Tech – Page 97 – Prattling Before the Pratfall

Men who drink… and plan beyond tomorrow!

This magazine ad for Seagram’s V.O. whiskey is supposedly from 1946. Even if it’s from 1956, it’s still an amazingly accurate prediction of flat-panel, high-definition, wall-mounted, widescreen color TV’s!

Vintage Seagram's V.O. magazine ad — Vintage Seagram’s V.O. magazine ad

TV present vs TV future

The Superbowl should be over by now, but I don’t know because I’m not watching it (I probably would be if the Patriots hadn’t been eliminated). Instead, we’ve watched the first five parts of the 13-part Netflix series House of Cards, based on the BBC series of the same name from way back in 1990.

The Superbowl may be the biggest thing on television right now, but it’s just the latest in a long-standing annual event. Netflix is attempting to create the future of television by using on-demand streaming media to take direct aim at cable, and HBO in particular. Putting entire seasons of Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men online for subscribers at no additional cost has been extremely successful for Netflix, so it makes sense for the service to produce its own series, and an excellent one it is.

Netflix is using House of Cards as an enticement to new subscribers, who are welcome to watch all thirteen parts for free. The expectation is, of course, that once they’re online they’ll see what else is available and stay on for $8/month. Reed Hastings has screwed up at least once as CEO of Netflix, but this new direction looks like a winner.

Attention: WGBH

Hey, WGBH in Boston. Where did your live streams go? The Jazz Decades feed is still there, as is WCAI for Cape Cod, but your primary station is g-o-n-e not only from TuneIn, but also from direct URL entry. What’s up?

Follow-up: It’s back. It was gone for at least 24 hours, and before posting this I had written to both the station and to TuneIn.

From virtual to vinyl

Most people want to convert their old vinyl records into MP3 files, but Amanda Ghassaei has used 3-D printing to reverse the process. This sort of inspired creativity makes me chortle in appreciation. I’d love to have a little 3-D printer to make my own 45 rpm singles.