3D TV
anything that was shot in 3D was fucking amazing, if you where underwhelmed it was because you watched some flat post production 2D conversion cash grab garbage, which I assume was the case for most people since no one makes 3D televisions anymore (yes, I know projectors are still being made with 3D capabilities)
I bought a 3D TV and liked watching movies on it. Agree that being shot in 3D is better, but anything released in 3D in theaters was good enough.
I don’t know why they died. Too bad. Did streaming kill 3D perhaps?
movies are inherently passive entertainment and the friction of needing glasses for everyone watching was probably enough to kill it for the average user. I think some people got headaches from the effect too and you couldn’t really have some people watching without glasses at the same time.
The glorified pop-up books killed 3D. That’s most of what people saw, so that was their perception of it.
Based on what I heard it was mainly cost vs benefit. It was mainly an expensive gimmick, as not only you had to buy more expensive equipment that had its limitations (expensive glasses that had to synchronise with the TV or very narrow fields of 3D), but also had to have channels with 3D (which might’ve cost extra) or more expensive media that was capable of delivering 3D.
While streaming could have been a contributing factor, due to it killing traditional TV channels and basically DVD sales, it seems that overall 3D cinema declined very fast as well. This is probably because how expensive it was for both cinemas and production companies, and production companies often resorted to cheaper alternatives rather than equipment that would actually film in 3D, leading to a much less satisfying effect. So as the 3D effects got shallower, the whole gimmick in theaters died, and probably the whole 3D fad.
I never was able to see in 3D because my eyes can’t bloody focus to produce stereoscopic images. 3D movies were hell for me and there was nothing amazing about the headaches it gave me.
Google glass. Sounded like we’d all be wearing these glasses that we’d not be able to do without, but even looking back that sounds like such a poor idea. I try to not be on my phone as much as I can, I can’t imagine wearing glasses with an interface in my direct vision constantly, especially when a lot of it would be shit like emails, LinkedIn notifications of people I might know, and my siblings sending me 12 Instagram posts in a row.
I just wanted to be able to read a book without (possibly) straining my neck :(
I feel like it would probably be terrible for your eyes, but I feel ya.
Audio books maybe?
The first Segway.
They’re were quotes that cities would be designed around this invention. Before it was announced it was a balancing standup scooter.
I was legitimately sad it didn’t take off. It was a really cool piece of tech but it got mocked for being nerdy or geeky.
I wonder how much of that was encouraged by oil and car companies.
But… Bikes? How does it improve on bikes, other than being much less safe and more expensive?
Crazy futurists could even propose we build cities around bikes… but that would be insane, obviously. 🚙
I feel that an electric bicycle is better than a segway in every single aspect.
Idk, more options? It’s a self-balancing thing-a-ma-bob that takes you places when you stand on it. It’s cool and more options are nice. Also, I find it kinda amusing that you think a Segway-compatible city wouldn’t also be bike-compatible. They max out at like, 12mph. You’re not building a sprawling city around Segways like you would with cars.
Gob Bluth rides one, which reality captured the vibe they gave for the average person.
Spicy take: high speed Internet (specifically high-speed) and cell phones.
What the fuck am I smoking?
Listen. Look around you. People expect for you to be connected 24/7. Your boss, your friends, family, they all expect you to be connected nowadays. Hell, Australia had to pass a law stopping employers from contacting you outside of work hours.
Then everyone has an opinion and they all want to share it (me too!), and if you don’t have an opinion, you’re a fucking weirdo, a dirty centrist, ignorant, or many other things (you’re probably a Nazi or something, shithead).
Social media is designed to make you feel like shit and you’re antisocial if you’re not on some social media site.
Everyone is depressed and tormented by the constant flow of negative information on their pocket squares that they feel obligated to subject themselves to, all because someone they care about will get mad or be disappointed if they don’t know or have an opinion about everything that happens every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I have a pocket square (which I’m using right now) because I feel like I have to have one nowadays. A significant amount of this is enabled by widespread high-speed Internet. Some of it would still exist, but a lot of it would become unfeasible due to the Internet being too slow. Doesn’t matter if you have some crazy 32core phone with 64gb of ram and 2tb of ssd storage if you’re limited to T-1 speeds or slower.
Sigh I’m doing the “old enby yells at clouds” thing aren’t I?
Yes, the Internet is great and has done a lot of good things, and quite honestly, at the end of the day I honestly think it’s done more good than bad. But I also think it’s massively overrated at this point.
Cell phones kinda fit into the same category of, “everyone expects you to always be reachable”; and with the same conclusion (still good but overrated). I don’t know how I feel about non-cellular tablets.
Sounds like it’s extremely overwhelming, in a bad way. Wouldn’t call all that “underwhelming”.
The side effects of an amazing technology…but the technology is still amazing. I wouldn’t interpret it as overrated at all.
When something comes along that can be misused so easily, then it takes a conscious effort to avoid misuse. It’s the same with cars, processed foods, or any modern innovation really. Be the change you want to see. Reject social media. Turn off pretty much every phone notification. Have screen free time. Socialise without screens. I’m trying to do all these things. It’s difficult when no one else is interested in following suit and I just get excluded when I’m not on the platforms everyone else uses…but I’m trying to gather a circle of people who are aligned in this way of living.
I would have loved to see what the world would be like if the internet was only Gemini. The internet is incredible, but I have no doubt it’s more a curse than a blessing at this point.
Well, I think the deteriorating effect social media and the modern internet has on society affects all of us, whether we participate or not. Russians stole the 2016 election using the internet - it’s not like it didn’t affect people who didn’t use Facebook or Twitter.
Of course there’s a lot of wonderful things as well. I use the internet all the time, obviously. But it would have been fascinating to see what the world would have looked like if the Internet had remained much more primitive and run largely by enthusiastic individuals.
I can agree. Anything business wise with it worked just fine before the internet and was not all that annoying. going to the bank regularly or such. heck much of it could be done by phone. Even something that theoretically should be a no brainer win like streaming media has become increasingly worse to the point its value is questionable. What am I really getting from it. Then there are single player games requiring network connections???
I’ve been thinking more, and I think the Internet would be better off if it was segregated into two, mutually incompatible lanes. Lane 01: slow lane for webpages, online games, general web usage. Lane 02: high speed but exclusively for filesharing. Lane 01 content can provide links to Lane 02 content for filesharing purposes, but Lane 02 is set up so it can’t actually be embedded.
VR - It has been through a few hype cycles, but never quite makes it. Cost, weight, battery life (or tethers), lack of highly desirable games, required floor space, nausea (in some people), etc.
Starlink - when announced it sounded like the solution to ISP monopolies and rural broadband access. But the roll out was so slow that other solutions have caught up. For people with no option other than satellite internet, it is still great (if they can get it) but for a lot of people, better options now exist.
