iHCPL The Future of Media #81: Get Out Your Crystal Ball

Wall Street Guru Ball

Exercises

1. Which of the developments listed above do you think will have the most influence? Is there a new technology you have been following that you think will have more effect? Discuss it in your post.

I think the price of energy, especially electricity, will have the greatest impact on any of these technologies. It's the Achilles’ heel of all the new whiz-bang stuff. It's great until the power goes out and then it completely disappears. Moore’s Law is a trend that has held true in the recent past in a part of the world that's used to relatively inexpensive power. It's not a trend that will trump supply and demand, as demand for power increases in the developing world the price of it may go up steeply.

2. Are you an early adopter of every gadget or do you have fond memories of technologies from the past? What is your favorite media gadget or which outdated format do you miss the most? Describe it in your post.

I bought a felt-tipped pen when they first came out and an itty-bitty computer that I could stuff in my briefcase as soon as I could, but those are exceptions to my usual mode of wait five years until they get the bugs worked out. I’m still pining for my old 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera that used black and white film.

I am ready to be an early adopter of any of these life enhancing gadgets should they come to market:

- Ballpoint pen with automatic spell check
- Fat-eating chocolate milkshake
- App to retrieve personal email accidentally sent to listserv before any recipient has read it

iHCPL The Future of Media #80: Movies

Exercises

1. Use one of the film sites above to find a free full-length film (you’ll probably have the best luck with Hulu, The Auteurs, or IMDB). Watch a little of it. Would you watch an entire film on your computer or do you still prefer watching DVDs on your TV?

Hulu had the oddest collection of movies imaginable. I guess I shouldn’t look at it from the viewpoint of collection development. I’m sure their policy is whatever’s available, which translates in practice to: look what the cat dragged in! There are a few Oscar winners, a lot of Zane Grey Westerns, and one of my personal favorites, which I have been unable to convince anyone in my family to sit down and watch with me, the 1959 classic, "The Giant Gila Monster." And for local interest there’s “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

The Auteurs had some interesting fare. However, as I browsed their small library of films, and picked out two that intrigued me: “Death in the Garden = La mort en ce jardin” (1956) directed by Luis Buñuel, and Carnival of Souls (1962) directed by Herk Harvey. They are both available on Netflix, to which I already have a subscription, so I could not see the point of spending an additional $5 to view them. I clicked on Take a look on the home page which took me to this screen:

I found that their The Auteur’s Picks “The Wayward Cloud = Tian bian yi duo yun” (2005) directed Ming-liang Tsai was also available on Netflix, as was their Now Playing “The Blue Angel = Der blaue Engel (1930) directed by Josef Von Sternberg. Also the description of “The Wayward Cloud” on Netflix made me think that there was no way that I wanted to get into an online discussion with anyone about the film. What could you say to someone about watermelon erotica? A person might get a computer virus of some kind, or find him-or-herself social networking with some very asocial personalities carrying on like that.

So I proceeded on to their Top Rated selection, “As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty” (2000) directed by Jonas Mekas. From the accompanying synopsis it sounded like an almost five-hour home movie, and that was more than I estimated that I could endure.

Next, I went to the free movie section on IMDb. It was reassuring (and a confirmation of my good taste) that “The Giant Gila Monster” (1959) was also available there. I picked out “Pickman's Model” (2008) as the film that I would view because I’d read the H.P. Lovecraft story from which it was taken. I was curious how it could be adapted for the screen. I also picked it because it was only 19 minutes long. It made very effective use of darkness: a black screen with eerie sound effects and then minimal illumination, but the overacting was dreadful, and if you had not read the story you would probably miss the punchline, that the grotesque and gruesome paintings that Pickman made were done from life, not his imagination.

I find no significant difference between watching on the TV screen or the computer screen.

