Greetings people (1 Viewer)

[Persianimmortal]

Just a quick hello from someone new. I decided to join up here after seeing that the level of discussion and expertise seems a cut above everywhere else. In particular I recently decided to leave a well-known forum dedicated to Blu-ray, because unfortunately it seemed that the bulk of discussions there center around superfluous packaging (slipcovers and the like), rampant anti-corporate nonsense, and an obsessive "collector" mentality. Very little in the way of actual talk on the movies themselves, and the video and audio quality of releases, which is what I'm really interested in.
As for me, my real name is right below my forum nick, and I guess some of you may have seen it before. I run a site called TweakGuides.com I write guides and articles on computers and PC gaming, I also write for Nvidia's official GeForce.com site and have written for print magazines as well. Of relevance to home theater, I recently wrote an article called A Guide to HDTVs on my site, but it's more of a general introduction to all facets of HDTV and source material - I don't pretend to be an expert of any kind when it comes to home theater. Don't worry though, I'm not here to promote my articles; I'm here to learn and interact with the real pros, and hopefully have some interesting discussions.
In terms of movies, I'm drawn towards the classics, particularly 1950's and early 60's films, along with good sci-fi (especially from my teen years during the 80's), James Bond, and a select few of the more recent releases.
Anyway onwards and upwards, hope I can contribute productively here

 

[KeithAP]

Originally Posted by Persianimmortal /t/320920/greetings-people#post_3928515
.....Anyway onwards and upwards, hope I can contribute productively here

I am sure you can...welcome aboard!

BTW, TweakGuides.com looks like a very nice site.

-Keith

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Welcome to HTF!

 

[Sam Posten]

Welcome to HTF. I'm interested in the Anti-Commercial rants you mention. I think consumers have a lot to be angry with the studios over but I'm not sure what specifically you mean!
I may be in the anti-commercial crowd, but I'll add, they started it =p

 

[Persianimmortal]

Thanks for the kind welcome gentlemen!

Welcome to HTF. I'm interested in the Anti-Commercial rants you mention. I think consumers have a lot to be angry with the studios over but I'm not sure what specifically you mean!
I may be in the anti-commercial crowd, but I'll add, they started it =p

I don't want to start a huge debate on this in an introduction thread, but I will expand on what I mean
Basically anti-corporatism has become extremely fashionable, especially on the Internet. It's not being driven by rational discussion and intelligent observations. From what I can see, it's driven primarily by various irrational factors including the relatively younger age (hence immaturity and lack of education) of the average Internet poster; the Global Financial Crisis and ongoing Sovereign Debt crisis in Europe and the flow-on economic effects which drives people to envy and hate; and importantly: a newfound sense of entitlement derived in large part from the growth in piracy.
People seem to forget that companies create the products we consume. Without them, much of what we consume simply wouldn't exist, period. For the most part, these companies (large and small) don't actually owe us anything. Our rights as consumers extend only to whether we choose to buy the products they offer at the price they offer them, and that the products in question be fit for purpose. Beyond that, for most goods and services which are not necessities, a company has no obligation to give us what we want at the price we want. They're taking the risks, they're making the (often huge) investments in dollars and manpower, not us. We have absolutely zero entitlement to things like entertainment and luxury goods, such as movies, games, music etc. Especially as many of these products and services are indeed legally available for free in various forms (radio, free-to-air TV, lots of free games and public domain movies & books etc. to be found online).
Anti-corporatism is basically a nice way to demonize the other side of the consumer-seller equation, and thereby justify piracy and incessant whining about things outside our control. The evil corporations and greedy politicians making our life miserable might be a nice way to absolve ourselves of all responsibility, but it ignores the part we have to play in the equation. It ignores the fact that if we want to "punish" a corporation for example, the correct way is to not give them our custom - i.e. not buying and not pirating that product. Of course this requires that we go without certain luxury goods or services, which most people seem to think is unreasonable, so the fashionable response is to pirate, hack or otherwise avail ourselves of their products on the premise that they deserve it, or that it's a victimless crime. Or we whine endlessly about how if we were in charge, we would do things completely differently. Which of course is an easy way out, since we're not the ones risking our careers or incomes based on our superficial armchair analyses.
In any case, at the forum I mentioned, one good example is the continuous moaning over how companies like Twilight Time are "ripping off" consumers with their limited release/premium price model. Now let me be clear that I certainly share the sentiment that I would like companies like Sony to release more of their back catalog, to release it in as excellent a state as possible, and at the lowest price to the consumer. But I certainly don't confuse my personal desires with an entitlement. If Sony doesn't do what I want, that doesn't necessarily make them evil or stupid. I'm not a movie industry insider, and neither are 99% of the average Internet posters on various forums. Therefore constantly bemoaning Sony's "boneheaded decisions" and how terrible they are, or how greedy and stupid Twilight Time is, seems like plain old scapegoating - I can't get what I want the way I want it, therefore I'm going to complain endlessly and blame evil corporations and "the suits". It doesn't wash with me.
I'm a consumer foremost, but I don't see any benefit in the vast majority of the anti-corporate nonsense being posted around the Internet. It just seems like ill-informed juvenile self-entitlement disguised as "political activism". And that's my anti anti-corporate rant

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Welcome! Speaking of Twilight Time, we did a great interview several months ago where they explained their business model and talked about why the studios don't want to release certain titles. its a great read: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/317186/interview-with-twilight-time-nick-redman-on-who-they-are-their-business-model-and-more

 

[Persianimmortal]

Thanks, and I actually read that interview a while ago, and also linked to it on that other forum's Twilight Time thread to inform others You're correct in that the interview clearly lays out the whys and wherefores of Twilight Time's business model. Now if only we could get more people to read and understand it, we'd have (slightly) less debate about TT and the various niche BD providers springing up these days.

 

[Sam Posten]

Basically anti-corporatism has become extremely fashionable, especially on the Internet. It's not being driven by rational discussion and intelligent observations. From what I can see, it's driven primarily by various irrational factors including the relatively younger age (hence immaturity and lack of education) of the average Internet poster;
I'm a consumer foremost, but I don't see any benefit in the vast majority of the anti-corporate nonsense being posted around the Internet. It just seems like ill-informed juvenile self-entitlement disguised as "political activism". And that's my anti anti-corporate rant

Ah, you mean WWIC? WWIC = Why Wasn't I Consulted?
http://www.ftrain.com/wwic.html
There are two sides of this tho. Obviously the village idiots get a big soap box and they can spread their misunderstandings and FUD, but on the plus side there is a way for real problems to come to light by consumer feedback, even negative feedback when corporations do try to exploit customers. And the studios HAVE exploited their customers repeatedly over the years in my opinion, and you are welcome to disagree.
Look at our Streaming Media forum if you want to see a hot debate handled gracefully for just one example. HTF members have very different opinions of UV right now and it will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve.

 

[Persianimmortal]

Intelligent feedback and debate should always be welcome on any topic, so I can't disagree there. I'm sure things are handled much better on this forum than in other places, which is why I joined up