Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I haven't tried voice activated tech toys. My life is already cream puff convenient as it is despite the arduous necessity of loading discs into my player when I want to watch something. If I had it any easier, I might just turn into a gelatinous blob.

There's a little of my own paranoia to overcome as well. I feel like having voice activated devices is equivalent to me bugging my own home. I seem to remember that there were instances where Samsung voice activated TV remotes uploaded things it had overheard to Samsung's servers that had zero to do with TV operation. Also, there was a recent news item where Amazon Alexa eavesdropped on a couple's private conversation and sent a recording of it to a friend in the couple's contact list. I have trust issues with these devices. Do I need therapy?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0fdb2aa51b23e

And then there's the random creepy laughter from Amazon's Alexa:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...out/404476002/

I really a need a possessed device in my home.

It's not paranoia, it's intelligence. There have been many stories like the ones you linked in your post. It's bad enough we carry around GPS locators equipped with microphones and cameras everywhere. As you said, I have no interest in personally bugging my home for corporations (at best) to record my conversations.

Every time I come back to this thread I am reminded of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOartsseGqo

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Personal insults and derogatory terms used consistently over a period of time would be unacceptable. But again, if anyone is going that route......

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Personal insults and derogatory terms used consistently over a period of time would be unacceptable. But again, if anyone is going that route......

You have already threatened us three times with being reported to the moderators in a matter of minutes. It is as if you are now daring people to offend you just so you can report them. It sounds childish.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

You have already threatened us three times with being reported to the moderators in a matter of minutes. It is as if you are now daring people to offend you just so you can report them. It sounds childish.

ironic post considering the amount of abuse that has gone unnoticed on here in my opinion. Laughable comments mate.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

ironic post considering the amount of abuse that has gone unnoticed on here in my opinion. Laughable comments mate.

One warning/ threat was sufficient to indicate your displeasure. Making three is most laughable. It reminds me of a child yelling: "I'm telling the teacher!" over and over.

You made your threat already. Follow through if you are so mortally wounded.

If I made you laugh, I'm glad. You really need to laugh more if anyone ever did.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

One warning/ threat was sufficient to indicate your displeasure. Making three is most laughable. It reminds me of a child yelling: "I'm gonna tell the teacher!" over and over.

You made your threat already. Follow through if you are so mortally wounded.

If I made you laugh, I'm glad. You really need to laugh more if anyone ever did.

Not at all, I was just pointing out to Flyry that I’m not going to put up with derogatory nicknames in my time on this board. It was you lot who felt the need to pipe up (you and Dynamo). It wasn’t necessary to add to the conversation, but yo7 felt you had to do so.

[zarquon]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

I’ve been waiting to see if anyone from the convenience crowd mentioned Amazon Echo or Google Home and don’t recall anyone saying they use such. So I will ask, anyone using voice automation with their TV, media room, home automation or sound system? If you do use voice automation, how are you using it?

I have a Harmony remote that integrates with my Echo Dot, and will sometimes use it with my AV setup, pretty much just to turn it on or off, and set the inputs; anything beyond that, it simpler to just use the remote. No real advantage to the voice control IMO, I just do it because I can; novelty value, I suppose. Aside from that, I use the voice control for most of the lights in my apartment, that I actually find very handy.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

ironic post considering the amount of abuse that has gone unnoticed on here in my opinion.

Your "barometer" for what constitutes "abuse" hasn't been properly calibrated for a VERY LONG time.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Not at all, I was just pointing out to Flyry that I’m not going to put up with derogatory nicknames in my time on this board. It was you lot who felt the need to pipe up (you and Dynamo). It wasn’t necessary to add to the conversation, but yo7 felt you had to do so.

As I said, one reply was sufficient to voice your displeasure and to issue a warning. But counting that first reply, you have go on now to make three additional threats for four threats in total. That is why I responded. You are repeating yourself like a little kid making a dare.

It is excessive, unnecessary, and it makes it even harder to take you seriously. If you want people to tippy toe around you because you are oh so sensitive and you're mad as hell and won't take it anymore then you have made that much known. You are fragile, handle with care. Got it. I'm done with this subject lest I inflict any injury.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

In addition to privacy concerns, in general, with what limited experience I've had with voice operated tech, it just isn't as efficient as pushing a button.

In the media room I continue to use my programmable button remote (MX-980's). I have several phone/tablet based remotes but the button remote is just much more convenient (and easier to program).

For upstairs I do have quite a bit of voice automation. The better half does like to say, “Alexa, begin my day” and have certain lights come on, with some dimming to a programed level and the sound system turn on to Pandora. Another one she likes is, “Alexa, is the garage door locked.” Makes creating her shopping list real easy with, “Hey Google, add hand soap to my shopping list.” Contrary to what some say, setting this stuff up can be a PITA, mainly from instructions that are not correct.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

In the media room I continue to use my programmable button remote (MX-980's). I have several phone/tablet based remotes but the button remote is just much more convenient (and easier to program).

