Blu-Ray, The Fast Death

The fact is the Digital age is here and it's here to stay with us and eventually kill other media including the Blu-Ray.  We have reached an age in our society where some people have no concept of Eight Track tapes or records.  Although the records can still be found in nostalgia shops and there are various players for sale, some to convert and some to play, the fact is the record is dead.  The record in the form of vinyl had a good long run.  From the late 1800s it could be found in crank up machines, through the 1950's juke boxes and into the early 1980's it was the dominant way music and sound was transmitted.  Records survived eight tracks and almost survived the onset of cassette tapes.

With the start of CDs, a new media was found that was finally able to kill off the cassette tape and the record.  It close to the same way the Beta video system, by many account superior to the the VHS system, died off to the VHS.  VHS ran from the late 1980's strong into the the turn of the century, but with CD's not only taking music, it did not take long for the DVD to arrive on the scene and take out VHS.

From around 2000 forward media has seen the advance of the DVD into the realm of Blu-Rays.  Like any technology, it created hi end players and movies out of the price rage of the casual buyer.  But now we have found that Blu-Rays are usually only a few dollars more than the DVD.  Often the Blu-Ray offers features and extras not found on the DVD making it an attractive alternative.  But the Blu-Ray dominance, only now starting to take hold with the comparison of the prices and cost of players, will be short lived.

The Blu-Ray will not have the lifespan of the record, eight tracks, cassettes, CDs or even the VHS.  While Blu-Ray is quickly killing off the DVD, it is no match for the digital age.  Much like the short life of the Beta movies, the Blu-Ray will likely fade out of existence within the next five or ten years.  There will be, just as there always have been for previous media formats, many holdouts who cling to their DVD and Blu Ray collections, but in the end these will gather dust on the shelf as society moves forward.  Eventually the Blu-Ray will sit in the nostalgia section of the used stores along side the records, cassettes, eight tracks, and CD of the media eras of the past.

Digital will be king as I mentioned within a few years for two simple reasons.  The first reason digital will become king is ease of access.  Most digital is downloaded over the Internet.  Even if a consumer does not have Internet access, it's not unlikely that he can find it in a coffee shop, store, public area or library.  Some cities even offer it almost everywhere now.  The convenience of being able to purchase, download, and instantly watch will be king in the digital world. 

The second reason that digital will kill the Blu-Ray is cost.  To give an example, I was recently searching for a Dr. Who special for the family to watch.  I went to four different stores and two Red Box locations and could not find it to purchase or rent.  Finally, at the last store I went to, I found it for an overpriced amount of $22.95.  I simply was not prepared to pay that for a 77 minute episode of the good Doctor.  After arriving at home, I pulled up the PlayStation account through the game system and found that the episode was available for sale in the digital form.  I had three options.  I could by the standard definition (sd) for $7.99, the high definition (hd) for $9.99, or both the sd and hd for $9.99.  The sd could be moved to other media devices and the had could be viewed through the PlayStation.  Since I wanted to be able to watch it in other locations as well, I went for the sd and hd at $9.99.  It seemed like a no brainer since I received both for what would have cost $17.98 separately.  At that cost, I saved $12.96 over the Blu-Ray version I finally found in the store, and I could have saved the cost of driving around looking for the Blu-Ray by simply purchasing it at home.  

Needless to say, I quickly scanned the cost of other movies and found a similar trend.  When someone considers the options such as Netflix, PlayStation, Amazon, and dozens of others offering the digital version of movies to watch or own at a cheaper cost, it doesn't take long to figure out that the days of the Blu Ray are limited.  I predict that the CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray do not have much longer in this digital world before they are regulated to Ebay and the used stores where they will have a long life of reuse and a new venue of special machines designed to help convert them to digital along with their vinyl cousins.

Is Chivalry in Love Dead?

Some people say chivalry is dead today.   After all, it is a tradition of honor born in the middle ages when knights road into battle with heavy armor.  Knights were to protect the weak and respect the honor of women.  So it is easy to see how it should be long dead in our time.    The indication is that if we all wore capes, we would certainly no longer throw them down across a mud puddle for our fair ladies to walk gracefully across.   It is a time when men and women, more attuned to being equals, race toward car doors intent on opening them for themselves rather than others.  It is a not time when a woman would wait for someone to open the door for her.  Instead she has either grown to expect to open the door on her own or never gave it much thought.  Chivalry certainly appears to be dead and gone.   In most cases I would agree.  However today I witnessed something unique, but never fear as there were no knights, swords or capes involved.

Sitting at a local McDonald’s drinking tea, I looked around the room to see countless families, individuals, and groups at various tables.  Sadly I saw several groups of people looking individually with intense concentration into their phone or tablet screens.  They were oblivious to the world while hopefully reading something that I wrote.  Then, one couple caught my attention.

They looked to be in their late teens, maybe early twenties.  He carried a backpack, a possible sign of a student, and she carried a purse.  He appeared to be Caucasian and she appeared to be of Indian decent.  What was attention grabbing was the positioning of the two.  She was on one side of the booth and he was on the other side.  They were both leaned in as if they were having a private conversation.  Between the two of them was a phone.  They laughed, pointed to the screen and managed to have their heads only inches apart at the table.   It was as if they could, while sharing the mutual laugh, easily turn and kiss each other in a moment.   I thought this was extremely nice and unusual.  Rather than have their own phones out surfing the net, they shared one phone which allowed them to stay close even across the table.

