Startup BlueLinx is marketing a product called Q-Zone which will automatically switch cell phone ringers off or to vibrate mode in areas where it is installed. A theatre could install this device and create a “quiet zone” while the show is going on. I first read about this in the Merc’s Leigh Weimer’s column; he’d been complaining about cell phone etiquette and someone from BlueLinx contacted him about their product and he wrote about it. Of course, as with most advance marketing hype, he, or his contact more likely, neglected to mention an important fact. This is new technology based on Bluetooth so it will only make any headway if cell phones are equipped with the Q-Zone client software.

I suppose cell phone manufacturers can turn this into a selling feature: no need to worry about turning your ringer off. But until Q-Zone becomes ubiquitious, cell phone users will always have to check their ringers. BlueLinx will have to develop a smart business model to get market penetration with three customers (users, manufacturers and venues). They face a chicken and egg problem. They could give the transmitters away for free to get the ubiquity and depend on profits from it as a cell phone feature. But would that be enough?

With cell phones themselves becoming ubiquitous, I suspect users will want less annoying and more personal cell phone “ring” indicators, so over the long term, silencers may not be needed. Also since it’s my embarrassment on the line, I’d probably check my own phone anyway, to make sure it really was off. Or will the onus of cell phone silence be shifted to the venue operators?