Going to Best Buy these days is bittersweet (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

I'm also interested in the assumption that what's needed is education. People seem to leave little room for the idea that people might understand the difference and still choose pan&scan. That's not willful ignorance, it's a choice.

I've heard this before and wonder what the % of this is? To me, I've spoken with probably 50+ people and most, if not all of them, weren't initiated to why the bars are there. As I mentioned before, the one person whom I explained it to and still wanted 4:3 because he's got a 19" TV, I left him alone. It was his choice. I would never try to force my opinion down on someone. But I have to admit, most people I've explained OAR to never really fit the category of choosing P&S like you describe.

Maybe others can chime in on their experiences?

 

[JohnRice]

I personally have a bit of a problem with the "J6P" moniker, but it seems to be a permanent part of this forum. I would also like to clarify the whole concept of ignorance. Just because you don't know something doesn't make you ignorant. If it did there would be no way all of us couldn't be ignorant. This is the way I see it.
Naive: Someone who doesn't know better.
Ignorant: Someone who doesn't want to know better.
To me, the J6P is ignorant because his mind is closed. It really has nothing to do with income, education or wealth. There are wealthy, well educated people who are completely closed.
The fact is, most people have come to expect their TV screens to be filled with an image. This has come through decades of conditioning. I have the opportunity so see several home theaters and I have been surprised that when they have a 16:9 RPTV, the owners have ALWAYS watched broadcast TV stretched to fill the screen. Still, I think this expectation is a buggy whip and it will slowly fade away over the next ten years or so. Letterbox broadcasts are becoming more common. ER and Enterprise come to mind. More and more commercials are produced letterboxed to give them a theatrical look. Most people don't take change very well. So it will take time.

 

[Bill Catherall]

Naive: Someone who doesn't know better.
Ignorant: Someone who doesn't want to know better.

That's what you might think they mean, and many people infer those meanings, but that's not what they mean.
According to The American Heritage Dictionary:
naive adj.
1. Lacking wordly experience and understanding, especially:
a) Simple guileless; artless
b) Unsuspecting or credulous
2. Showing or characterized by a lack of sophistication and critical judgment
ignorant adj.
1. Lacking education or knowledge.
2. Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge: an ignorant mistake.
3. Unaware or uninformed.
It's not bad to be ignorant. It just means you are uninformed. So by calling J6P "ignorant" it is not implied that he is stupid or not interested in learning. It just means that he doesn't know better. By the way, the term "Joe Six-pack" was not coined by this forum. It's used all over the place and is always used to refer to "the uninformed masses." It's not a putdown.

 

[Jim_C]

Well said Bill.

 

[NathanP]

Sometimes I just give up and say silently "I give up, I just give up.. they can burn in J6P Heck for all I care..."

Actually today,

I convinced a guy to buy a PS2 over a stupid Nintendo Gamcube.. He told me I was the "smartest kid" he ever met..