Forced obsolescence is the business model throughout the digital/tech industry, sadly (or angrily, more accurately). I'm typing this on a 2009 MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.11. It can't be upgraded beyond that, I've been told by a friend who works at an Apple store, without suffering serious performance issues. And because its OS can't be upgraded past 10.11, web browsers like this Firefox I'm in right now are leaving me behind. I've got another MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6—I can't upgrade *that* OS because if I do, my Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro and other software won't work.
Both these laptops still work as machines; there is nothing mechanically wrong with them. It's as if gas stations stopped selling the gas your car runs on in favor of a New! Improved! gasoline that your car can't use. There's something seriously wrong with this system from an ecological standpoint as well as the social/labor issues you eloquently describe.
We recently bought a new car, and it comes with a trial subscription to Sirius XM. I’ve been surprised by how much I enjoy the music stations - it’s basically just radio the way it was in the early 90s or so, with real people choosing songs, talking a little, introducing. While they tend to stick to tried and true artists they’ll often play not-the-most-obvious tracks, and sometimes pull up something legitimately obscure. It’s a very stark contrast to the streaming model of giving you exactly what it already knows you like.
Of course it’s just some big shitty company “disrupting” by inventing something that already existed but still, it reminds me of what we lost. Every city used to have a dozen radio stations run by people whose job it was to know and play music, and now it feels novel to me to have 10 stations that do that across the entire country on satellite radio.
It's things like this that make me relish my roll as a human college radio programmer/dj with a weekly show, sharing my personal musical tastes and interests with the world. My freeform show format, playing music from a wide variety of genres and eras, is my attempt to baffle any kind of algorithmic predictions. In my limited experience of listening to algorithmic streams, I've usually found them to be either annoying or boring, but they definitely don't have a clue about satisfying someone who is curious to hear new and different music, rather than stuff that generically sounds like something else I already know and like.
Mar 7, 2023·edited Mar 7, 2023Liked by Damon Krukowski
A spot on commentary that really makes one realize the importance of small indie theaters and independent radio station like WFMU.org where they have live and incredible DJs, and none of that Spotify corporate robot BS.
Speaking of Spotify, I personally loathe it for the simple reason that they and others like Amazon and Google only pay artists a small fraction of a penny for their music under that false guise of "connecting musicians to more listeners." Funny how they leave out the "while exploiting the hell out of your talents" from that statement.
Sad state of affairs. But as Bruce mentioned, there are still some theaters that are old school, showing both the classics and those often overlooked/forgotten.
As far as the multiplex, their fate was decided on greed. Taking away both equipment and skilled labor hasn’t helped, and has taken away the magic.
I have a home entertainment system, almost 20 years old and still going strong. Not the same as being in the theater with an audience caught up in the moment, but I still find enjoyment.
Even more depressing than usual! But speaking of theater-going: My wife and I rarely go to the movies. When we do -- usually to see a movie touted for its cinematography (the last was "Babylon") -- I'm always disappointed with how dark and grubbby the picture looks. Usually, I read years ago, that's because theaters rarely replace the projector bulbs. How many employees does it take to screw in a projector bulb? A: Too many! Locally, I'd trust only independent theaters to take the necessary care to project a film properly. Which you think would be a minimum requirement. More important than the super-wide super-cushy rocker chairs that the chains like to provide. And yes, I and the 10 other audience members do seem to like them.
Great piece, Damon. I'll definitely be recommending it to my readers. I'd rather listen to Lester the nightfly than the recommendations of AI. There's always a gatekeeper, personally I'd rather get to know mine personally.
It's very true - taking the human out of the loop highlights how important the human is.
On the other hand, there is space opening up for curated media again, though delivered in other ways (i.e. streamed). I find myself quite thoroughly fed up with AI streams of content on social media and content sites, and have recently started up multiple old-school (and some new-school) media subscriptions: magazines, good critics, and so forth.
I guess my question is, why does that labor get eliminated? I think there’s a risk of presenting that as a sort of maleficent ethical choice, or shortsighted decision, that could have been made differently if theater owners (or Spotify or etc) really cared, man. But that’s not the case. The theater down the street replaces labor with machines and improves profitability…at which point you then do the same or go out of business. Pointing out it’s a bad choice that makes the world worse is at once true and beside the point — which is that if the underlying compulsion to compete for profitability is not itself eliminated, this is an inevitable consequence.
Great, but sad read. Shared on Mastodon.
ahhhh the curations of the AI DJ.....lol...
yes to this, sadly. They also fired cleaning staff in movie theaters, that’s another reason why I don’t go a lot.
