Why Watch Movies on the Computer

[I could be talking about legally downloaded movies... I could be talking about DVDs... I could be talking about pirating... it's for the courts to decide.]

So why watch a movie via the computer instead of seeing it on the big screen? There are so many reasons.

1) Comfort. A lot of cinemas have decent seating... but a lot don't. Why be in an uncomfortable seat when you can relax in your chair at home? (Okay, you might not have a fantastic chair at home, but most computer people have a decent chair, as they sit in it all the time).

2) Toilet. When you need to, you can take a break without missing the action. For some of us, this is a very important reason.

3) Food. Aside from over-priced snacks, what about full meals? Or hot food? Or food you want to eat but the cinema doesn't generally have available? (Such as a cheese platter... outside of the expensive seats at some cinemas.)

4) Email. Or anything else if the movie isn't that interesting. And I can do this without interrupting other people. Like how things used to be before teenagers decided that texting in the middle of a movie was a socially accepted practice...

5) Fast-forward. Movie not moving fast enough? Or just long talking sequences? When watching via VLC (which can view DVDs as well as files), bump up the rate to 1.5x, or whatever I want. I have better things to do with my time.

6) No cinematics. Okay, not exactly a positive, but when a movie is hyped as "you need to go see this in 3D to experience the visuals" without any other reason to go see it, that's something that could take say... 15 minutes. Not something I want to waste three hours of my life dealing with, thank you very much Avatar!

So while timing is the most cited reason for people to go to their computers to get a file of someone else's camera watching the movie (and complaining about those would be a whole other post), there are plenty of other reasons I'm not handing my money over to the local big screen.

(Not that piracy is the worst thing ever...)

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