This Christmas, I got a Blu-Ray player. Since I don't consider myself any sort of cinematic gourmet, I think DVD has all the resolution I need for a movie - that is, if I'm watching it on regular-sized TV screen. Last month, though, I bought a high-definition projector, and I thought blowing a DVD image up to 6' x 6' might show some graininess that Blu-Ray would ameliorate. We watched Iron Man on Blu-Ray, and it was awesome!
I remember when I got a DVD player. It was back in 2000. I had The Matrix on VHS, and my best friend Dann called me up and said he had something he just HAD to show me. I went over, and he had a new DVD drive for his computer. I watched the first 5 minutes of The Matrix on it and was immediately sold. The colors and resolution so obviously outshone VHS that I got a DVD drive for my own computer ($200!) and started building my DVD library. Lately, that drive has been going on the fritz, but that's understandable - I got much more than $200 worth of entertainment out of it over the last 8 years.
Before DVD, we all watched VHS. I vaguely remember the Betamax/VHS wars of the eighties, but my family didn't have one until nearly the end of that decade. I remember the Christmas we got it, a silver Zenith VCR. I was more ecstatic over that gift than pretty much any gift before or since. After Christmas, we went to my grandparents', and the whole trip I just wandered around in a happy fog, muttering, "I can't believe we got a VCR!" over and over again.
It's sort of a fitting time, then, to note that the last producer of VHS tapes has decided to shut down manufacturing. Ain't It Cool News is also reflecting on it. I don't really have much to add - my family didn't amass a library of VHS tapes, but we did frequently rent them from the video store, and my childhood slumber parties would be radically different without it. Being able to record shows off the TV was an added convenience that really made cable worthwhile. In the days of TiVo and digital download, it's good to reflect on how revolutionary it all was at the beginning.
I remember when I got a DVD player. It was back in 2000. I had The Matrix on VHS, and my best friend Dann called me up and said he had something he just HAD to show me. I went over, and he had a new DVD drive for his computer. I watched the first 5 minutes of The Matrix on it and was immediately sold. The colors and resolution so obviously outshone VHS that I got a DVD drive for my own computer ($200!) and started building my DVD library. Lately, that drive has been going on the fritz, but that's understandable - I got much more than $200 worth of entertainment out of it over the last 8 years.
Before DVD, we all watched VHS. I vaguely remember the Betamax/VHS wars of the eighties, but my family didn't have one until nearly the end of that decade. I remember the Christmas we got it, a silver Zenith VCR. I was more ecstatic over that gift than pretty much any gift before or since. After Christmas, we went to my grandparents', and the whole trip I just wandered around in a happy fog, muttering, "I can't believe we got a VCR!" over and over again.
It's sort of a fitting time, then, to note that the last producer of VHS tapes has decided to shut down manufacturing. Ain't It Cool News is also reflecting on it. I don't really have much to add - my family didn't amass a library of VHS tapes, but we did frequently rent them from the video store, and my childhood slumber parties would be radically different without it. Being able to record shows off the TV was an added convenience that really made cable worthwhile. In the days of TiVo and digital download, it's good to reflect on how revolutionary it all was at the beginning.
posted by Mark at 12/31/2008 01:52:00 PM
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