This is an old, old argument...
The consensus, reached about 1982, is that since not everybody has a big, expensive widescreen TV, different versions should be made available to film-buyers/renters
So since not everyone has a lot of time to read does that mean books should be avaiable in shorter, bowderlized versions? You don't need a widescreen tv. That's what the black bars are for to duplicate the widescreen aspect ratio.
I sold tv's back in 1982. One of the reasons laserdisc failed was that most tv's at the time didn't have the resolution to demonstrate it's advantages over tape.
Tv's got better...
The same is true with this. As more and more people get flat screen TV's and projectors, fewer and fewer will want the panned and scanned versions.
Now if bar and hotel staff would just quit squashing normal tv to fit their new wide screens...
But with DVDs there's no reason to actually offer both. You can set the player to be full screen and it only shows the center. Yeah you get no "pan and scan" but from what I've seen lately the studios have gotten really lazy and most fullscreen DVDs are merely cropped with little if any panning.
I am a budding electronics geek! I shop for electronics goodies constantly even if I am not buying I still go to electronics stores to look at the latest stuff.
I have noticed that the selections of TVs in these stores is starting to edge more and more to widescreen. In fact many of the Electronics stores I go to have MORE widescreen TVs than regular 4:3 screens. Yes they are still expensive mostly (Though you can find many for around 700-800 bucks) but consider that the prices are dropping rapidly it figures that in the next 5 years the 4:3 screen will be the exception rather than the rule.
BTW if anyone is looking for a new widescreen TV I suggest forgoing Plasma and taking a look at DLP or LED. I Purchased a JVC HD-52Z585 that has a stunning picture and unlike Plasma when the picture starts to fade you can replace a bulb rather than buy a whole new TV again.
Oh, and if widesceen TVs become the norm then FULL Screen DVDs will show black bars on the sides of your screen unless you use the STRETCH setting (Usually called Panorama) I hate FULL SCREEN it sucks to the MAX!