Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot Asks: Would You Like Early Access To Movies And Stop Going To Theatres?
It appears many major stakeholders in the movie industry want to bring new titles to you within days, if not hours, as they hit cinemas. Earlier this year, we learned that Sean Parker is working on a service called "Screening Room", an idea that was reportedly backed by Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams, to bring movies on the same day as they show up in theaters. Apple seems interested as well. It is reportedly in talks with Hollywood studios to get iTunes rentals of movies that are still playing on the big screen. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that several studios are exploring the idea of renting new movies for $25 to $50 just two weeks after they have hit cinemas.
None of such deals have materialized yet, of course, and also it needs to be pointed out that several movie companies have discarded these ideas before because they know that by offering you new titles so early they are going to lose on all the overpriced cold drinks, and snacks they sell you at the theatre. There's also piracy concerns. If a movie is available early, regardless of the DRM tech these companies deploy, good-enough footage of the movies will crop up on file-sharing websites almost immediately.
But leaving all those aspects aside, would you be interested in getting new titles just hours or a week or two after they hit the cinemas? Would you want to end the decades-long practice of going to a theater?
None of such deals have materialized yet, of course, and also it needs to be pointed out that several movie companies have discarded these ideas before because they know that by offering you new titles so early they are going to lose on all the overpriced cold drinks, and snacks they sell you at the theatre. There's also piracy concerns. If a movie is available early, regardless of the DRM tech these companies deploy, good-enough footage of the movies will crop up on file-sharing websites almost immediately.
But leaving all those aspects aside, would you be interested in getting new titles just hours or a week or two after they hit the cinemas? Would you want to end the decades-long practice of going to a theater?
I barely go to the theatre anymore because of a lot of reasons, if you let me pay to have Day 1 access to the digital copy to either stream or outright buy DRM free I'd never set foot in an overpriced auditorium ever again.
The model would become more like digitally distributed video games, Launch day sees a big spike in sales (hell, pre-orders?) and then it kind of tapers off after a month or so, then you got a back catalogue you can keep old movies on. Things that normally wouldn't get distribution have a cheap option now... hell the more I think about it the better it sounds.
I mean, do for movies with what Steam did for games and you're gonna win
crazy dynamite monkey
Thats why they're doing this. The internet has destroyed the movie industry but its not because of piracy.
A few decades ago it took a week or two for most of the public to find out if a movie was bad.
These days people can tweet and rate movies on IMDB & Rotten Tomatoes within minutes of leaving the cinema.
No amount of bought reviews and media hype will work once enough people know its a turd.
They just want more people to see movies before finding out how bad they are.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
Same here. We've gone maybe once in the last year. I always end up feeling ripped off after going.
Our kiddo prefers watching at home where he can watch a movie 2-4 times in a row. The first time he gets good/bad, and who some of the characters are. By time he has seen it 2-3 times he actually gets some of the story line and might watch it one more time before moving on tot he next. He asks a lot of questions along the way, which is problematic in a theater. He also likes if we can "skip the scary parts", also problematic in a theater.
Alternatively we go to a grown up movie, requiring a babysitter, arranging his dinner, etc, etc. Ends up being a ~$100 evening full of stress and a late bedtime with next day stress spillover. Recently most of the movies have not lived up to the cost and hassle. Too many plot hole ridden CGI showcases. We wait till the dust has settled and just buy an occasional DVD. Many of those still only get watched once...
You sound like a complete asshole. WhyTF should anyone hang onto ancient and obsolete technologies just to accommodate the media companies?
The BluRay is superior to streaming in every way other than "I want it this minute." Now, I want it this minute is pretty compelling, I'll certainly grant that. I've definitely had my movie-watching desires foiled by lack of access.
But with a BluRay rental, I get better sound and picture, the download doesn't max out my Internet connection nor does it count towards my ISP data cap (which most ISPs have even if they refuse to tell you about it), I don't get "buffering" whenever I try to seek, I usually get some decent extras, I don't have to subscribe to five online services to get a decent library, and I have a far better chance of finding niche, less popular, or foreign offerings.
Some of those are technical limitations, some are business limitations imposed by an ISP, and some are limitations imposed by the content owners. That last one in particular is a reason to dislike streaming; streaming sucks because all the power is back in the hands of the big content companies, and their practices are anti-customer.