Flicking a finger across a three-inch screen ...

[NutmegCT]

With thanks to Doc for reminding me ...

As images, videos, music, and factoids multiply on our tiny screens, I remember one of my interns a few years ago.

Wanted to be a movie director. Asked him what films he admired, and he showed me a few clips on his smartphone screen.

I asked what he thought of the film "Lawrence of Arabia" - interesting story line, and spectacular landscapes and battle scenes. He said he'd never heard of it.

Next morning he came up to me and said he found it on a file sharing site (oh, boy), and watched it last night.

Me: So what did you think of that fantastic cinematography?

He: It was really hard to see on my cell phone.

A few days later, a friend sends me a link to photos of his recent trip to Canada. I clicked the link and found over 750 photos. Overwhelming to say the least.

Next day, he emails me "So why didn't you comment on all the photos? Didn't you like them?"

Good grief. As bits of our lives become "common" and overwhelmingly available, they begin to lose their value.

Just sayin'

Tom M.

 

[mikephillips]

I have to admit, I use my smartphone for little more than calls and texting for work or family as needed. I do dump tv shows and movies down from the net, both new and old, but put them on an external drive that I plug in to a cheap laptop with video software that talks to my flatscreen and surround sound. It's all 10 years or older equipment but to me infinitely better than a 3 inch screen.

 

[PC]

Like I told a friend's daughter when she laughed at my iPhone 6s (the littlest one), phones should be small, TV's should be big.

 

[GregW]

but put them on an external drive that I plug in to a cheap laptop with video software that talks to my flatscreen and surround sound. It's all 10 years or older equipment but to me infinitely better than a 3 inch screen.

My TV is at least 10 years old. I can play movies on it over WIFI directly from my phone. My TV's fiber goes to the surround for 5.1. You might be able to bypass the laptop unless we're talking about bootleg. In which case we are not talking.

 

[Basil]

Back to your cave, Tom!

 

[Basil]

My TV is at least 10 years old. I can play movies on it over WIFI directly from my phone. My TV's fiber goes to the surround for 5.1. You might be able to bypass the laptop unless we're talking about bootleg. In which case we are not talking.

My 55" Sony Bravia is also at least 10 years old. Talk about ancient - it's "only" 1080P (oh, the humanity!) But at the time it was top of the line and does some sort of magic such that the 1080P picture looks almost as good as any 4K I've seen, so I'm in no big hurry to "upgrade". This will probably be our main TV until it stops working.

 

[NutmegCT]

Back to your cave, Tom!

OK - tom take dinner back into cave.

grrrr - tom forget catsup.

 

[DrEntropy]

With thanks to Doc for reminding me ...

As images, videos, music, and factoids multiply on our tiny screens, I remember one of my interns a few years ago.

Wanted to be a movie director. Asked him what films he admired, and he showed me a few clips on his smartphone screen.

I asked what he thought of the film "Lawrence of Arabia" - interesting story line, and spectacular landscapes and battle scenes. He said he'd never heard of it.

Another strange thing I've seen is people watching something like that film on a hand-held tend to be easily distracted. Or tend to carry the device around as they "multi-task" with making a meal or other such activity. The film as a result is marginalized.

We've not been to a theater in years, maybe decades. Can't recall. But if we want to view a movie, it gets our attention on the TV screen. And there's a "pause" button for those "intermission" moments. I want to see the details. Directors and producers usually put a LOT of time, effort and thought into what they do. Ask any set director. Or actor.

 

[mikephillips]

Well my TV goes back to 2006. Works fine although I wore out the remote a couple years ago and had to get a universal. Since I don't have a streaming service I've got stuff I've gotten off Tubi and services like that and find that it's easier with the laptop and VLF player to not have to worry what will or won't play. I probably could have been more efficient but wasn't worth the effort for me to research and refine.

 

[Basil]

OK - tom take dinner back into cave.

grrrr - tom forget catsup.

Ha ha! Funny you should post that! Here's my lunch right now! (and yes, that's ketchup in the poi ramekin

 

[NutmegCT]

oooooo - tom send Spot to get your catsup. Spot - go fetch! Fetch Spot fetch!.

 

[AngliaGT]

Another strange thing I've seen is people watching something like that film on a hand-held tend to be easily distracted. Or tend to carry the device around as they "multi-task" with making a meal or other such activity. The film as a result is marginalized.

We've not been to a theater in years, maybe decades. Can't recall. But if we want to view a movie, it gets our attention on the TV screen. And there's a "pause" button for those "intermission" moments. I want to see the details. Directors and producers usually put a LOT of time, effort and thought into what they do. Ask any set director. Or actor.

I always try & watch the credits to see who the "Best Boy" was.

Sometimes credits can be fun - check out the ones on "Airplane" some time.

 

[YakkoWarner]

I actually DO enjoy going to the theatre for movies - nothing that could actually fit in my house can match that big IMax screen.

A couple years ago I had someone give me their slightly damaged LG 47 inch flat panel TV - it had a substantially distracting scratch in the screen which I was able to buff partially out - you can still see it when the TV is off and the room lights are on, but when the room is dark and the screen is lit from behind the scratch vanishes (even when you know where it is you can't find it in the picture). That is nice for watching TV shows and such, but a bit small for movies.

That is where the 1080P projector comes in - I have a 10 foot roll down screen which I can pull down in front of the TV and run a Blu-Ray or DVD onto that - at 10 feet DVDs start to look a little pixellated but BluRay features look pretty sweet. If I miss something at the theatre, thats about the next best thing I can do.

The internet doesn't serve my area at home, so everything has to be played from some sort of physical media.

 

[PC]

Well my TV goes back to 2006. Works fine although I wore out the remote a couple years ago and had to get a universal....

Brings up an important point. A lot of gear these days are hugely complex and have very complex remotes to control their myriad functions. If the remote goes down you lose the ability to utilize many functions. Universal remotes only have basic functions.

If you're buying something expensive you intend to keep long time, it's probably a good idea to buy a backup remote while it's still a current model.

Had that work in my favor once. Had one of my favorite pieces of gear go down. It was like twenty years old and there was no new version. Checked ebay and found that working used units were available and much cheaper without a remote. My remote was fine so I able to buy one of the cheap used ones.

 

[mikephillips]

Fortunately the universal does everything I need to do in setting up the functions and just running the tv. But I did have to logon to the website, plug in the remote and do several steps to load and setup that specific TV model.

 

[Bayless]

I have a rather old Sony that quit responding to the remote. It is the TV and not the remote. Fortunately it does have inconvenient buttons so still usable. My newer set is ROKU and doesn't even have a power button. those remotes are everywhere but if the TV quits responding, it becomes a light weight boat anchor.

 

[mikephillips]

I'd rather use things like that until they die and be one of those who has to have the latest and greatest of everything, and the spending that goes with it. Used to work with a guy like that, newest phone, newest TV, anything and everything. Good thing for him his wife was too...