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First 802.11 Wireless Movie Theater?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the remember-the-alamo-drafthouse dept.

vern@austin802.11.com writes: "Imagine being able to IRC someone to pass the popcorn! The Austin Wireless Group has helped establish what may well be the country's first Wireless Enabled Theatre. The Alamo Draft House movie theater in Austin, Texas now has 802.11b wireless broadband Internet access that covers all screens in their complex. This "retrofit" theater had every other row replaced with tables and offers dinner and drinks with the show. So, you can park your laptop, order a burger/beer, then email in a movie review all w/o disturbing your fellow patrons. Cool! :)"

14 of 285 comments (clear)

  1. Mirror by Alan_Thicke · · Score: 0, Funny

    Here is a mirror.

    --
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  2. So by that logic . . . by cjpez · · Score: 5, Funny
    . . . you could set up your laptop to encode the movie you're watching in DivX in realtime and STREAM it to people sitting in the next theatre over who were unfortunate enough to have bought tickets to see Queen of the Damned.

    Neat!

    --
    Al Qaeda has ninjas!
  3. Yeah! by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Funny
    Now I can take my laptop and x10 pr0n-cam to the theater, record the film and then zap it onto the internet! I'm sure the MPAA is behind this advance 100%

    Now if only that guy and two robots who always sit infront of me, yakking through the movie, would just find another theater...

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  4. No distractions by Telastyn · · Score: 5, Funny

    No... Laptop displays create *no* distractions in a dimly lit theatre...

    1. Re:No distractions by hoggoth · · Score: 2, Funny

      Laptop?

      I'm bringing my old DecWriter printer console.
      THUMP-A-THUMP-THUMP.
      THUMP-A-THUMP-THUM P.
      CHING...ZIIIIIIP. (carriage return)

      --
      - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
    2. Re:No distractions by SSJ2+Labsuit · · Score: 2, Funny

      No... Laptop displays create *no* distractions in a dimly lit theatre...

      Indeed. Ever been to a Star Trek movie premiere? When I saw Generations on opening night, the front row looked like an Olympic judging panel. Which, in many ways, it probably was.

      --

      Best. Post. Ever.
  5. Re:um... by swb · · Score: 5, Funny

    The last thing I need is Mr. "Noisy Typist" and Ms. "I Refuse to Mute My Laptop" sitting next to me.

    They're usually pretty cooperative when they find out that Mr. "Gonna Break Your Laptop" is sitting next to them.

  6. I would argue... by joshjs · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...that the clacking of keys, although sometimes pleasant, has no place in my movie-going experience. And if I hear the AOL "You've Got Mail" sound when I'm trying to watch Star Trek 20, heads are gonna roll. :)

  7. Re:what is the point? by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Funny
    Movies are for being engrossed in a different world. If people have so little free time that they must read their email during a movie, what is the point of going to the movie at all?

    Maybe it's a dull flick. You'll know for sure if you hear someone in the audience say, 'First post! wh00t!'

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  8. Re:from the site... by switcha · · Score: 2, Funny

    -See Theater Schedules & Order Movie Tickets to coming shows. be impatient
    -Messaging to Fellow Movie goers adjacent in the crowd without talking. be a loser
    -Messaging to Fellow Movie goers in adjacent screens in multi-screen venues without talking. be a loser
    -Surfing to related or official websites for the current movie showing. be impatient
    -Surfing to the InternetMovieDataBase for related data to movie, actors and screen writers. be a loser
    -Connecting to promotions related to movie sponsor. be a sponsor's wet dream
    -Driving the movie content in real-time via audience response in Digital Theaters. be a loser
    -Ordering Food and drinks from the kitchen and bar without talking. be a lazy slob
    -Ordering the movie soundtrack online or video releases in advance. be impatient
    -Watching an alternate streaming movie if the one on the big screen doesn't make it for you. leave, you dumbass

    --
    You know what? ... A little club soda *did* get that out!
  9. "IRCing someone" to pass the popcorn... by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...would go something like this:


    *** You have joined #MovieTheater
    *** Topic for #MovieTheater: The Animaniacs Movie: The Best Thing Ever Ever Ever, Or Just the Best Thing Ever Ever?
    *** GreasyGuy has joined #MovieTheater
    *** Chanserv sets mode: +o GreasyGuy
    <Me> Hey, um, mister Greasy, could you pass the popcorn?
    <GreasyGuy> No! Fuck you! What the hell is wrong with you? Get it yourself! Stop making me feel insecure!
    *** You have been kicked off #MovieTheater by GreasyGuyMinion_1 (No popcorn-begging)
    *** Attempting to rejoin #MovieTheater
    *** GreasyGuy sets mode: +b *!*you@seat_37
    *** You have been kicked off #MovieTheater by GreasyGuy (Because I'm too afraid to get up to kick your ass in person!)
    /quit

    bash-2.1# ping -f -s 65535 greasy_guy_seat
    .......
    --- greasy_guy_seat ping statistics ---
    239123 packets transmitted, 103 packets received, 99% packet loss

    w00t!

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  10. I can see it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    All the geeks and geekets that meet online in a chat room having a virtual date at the movies, each sitting on opposite sides of the theater IM'ing each other through the whole movie...

    Sighhhhh......

  11. Great by T3kno · · Score: 2, Funny

    So instead of hearing cell phones going off, I'm gonna have to sit through "You've got mail!"

    --
    (B) + (D) + (B) + (D) = (K) + (&)
  12. Re:what is the point? by JabberWokky · · Score: 3, Funny
    I've brought my Thinkpad quite often - a friend brought his Toshichan as well - where else to dump your digital pics and laugh at them at Dennys after the show?

    Then there are the deep geek lines that I yell every so often:

    "How do you test if an IP address is reachable?"
    "...and your mind goes Ping!"

    Or, when Riff is turning around with the trident laser:

    "Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter, millimeter by millimeter, picometer by picometer, angstrom by angstrom... what the fuck is an angstrom? (point at an audiance member) It's a unit of measurement so small that this man measures his penis with it! Single digit, baby!"

    And then there was the one night that I did that when some association of planetarium directors was in town... I got a unison chorus of "one hundred-millionth of a centimeter!" right after "What the fuck is an angstrom?" Good Times.

    BTW - for Rocky geeks out there, Timewarp.org will be getting a massive update in about a month, at which point there will be a /. like Rocky site.

    --
    Evan

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien