But for $20, you can own the DVD. And with that comes the ability to rewind (”What did he just say?, Did you see that?”), take that bio-break and not worry about missing anything, and get the whole thing in a pristine digital experience. After two weeks of wear and tear on a film, you can start to see the break down. Unless you go to a fully DLP theater, it can’t be avoided unless you feel like fighting the crowds.

And the crowds are problem #1. I want to sit in the “sweet spot” but I don’t want random people sitting next to me, talking, fidgeting in their seat, and making me move when they need to go to the bathroom.

Overall, I think the “going to the movies” experience has lost quite a bit of its appeal as home theater quality has dramatically improved and lowered in cost.

I wrote some research last year on the three most important things online video sites can do to increase user acceptance of pre-roll ads: limit length (15 seconds max), limit frequency (one ad for every 5-7 minutes of video content), and ensure advertiser/creative rotation (so users don’t see the same ad over and over and over). Once enough sites and networks have enough inventory, I’ll add targeting to that list — but right now meaningful targeting is difficult for most sites and networks.

Cinemas (and TV networks too) would be wise to keep these same lessons in mind.

Also, you can’t deny the experience of watching a movie in a big screen with a good sound system, I’m not sure of how much money Warner Bros will make off of ticket sales vs DVD, merchandising etc, but I’ll happily pay eleven bucks rather than watch the Dark Knight on my computer. I actually began to the other day and stopped after five minutes into it because it’s not worth it, even if it had been DVD quality which it wasn’t I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much.