American auditorium design has changed over the past few decades.   Pictured above are two of the changes: every seat has a CUP HOLDER, and every new auditorium has to meet the standards of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. />

 

The health related aspects of the two changes pictured strike me as ironic:   Cup holders are a negative change, and ADA access a very positive change.

 

On the one hand the TV bred audience is being fleeced and fattened up like cattle with expensive corn syrup and beer,  while on the other hand persons with mobility difficulty can readily enter every new public space and occupy a quality viewing location.  

 

Healthwise it's one step forward, one step back.

 

But as far as cash extraction from the viewers is concerned, it's two steps towards the bank.