Category: Tech

Netflix Discards Discs

January, 2004 I became a Netflix customer.

Three years later, Netflix gave me access to its brand-new streaming service.

Netflix Instant Watching

With streaming barely out of the starting gate, that August The Boston Globe profiled the expansive Netflix disc distribution center that serviced the area.

How Does Netflix Do It?

In February, 2009, exactly two years after having my first taste of Netflix streaming, the service had expanded enough to justify buying a first generation Roku player. Half a dozen streamers have come and gone from the house since then, with two Rokus and a Fire TV stick remaining.

Rockin’ Roku

In September, 2011 Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced Qwikster, a premature move away from discs.

Hastings’ hasty retreat from DVD

In April, 2017, one month after retiring, I ended my Netflix disc subscription.

Notflix

The final few days of Netflix’s physical media service, ending what it began, are here. Slate has a good opinion piece about it.

https://slate.com/culture/2023/09/netflix-dvd-rental-service-ending-movies-queue.html

Automotive Gridlock

A key point of the striking auto workers is concern over the push to all-electric cars. GM sure looks stupid for killing, and literally destroying, the EV1.

My concern about, and hope for, electric cars is, they could end up being an interim solution, like compact fluorescent lights were on the way to LED. CF was a mistake, leaving us with a lot of mercury to worry about. It would have been better to wait for LED, the way the decision was made to wait for digital HDTV to be ready, rather than approving analog HDTV. The battery problem is far from being solved, and with no essential breakthroughs in applied physics on the horizon it probably never will be.

There is also the essential question of whether or not the electric grid(s) can meet the charging demands of all those cars. The time it takes to charge a car battery means people will be lingering for much longer at highway rest stops, leading to serious congestion problems, as well as longer travel times.

Offering rest stop swap-outs rather than charging, as I’ve seen proposed, will never work. People won’t risk losing their expensive new battery for an old, defective unit. So we’re stuck waiting for a ubiquitous network of well-maintained charging stations.

Until hydrogen or refined sea water can be used reliably as fuel, I don’t see myself going all-electric. My next and possibly last car, that I expect to buy sometime in 2027, will be a hybrid, if that’s still available as an option.

Dulby Atmost

About a week ago, I posted YouTube videos where the movement of an overly active musician playing a clarinet was audible in a recording. It was characterized as being a problem, but what if musical instruments flying around the room, even overhead, is done intentionally? Last night’s PBS NewsHour had this infomercial for Dolby Atmos.

In One Ear, In the Other

With an apology to the hearing-impaired, headphones are required for this audio recording quiz.

I heard the effect in the recording before he pointed it out, but with the expectation there was a technical problem, I assumed a microphone was out of phase with the other mics. This is his follow-up entry.

DOuG pRATt in high school with a Pioneer SX-440 receiver, Garrard 40B turntable with Shure M91ED cartridge, Pioneer SE-20 headphones, and Realistic MC-1000 speakers.

Reeling Me In

Facebook wants me to watch their subscriber-submitted Reels. These examples are tame compared to others that have been appearing in my newsfeed.

Being an ‘Arlo and Janis’ fan must be the reason why Facebook’s AI is tempting me with scantily-clad young women. Not wanting to encourage the algorithm, I don’t watch them. The option to “See fewer posts like this” seems to have put more clothes on some of the girls.

Here’s one that YouTube recommends. Guitars and the straps holding them up immediately come to mind. I watched it because she’s left-handed. 😉

What hath TikTok wrought?