This often seems to come up in video game development discussions.
ESRB and publishers (regardless of platform) require licensing logos, title screens, etc. all manner of prestitial things to lead into a game.
In a system with commonalities and expectations for the user-experience, title screens serve a purpose, loading screens serve a purpose, and immersion serves a purpose. For every Borderlands with it's "2K" assault on the senses, Rockstar and Bethesda games are known for autoloading right into the gameplay where we left off, and I somehow get that feeling when I boot up OSX Lion and it restores all my windows. Not that I always want those windows restored.
Yet now, with SSD drives, loading times have been brought down to nothing in some cases. Certain games put *useful* information on interstitial loading screens, and don't have a minimum time value set. We need the equivalent of a VARISLOW TSR to keep software usable as hardware speeds increase.
Starbreeze wanted The Darkness to start immediately with a story cutscene. Jonathan Blow wants to do whateverthefuck he wants the user to experience, whether the user understands it or not. I personally don't believe software should be treated like a movie, but I'm open to new mediums giving new experiences.