Let's Stay Home From the Lobby

Slashdot points out this story at Yahoo! News about movie theaters' complaints when DVDs are released too quickly.

Slashdot | Theaters Unhappy About Faster DVD Releases: "As movie studios such as Walt Disney Co. have pushed for more rapid DVD releases of movies to combat piracy on the Internet, executives of movie theater chains such as Regal Entertainment Group and National Amusements Inc. have countered, saying that seeing a movie in the theater is a 'fuller, more entertaining experience' and that the time window between movie and DVD releases should even be extended."

I can't imagine that there's anybody who wouldn't prefer to see a movie in a nice theater, with great picture and sound, over watching it at home, even on a high-end home theater setup. The problem is, that choice no longer exists.

A lot of the time, you can't count on the presentation at a local theater to be any better than you get from a DVD at home, and that's if you have modest video equipment. And you definitely can't count on having a pleasant drive to the theater, or decent popcorn and a quiet audience once you get to your seat.

You can be sure, though, that going out to the movies will take longer and cost more, that you'll be expected to sit through advertising and marketing material unrelated to the movie, and that the theater will not adjust their showtimes to suit your convenience.

So I guess my point is, yeah, quicker DVDs releases probably do hurt movie theaters, but not as much as the theaters hurt themselves, and it's hard to imagine why anybody who isn't in the theater business should care.