Remember VCRs?
Oh, hold on a second, I should probably do some due diligence and explain to any younger readers out there what I鈥檓 talking about.
A VCR is a video cassette recorder.聽 It鈥檚 the machine that was all the rage before DVD players came along and eventually phased out the rectangular shapes of black plastic and film.聽 You used it to watch tapes, and you also used it to record shows on TV.
I can vividly remember all the little intricacies that were involved in setting up the VCR to record something if I was going to be out of the house.聽 First you had to have a fresh blank VHS tape, making doubly sure that nothing was on it that you or anyone else wanted to save.聽 Then you had to rewind it, because you didn鈥檛 want to risk the tape鈥檚 120-minute length running out before your show was finished recording, missing that vital few minutes of a show or movie鈥檚 conclusion.聽 After that, it was time to align the TV with the VCR, which meant the TV had to be on Channel 3 for the VCR to operate.聽 From there, you browsed the channels on the VCR鈥檚 setting until you came across the channel you wanted to record.
After that, you were all set!聽 That wasn鈥檛 so hard, was it?聽 Oh wait, I think I鈥檓 missing the last remaining step 鈥� the one where you actually had to have someone hit 鈥楻ecord鈥� on the VCR just before your show was about to come on.聽 There, NOW you鈥檙e all set.聽 I should also take this time to point out that no one is to touch the TV for the duration of the recording process.聽 One false hit of a random button and the whole operation is in shambles.
Yes, we鈥檝e certainly come a long way in our home entertainment options.聽 Back then, you had to work your way through an itemized checklist to ensure that you鈥檇 obtained a home recording.聽 Today, DVR technology (digital video recorder) wired into our cable and satellite TV boxes enables us to record multiple shows at once with just a couple clicks of a button.聽 You can even watch something else entirely while that other show records.聽 Amazing, huh?
But obviously, it isn鈥檛 just home-based TV technology that鈥檚 changing.聽 As far as entertainment goes, the decade now known as the 2010鈥檚 was really about one thing: the rise of the subscription-based streaming service.
When I say the word 鈥榮treaming鈥�, odds are you know exactly what I鈥檓 talking about.聽 There鈥檚 Netflix, which arrived on the scene as the big star and has largely remained the 鈥榯op dog鈥� ever since, but there鈥檚 also Amazon Prime, and Hulu, and Crave.聽 Then there are the newer ones just carving their paths out now, like Apple TV (because Apple didn鈥檛 already have enough money, you see), and of course, the big one that everyone鈥檚 in love with right now, Disney+.
The growth of these services in the last ten years has resulted in humankind enjoying instant gratification; entertainment at your earliest convenience.
Hey, I鈥檓 certainly no stranger to any of these.聽 I鈥檝e been a Netflix guy like you and literally millions of other people for years, and I also enjoy Crave, particularly because it has all the best shows that used to be on HBO.聽 And yeah, I鈥檒l admit it, I broke down and got Disney+ thanks to one of those prepaid Mastercard gift cards that I鈥檇 been meaning to use.聽 I guess in that sense, I get to say that The Mouse House didn鈥檛 get MY $90 for the year!
But where are we going with all of these services?聽 Or are we already there as a collective people?
Think about it.聽 We鈥檝e already become a society that has put higher importance on smartphones and computer tablets than on tried and true books and practical learning in the past decade. 聽That鈥檚 at least ONE screen 鈥� or more 鈥� that our eyes are glued to for hours on end on a daily basis.聽 With the rise of a new streaming service seemingly every few months (TV network giant NBC is launching one called 鈥楶eacock鈥� in the spring), it seems the plan is to keep people in their homes, eyes glued to either one screen or several, all the while paying various prices to stay on the collective bandwagon and pretend that it all actually means something.
Listen, I鈥檓 not getting on a high horse because I love TV and home entertainment myself.聽 In these kinds of arctic weather conditions that we鈥檝e been having lately in what鈥檚 known as 鈥榯he dead of winter鈥�, sometimes there鈥檚 nothing like curling up on the couch with a good show or movie.
I just have a natural inclination to question whatever the next supposedly 鈥渁mazing thing鈥� is that was dreamed up by some billion-dollar corporation.
I think our lives could use more analog living instead of digital.
For this week, that鈥檚 been the Ruttle Report.
