The last two-three years going to the movies, for me and my friends at least, has been one of the hardest tasks for us to accomplish. Getting all of us to agree on what movie, or what time is one thing, but now that we have to buy the tickets in advance, which can sometimes be days early, adds another, completely unnecessary layer. But when did going to see the latest blockbuster become such a complicated feat?

Ever since the iPhone went mainstream around ten years ago, companies all over the world have jumped on the app bandwagon and have tried to create an easier experience right in the palm of your hand. It started off simple with maps and charts being digitally recreated, but as time went on more and more apps began to spring up in an attempt to streamline shopping with apps that now allow us to purchase cars and, sadly, movie tickets. Because tickets can be purchased almost anywhere as a digital copy, theaters have to make their seats reserved for the customers who pre-purchased them. That fact that people can preorder tickets now makes it nearly impossible for people to buy tickets up front at the counter.

If you look at the numbers the amount of money the film industry has made has varied for the last five years, but as of 2016 they did end off higher than the previous few years. According to the MPAA Theatrical Market Statistics of 2016 (The Motion Picture Association Of America) the amount of admissions has steadily decreased from 1.4 billion in 2012 to 1.32 billion in 2016; however, their profits have been on a slow rise over the past three years. Whether this is due to having to reserve seats, or the rise of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video, it means that the ever-changing technology has negatively affected the number of customers theaters get.

Although it may seem that the movies are going away, trust me when I say this, they will still be here for years to come. Many companies prefer to release their works at theaters before making them available for streaming, and hopefully that trend will continue. But if theaters continue to over-complicate the ticket buying process, they’ll end up as a relic of the past.

* photo via Google Images under the Creative Commons license