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The world evolves, they say... but is it going too fast ?

DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
edited June 2011 in General Discussion Posts: 15,718
I remember using, barely a decade ago, a little thing they called VHS. Something the young kids today will either say "What is that ?" or "It's prehistoric !!". The last movie I bought on VHS was around 2003 (But I don't remember what it was). Then I was forced to update all my VHS collection on this new thing called DVD. I started updating to DVD, when, suddenly, in 2006 - 3 years after starting buying DVD's - A new product arrived..... Blu-Ray/HD-DVD. I am lucky I went to Blu-Ray and not HD-DVD... I still buy DVD's today, but it seems in a few year, I will be forced to updating my movie collection a 2nd time in about 10 years... I can't keep up. It seems people already are already beyond Blu-Ray's - they are going to external hard drive to store these wonderful avi. files... and now you can even have your own collection of 1080p Blu-Ray's right on your computer without paying one cent apart from your internet connection... given you have enough download speed to not spend a week downloading 1 film... I know people that still have the dual DVD+VHS players... Don't you remember the TV's with VHS players in them ?

I also remember the good old cassette tapes - you know, the thing you could never scratch... just cut a bit of the magnetic band, and you'll loose less than a second of music. I still have some of them, with such unknown albums and music that were never transfered to CD's... And it didn't took very long for the first iPods to appear... No longer need to stack up my CD's... just put them on your iPod... With bigger and bigger storage pace on those, you can now have a collection of music that a CD collectioner would need a lot of money and a big house to get... Now I have a hard time finding a radio station/CD player that has a cassette player instead of a USB cord for my iPod... And about the iPods... thank god they play downloaded music... Because with an iPod of 34 Gb, it would cost you the same amount of money than a new Aston Martin to fill it up with music and movies...

When I was a kid back in the late 90's, I had a walkman for my cassettes... Great stuff... But soon I had to get a CD-walkman to be 'cool' with other kids in my school.

Don't you remember this :

<img src="http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/8408/e068a270istockphoto5604.jpg">;

Those were cool when I was young. I remember 10 years ago my electronics store had a big stack of those. How cool was it to walk on the street. with this on your shoulder, and sharing your music with other people ?? Back in the day's when moving your head back-and-forth to the music's beat was cool, and not 'sad' when kids today do it when listening to the music in their earphones... and you can't hear the music yourself.

My dad was sad when the decline of vinyls arrived... He still has a huge collection. Damn the vinyl covers were awesome !! Now it seems it is slowly starting to be 'vintage cool'. But they are made in limited numbers now... I know some people who still buy vinyls to this day.

The TV's... Good god. I still remember my dad buying these huge TV's... so thick it barely fit on the shelf !! I've only bought my first plasma TV in 2003... Now I have a Full-HD (1080p) 42 inch TV... Now I have to buy a 3D one ? Haha like I'm going to watch 3D movies all day with 3D glasses on- my eyes would gouge out... Now it seems they are doing 3D TV's where you don't need glasses ? When will it stop... I could also buy a TV that has internet on it... I don't watch TV for browsing videos on youtube... that's for my computer...

Video games... I remember having the Super Nintendo. Then in the late 90's I got my N64... Still got it today - for me, it's the best console in history... I skipped the PS1 and went straight to PS2... Now I have an XBOX 360... I don't have kinect - like I'm going to jump up and down/dance all day in front my TV... Now, after spending 50 euros on a game... I have to spend 15 euros more on downloaded content, extra maps, zombie fights ?? *coughblackopscough*. The solo campaigns are getting smaller and smaller... I don't care about online multiplayer - where is the good old split screen ?
I still remember the Gameboy... then I went to Gameboy Advance... and how to PSP... And now they expect me to spend 250 euros on PSPVista ?? On a design that barely changes ?

My god, how fast did the world change in a decade... too fast for me and my wallet... where will it go next ?

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Comments

  • thelordflasheartthelordflasheart
    Posts: 1,370
    I'm a "glass half full" kind of guy so I love all the changes. What's interesting to me is how we often can't tell what's going to come next...

    My last girlfriend got me into iTunes and iPod strictly for environmental reasons. With a physical CD being made out of oil, the case being made out of oil, the booklet being made out of trees, the pollution put into the air manufacturing it, the gas or diesel burned to ship it from the factory to the store...all replaced by a couple of minutes worth of electricity to download. Now that's magic.

    I love the larger screen size and enhanced clarity of new TVs and "videos". I love that I'm no longer listening to cassette tapes or watching VHS which both get "fuzzier" over time. Of course, you can keep all your old tech and nothing is forcing you to buy new versions of media, so your wallet is only affected as much as you choose for it to be affected.

    As for ghetto blasters vs iPods - I far prefer iPods. Yes, as you say, people can share their music with others with a ghetto blaster. But that also means that they can loudly share music that you don't want to listen to! Given the intolerance that many people on this board have stated for "modern" music you'd think they'd be happy about all the headphones!

