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First 802.11 Wireless Movie Theater?
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! :)"
to quotith the site...
Some may ask, why would I want internet access while in a movie theater?
Well you could:
-See Theater Schedules & Order Movie Tickets to coming shows.
-Messaging to Fellow Movie goers adjacent in the crowd without talking.
-Messaging to Fellow Movie goers in adjacent screens in multi-screen venues without talking.
-Surfing to related or official websites for the current movie showing.
-Surfing to the InternetMovieDataBase for related data to movie, actors and screen writers.
-Connecting to promotions related to movie sponsor.
-Driving the movie content in real-time via audience response in Digital Theaters.
-Ordering Food and drinks from the kitchen and bar without talking.
-Ordering the movie soundtrack online or video releases in advance.
-Watching an alternate streaming movie if the one on the big screen doesn't make it for you.
We had a place like that here in Richmond called Cinema and Draft House, where you could only get crappy beer and really bad food (most of it deep fried). The screens were tiny. They went out of business awhile ago though.
;)
Places like this only show old movies. It's not a place you go to be seriously entertained or engrossed in the film (heck, even vhs at home would probably be better quality), it's a place you go with friends who are too poor to afford good beer and current movies
Last movie i saw there was Danny Darko at the Alamo North and I didn't see anyone with a laptop. I'm as big a geek as anyone and i don't see the need for it, espicially at the Alamo.
Typically one orders a large beer, a hamberger and maybe some nachos. Beer, grease and cheese isn't the kind of thing i want next to my $1,000 laptop, besides it would be rude to the people behind me to have that bright LCD screen glaring, not to mention the sound of the keyboard.
-Jon
this is my sig.
I frequent the Alamo Drafthouse quite a bit.
:)
This is a great idea and I really don't think it will take away from the experience that I've enjoyed for years. The atmosphere at the Alamo Drafthouse is different from any other theater because it is expected that there will be some disturbance during the show. This isn't to say that it's a roudy place where you can't enjoy your movie (except maybe during Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings), but the experience is much more like watching a movie with a bunch of friends at home.
Given the shear volume of wireless-enabled individuals in Austin, this can only enhance the experience.
Next time I go I'll take my laptop and hack other patrons if they're noisy
Miked
Wireless 'net access though, sounds counter-intuitive to the real draw I found (the aforementioned quiet). We'll never see anything like this around Phoenix until someone razes Awahtukee and Anthem. Or at least until movie tickets are more expensive than babysitters.
Do not touch -Willie
>I'm pretty sure I would be disturbed by my
>fellow patrons typing and ordering.
I can't argue with typing, but the ordering thing they've got pretty well handled.
Ordering is handled by writing your order on a sheet of paper, then putting it in a memo-holder kinda thing on the narrow table in front of each row of seats. Each seat has a number associated with it, so the wait staff picks up the order, verifies they can read it, and scribbles the seat number on the piece of paper. Very simple, and 80% of the time no conversation necessary.
There's enough elevation difference between the rows of seats that the wait staff can take orders without interfering with the other patrons. You can also put a full pitcher of beer on the tables without blocking the view of those behind you.
It's a cool system. I like the new theater on the north side of Austin they opened up just fine, but something about the downtown location will always be near and dear.
So far my favorite Alamo experiences have been the Bruce Campbell Marathon (Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, with Bruce in attendance), The Big Lebowski (free white russian with admission!), and any Spaghetti Western night (all you can eat spaghetti with a great Sergio Leone-era western).
I agree that it'd be cool to offer headphones, but it's hard to do surround with headphones.
-l
I went to see FOTR there, and by the end of the movie, I was plain irritated with the waiters when they were bringing those tasty burgers and beer.
It is a great place to go when the movie's sorta the secondary thing.
In the course of every project, it will become necessary to shoot the scientists and begin production.
2002-02-14 17:39:39 Linux movie gets some big screen in Austin (articles,media) (rejected)
sigh.
On March 22, "Revolution OS" will be shown at the north location of Alamo Draft House, in Austin, TX. Not only that, but the owner will be burning Linux cds (dunno what distro) for people in the lobby.
Tell me that isn't a serious geek cool thing to do.
Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
I don't think you read very well. The Alamo Drafthouse is a dinner / theater where there are waiters serving food during the movie. Some people like these places, others don't. I don't like to go there for every movie I see, but sometimes it's great when you don't have enough time for dinner followed by a movie or vice-versa. It kills two birds with one stone. The buckhead backlot in Atlanta has much the same setup. Another bonus is that since it is a restaurant, alcohol can be served, whereas in other theaters in the US that's a no no.
Adding a couple laptops to the environment wouldn't really change it significantly. There isn't that much difference between typical keyboard noise and crunching chips or popcorn if you ask me. As long as the movie volume is at a sufficient level it shouldn't matter. Of course those who are easily distracted wouldn't like it, but that's why there are a variety of theaters to choose from. I agree that cell phones should be blocked in movies though.
-- Adam
That's not been my experience. I sometimes watch films at a theater that has classes come in, and I've found the laptops to be very distracting. I've seen films in brewpubs, too, and I don't think that eating and drinking are very distracting, laptop screens really are.
I happen to live in Austin and frequent the Drafthouse Theater. It typically shows rare and indie film, with the occasional flashback such as Animal House. While it's nice to be able to get some greasy food whilst viewing, the main attraction is the buckets o' beer - might even make queen of the damned enjoyable to watch. As such, you may wish to think twice before toting your $$$ laptop into a darkened room full of boozed up movie-goers. IMHO.
- Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
The point is to do that _before_ the movie. If I go out to eat by myself, I take my PDA so I can catch up on email, read some news, etc. So far, I've only found a couple of restaurants within range of an open access point and they're rather expensive. It'd be nice to be able to go to one place where I can get a good meal, catch up with current events, then see a movie. Rather than split it up and worry about being late for the movie. It's one-stop shopping for people who don't like sitting around picking their backsides between events.