Absolutely on point and unutterably sad.
There's some good news coming out of Chicago, where 35mm projection survives. https://www.newcityfilm.com/2023/03/07/in-the-time-machine-repertory-filmgoing-rises-again/
Forced obsolescence is the business model throughout the digital/tech industry, sadly (or angrily, more accurately). I'm typing this on a 2009 MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.11. It can't be upgraded beyond that, I've been told by a friend who works at an Apple store, without suffering serious performance issues. And because its OS can't be upgraded past 10.11, web browsers like this Firefox I'm in right now are leaving me behind. I've got another MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6—I can't upgrade *that* OS because if I do, my Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro and other software won't work.
Both these laptops still work as machines; there is nothing mechanically wrong with them. It's as if gas stations stopped selling the gas your car runs on in favor of a New! Improved! gasoline that your car can't use. There's something seriously wrong with this system from an ecological standpoint as well as the social/labor issues you eloquently describe.
Sir, you're 100% correct!
We recently bought a new car, and it comes with a trial subscription to Sirius XM. I’ve been surprised by how much I enjoy the music stations - it’s basically just radio the way it was in the early 90s or so, with real people choosing songs, talking a little, introducing. While they tend to stick to tried and true artists they’ll often play not-the-most-obvious tracks, and sometimes pull up something legitimately obscure. It’s a very stark contrast to the streaming model of giving you exactly what it already knows you like.
Of course it’s just some big shitty company “disrupting” by inventing something that already existed but still, it reminds me of what we lost. Every city used to have a dozen radio stations run by people whose job it was to know and play music, and now it feels novel to me to have 10 stations that do that across the entire country on satellite radio.
It's things like this that make me relish my roll as a human college radio programmer/dj with a weekly show, sharing my personal musical tastes and interests with the world. My freeform show format, playing music from a wide variety of genres and eras, is my attempt to baffle any kind of algorithmic predictions. In my limited experience of listening to algorithmic streams, I've usually found them to be either annoying or boring, but they definitely don't have a clue about satisfying someone who is curious to hear new and different music, rather than stuff that generically sounds like something else I already know and like.
A spot on commentary that really makes one realize the importance of small indie theaters and independent radio station like WFMU.org where they have live and incredible DJs, and none of that Spotify corporate robot BS.
Speaking of Spotify, I personally loathe it for the simple reason that they and others like Amazon and Google only pay artists a small fraction of a penny for their music under that false guise of "connecting musicians to more listeners." Funny how they leave out the "while exploiting the hell out of your talents" from that statement.
"They console themselves about being alone, alone with the digital DJ."
Poetically put! I loved this one.
Sad state of affairs. But as Bruce mentioned, there are still some theaters that are old school, showing both the classics and those often overlooked/forgotten.
As far as the multiplex, their fate was decided on greed. Taking away both equipment and skilled labor hasn’t helped, and has taken away the magic.
I have a home entertainment system, almost 20 years old and still going strong. Not the same as being in the theater with an audience caught up in the moment, but I still find enjoyment.
Even more depressing than usual! But speaking of theater-going: My wife and I rarely go to the movies. When we do -- usually to see a movie touted for its cinematography (the last was "Babylon") -- I'm always disappointed with how dark and grubbby the picture looks. Usually, I read years ago, that's because theaters rarely replace the projector bulbs. How many employees does it take to screw in a projector bulb? A: Too many! Locally, I'd trust only independent theaters to take the necessary care to project a film properly. Which you think would be a minimum requirement. More important than the super-wide super-cushy rocker chairs that the chains like to provide. And yes, I and the 10 other audience members do seem to like them.
Great piece, Damon. I'll definitely be recommending it to my readers. I'd rather listen to Lester the nightfly than the recommendations of AI. There's always a gatekeeper, personally I'd rather get to know mine personally.
It's very true - taking the human out of the loop highlights how important the human is.
On the other hand, there is space opening up for curated media again, though delivered in other ways (i.e. streamed). I find myself quite thoroughly fed up with AI streams of content on social media and content sites, and have recently started up multiple old-school (and some new-school) media subscriptions: magazines, good critics, and so forth.
I guess my question is, why does that labor get eliminated? I think there’s a risk of presenting that as a sort of maleficent ethical choice, or shortsighted decision, that could have been made differently if theater owners (or Spotify or etc) really cared, man. But that’s not the case. The theater down the street replaces labor with machines and improves profitability…at which point you then do the same or go out of business. Pointing out it’s a bad choice that makes the world worse is at once true and beside the point — which is that if the underlying compulsion to compete for profitability is not itself eliminated, this is an inevitable consequence.