    I love the way that things continually change. As I said in another thread, if they didn't then we'd all be watching a black and white musical Western like the ones Roy Rogers made as our "action film" this weekend!

  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited June 2011 Posts: 15,718
    @thelordflasheart iPod's are great... if you illegally download movies and music. If I had a 160 Gb iPod classic, it would cost me about the same as an Aston Martin to fill it up !! A regular CR is, what, 60 MB ? I'd take me nearly 20 thousands CD's to fill my iPod completly... I'm sorry but I don't have the money NOR the musical knowledge to buy that much music...

    Just look at computers... When I bought my iMac, it had 250Gb of space... now If I want I can have 1 Terabyte of space... What can I do with all that space ??
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,266
    @DaltonCraig007 even worse, you probably haven't the time to listen or watch all that music and all those films. Amd you know what? You don't have to. If a car can run at 160mph it doesn't mean you have to do so.
    One thing that amazes me is the amount of technology you bought. Yes, I used to have a walkman, even after everyone bought discmans. I myself never had one but went straight to an MP3 player (no way I'm going to pay 3 times as much for the same device just becouse it has an aplle printed on). I still have vynil, and those are keepers. Only last year did I finally buy a new TV, as the old one was worse then my laptop screen and, frankly, after 15 years, it had had it's day. But 3D? I don't see the purpose. So that's a no, until I can't buy anything else and my current TV has given up.

    Why so many game consoles? Why always the latest? We waited until the battle between HD and Blu-Ray was over, and only bought the PS3 becouse it's a two-in-one:blu-ray AND console.

    I'm happy with the advancement of technology, but that doesn't mean I've got to buy everything on the market!
  • thelordflasheartthelordflasheart
    Posts: 1,370
    @thelordflasheart iPod's are great... if you illegally download movies and music. If I had a 160 Gb iPod classic, it would cost me about the same as an Aston Martin to fill it up !! A regular CR is, what, 60 MB ? I'd take me nearly 20 thousands CD's to fill my iPod completly... I'm sorry but I don't have the money NOR the musical knowledge to buy that much music...

    Just look at computers... When I bought my iMac, it had 250Gb of space... now If I want I can have 1 Terabyte of space... What can I do with all that space ??
    I agree with CommanderRoss - whether you buy and iPod or a car you don't have to use it to its full capacity. Think about this - how many CDs can you fit in your living room? Do you feel compelled to buy 30,000 CDs to "fill it up"?

    New technology is often a method, not a result. My iPod is a *method* of listening to music. 90% of what is on my iPod is music from CDs I already owned. The other 10% is music I bought on iTunes. That percentage will change over time - but only as music I want to buy is released.

    If you have a Bluray player then you can watch all your old DVDs on it (with the additional benefit that they will be upscaled). You're buying a Bluray player didn't eliminate your ability to watch DVDs. It's just another method of watching media, in addition to what you already have.

    A friend of mine once complained that Apple really "has us where they want us" because a new iPod came out. But as I said to him, no, WE have Apple where WE want THEM. We choose whether or not to give Apple (or any tech company) our money. WE'RE the ones with all the power, as CommanderRoss has demonstrated.

  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    I still buy VHS tapes, now and again. Just recently I bought the Lauren Hutton space disaster film, Starflight One, which hasn't yet made the leap to DVD. As for Blu-Ray, I won't be buying anymore (I bought the Dead Pool BR because I couldn't find a copy of the DVD). Change my entire DVD collection to Blu-Ray, are you mad? I have films that were hard enough to find on DVD, then there are films that haven't even been put onto DVD, that I have had to chase down a VHS copy and dub that to a blank DVD.

    Thanks, but no thanks.
  • j7wildj7wild Suspended
    Posts: 823
    You are all still youngins!!

    I miss 8-Track!!
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    edited July 2011 Posts: 5,767

    Just look at computers... When I bought my iMac, it had 250Gb of space... now If I want I can have 1 Terabyte of space... What can I do with all that space ??
    Well, if cracking DVDs wasn´t so slow I might just convert all my DVDs onto one drive. Would be fun to take my collection everywhere I go with me and just be able to watch whatever film I want.
    I don´t think the world changes too fast. We just have to make use of what´s useful and don´t bother with the rest too much. And we must not let Skynet go online.
  • j7wildj7wild Suspended
    Posts: 823
    I remember when my first Pentium 60 computer in 1993 (later renamed Pentium 1) had 60 MB hard drive
  • boldfingerboldfinger
    Posts: 5,767
    I remember some schoolmates having a Commodore computer, first the 32, then the 64, then the 128.
    I find it very convenient that nowadays you can just buy a computer, plug it in, and without much knowledge use it.
  • j7wildj7wild Suspended
    edited July 2011 Posts: 823
    I remember some schoolmates having a Commodore computer, first the 32, then the 64, then the 128.
    I find it very convenient that nowadays you can just buy a computer, plug it in, and without much knowledge use it.
    my first computer in 1979 was a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 with a 12 inch monitor, programs on cassettes, no speakers, no video cards, no mouse, no internal Hard Drive, no modem, no printer;


    http://oldcomputers.net/pics/trs80-i.jpg

    it ran on BASIC and it had 16 K of Ram!

