Do you have any idea how difficult it has been to find tech news these past week? You’d think that the entire technological world has disappeared and been replaced by Elon Musk, his sycophants and his detractors. Which means for me, who enjoys looking at things after the dust has settled and everyone is no longer in hysterics about (insert whatever it is that isn’t really worth it).
But I did find a story that was quite interesting. AMC and Zoom are looking into launching Zoom Rooms in 17 cities next year. That’s right, for what I am sure will be a very reasonable fee, you’ll be able to rent your own movie screen to have a Zoom Meeting in. Just you and a theater’s worth of people.
Having just mentioned that I’d prefer to see things after the dust settles, I admit that I may have rushed in a little bit to declare the movie theater dead. I honestly, truly thought that they wouldn’t come back as they did after the pandemic. After all, people had months of exclusive releases directly to their houses on whatever streaming service they were paying for. Small, densely packed places were more out than bell-bottom jeans and comically oversized suit jackets; and you didn’t have to schlep all the way to your local theater only to have your experience ruined by a baby crying.
Or someone using their phone.
Or someone who will not shut up.
Or someone who already pirated the movie and will tell it to the person next to them. Loudly. In your hearing range.
…I stopped going to movie theaters for a while myself.
But if box office results are anything to go by then no, movie theaters have bounced back about as well as they could possibly have. But let’s not be daft, with the everything shortage and inflation the likes of which should remind us uncomfortably of the 1970s, the first place where people make cuts is on entertainment. Conversely, with more people organizing large scale virtual events than ever, there’s a demand for a location where the event can also serve as an impromptu meetup. This is what Zoom and AMC want to capture.
Will it work? Most likely. Especially if some people with enough clout decide to host special appearances and exclusive content presentations through them And why not? People will pay to see a vtuber giving a concert. Is watching (Insert celebritity of your choice here)” reading (something decidedly inappropriate for their image) that out of the question?
My one concern, and it is only one, is how they will handle admission. Renting the space and then having the prospective audience pay an additional fee sounds like something either of the companies would do, but it would really stop the momentum of the project dead in its tracks. But if that doesn’t happen, pretty soon you may have to go to a team meeting where all of your coworkers in a hundred mile radius will assemble in a movie theater and join together as one to think the same thing.
“I could be watching Rocky Horror Picture Show instead of this.”
