OMG...I've seen burn victims fresh out of fires that are paler than that first guy!!! YUCK!!!
Shey makes a good point. Some tanning beds DO emit an extra does of Vitamin D and are even recommended by some doctors as treatment for a Vitamin D deficiency. Doesn't mean I don't think it'd be better to get in the actual sun, though.
I will say this...pre-pollen season I was all about being outside in the sun (not for tanning reasons...for exercise reasons). But now the pollen is so bad (we're registering an 11.2 on a scale of 12 right now) that I do all my exercise in the gym instead. So if I *were* a tanner I would probably be doing to a tanning bed instead of laying out outdoors. Seriously, cars in front of me kick up pollen that's on the road and I can barely see...wind blows and a huge cloud of pollen rains down from the trees. YUCK!!!