    16 K!!

    A jpg is bigger than 16 K Now!!

    I was able to expand it to 64 K of Ram about a year later, that was Max Ram for the Model 1 and then buy a 8 1/2 floppy drive which was faster than waiting for an entire program on cassette to take 30 min to load

    http://www.trs-80.com/images/hw-model1-floppy1.png

    and one of the very first game programs I ever used on that computer was made by Microsoft:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure

    and the very first time I played Star Trek on a computer:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(text_game)

    the first programs I had on cassette were the Scott Adams Adventure International game

    bought them from a computer store on the 2nd floor of a shopping center at the corner of Bellaire and Bissonnet

    they were text games: go east, go north, look, inventory, get (something), use (something), swim, tree - climb tree, etc

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_International

    you can DL the games here now for free

    http://www.msadams.com/downloads.htm
  • doubleonothingdoubleonothing Los Angeles
    Posts: 864
    I keep forgetting you're older, j7. For some reason, I always think of you as much, much younger.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited July 2011 Posts: 15,718
    I keep forgetting you're older, j7. For some reason, I always think of you as much, much younger.
    You're not the only one... ;-) Geez j7wild you write almost the same as CASINOROYALE...
  • j7wildj7wild Suspended
    Posts: 823
    yeah, I will be 50 in 4 years

    :-((
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    I keep forgetting you're older, j7. For some reason, I always think of you as much, much younger.
    You're not the only one... ;-) Geez j7wild you write almost the same as CASINOROYALE...
    Slap the man in the face why don't you?
    ;-)
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited July 2011 Posts: 15,718
    I keep forgetting you're older, j7. For some reason, I always think of you as much, much younger.
    You're not the only one... ;-) Geez j7wild you write almost the same as CASINOROYALE...
    Slap the man in the face why don't you?
    ;-)
    I didn't meant it THAT way... I meant j7wild has a very 'young' type of writing... I don't expect middle aged man to write the same way as him... ha ha
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    All those upgrades are ridiculous, and nothing but a cash machine.
  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    Leap in technology is good

    What I don't like is sheep upgrading phones every year because they "need" to
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    All these Windows upgrades are ridiculous! Why not just fix it properly once and for all?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    I think Windows has given up on itself...
  • Agent_99Agent_99 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl
    Posts: 3,176
    It's certainly up itself.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited May 2017 Posts: 18,281
    Stop the world, I want to get off!

    What, no one cares, you say?

    Oh, OK then. I'll...er...stay put.
  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    Fun for Friday evening
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    6ed81bab656ebe4b8cab3b084057fcee--wumo-comics-june-.jpg
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,804
    The accessibility of films is a great development, I love it.
    Please also consider the forces of Devolution. Find your Energy Dome.
    AW121203-DV1.jpgDevo.png?fit=300%2C180
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    To quote my almost 60 year old mother:

    "I'm glad I'm going to be dead soon. This modern world is bloody awful. Too much choice and too many young people with an inflated sense of entitlement. I often wonder how we'd cope in another war".
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited July 2017 Posts: 12,837
    I'm going to be 35 this year and I'm happy with pretty much everything that's been mentioned so far. I've enjoyed all these new tech developments. Love my phone. For example, take my friend Jason who I've known since I was a kid and still lives in London. I moved away a long time ago but I can not only still speak to him every day regardless of where I am or what I'm doing but also send him pictures, etc. It's never been easier to give your mates shit from a distance ;) Then there's Spotify which I can't imagine not having now. And for music at home, vinyl's all the range again now. My collection has been growing and growing the last couple of years. And computer games? Compare GE 64 to say the new Battlefield games. They basically look like real life now. Doesn't guarantee that they'll be fun but it's still really cool how realistic and stunning they are. Blu Ray's are something I didn't see the point in at first but once I actually upgraded the difference in quality blew me away. Watching the Bond boxset now, some shots in the 60s films often make it look like they could have been made today. Do we really want to go back to blurry VHS tapes?

    For me it's all good and I'm excited to see all this stuff develop more. I think the only problem is, as @BAIN123's mum touched on, there's a danger of taking it all for granted.
  • fanbond123fanbond123
    edited July 2017 Posts: 1,661
    Apparently the next big tech advance is holographic display smart phones. It's possible your current smart phone might look rather unsmart very soon!

    https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/7/6/15929212/red-hydrogen-one-smartphone-price-specs-release
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I love the modern world. The ability to download any book, music or movie
    Instantly, with no having to go shopping for it the next day, or finding it
    Unavailable in my local area, is fantastic. ............ And of course Internet
    Porn !!!! ;-)
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Some American companies are microchipping their staff now. I would tell them to go to hell if it were me.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,266
    Mrcoggins wrote: »
    Fun for Friday evening

    SUng by an American? This world is doomed.........
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