Spider-man 3 on Your Cellphone Anyone?

The oversize developments in new technology have radically altered the way we
watch TV and movies at home. Gone are the days when the TV set was a box in the
corner with a 20in screen and a tinny lecturer. Now most of us prefer to watch
movies and sports casts on a widescreen that's at least 28in from corner to corner.

If you are a fan of home acting then that screen will nearly surely be larger and
be accompanied by a surround sound lecturer system to maximise the aural effect
and throw yourself into you in the action. As technology improves and gear becomes
cheaper, more and more people will have high classification TVs and home acting set-
ups.

But, if Sony has its way, we'll all be enjoying a absolutely different movie-
watching encounter, on a 2inch mobile phone screen. Sony wants to see an iTunes-
style download benefit for movies so we can download them and watch them on the
go. Would you watch a film on a mobile? I wouldn't.

Presume it. Out would go the immersive, relating encounter of the movie acting
that we've tried so hard to make at home, and in its place would be a screen so
small that it would be hard to make out what was going on. That in itself would
make a dilemma for film-makers. If a sizeable number of people who pay to see a
movie do so by downloading it on their mobile, will directors have to take this into
tab when making it? Will studios reject cuts because they control too many
subtle facial expressions or movements that can't be detected on a tiny screen? Will
the muted colors of a Saving Private Ryan have to replaced with more lurid and
brightly painted scenes to make them more easily visible on a mobile?

And what of the audio? Is their any point in spending time and money rising a
meticulous and textured surround-sound encounter if a significant part of your
audience will be listening on earbuds while travelling on a train?

These examples may be farthest, but they do highlight the differences between the
way a music download benefit works and the way a movie download benefit would.
Music, by its nature, is immensely portable. OK, the sound feature from an iPod over
a pair of earbuds may be nothing compared to that from a decent hi-fi set-up, but
for most people most of the time, it's a close enough approximation. That won't be
the case with movies. Why did those tiny, array powered, pocket TVs never really
take-off? For the same reason.

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, who knows a thing or two about the movie industry through
his stewardship of Pixar, has often said that he's not interested in producing a video
iPod because no-one wants to watch movies on a small screen. Jobs is right about
most things, and I reckon he's right about that. Sony disagrees. It will be fascinating
to see who's right.

Author: Robert Armstrong
Condition Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Gadget reviews