Underground Media: Reloaded

Steve Jobs serves up a pile of steaming crap to his fans, and guess what they do? Get in line for seconds. Apple TV has apparently jumped on the streaming movie rental bandwagon. Except that "Once you’ve started watching a movie, you have 24 hours to finish it or it self-destructs. And it does the same if you don’t watch it within 30 days." As I was reading this article to my wife she laughed and said, "What are they scared will happen?!" Indeed. What ARE they scared of? I can rent a movie from Blockbuster, rip it, and burn copies whenever I want. Ripping the poorer quality streamed copy from the "sealed white box" Apple TV gives me more hurdles to traverse for a less than desirable outcome. From a pirate perspective, that is. And yet, I'm sure loyal Apple fanboys and girls will stay up all night with glasses of champagne in hand, waiting for their Apple TV firmware to update so they can pay $5 for a movie they've got 24 hours to watch. ...

I'm a Netflix cheater. No point in denying it. Either watch the movie or send it back. Whether we've watched it together or not is irrelevant. The queue is huge and it must be appeased. Period. However, my indiscretions are minor compared to my wife's. She CONSPIRES to watch things without me, claiming that she didn't think I would be interested, or it was boring anyway. She's the BIG Netflix cheater! Hilarious article over at the Washington Post : "Adam Cuthbert, confessed Netflix cheater, blames his infidelities on his and his girlfriend's disparate Netflix drives: "She lacks stamina," he says. "I'm trying to work down the queue. She has no respect for that." Women. They never get it when we're on a mission...

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are going to grab a niche market with the early adopters.......and that's it. Don't take MY word for it. Listen to Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation: "Blu-Ray and HD DVD are a niche business. They're not going to become the next platform." See? It sounded just like him! Check out the article ...

Blu-ray will replace all other DVD's within 3 years? Somebody's been drinking. Besides me. People own LOTS of DVD's. Dozens, hundreds.... I'm sure there's even some freakshow out there with THOUSANDS! And I don't want to hear any high def 1080p bullsh*t. A good upconvert stacks up fine next to blu-ray. Hmmmm, $90 or $900. Except for the enthusiasts, DVD's ain't going anywhere for a looooong time... What do you think?