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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! :)"
I love internet...I love Alamo Drafthouse...I don't know if I love the two put together. As an avid moviegoer and lover of the Alamo Drafthouse, I really am conflicted as to whether this is a good thing or not. The last thing I need is Mr. "Noisy Typist" and Ms. "I Refuse to Mute My Laptop" sitting next to me.
One of the stated uses is connecting to promotions related to the movie's sponsor. How long will it be before they require you to use some extension to your browser that pops up ads during the whole film?
When I'm at a movie I want to relax, not see ads. (I would however consider surfing for pr0n during boring flicks.)
I was not touched there by an angel.
Ok, just remember to pour melted candlewax around your headphones to block out the sound of the film you are watching...
Might as well just leave.
Exercising a lot of those other ideas, unless you're addressing them before the movie starts, would indicate you really wasted your money, because the movie you're 'watching' isn't more engrossing than just puttering around on the web. Why not just park behind the theater and listen in?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
For years in Cambridge near MIT there was a small alternative cinema called Off-the-Wall. You'd order your stuff before the movie and sit at little cafe tables. It wasn't a distraction at all. Of course once the movie is running, people weren't hopping up to get food; by analogy these folks should probably cut off wireless LAN access during the actual movie.
It's pretty clear this outfit is trying to merge two different kinds of institutions: the cafe/cinema and the Internet cafe. Frankly, I don't think this is a winner because you go to one to take part in a communal experience and the other to swill coffee with your nose in a your laptop.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Basically, the Alamo often shows first-run movies, but they also show lots of other kinds of movies, and they even have a sort of Mystery Science Theatre type thing called Mr. Sinus Theatre. So it's not all about serious movie watching. And they've already served dinner there (during the movie) for years, and that seems to work just fine. (The waiters know to duck down where they don't block anyone's view.)
In other words, while this may be a bit of a goofy idea, the Alamo has had some other goofy ideas that have worked out pretty well, so maybe it's worth giving them benefit of the doubt. If my laptop had a wireless card, I might be going there to try it out.