Same here. Apps are fine (and I actually prefer them for multi-zone control) but tactile buttons are a must for dark room viewing. I could probably get away with an app for most HT viewing but I can't image surfing cable with a touchscreen.

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

For upstairs I do have quite a bit of voice automation. The better half does like to say, “Alexa, begin my day” and have certain lights come on, with some dimming to a programed level and the sound system turn on to Pandora. Another one she likes is, “Alexa, is the garage door locked.” Makes creating her shopping list real easy with, “Hey Google, add hand soap to my shopping list.” Contrary to what some say, setting this stuff up can be a PITA, mainly from instructions that are not correct.

And again, same here. I moved into a house a few months ago and I'm dipping my toes into the automation waters and I really like it so far.

Right now I'm using wifi outlets and Echo to control a variety of outdoor string lights and indoor accent lights (lava lamps, sports themed wall lights, that kind of thing) and will likely add some sort of z-wave/zigbee hub to control thermostats, home lights and locks in the future.

I also agree about setup being more involved than it first appears. Getting things to turn on and off is pretty easy, getting them to do what you want can be another matter.

Which, to dovetail this with an earlier conversation, is one of the few things I really like youtube for. Whether it's home improvement tutorials, less than obvious network setup or tips/shortcuts for home automation some of those videos can be really useful.

Tedious yes, but useful

[Steedeel]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/10/...endless-summer

This and the new mobile focussed short form’New TV’ backed by all the majors suggest to me that these services are going to be taking away young eyeballs from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, broadcast, films etc.. and all other long form content.

However, keep burying your head in the sand guys.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by octagon

Apps are fine (and I actually prefer them for multi-zone control) but tactile buttons are a must for dark room viewing.

That is one of the reasons I like the MX-980, pick it up, move it, etc., and it lights up. It can do 255 devices and lots of macro’s, just one button push can do a lot of stuff.

I moved into a house a few months ago and I'm dipping my toes into the automation waters and I really like it so far.

I’ve had boat load of X10 for many years, too bad they discontinued the IR543 which allowed IR control of X10 devices. In more recent times I have added Wink and Harmony hubs, several Zigbee and Z-Wave devices, Nest and Honeywell controllers. I really like that one can see if the garage door is down form a remote location via a GoControl/Linear GD00Z-4.

Added a ISY994i ZW/IR Pro + Insteon 2413S PLM to the collection a few months back. With it, I can control Z-Wave, X10 and Insteon devices via IR or IP apps. Have not done much with it at this time.

For IP, I prefer the factory apps for thermostats, AVR’s, AVP’s, media players, Wink, etc.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

However, keep burying your head in the sand guys.

A long time ago someone proved that you could make money if you marketed a completely useless product correctly, as in Pet Rocks.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/10/...endless-summer

This and the new mobile focussed short form’New TV’ backed by all the majors suggest to me that these services are going to be taking away young eyeballs from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, broadcast, films etc.. and all other long form content.

However, keep burying your head in the sand guys.

Whose to say that these forms of entertainment can't co-exist with what we have now?

Keep in mind that there was a point where short-form entertainment was somewhat the norm, just presented in a very different way. Before television, people would go to theaters and often see a series of shorts, sometimes including (but not limited to) the likes of the early Looney Tunes shorts, etc. Those shorts were not necessarily specifically produced to go together (like say a 30 minute episode of a cartoon show that is split down into two or three smaller stories, but collectively are considered a single specific episode). It would be whatever shorts that they happened to string together.

When Television came along, having most programming designed to fit 30 minute and one-hour time slots (with room for commercials during those times) became the norm because it needed some form of consistent structure in order to accommodate a programming schedule. They can't have different production companies making programming in any random lengths of time (especially if each episode of an ongoing series weren't consistently all the same length) and run a functioning schedule.


And when TV became the norm, going to the theater for news reels and short-form entertainment largely died off, and going to the theater almost exclusively became to see "feature-length" films that typically run somewhere roughly in the ballpark of 2 hours. The only relatively consistent exceptions are things like the Pixar shorts that they show in front of a feature-length movie... and even then, the audience is still mainly going to see the feature-length movie, and the short is a bonus.


By no means am I criticizing these norms, and like you, I enjoy these forms of entertainment. That being said, from a certain view point, having to exclusively fit within these parameters because it is what we are used to is somewhat limiting. If someone has an idea of a 7 minute short film that will do a great job of telling a good story in 7 minutes, and dragging it out beyond that would just dilute the story, then what's wrong with that?

