Gary’s Q&A

Listener question & Gary’s response · Transcript passage

violettt414 on Discord asks Any predictions on third places that’ll start to evaporate? (like how movie theaters are getting beaten out by at-home streaming)You are definitely right about movie theaters. TV sets are getting bigger, cheaper, and better. It is actually quite shocking how good and cheap they are getting. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a sizable film collection on disc, and physical media has been gaining popularity, even though it remains a pursuit of a minority of people. Movie theaters are not the only type of establishment that has seen decreased business. Alcohol consumption has been decreasing, and restaurant spending has also gone down. Spending on food delivery has gone up.

Participation in all sorts of organizations has been decreasing. Malls have been in decline for decades now. So, as far as I’ve seen, there has been an across-the-board decrease in almost everything. This is due to a combination of economics, demographics, and technology.