View Full Version : Okay, now I reallly feel old, or technology has changed so much
Miss Cellane
4-2-13, 8:30am
I'm considering buying a Roku to stream video to the TV. This is a little bit of the blurb from the website:
Once upon a time, watching a movie at home meant ordering a DVD online, waiting for it to arrive, then having it sit on your coffee table for weeks until you were in the mood to watch it.
Er, no. Once upon a time, watching a movie at home meant waiting for it to show up as the TV Movie of the Week. You had to watch it when it was broadcast, because there was no way for a home viewer to record anything on TV.
Then, once upon a time, you could drive to the video store and rent the VHS tape and the VCR to play it on (my parents being the only mean parents in the world who refused to buy a VCR.) Rent the VCR for the weekend and 4 or 5 movies to watch. Watch them immediately so that you didn't rack up overdue fines.
Or you could, if you owned a VCR, record the Movie of the Week and watch it whenever you wanted to.
Then, once upon a time, you could drive to the store to rent a DVD.
Only after that does the Roku version of "long ago technology" come into play. I remember signing up for Netflix when it was just DVDs. So freaking cool to get the disc in the mail and not have to drive15 minutes to the video store in the hopes that they'd have something you'd want to watch.
How quickly we get used to the new, faster technology.
I am not at all nostalgic about my old VCR, much though I liked it at the time.
Miss C. I am STILL using my VCR for exercise videos and cannot get them on DVD or streaming. I too remember the thrill of getting Netflix in the mail! We'd watch it right away to get my money's worth of DVD's in the month- goal was 3 movies which made them cheaper than the video store. We now have a TV that will stream movies from Netflix...but I am not as urgently checking them out. And the VCR that made it possible to watch a show and record another...until digital when you had to watch the show you were recording...Technology is amazing. I never understood how the TV signal got to my house so all this is unbelievable.
We bought a Roku and got an Amazon Prime membership in December.
I really like how easy it is to stream Pandora over the stereo now. Before I would have had to hook the computer up to the stereo or use tinny computer speakers.
My DH loves all the free tv he can get. Well, for the $80/year membership fee. The movies seem to rotate and there are many PBS and other documentaries available for no additional cost.
For new movies we still get on the library reserve list for a DVD since there is an extra fee.
Pretty much all media consumption is moving from a "push" to a "pull" model. Under the former, you consumed whatever providers decided to push at you. The latter allows you to pull choices from an ever-growing menu.
On the whole, I prefer the pull model, although as with any change, you lose certain things along with what you gain. There was a social dimension to going to the movies or ever watching TV in the old days. Pretty much everyone watched the same TV shows, and though most of them were awful, they provided a common currency for conversation. Even after video stores started to replace going to a movie theater, I can remember going with friends or family to the store to pick out movies and then watching them together. I think there's much less of that now. Instead, you've got people watching movies on their laptops or even their smartphones.
Husband just downloaded Popcornflix to Roku unit for even more free movies. It even has a Bollywood section.
We bought a new Blu-Ray player that does everything the Roku does, plus it obviously plays DVDs as well. It was $88 at Wal-Mart, the Roku with similar capabilities was $74 at Best Buy. Since our previous player was a first gen Sony that did not have the capabilities to play some of the newer movies I decided the extra $14 was well worth it. It works flawlessly, BTW.
I hate streaming. I can't get any of the free places to stream reliably: the PBS site, Hulu--they all work poorly with my connection and computer. Every two minutes the film pauses to catch up.
Amazon streaming, where I pay $1.99 per episode, works just fine on my set up.
And we remain somewhat resolutely old-school. :|( Despite the Apple TV sitting next to the TV, we still walk to or stop at the local Redbox. It just seems non-frugal to us to spend $4.99 to download a movie from Apple/Hulu/Netflix/whatever when we can get one for $1.29 (or even free, with coupon codes) at Redbox. You can even reserve the movie you want (from their selection) on-line so there's no disappointment when you stop by. We don't watch many movies. And we haven't had "Basic Cable" for so long we don't miss it. We're really fine with over-the-air content. Or a good book. Or an album. So this works for us.
old school here. Still rent or borrow DVDs from the library ($1 and keep them a week). Just got the entire second season of "Game of Thrones" (10 episodes) from the library for a $buck$ and will watch an episode or 2 every evening on the 32 inch hd flat screen and combo DVD/VCR player. Sis was at an elderly ladies (76) house yesterday and she still had the very old kind of TV where there was no remote and you had to turn the channels and volume with a knob. Stone age!!
old school here. Still rent or borrow DVDs from the library ($1 and keep them a week). Just got the entire second season of "Game of Thrones" (10 episodes) from the library for a $buck$ and will watch an episode or 2 every evening on the 32 inch hd flat screen and combo DVD/VCR player.
