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How to Open a "Movie Cafe"?

Posted by Cliff on from the new-ideas-in-entertainment dept.

tunari asks: "Here in my neck of the woods (Cochabamba, Bolivia) there are hundreds of Internet cafes and Nintendo salons, where you can rent games by the hour. I would like to open a movie salon. I imagine a central CD/DVD jukebox and either dumb terminals or, if possible, TVs. Users would need basic control over playback, and, if possible, some automated way to request new titles. Cost is a big issue, as we will probably be charging less than a dollar per hour. What are some of the ways we could set this up?"

2 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Large Server + Fast Network by Usquebaugh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Copy the DVD to a hard disk and strip off that encryption guff. OK now you just have to decompress and play.

    You can decompress on the server and stream a large quantity of data or stream a smaller quantity of data and uncompress on the client.

    I would start doing some quick mental calcs. How many clients can I support with a given infrastructure?

    This seems a very expensive way of providing said service. Why not just buy a bunch of TV+DVD players?

  2. Re:Go Low Tech by TheSHAD0W · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yup. Considering what salaries are there, I think that'd be optimal.

    I'd suggest a couple of changes, though... Instead of special constructions for housing the TVs, just put all the DVD decks in back of the counter. Have some shelving with the DVD boxes out front, much like a rental place; then when you bring a box to the counter, instead of handing you the DVD, the clerk sticks it in a player and directs you to the matching TV.