4 ms·

Initially video stores have cut into the profits of movie theaters. However, it is interesting that currently theaters (while still struggling quite a bit) see

by e2e4 11y ago

Initially video stores have cut into the profits of movie theaters. However, it is interesting that currently theaters (while still struggling quite a bit) seem to be coping better than the video stores.

toyg 11y ago
That's because the fundamental differentiation has already happened there: "going to the cinema" vs "watching at home" has been a choice for 30+ years now. Who had to die because of that, died already. Despite Hollywood's lamentation, it's unlikely that cinema numbers will ever get significantly worse than they are at the moment, unless someone (Oculus?) manages to somehow replicate the big-screen experience at home in full -- and even then, groups of teenagers will probably still choose to escape their parents' abode every now and then.
- racl101 11y ago
  "Who had to die because of that, died already." - one of those casualties would be the p0rn theater. Back then you could go to a theater and watch chicks swallow John Holmes' member in all its widescreen glory. Then when VHS came out, it was championed by the p0rn industry and away went most of those kinda cool, albeit seedy, p0rn theaters.
  - toyg 11y ago
    > kinda cool ... you've never been in one, have you? :) I grew up in a neighbourhood that had one. It attracted unsavoury (but mostly harmless) characters, and was pretty squalid inside and out. There was nothing cool nor weird about it. What is funny is that it survived VHS pretty unscathed: because of its secluded location, it remained popular amongst the clientele looking for, er, "social" experiences. Neighbours fought political wars of attrition for decades, limiting its advertising and so on, but it resisted fairly well (likely helping itself to massive tax evasion -- even policemen don't want to be seen near such premises). It closed only when the owner died.
    - racl101 11y ago
      Yeah I've been in one. Not in the U.S. It wasn't like Fred Willard playing with himself. The people there were civil, still, it was surreal. .
- saiya-jin 11y ago
  it's already a worse experience (noisy, annoying kids, ringing cell phones, too loud for some, not ideal placement of most seats etc.), but it's a social experience. 3D might be an exception, for now, and it's still a rather niche market. same as people buying shots at bars vs drinking same alcohol at home for 20% of the price.
  - spdionis 11y ago
    3D niche? I can't go to any movie anymore cause they are all fg 3D and I hate it. My head hurts horribly after onw of those.

by e2e4 11y ago

toyg 11y ago

That's because the fundamental differentiation has already happened there: "going to the cinema" vs "watching at home" has been a choice for 30+ years now. Who had to die because of that, died already. Despite Hollywood's lamentation, it's unlikely that cinema numbers will ever get significantly worse than they are at the moment, unless someone (Oculus?) manages to somehow replicate the big-screen experience at home in full -- and even then, groups of teenagers will probably still choose to escape their parents' abode every now and then.

racl101 11y ago
"Who had to die because of that, died already." - one of those casualties would be the p0rn theater. Back then you could go to a theater and watch chicks swallow John Holmes' member in all its widescreen glory. Then when VHS came out, it was championed by the p0rn industry and away went most of those kinda cool, albeit seedy, p0rn theaters.
- toyg 11y ago
  > kinda cool ... you've never been in one, have you? :) I grew up in a neighbourhood that had one. It attracted unsavoury (but mostly harmless) characters, and was pretty squalid inside and out. There was nothing cool nor weird about it. What is funny is that it survived VHS pretty unscathed: because of its secluded location, it remained popular amongst the clientele looking for, er, "social" experiences. Neighbours fought political wars of attrition for decades, limiting its advertising and so on, but it resisted fairly well (likely helping itself to massive tax evasion -- even policemen don't want to be seen near such premises). It closed only when the owner died.
  - racl101 11y ago
    Yeah I've been in one. Not in the U.S. It wasn't like Fred Willard playing with himself. The people there were civil, still, it was surreal. .
saiya-jin 11y ago
it's already a worse experience (noisy, annoying kids, ringing cell phones, too loud for some, not ideal placement of most seats etc.), but it's a social experience. 3D might be an exception, for now, and it's still a rather niche market. same as people buying shots at bars vs drinking same alcohol at home for 20% of the price.
- spdionis 11y ago
  3D niche? I can't go to any movie anymore cause they are all fg 3D and I hate it. My head hurts horribly after onw of those.