{{ raises hand }} Us too. We get ours for free from the library and haven't ever seriously considered streaming anything. Our TV is on maybe 5 hours a week, a little more during basketball season. And with summer coming on, gardening in the cool of the evening, barbecuing with the neighbors, reading on the chaise lounge on the back deck with a glass of red wine.....the idea of being glued to a TV for 3 hours to watch a movie just doesn't sound good to me most nights. Viva la Stone Age!! :)
I was considering getting a tablet or iPad recently and going through reviews. One of the points of comparison was the ability to stream movies. I got to thinking, who would want to watch a movie on a 10" screen? Or maybe I'm missing something.
I am pretty happy with antenna TV, which for me basically means PBS. Plus Netflix DVDs, which I think is nice and maybe a little more convenient than the library. I still have a VHS player in storage. It really wasn't too bad since you could program it to record things.
The Storyteller
4-2-13, 3:17pm
We are very new to streaming and like it a lot so far, but the notion it will replace DVDs and Blu-ray is a bit premature. Not everyone has Internet access, and fewer still have sufficient bandwidth to make it worthwhile.
Maybe some day, but not today.
I was considering getting a tablet or iPad recently and going through reviews. One of the points of comparison was the ability to stream movies. I got to thinking, who would want to watch a movie on a 10" screen? Or maybe I'm missing something.
I am pretty happy with antenna TV, which for me basically means PBS. Plus Netflix DVDs, which I think is nice and maybe a little more convenient than the library. I still have a VHS player in storage. It really wasn't too bad since you could program it to record things.I also don't have cable and just use an anntenna which gets me a few channels. I also (sort of) don't have internet access at home or even a computer right now (my computer died (finally!!) and sis has a hardline for her laptop in her bedroom but no wi-fi router) so no streaming. DVD rentals and antenna TV is it. Like Puglogic, I watch TV very rarely so I get most of my TV entertainment from renting DVDs occasionally. I have been looking at getting a tablet computer but agree that I don't think I'd enjoy watching a movie on even a 10 inch one.
The thing of watching a movie on a 10-inch screen is that you're right on top of it. Your face is maybe a couple of feet from the screen, not 6-10 feet like in a living room. It's quite do-able. For a while I had a Verizon phone that did their streaming-video thing. I never subscribed to it, but I watched the demos and it really was not bad. Another option is to stream to your laptop. That's more like a 13-15 inch screen.
The thing of watching a movie on a 10-inch screen is that you're right on top of it. Your face is maybe a couple of feet from the screen, not 6-10 feet like in a living room. It's quite do-able. For a while I had a Verizon phone that did their streaming-video thing. I never subscribed to it, but I watched the demos and it really was not bad. Another option is to stream to your laptop. That's more like a 13-15 inch screen.
I think I'm turning into a freak of the highest order. A few years ago, I started to develop a real aversion to things made of plastic. EVERYTHING seems to be made of plastic (i.e. petroleum products) from cooking utensils to notebook covers to appliances. It got bad. I couldn't bear to buy things predominantly made of plastic unless I absolutely had no choice.
Now it's screens. I look at a screen for 8 hours for work. I have a screen on my phone. TV screens, iPad screens, screens to post on forums, screens at the ATM, ovens have screens, cars have screens, everything has to force-feed me information through a screen and I am just growing a real dislike for them too. Especially sitting staring at a screen for entertainment.....it just makes me irritable and edgy after a half-hour or so.
Pretty soon I will be completely unable to function in modern society, and will need Post Peak Oil to help me fit in again :)
I am a huge consumer of video. I get films from:
the library--several dvds at a time
Netflix--currently cut down to 1 dvd at a time subscription
Redbox-a few times a year
buying a couple a month to stream from Amazon via DSL connection
We don't have cable tv so I can't tivo anything. I do like PBS but can't figure out their wacky seasons or schedule and that annoys me.
I am a bit of a junkie in that I'm always looking for a video high, and I'm in trouble when I've got a tv show going that gives me that high. I consume all of them at one time. Currently my obsession is Sons of Anarchy. A couple of months ago it was Girls and I watched the entire season in about 2 weeks.
I seldom go to the theater any more, probably go about 8 - 10 times a year. That's a low number for me.
The thing of watching a movie on a 10-inch screen is that you're right on top of it. Your face is maybe a couple of feet from the screen, not 6-10 feet like in a living room. It's quite do-able.
I had sort of thought about that, but just couldn't quite come up with a comfortable position to do it without some sort of should harness mount:) What is even wilder is the google glasses where the screen is just a little square mounted on the side of a glasses frame. Same theory. I guess they are already taking orders for some beta models.
Another old-schooler here. I just get DVD's from the library for free. In the summer I don't watch much of anything. Last year I watched a bunch of stuff from Project Free TV over the internet - it is less than ideal because of the slow loading problem but I had gotten totally hooked on Mad Men, Nurse Jackie, Treme and Dexter. I really, really hate watching shows sitting in my desk chair in front of my old computer. One of these days I am going to at least get a laptop so I can sit in bed and watch.
Speaking of Mad Men, I believe the new season is about to start!