After a short time the two gathered their things and walked out side-by-side into the parking lot.  I watched them as they made their way across the parking lot passing by one car.  I was sure they were headed to the next car when they both turned and walked to the passenger door.  The young man unlocked the door, opened it and the young lady got in while he closed the door behind her.  He then returned to the driver’s side and they drove away.  The young man did all this without the shield and horse of a knight, but instead with the key and car of our time. 

As they left, I wondered if it was young love for the two.  They did, after all to me, seem very young.  Maybe it was the honeymoon period, but whatever it was, it was nice to see chivalry alive in a generation so far removed from the middle ages.    It was good to see a young man acting as a knight with honor.  Maybe someday as he opens the door for her at McDonald's, these two will hold wrinkled hands as they walk in still reeling from a love that brings out acts of chivalry.  It will serve as a gentle reminder of when they were young, and that chivalry does still live in love regardless of the time period.

Sleep (first draft)

I never have figured out why sleep eludes people at night, but the moment the alarm sounds, it seems there is nothing a person can do except think of sleep.  Tonight is one example.  I have dutifully set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. in the morning.  This is, after all, the best way to ensure I wake up for church.  Regardless of my calculations and planning, I'm still awake at 2:45 a.m.  With only a few hours until the heart-attack, sounding buzzer will sound off in my ears, I'm wide awake and typing on a screen without a care in the world. Naturally, morning will present a different problem.

I will likely roll over as the buzzer sounds, hit the snooze button, and drift off back into some forgettable dream that I'll be having at that time.  In a few bleak moments, the alarm will sound again and I'll find myself once again considering the effects of hitting that snooze button.  If I'm wise, I'll go ahead and get up, face the day, and hope that the result of my early morning bravery will result in a restful slumber in the evening to come.

Consequently, I know what will come to pass.  I'll stumble around, moody, most of the day, complain about something in the evening and once again find myself driven back to the computer screen where I'll type out some other collection of words to pass the time.  

Sometimes I think there should be a magic pill to make people sleep, and then I'm reminded there is such a pill.  In fact, there are several such pills as Ambien, Trazodone, and many other sleep aides right up the non-habit, forming Benadryl.  Naturally, each of those sleep aides comes with a long list of potential side effects, the worst being death.  No thank you, I'll take my chances with a good book, a few minutes in front of a blank computer screen, or even the moody problems of the next day.  Besides, when the day finally does arrive with that sounding buzzer, I can always place my dependence on a caffeine filled drink to brighten the day.  Then, if for some reason I fail to calculate the correct amounts of caffeine needed to keep me awake during the day only, I'll find myself once again wide awake and wondering just what could be keeping me awake all night.

Farm Roads

Note: Farm Roads was written for my kids.  The reader is likely 7-8 years of age.

           

            A farm can be a favorite place for anyone.  I spent hours at my grandparents farm fishing, walking into the woods, and watching the deer.  Of all the things I enjoyed about the farm, my favorite was my own little roads between two large Evergreen Trees.  There I would spend hours making roads from one end to the other with my toy bulldozers, road graders, dump trucks and farm trucks.

            Each year when the weather would get warm, my grandmother would get out her hoe and make the new roads.  She’d drag it and make roads from tree-to-tree.  After she was finished making my roads, I’d conduct farm business.

            I would make a house for each person along the road with small rocks or sticks.  I would grade the roads with the Tonka road grader to ensure just the right size roads.  My road was just like the one that ran in front of my grandparents house, and each time a truck or car would drive by, the dust would swirl up behind them and settle into the bushes along the real road.

                        My road was a great place, and it provided treasures.   I found a toy iron, a glass bottle, horseshoes, lid tops, and countless other little prized possessions.

            One time I got into trouble when the road expanded to the fence line.  My grandmother said there were snakes.  I tried to explain that I needed to get to the woods, but that branch of the road was closed forever.

            I can remember the feel of the dirt, the smell of the grass, and the bark of the Evergreen Trees that peeled away in small pieces.  I remember the way the grass disappeared the closer to the trees I got.

            Each evening, after a hard day on the roads, I’d sit in the bathtub and watch as the dirt of my roads drained away.  My grandmother always said it was just dirt, but to me it was more.  It was the foundation of the roads and I was a grader keeping it all neat like it should be.

            The farm is still there today.  My grandmother’s house is rented to some friends of ours, but the two big Evergreen trees are still there.  A few months ago, I walked over the yard to where my road had been long ago.  The grass had covered the roads I’d made, the trees were a little larger, and the old fence line was now cleared and no longer a place for snakes.  The real gravel road out front of the house had been paved years ago, and cars go much faster now.  The real road is wider, and my little roads are gone. 

            When I left, I saw something beside the largest tree.   It wasn’t mine, but there was a plastic dump truck.  There were no play roads, but then again, I guess this young kid would have to find a way to make a paved road now for his farm road.