novelty and the iPad

While I don't have one yet, fairly soon the iPad will be held by these hands and movies will be viewed on it.

This notion is mixed with equal parts enthusiasm and skepticism. Thus far, no piece of mobile technology has changed the way I prefer to watch movies. While convenient, most agree that watching films on such a small scale is not the preferred way to go about watching JAWS. That said, however, something needs to be said about being able to access JAWS wherever you are in the world, providing there's a 3G network, and/or Wi-Fi in the neighborhood.

We now live in an age where owning media doesn't serve the same purpose. Previously, one would buy a DVDs in order to access a favorite film whenever they pleased, available for viewing on a whim. The Internet has ostensibly eliminated the need for a physical, tangible product, and given us the ability to access our favorite films whenever we want, wherever we want, providing we have the latest and greatest tech. This week, that tech is the iPad.

Even before it hit shelves, one of the selling points of the iPad was the alleged "great" movie watching experience. With Netflix 'Watch Instantly' available to US customers, cinephiles can gain instantaneous access to their beloved films through Wi-Fi or 3G, with little to no load times. And if streaming films wasn't enough, they can also rent and/or buy them from iTunes. Sounds great.

The reason for my skepticism is such: I've been excited about watching movies on something other than a TV or Theater before, and every time, I've been let down. But it's my fault.

The prospect of watching movies on my phone was once appealing, but I did it a couple times and the novelty seemed to wear off. Fast. This is the problem, I think. Novelty.

It's a novel idea to have perpetual access to your favorite films, geography be damned, but without a proper viewing experience, the novelty loses substance, and just becomes a cool idea, without any real gravitas.

Movies being such widely consumed media, it's understandable why so much effort goes into getting them into every format possible. People want to access them any way they can. The downside, however, is that while a quick buck can be made, all your left with is novelty, and a shit viewing experience.

Films are made in 35-70mm (or HD) for a reason: They are meant to be seen big. While smaller TVs have sufficed in the past, we see bigger and better TVs with sharper resolutions hitting the market annually in order to simulate the theater experience at home. It seems to be what people want.

Contrariwise, people also seem to want movies on their mobile devices. It's what's novel, not necessarily practical, or conducive of a great viewing experience.

We will always watch movies they way they are meant to be seen, be it at home or at the cinema. Big and loud.

What changes is our access to movies, and this trouble with novelty. We can access films on our laptops, our phones, and our iPads, and while novel, it's not as exciting as we make it out to be. Or hope it to be.

We always want the next thing, but we let novelty disrupt our judgement. Novelty doesn't necessarily mean good, even though it can be refreshing.

Though, I suppose it's nice to know I can watch JAWS whenever I want, almost anywhere in the world.

-- Alex