Cinema to let people watch…and work

Tyneside Cinema

Cinemas are getting more and more like our living rooms each and every day. Alcohol, popcorn and hotdogs can now be bought at the cinema and mums and dads are actively encouraged to bring their children to parent and baby showings.

However one cinema has moved that step further and is inviting home owners to bring their computers into its auditorium and work to their hearts content whilst watching films during designated “laptop screenings.”

Mark Dobson ,chief executive of Newcastle’s independent Tyneside cinema said they used the idea as an experiment to become more inclusive and give people the opportunity to see films no matter what the circumstances.

Georgia, a fellow watcher/worker runs an event management company in Newcastle. “I love the idea and know quite a few others who’d be interested in trying it out. I use the free wi-fi here quite often, but I don’t usually have time to watch the films so it is a good balance of the two.”

The general opinion of the idea has been divided. “People love it or hate it,” said Dobson, “There’s no in-between.”

Not only is their an impracticality of laptop film watching, people actually pay to work in an environment designed for people to relax and enjoy a film.

Chris Scott, the Tyneside’s press and publicity officer, said: “In my experience, most film-makers want people to see their films and give it as wide an audience as possible. So if this is another way to do it I don’t see a problem with it.

“There are obviously details about the film that might get missed but if people like it they can come and see it again or get it on DVD and watch it more carefully.”

Netbook Shipments ‘Will Double’ In 2009

Netbook shipments will double this year, while mainstream laptop shipments will remain flat, research firm DisplaySearch declared on Monday.

Netbook shipments in 2009 could reach around 32.7 million units, propelled by competitive pricing and improved hardware capabilities. Shipments will be close to double that of 16.4 million netbooks that shipped last year, said John Jacobs, director of laptop research at DisplaySearch.

The latest estimate represents a boost on the company’s previous forecast of 27.5 million netbook shipments for the year.

Netbooks will also take a larger chunk of worldwide laptop shipments as mainstream laptop shipments ‘flatten’, Jacobs said. Worldwide mainstream laptop shipments will total 129.5 million, flat compared to last year.

Buyers are drawn to netbooks because of competitive pricing between £175 and £300, Jacobs said. PC makers have also improved netbook hardware with larger screens and keyboards, which could further boost demand. The improvements were necessary as the cramped keyboards and small screens were resulting in many netbooks being returned, Jacobs said.

Some PC makers are also offering netbooks with better graphics capabilities, Jacobs said. For example, Lenovo recently introduced the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 laptop, which has a 12-inch screen that can play full high-resolution movies with the optional Ion platform from Nvidia. The platform couples Nvidia’s GeForce 9400 graphics core with Intel’s Atom chip.

Companies like Apple previously dismissed netbooks, saying the small laptops had junky hardware and limited software capabilities.

Apple to respond to netbook threat?

The sales of the super small, ultra portable Netbooks continue to spiral and the supply of these mini laptops is expanding to keep pace with the massive demand from the modern consumer.

The International Data Group announced last friday that worldwide orders for netbook laptops grew massively in the first quarter of 2009, and by the end of the year, IDC estimates that netbook orders will reach the heady heights of 22 million.

The modern laptop user has an ever increasing appetite for small, portable, low-cost personal computing on the go, and this new trend is having a worrying knock-on effect for some established players in the current market.

Sales of the Apple Mac fell last quarter, it’s first fall in five and half years, which could raise some concerns in the corridors of power at Apple.

The netbook sector dismissed in some quarters as a fad which would fade away as quickly as it burst on the scene, but this has not transpired and these mini laptops looks here to stay. Whilst netbook sales go from strength to strength, pressure is increasing on Apple to address the issue and do something about the netbook problem.

Jay Chou, IDC research analyst said: Vendors are waking up to the fact that people respond to so-called good-enough computing. They don’t really need all the power of a Core 2 Duo CPU most of the time.

Steve Jobs, Co founder of Apple and current CEO famously dismissed netbooks as ‘a piece of junk.’

Apple COO Tim Cook added: ‘Its not a space as it exists today that we are interested in, Nor do we believe that customers in the long term would be interested in.’

Whilst this may have disappointed the followers of Apple, this viewpoint could change once Apple releases its long-awaited touchscreen tablet computer.

The Apple tablet may be a much sought after item, but it will not retail at the £200 price tags of some netbooks and will therefore not reach the same markets for children, students and business travellers who want light-weight secondary computers in situations offering a keyboard and a wireless Internet connection. 

Apple may well respond to the growing netbook threat by cutting MacBook prices and if the current market trends continue may well consider dipping it’s own toe into the pool of the low-cost netbook market in the future.