Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family
Do iPods portend the death of movie-going?
The Toronto Star ran an interesting article
today suggesting that 2005 may have been the beginning of the end of the traditional movie-going experience. I've had
the same thought recently as I downloaded interesting content for my iPod video and read multiple predictions that
Apple would soon release a Mac-based home theater.Why go to the trouble of driving to the movie theater, standing in line for tickets, taking the risk that a new movie will be sold out, paying robbers' prices for popcorn and soft drinks, sitting uncomfortably in a seat with broken springs behind a lady with very big hair, and trying to ignore the Surround Sound from the theater next door—all when you could be sitting in the comfort of your own home watching a movie on your own Mac theater system, or enjoying a portable show on your iPod?
The romantic notion that people will always go out to movie theaters has been proven wrong in the past, as the Toronto Star article points out. There was a decline in movie-going with the introduction of television, home videos, and movies on DVD. Apple's foray into video, with all it promises, may portend a further decline in movie-going. As sad as it may seem, this could indeed be the beginning of the end of the venerable movie theater. What do you think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
clayton D. said 4:33PM on 12-31-2005
Look no offense but i don't think that theatres will be die for a number of reasons
1. Not everyone likes the idea of going to a movie in your house. Im my opnion i think that half the fun of going to the movies is well, GOING to the movies. Here is where i think technology starts to kill our social life. Maybe its just me but i don't think everyone would go for it.
2. not everyone has a big screen tv ( as sad as it is). Tell me that the theatre isnt sweet especially if you go to a real big one that WONT have sound going throought the walls. ( i.e. famous players )
3. Pirating, Now i know that already happens but then it would be sooo easy to make copies. I mean very few people havce the guts to go and film the freaking movie with a camera in a theatre but if you were to have it so accesible i think pirating would just get worse.
thats just my say but whatever
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Aychamo said 4:49PM on 12-31-2005
I totally disagree with your post. Sure, sometimes it sucks at the movies. However, you can't compare the experience of watching some great movie for the first time on a huge 100+ foot screen versus your 2.5" iPod screen.
I do hate the movies primarily for their prices on food. I've been living in the Caribbean, and I can go to the theater and get two *beers*, a popcorn, a hotdog, and a bottle of water for under $6.00. Back here in the States I don't think they even sell beer at the theater, and the same amount of food would cost over $20.00. It's a total ripoff.
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Aychamo said 4:51PM on 12-31-2005
Oh, and for anything about using the Mac Media Center or whatever as a replacement for going to the movies, the problem is the release date of the media. You simply can't (legally) watch a movie on your Mac at the same time it's in the theaters because it's released so much later on DVD. If they released concurrently, and people had their own home theaters, I could see a decline of people going.
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LD said 4:52PM on 12-31-2005
This is why Mark Cuban started his own production company. He's a smart man and makes practical businesses.
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Chris P said 5:10PM on 12-31-2005
Going to the movie theatre is about the experience. Unfortunately over the years the quality of that experience has gone down. I believe that the theatre business will be hurting and a lot of theaters will pass away BUT this will make room for the theaters that want to provide a high quality experience and service.
Harkins Theatres (AZ/OK only) is a great example. They just built one here in Oklahoma City, by far the best movie experience I've ever had. They have this Cine Capri theatre that shows whatever the top movie is on huge 70 foot wide screen! Star Wars 3 was amazing this big. And nobody's head or hair could block the view (unless there like 8 feet tall)
Sure it's expensive but they give you a great experience. So theatre owns will have to step up their quality and service if they want to survive. It's going to be like the oldin days when it was a big deal to go to the theatres.
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matt h said 5:54PM on 12-31-2005
I think it'll boost independent theatres.
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billg said 6:31PM on 12-31-2005
My movie-going rate is about once per decade. I don't go because no one seems to be making movies that appeal to me. I don't think I'm alone in that.
So, if I don't pay to watch movies in a theater, or watch them on cable, why would I want to watch the same movies in my living room or on a teeny-tiny screen?
Boring via the internet is still boring.
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Michael Clark said 6:53PM on 12-31-2005
Movie theaters will disappear when restaurants disappear. Some people have awesome home theaters and some people can cook meals that rival great restaurants. However, it is just easier and more exciting to go out and have someone else take care of the details while you enjoy yourself.
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Lee said 7:35PM on 12-31-2005
I don't see the movie theater going the way of the dodo anytime soon, and here's why (it's simple):
It would only happen if the studios embraced a new (digital) distribution system - which won't happen because the studios don't like change; they won't take risks.
Now, a way the two could co-exist would be if the theaters themselves adopted a distribution method, in that you could get a digital (or even DVD) copy of the movie AT the theater - downloaded to an iPod or other DRM capable device to prevent you from taking it home and throwing it on a torrent. I'd pay for that, and I think the theaters and studios could make a killing on the big ticket films that way.
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Andy said 11:00PM on 12-31-2005
I DEFINITELY see the continued decline in theater going for everyone but maybe teens.
A recent article in Variety discussed all the wonderful new pre-movie advertising we have coming our way in the future now that most theaters have cheap video projectors in the booth. For instance, ads targeted for the movie, so if you go to an action movie, get ready for 20 minutes of motion-sickness-inducing ads for video games and 'extreme' colas...ahem.
That has been the last straw for many people I talk to...myself included. The local theater in town here seems to increase the ticket price by 50 cents every time they add another 5 minutes of advertising before the features. Why theater owners EVER thought people should pay to watch advertising, I'll never know. I won't even get into the price of treats at the theater.