Heck, I actually watch a decent amount of Youtube content, split between watching it on my laptop and my smart TV. Some nights if there isn't much on TV that we want to watch and we don't find much on Hulu or Netflix that interests us, or if there is some "down time" between scheduled programs that we want to watch where there isn't much on that we care for, my wife and I will start up the Youtube app on our TV. And the content on there comes in all kinds of different lengths. It doesn't mean it isn't worth watching.

While not extensively so, even Netflix someone diverts from some of these norms, at least in the sense that they don't have to worry about fitting a specific time slot or having commercial breaks. So if they average episode of one of their shows is 45 minutes (roughly the length of an hour-long show on regular TV minus the commercials), but a particular episode needs to run a few minutes longer to tell the story, or maybe even comes up a few minutes short, then they are free to do that, and they often do so.


While things are evolving, I don't see full length movies or programming that runs at lengths at least in the ballpark of what we are used to from traditional scheduled television going away. They will just co-exist with each other.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

Whose to say that these forms of entertainment can't co-exist with what we have now?

Keep in mind that there was a point where short-form entertainment was somewhat the norm, just presented in a very different way. Before television, people would go to theaters and often see a series of shorts, sometimes including (but not limited to) the likes of the early Looney Tunes shorts, etc. Those shorts were not necessarily specifically produced to go together (like say a 30 minute episode of a cartoon show that is split down into two or three smaller stories, but collectively are considered a single specific episode). It would be whatever shorts that they happened to string together.

When Television came along, having most programming designed to fit 30 minute and one-hour time slots (with room for commercials during those times) became the norm because it needed some form of consistent structure in order to accommodate a programming schedule. They can't have different production companies making programming in any random lengths of time (especially if each episode of an ongoing series weren't consistently all the same length) and run a functioning schedule.


And when TV became the norm, going to the theater for news reels and short-form entertainment largely died off, and going to the theater almost exclusively became to see "feature-length" films that typically run somewhere roughly in the ballpark of 2 hours. The only relatively consistent exceptions are things like the Pixar shorts that they show in front of a feature-length movie... and even then, the audience is still mainly going to see the feature-length movie, and the short is a bonus.


By no means am I criticizing these norms, and like you, I enjoy these forms of entertainment. That being said, from a certain view point, having to exclusively fit within these parameters because it is what we are used to is somewhat limiting. If someone has an idea of a 7 minute short film that will do a great job of telling a good story in 7 minutes, and dragging it out beyond that would just dilute the story, then what's wrong with that?

Heck, I actually watch a decent amount of Youtube content, split between watching it on my laptop and my smart TV. Some nights if there isn't much on TV that we want to watch and we don't find much on Hulu or Netflix that interests us, or if there is some "down time" between scheduled programs that we want to watch where there isn't much on that we care for, my wife and I will start up the Youtube app on our TV. And the content on there comes in all kinds of different lengths. It doesn't mean it isn't worth watching.

While not extensively so, even Netflix someone diverts from some of these norms, at least in the sense that they don't have to worry about fitting a specific time slot or having commercial breaks. So if they average episode of one of their shows is 45 minutes (roughly the length of an hour-long show on regular TV minus the commercials), but a particular episode needs to run a few minutes longer to tell the story, or maybe even comes up a few minutes short, then they are free to do that, and they often do so.


While things are evolving, I don't see full length movies or programming that runs at lengths at least in the ballpark of what we are used to from traditional scheduled television going away. They will just co-exist with each other.

Why do people keep saying evolving? It isn’t evolving at all, it’s catering to a generation with low attention spans. Let’s not paint it to be something it isn’t.

Finally unlike you, as time goes by I can see one replacing the other. Especially with the near universal
availability of smartphones. Sad times ahead. The end times in fact, if you happen to be a lover of film.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/10/...endless-summer

This and the new mobile focussed short form’New TV’ backed by all the majors suggest to me that these services are going to be taking away young eyeballs from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, broadcast, films etc.. and all other long form content.

However, keep burying your head in the sand guys.

In the absence of any sales data showing the declines you foretell, it would appear that you are the one with their head lodged in their posterior.

Facts matter, your fiction is just comedy relief.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

A long time ago someone proved that you could make money if you marketed a completely useless product correctly, as in Pet Rocks.

True, but Pet Rocks did not cause anything to decline or exit the market, either. It was just another toy in a vast sea of toys.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

In the absence of any sales data showing the declines you foretell, it would appear that you are the one with their head lodged in their posterior.

Facts matter, your fiction is just comedy relief.

YouTube says hello. Are you telling me the king of short form content hasn’t took eyeballs away?