If you really want to go old school, we used to sit on the porch playing music together!
awakenedsoul
4-2-13, 10:06pm
I still have a VCR sitting on top of my DVD player! Sometimes I use it to watch choreography from when I was working. I also like to watch videos of "Stars of the Russian Ballet" that I can get from the library. I need to start checking out DVD's again. I don't have t.v. anymore...the reality shows depressed me. I like to see good writing, excellent direction, and trained actors. I enjoy foreign films. I've just been knitting like crazy, (making sweaters, socks, and now a cabled vest,) cooking, baking, gardening, and reading. I feel like t.v. in LA is promoting rude, obnoxious behavior. It bugs me. I've opted out.
If you really want to go old school, we used to sit on the porch playing music together!
Ahhh, and we still do, RF. Stop by any time; we always have extra chairs :)
The thing of watching a movie on a 10-inch screen is that you're right on top of it. Your face is maybe a couple of feet from the screen, not 6-10 feet like in a living room. It's quite do-able. For a while I had a Verizon phone that did their streaming-video thing. I never subscribed to it, but I watched the demos and it really was not bad. Another option is to stream to your laptop. That's more like a 13-15 inch screen.Sadly, being "the deaf chick" as my sister likes to call me, I need to use closed captioning even when wearing hearing aids so don't think streaming videos come with that (although rental DVDs do) and if they do, it would probably be too hard to read on a small screen. But I like tablets for the minimum amount of "computing" I do - which is an hour or 2 online a few days a week and that's it - so they would be great for that.
I am just growing a real dislike for them too. Especially sitting staring at a screen for entertainment.....it just makes me irritable and edgy after a half-hour or so.
Pretty soon I will be completely unable to function in modern society, and will need Post Peak Oil to help me fit in again :)Oh this is me to a "T"! I can only stand looking at anty kind of screen for a short time period before I go nuts. Even at the gym, where they have TVs mounted in front of all the cardio machines, I can't stand it for long while on the threadmill. So it's not just the sedentary part by itself, although with computers THAT is a biggie for me because I can at least workout while watching TV or DVDs by must sit to use a computer, but just the staring at a screen for hours. I limit my online time pretty strictly but can understand how people like you would go crazy having to do that for 8 plus hours a day at work. YIKES!! I never had a job where I was in an office type environment so never had to deal with that.
Miss Cellane
4-3-13, 5:24pm
Sadly, being "the deaf chick" as my sister likes to call me, I need to use closed captioning even when wearing hearing aids so don't think streaming videos come with that (although rental DVDs do) and if they do, it would probably be too hard to read on a small screen. But I like tablets for the minimum amount of "computing" I do - which is an hour or 2 online a few days a week and that's it - so they would be great for that.
I can only speak to Netflix--they are getting better and better about including closed captioning on most of their streaming shows/movies. I've watched them on my desktop computer and not had any trouble reading them--they size them to fit, somehow.
Ahhh, and we still do, RF. Stop by any time; we always have extra chairs :)
I would LOVE that! We have song circles, and folks sometimes bring instruments. Sooo much fun! (Where do you live?)
Hugs!
I would LOVE that! We have song circles, and folks sometimes bring instruments. Sooo much fun! (Where do you live?)
Hugs!
About 30 minutes west of Denver in the foothills. Drop on by! :D
We cannot do streaming because of our slow internet (nothing faster available out here) We do have an antenna and used to get three channels although sometimes they were staticy. After the switch to digital we could only get one channel. It was not scratchy. Very clear, when we got it but it was not consistent......and months would go by with no signal.
I have Prime (had it before the streaming was a part of it) but because of our pokey internet, do not use it.
We have Netflix DVD's. We are 30 miles from a Redbox or rental store.
After two decades of no cable or satellite, we recently broke down and got DISH. I am mostly homebound and way out in the country. I do have to say that it helps pass the long lonely days. However, I find it frustrating to have all the commercials (even though I FF on the DVR). It is also much more pleasant in my opinion to get a series on DVD and watch that way.....quite often the channels that show the past series, skip around and skip over some episodes. I also am quite annoyed by some of the stations constant ads for other shows jumping across the bottom. We are half-way through our contract period....not sure if we will keep doing it or not.
Per closed captions, Hulu Plus, Amazon and Netflix have captions on large proportions of their stuff. Hulu has captions on I would say 95%. The only ones missing I have seen are "director's cut" type episodes that never actually aired on broadcast. Netflix has captions for pretty much everything produced since captions were required, but they are missing on some older and imported (ie British) materials. Amazon used to be the holdout, and claimed that captions were "not technologically possible" with their system. Surprise, as soon as Netflix found a way, so did they. Amazon is still spotty--for instance I get both the new Dallas and Fringe on Amazon, and Fringe does not have captions. Since the lead on Fringe mumbles at length about obscure science, it can be difficult to watch.
The Storyteller
4-4-13, 8:08am
I must be doing something wrong. I can't get CC to work on any of the streaming stuff.
I hadn't even thought about closed captioned for streaming.
Some things I will not watch without CC. The Wire was one of them.
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