding others. Was it the same this year or better?

 

I'm on o2 and apart from when I was near West Holts/T&C it was like being off grid.....I actually quite liked it in a way as it meant my phone was in my pocket a lot more.

[Andy0808 v5]

1 minute ago, gooner1990 said:

 

I'm on o2 and apart from when I was near West Holts/T&C it was like being off grid.....I actually quite liked it in a way as it meant my phone was in my pocket a lot more.

 O2 too, only really got signal in the mornings at the campsite, on the hill of the park and when crowds were thin. Only place it was a complete dead spot was the acoustic tent for me, no matter how empty.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

1 minute ago, gooner1990 said:

 

I'm on o2 and apart from when I was near West Holts/T&C it was like being off grid.....I actually quite liked it in a way as it meant my phone was in my pocket a lot more.

 

I thought it might of been because I use my German SIM and the connectivity, even it showed I had 4G, was pretty awful at times. 

 

But I do like the feeling if being off-grid. WhatsApp for joining up with people, fine, but Instagram, Twitter, even joining in eFest threads during the festival just aren't on my radar.

[majormajormajor]

4 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

TBF i did stream the last ten minutes of the Fremantle/Sydney AFL game at 7am saturday morning, cos it was a really close game (and my boys won by a point!) but otherwise wanted my phone to essentially just become a camera for the weekend. I'm very much up for one of these digital detoxes and avoid the bloody thing, live in the moment etc! 

 

and the mighty saints did them the following weekend!

[Crazyfool01]

The app and removal of the mini guide meant at times I felt forced to take my phone out my pocket when normally I wouldnt . Id like the mini guide back and the programme to be the optional one as I barely look at that during the festival , although I know this is personal to the way we all do the festival differently 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

The app and removal of the mini guide meant at times I felt forced to take my phone out my pocket when normally I wouldnt . Id like the mini guide back and the programme to be the optional one as I barely look at that during the festival , although I know this is personal to the way we all do the festival differently 

 

It would be great if they just produced the mini guide and sold it for a quid or something nominal. It's pretty cheap to print I thought, so a quid for that x100k people would surely cover the costs, including the ones they didn't sell.

[balti-pie]

6 minutes ago, majormajormajor said:

 

and the mighty saints did them the following weekend!

Belting last quarter in that game 👍 i think its wide open this year, anyone from about ten teams could win it! 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

Was the app better at least?

 

Remember last year it was pretty annoying for comparisons of slot times and you couldn't zoom out or anything.

[Madyaker]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

The app and removal of the mini guide meant at times I felt forced to take my phone out my pocket when normally I wouldnt . Id like the mini guide back and the programme to be the optional one as I barely look at that during the festival , although I know this is personal to the way we all do the festival differently 

I agree. I don’t care about the free program / magazine we get. The lanyard with the mini guide was perfect. I think they should go back to giving us those.
Put the bigger program in the merch stands and charge £5 for it. If people want it as a souvenir they can buy it. 

[gooner1990]

4 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

The app and removal of the mini guide meant at times I felt forced to take my phone out my pocket when normally I wouldnt . Id like the mini guide back and the programme to be the optional one as I barely look at that during the festival , although I know this is personal to the way we all do the festival differently 

 

100% agree.

 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

 

It would be great if they just produced the mini guide and sold it for a quid or something nominal. It's pretty cheap to print I thought, so a quid for that x100k people would surely cover the costs, including the ones they didn't sell.

I think the issue was that they did it to help lower the impact on environment in terms of rubbish , thats why I suggested the bigger one becomes the optional version ... its 5 x the size of the mini guide . but yes id happily buy one 

[gooner1990]

Just now, Crazyfool01 said:

I think the issue was that they did it to help lower the impact on environment in terms of rubbish , thats why I suggested the bigger one becomes the optional version ... its 5 x the size of the mini guide . but yes id happily buy one 

 

I'd much prefer a mini guide to put in my pocket than a programme that sat in my tent for 5 days and not looked at.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

2 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

I think the issue was that they did it to help lower the impact on environment in terms of rubbish , thats why I suggested the bigger one becomes the optional version ... its 5 x the size of the mini guide . but yes id happily buy one 

 

Oh they kept the bigger one? I always thought the mini guide was so much more useful to double check stuff, with the map in it etc.

 

Would much rather they reintroduce the mini guide and charge something nominal for it.

 

Plus, if the environment is the name of the game, there's far better ways of reducing waste on site than the mini guide.

[Tartan_Glasto]

Could an option with regards to the mini guide be that when paying up your ticket, you select an option that you'd like one? Then you can go collect it much like the water bottle. This way they're not printing as many as they do (as I'm sure many don't bother with them so wouldn't select the option) but the ones that do still like to have them can get them. 

 

[Crazyfool01]

5 minutes ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Was the app better at least?

 

Remember last year it was pretty annoying for comparisons of slot times and you couldn't zoom out or anything.

App was massively better in my opinion . could go straight in and look at saved schedule , no complaints with it tbh 

[Spindles]

For years I've barely used my phone at all, just messages to meet up, I don't take pics or videos.  This year however I did use the app as there was no guardian guide and found it to be useful.  I'll be honest and say I've never looked at the program during the festival in all my years, and many it's just gone in a drawer unread when I got home.  I'd be all for making it something you can buy (like the Q magazine that used to be on sale at the end of the festival) and going back to the mini-guide.

 

I think the number of people streaming the football on Sunday would have had an impact, I nipped back to the tent to change during the match and there were plenty of groups just sat at the campsites watching the match on phones or tablets.

 

The app is here to stay though, it makes sense as it can react to last minute lineup and timing changes (in theory) and I'd expect it to have improved functionality in the future, with things like crowd density warnings being obvious features that would improve it.

[incident]

27 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

will this just keep increasing year on year ? or do we reach saturation point at some time ? and people put phones away . Im definately guilty of taking more photos than. usual this year but for very short portions of sets and then its phones in pockets . Coldplay did a standard I think now phones in pockets and it really does make a difference in atmosphere . 

 

It'll probably go down next year, because you won't have people trying to stream football, and especially if they don't do the "everyone can use us for free" offer which caused everyone in my group to jump on Vodafone for the weekend.

[Gnomicide]

Someone once told me the free program had some sort of tax benefit. I can't remember the specifics but something to do with it being included in the ticket price but having a cash value so it somehow reduces the tax paid? Could be nonsense but it made sense at the time.

 

Anyway... for someone who posts about the festival on social media rather a lot, other than using my phone as a camera, I don't use my phone much while actually there. Less than 10 tweets a day (including replies and retweets) and nothing on any other platforms, for me that's practically radio silence. However, the signal from 3 was a million times better than in previous years. 

[kerplunk]

It's remarkable really - from dumb phones just a few years ago to being able to stream major football games today.

 

And pretty good camera's these days too - all backed up to the cloud.

 

You have to wonder about the carbon footprint from it all