2. Find a trailer for an upcoming film. Would you use these sites to keep up on current film information?

I watched the first six Opening This Week and Coming Soon trailers on the Internet Movie Database. I found that although I originally planned to watch all fifteen, six was about all I could take. I think I’ve been conditioned by my experience in movie theaters. I felt like, “Enough of the coming attractions! Let’s get on with the show!”


3. Write a blog post about the experience.

From the trailers my impression was “Shutter Island,” “The Crazies”, and “Cop-Out” were definite Do Not Sees for me. “The Yellow Handkerchief ” was a Maybe. “The Ghost Writer” was a Maybe: Wait for the Video, It’ll Be Cheaper, and “Alice in Wonderland” was a Must See. However, I would have gone to see “Alice in Wonderland” on the strength of the director and actors without the benefit of the trailer.

Would you consider using any of the fee-based services to get the movies you want at home? If so, which one would work better for you and why?

I do subscribe to Netflix; because their collection is more extensive. I hope that someday the library will be able to stream video as a delivery system for movies, beyond what we are able to do with OverDrive®.

iHCPL The Future of Media #79 Television

Exercises:

1. Visit Hulu, tv.com, or one of the other TV sites. Search or browse the site to see if your favorite show is listed.

I was able to find episodes of “Barney Miller” on both Hulu and tv.com. There were 68 on Hulu, and 66 on tv.com. I watched the full episode of “Atomic Bomb” on tv.com. But, alas, there were no episodes of “Doctor Who;” I’d have to buy them on iTunes or DVD. Oddly enough there were also no episodes of “You Bet Your Life,” not even on the network sites.

I was happy to discover Shiba Inu Puppy Cam and a live feed of a squirrel feeding at a bird feeder. It’s worth being aware of, especially in October.

2. Have you ever watched a TV show on your cell phone?

No, I have not.

If not, are you interested?

Not at all

Why or why not?

I can’t imagine paying for a service that bills me by the minute for watching TV on a tiny screen. Also, when I looked at what TV was available from my phone service (AT&T) it listed: “AT&T Mobile TV CBS Mobile, CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, FOX News, MSNBC, MTV, NBC2Go, Nickelodeon, CNN Mobile, ABC Mobile, Disney Mobile, and Crackle.”

As a personal opinion, I find American commercial television to be exactly what FCC Chairman Minnow said about it almost a half century ago, “I invite you each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there for a day without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.”

Until they offer programming from PBS or the BBC, I’d be willing to pay a little extra to keep it off my telephone.

3. Are there any streaming programs or user "channels" that you watch?

Since the great changeover to digital broadcasting, this is the only way I have to watch PBS. The television set has become primarily a DVD and VHS playback machine.

Have you ever posted videos to a site on a regular basis?

I have never posted a video to a site.

iHCPL Searching #78 Video

Exercises:

1. Search for a particular video using both Truveo and Blinkx. Look for any similarities or differences in the results, and write about them in your blog.

I searched for information about the freshly awarded “2010 Newbery Medal.”

Truevo came up with the information right away with a link to the Today Show interview with the winners of the Newbery and Caldecott awards.


















Blinkx linked to the same MSNBC Today Show clip, but it appeared below the fold, so to speak. It was on page one, but you needed to scroll down to find the link. It appeared as the 6th item on the menu.



















As a side note on my search for the Newbery Medal, the last link that Blinkx found was a video about an Aerolineas Argentinas flight from Cordoba, Argentina to Buenos Aires. The flight landed at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. It made me wonder if the pioneering Argentine aviator Jorge (1875-1914) for whom the airport is named might be a descendant of English publisher, John (1713-1767) for whom the medal is named.










2. Go to HCPL’s YouTube channel and take a look around. Discuss in your blog ideas for how your own branch video could add to the mix of searchable video content on the Internet.

Having carefully viewed and evaluated our collective contribution, analyzed the statistics and ratings, I have discerned three rules for effective videos:

1) Involve Young Adults
2) Make it Funny
3) Add Bouncy Music