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Contexts of Consumption

As media such as movies and TV increasingly shifts to mobile devices the range of contexts where media is consumed changes compared to what has gone before. The user experience of watching a movie in a multiplex or independent cinema (video club in the village of Kansensero in the photo, above) is very different compared to being curled up in bed at home or during snatches of down time in cigarette breaks at work. To what extent does context of use effect the perceived value of media? To what extent is it possible to charge differently according to the context of consumption?

A long time ago I had the pleasure of watching an Argentinean movie at Egypt's International Alexandria film festival. The film was billed as having the first legal kiss in Egyptian public cinema, and all the seats in the venue were filled
with robed punters. I recall looking around that there were two women in the whole audience - one of which was sitting with me. Being a subtitlted film the audience didn't need to concentrate on the sound track and they chatted the whole way through, until the moment of that kiss when the place went silent, which was soon followed by cheering. The memories of the experience as a whole remain vivid despite it being 10 years ago. Why do we pay for (media) experiences at the time of consumption, rather than at the time of reflection?

Writing from Kansensero | June 30, 2006 | Permalink