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I've been writing a lot about this new/old table I recently bought. So here's me talking about it even more.
I guess the reason I have so much to say about this little thing is because I never thought I'd be a tablet guy. I thought I was a phone and computer guy with a dedicated e-paper ereader for books only. Well, buying this tablet has made me rethink that idea of myself completely.
I initially bought my tablet to use as a dedicated ereader. I would keep the WiFi off and only turn it on to sync books from my Libreture library. However, I then installed my RSS reader and Lagrange for some gemini reading, and so on and so on until I'm keeping the WiFi on all the time and doing all my computing away from my main computer on the damn thing.
It's not a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, but it's got enough juice to browse the internet, smoothly run NewPipe and scroll through the fediverse on Fedilab. The battery is also impressive considering the age of the device. I even downloaded Termux and installed Vim just because I could! It's so much handier than my laptop when I'm just sitting around the house, and oh ya, IT'S STILL A GREAT EREADER!
A big personal goal of mine is to continue reducing how much I use my phone for non-phone things (ie. calling, messaging, email). Now I only use Fedilab, FeedMe (my RSS reader), Lagrange, and NewPipe on my tablet. Taking these apps off my phone has made a significant difference on my phone useage. It's also reduced how much time I use those apps in general. It's a change I think I'll be sticking with for a while and I'm definitely excited to continue using my nifty little tablet.
Ok, maybe they're not actually 'cool', but I think they're super interesting. I grew up at the tail end of VCRs going into the DVD heyday. We had VHSs and stuff, but I wasn't really a movie or TV kid growing up and even into my teens and twenties.
However, over the last few years I've grown to appreciate older technology. I've got a records, CDs, tapes, and yes, VHSes. I had a VCR to play these VHSs, but I never set it up. Well, this weekend, I decided to stop by my local Value Village (a thrift store), and there I found The Godfather and The Godfather Part II on VHS! I instantly picked them up (along with a DVD copy of the first Pirates of the Caribbean) and raced home, determined to get my system set up to watch the first Godfather.
I found the input nubbins on the back of my TV, plugged in the VCR and popped in the movie.
It looked like absolute shit.
It was in black and white, static everywhere, cutting in and out, it was awful. After a quick search I learned I could use 'tracking' to adjust the picture. After some real finessing, I got a somewhat solid picture. It was still cutting out randomly but it was playing, and that's all I needed.
Eventually I had to pause to grab some food, and when I returned, the movie wouldn't play. The TV was acting as if there was no input. So I opened up the machine looked inside, even kept it open as a tape ran, and couldn't really figure out what was wrong. I didn't have any isopropyl alcohol to clean the head as was advised on the internet, so I was stumped.
Instead, I grabbed my can of compressed air, and blasted the shit out of the inside of that thing. Every bit of that board got hit with that cold pressured air. I plugged the player back in, threw in a movie I didn't care about if the machine ruined it, and what do you know, IT WORKED! And the best part was, it worked even better than before.
Anyway, I watched both tapes of the movie and loved it.
I got asked this by my family and friends when I told them I watched this movie on VHS in 4:3. They all ask me why I don't just stream it, and I tell them there are two reasons.
The first reason is I enjoy consuming media with an element of tactile engagement. What this means to me is that when I consume a piece of media, whether it be visual or audio, I enjoy the experience of having to handle something to consume it.
I enjoy picking a record from my collection, placing it on the turntable, cleaning it off, placing the needle, and flipping it from side A to B. All that additional interaction and engagement with the medium through which I am listening to the music adds another dimension to my experience.
The same goes for a VHS. I have to pull the movie out, remove the tape, slide it into the VCR, and in all likelihood rewind the damn thing because people keep forgetting to do so. All that additional engagement adds to the entire consumption experience, enriches it.
The second reason I enjoyed watching the Godfather on VHS has to do specifically with the 'inferior quality' of the medium. When it comes to older movies, I find there's some value in watching them as they were seen at the time. The colours are not as vibrant, the sound is a tad tinny, and the resolution isn't that high. And that's how they were originally experienced.
They were great, era-defining movies without all the enhancements we can layer atop them now. I like to imagine that when I'm watching these older movies without all the modern enhancements, I'm watching them as the director had intended. This is what the director saw when he filmed those scenes. How the shadows played with the actors faces, how incredible the makeup and prosthetics looked at the time because we couldn't see every blemish and imperfection in high definition. Stripping fidelity from these films leaves the essence of the work itself, and with that my appreciation for the art increases.
If you have any thoughts or opinions on either of these things I'd love to hear them :)