It's sad that the only improved digital equipment most theaters will install are lousy video projectors to push ads at you for the entire time before the feature...which invariably starts 15 minutes late...then shows a calvalcade of trailers for other movies, which are just ads themselves.
Instead of responding to declining attendance by trying to make the experience more attractive, most theater owners are pushing the limits of what people will tolerate to see something on the big screen. All the while video on demand, Netflix, DVDs, P2P video downloading, and even iPods make it more attractive.
I bet more and more you'll hear people saying...I'll wait for it on Netflix.
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Home Theater Fan said 4:57AM on 1-01-2006
I don't have that big a problem with the theaters themselves, it's all the rudea$$es that also go there! Between the pre-teens that were allowed into the R rated movie without a parent or ID check that keep yapping for the first half hour of the film, to all the other idiots who don't care who their cellphone annoys, I don't go to movies anymore.
I guess I'm kinda happy the films these days aren't high quality enough to rate 6 month long theayer engagements, because I can rent 'em in just a couple months after theater release. I control the volume. I don't have to sit through an ad, after paying $10 to watch the film. I can enjoy an adult beverage, and I can kick out anyone who detracts from my enjoying the film.
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Jeff said 8:32AM on 1-01-2006
I can't remember the last time I went to the theater. With the advent of large screens for home television, surround sound systems and DVD players, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone goes to the theater. When I'm watching a movie, I get completely absorbed. I hate all the noise people make, the crying/talking kids, the cellphones, the sticky floors, the uncomfortable chairs, paying outrageous prices for snacks/popcorn/drinks, standing in lines, watching commercials, trying to find a parking place, etc, etc. I could go on and on (and apparently, I have). I watch them in the blissful environment of my home; and, if I want, I can have dinner or drink a beer.
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Jeremy said 5:29PM on 1-01-2006
Serenity was the only movie I've gone to in some years. When I go to a theater it is always because of artificially-created demand -- I don't want to wait for the DVD to come out, even though it will give me a thousand-times better experience. As far as I'm concerned, I hope movie theaters are dying, and the sooner they are dead the better.
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Justin Wong said 6:52PM on 1-01-2006
Movie Theaters will still last, because even though there are HD TV's, DVD's and movies, if you didn't know, movies don't pop onto DVD's the very next day. Usually the companies launch the DVD's later on for no apparent reason except to make money. Only reason I go to movies, to watch the NEW movies.... DUH
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random said 7:27PM on 1-01-2006
I still go to the movies. Unless you have thousands of dollars to invest in a home theater room, you can't quite duplicate the experience with a projector and a 10 foot screen.
I think the movie theaters are making themselves less attractive by raising prices and advertising. 8.50 to see a movie is ridiculous. At this point, it's matinees or places that offer student tickets for me.
My favorite theater serves a real menu and beer. They set up long narrow tables in front of each row for eating on. That's my favorite kind of experience. :D King Kong on the big screen, a gourmet pizza, and a coke for $12.50 total. http://www.drafthouse.com
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Clark said 8:22PM on 1-01-2006
There might be a vetting of some the worst theatre's but I don't expect we will those that provide the best viewing experience disappear anytime soon. Naturally changes will occur as the ease in gaining access to media increases but I think the pattern will be the same - watch at home those movies not worth the time and effort of going to the theatre. Unfortunately for the theatre's that accounts for allot of the movies being shown lately.
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Dot Flowers said 9:48PM on 1-01-2006
I don't see how it will hurt anymore than video and DVD sales. I remember the head of the MPAA back in the early days of videio. "The VCR is the Hillside Strangler for the movie industry" he siad. Obviously he was an idiot. Can you imagine Disney making a film these days, without calculating the potentail revenue of video and DVD sales? Let's ask Peter Jackson if he think these things are bad.
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Pieter said 1:05AM on 1-02-2006
Saying that the release of the 5G iPod or a future Mac mini w/Front Row could lead to the downfall of the movie theater is like saying the CD player (or Vinyl Record, for that matter) would kill concerts. After all VHS and DVDs have yet to conquer the same territory, and they've been around for quite a while now...
I find it very unlikely that the death of the movie theater is near. This is why:
1. If people would download feature-length movies (that is if Apple ever offers it) they probably would not watch its entirety on a small iPod screen. Yes, a Mac mini Media Center/with Front Row would be more tolerable, but such a device could never decimate the entire theater-going desire.
2. I would be very surprised if the movie industry supported the availability of films for download during a nation-wide theater release.
3. But even if they did, there is still a very large demographic that does not have broadband internet access, so I can't wait to see someone download a 95-minute film over dial-up, when a 6-minute music video takes about 5 minutes on broadband (for me at least)...
Nevertheless, Apple has amazed us all countless times, and if anyone could do it, Apple will.
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Nick said 2:42AM on 1-02-2006
Personally I think I would goto the movies more often if I was able to buy the movie on DVD after I saw it. They could charge a little more for that DVD $30?? I personally prefer to watch movies at home especially long movies like king kong. I would sit through kong at the theaters then enjoy it at home.
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Dirk Spiers said 4:54AM on 1-02-2006
I don't see that cinema's will close. They survived the VCR, Video rentals and DVD rentals. However I do believe that the iPod (with iTunes, Apple, Intel etc) will kill TV advertising. I just wrote an essay about that on www.brandscribe.com
Best Dirk
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