Hi all:

I realize it's been a while, and I haven't been posting as regularly as even I would like to, but there are reasons, and I hope to be able to reveal them soon. I don't want to jeapordize a couple of things that are in the works...

But I just had to point out the cluelessness of my local theater.  As I've mentioned in the past, I tried to negotiate with them to provide increased access to the deaf and hard of hearing by offering captioned movies, with no success.  I will give credit to the rep that I had been speaking with for at least continuing the dialogue, but I always felt it was more for show than anything.  Yesterday, I was proven right.  I opened my local newspaper to read..Boring story after boring story.  As I begin to turn a page, I see an ad for the local theater in the corner and it catches my eye with this headline:

"Come see our new 3-D movie screen!"

WHAT?  They spent in the neighborhood of $150,000 to convert ONE screen to 3-D capability and won't consider spening approximately $10,000 to increase access for the deaf and hard of hearing?  Everything I have read from the industry trade papers has shown that 3-D screens, while most likely increasing the audience's enjoyment visually, mostly generates new revenue stream ONLY from the increased ticket prices people would pay for a 3-D movie.  No (or almost no) new business is generated from converting to a 3-D capability on one screen.  Whereas, offering greater access to people who never come in the first place because of no access, stands a greater chance of creating a new revenue stream on top of the one you already have in place, and the extras you would gain from those same people perhaps also coming back for CAPTIONED 3-D movies.

Poor business decision, especially in light of the 9th Circuit Court's Harkins decision.  It would have been far cheaper to consider implementing a system for increased access for the deaf and hard of hearing WHILE converting to 3-D so that the systems could be fully integrated.  The theater industry continues to wait for the "perfect" answer to the captioning access problem instead of implementing what is out there now.  In today's technology age, what they have done is the equivalent of putting off purchasing a cell phone for fear that something newer and better is gonna come around the corner any second.  Let me give the theater industry a little advice: something newer and better will ALWAYS be just around the corner.  That's the nature of the world and the times we live in now. I-Pad success wouldn't be possible without I-Phone success, which wouldn't have been possible without Blackberry success, which wouldn't have been possible without..... See where I'm going with this analogy?

Time for the theaters to get their rears in gear and get to the table.  I know they're in the business of making money and not developing technology.  I know that there are theater company's out there who are trying to do something, and I DO appreciate their efforts.  But throwing every excuse at the wall to see which one sticks doesn't work anymore.  A big THUMBS DOWN to my local theater for this move.  I'm sure my kids will like the 3-D, but they'll go without me, as always, until the theater catches up with the 21st century that we live in and provides me the access that will allow me to enjoy the film with my family.

Eddie