[HN Gopher] A Cartrivision Player TV
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A Cartrivision Player TV
Author : ag8
Score : 77 points
Date : 2021-08-25 15:18 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (twitter.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (twitter.com)
| kazinator wrote:
| > _if they just mailed them to the customer they would have
| invented proto-netflix in 1972, but nooooo, cartrivision had to
| do absolutely everything wrong._
|
| No, they would have invented a still foobared prototype of
| Blockbuster Video.
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| Blockbuster did not mail directly to the customer at any point
| that I can remember. I think OP has it correct.
| DaiPlusPlus wrote:
| Blockbuster (in the UK, at least) started doing DVDs-by-post
| since at least 2007 (probably earlier...) to compete with
| companies like LoveFilm that did DVDs-by-post since 2002:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoveFilm
|
| Doing DVDs-by-post makes sense (makes cents?) because their
| mailing cost is negligible and library operations can likely
| be fully-automated - and low media-costs mean damaged, lost,
| and unreturned media won't materially affect the business.
|
| VHS-by-post, on the other hand, has issues:
|
| * Large bulky media will cost far more to mail because it
| can't be handled by existing postal equipment for
| letters/envelopes.
|
| * Tape signal damage caused by EM fields - I don't expect
| 1970s/1980s post office equipment to have much EM shielding.
|
| * VHS picture quality is awful: people subscribed to HBO
| instead.
|
| * Handling: DVD libraries are automated thanks to barcodes
| and robots - both of those things weren't really ready to
| build a VHS-by-mail library. Not to mention needing to rewind
| tapes.
| kazinator wrote:
| Which is why the inconvenience of the customer waiting for a
| mailed rental would be a foobared, inconvenient prototype of
| Blockbuster that never happened, compared to the real one
| where you just get the item over the counter and take it home
| to watch.
| oriki wrote:
| Mailing DVD rentals was literally what Netflix did before
| the advent of web streaming in the mid to late 2000s. They
| could offer a wider selection than Blockbuster, and people
| generally find it more convenient to sit around at home
| instead of putting on pants and going to their local video
| rental store.
|
| While web streaming becoming popular (and the selection
| available for streaming becoming much wider) definitely
| dealt a killing blow to Blockbuster, Netflix was already
| successful with their mail-in rental service, and had made
| a name for themselves with it.
| mzs wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWZHh5oVjB0
| look_lookatme wrote:
| Non auth-walled version:
|
| https://nitter.net/Foone/status/1423369057181454339
| ozzmotik wrote:
| nice to see nitter popping up now after having ran into it what
| seems like just yesterday here
| Arrath wrote:
| Single play tape cassettes. Jeez, the sheer waste of that.
| kraquepype wrote:
| I think the idea was to have it be a watch-once rental, so it
| could only be rewound by the store you rented it from.
| Arrath wrote:
| I sure hope so, but I didn't quite get that impression from
| the thread.
| 1-more wrote:
| There's an older thread linked inside the thread that
| indicates that the rental stores would rewind the tapes.
| Unclear if they would then rent them out again.
|
| > the stores had special machines that could rewind the red
| tapes, but those weren't sold to customers. It's amusing in
| light of the later "be kind, rewind" campaign Blockbuster
| shoved in our faces for so long.
|
| https://twitter.com/Foone/status/1013527565468749824?s=20
| Arrath wrote:
| Oh there it is, missed that. Thanks.
| vageli wrote:
| Have you heard of the monstrosity that is time-limited dvds?
| Not single play but almost as egregious.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexplay
| npongratz wrote:
| And don't forget the abomination that was DIVX.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX
| vageli wrote:
| > Released June 8, 1998
|
| > Discontinued June 16, 1999
|
| Goodness that is astonishing.
| Arrath wrote:
| I have! Hated that idea, too.
| ozzmotik wrote:
| I think I'm going to have to follow @Foone, this is the second
| thread I've seen by them and it is of just as high of quality and
| informative content as the first.
| beervirus wrote:
| Since Twitter won't let you click through to read the whole thing
| without logging in, here's a better link.
|
| https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1423369057181454339.html
| contravariant wrote:
| I hope that decision eventually kills twitter threads, but I
| seem to be able to access it just fine (from the EU) are they
| rolling it out per region?
| zamadatix wrote:
| It's definitely a staged rollout but also very inconstantly
| so at the moment. Sometimes I get the message right away,
| sometimes 4 tweets into a chain, sometimes never. All from
| the same machine in the same hour.
| js2 wrote:
| _Have you ever tried to use a laserdisc player? They pretty much
| only come in two sorts now:
|
| 1. Broken 2. Repaired_
|
| I have one of the third sort, unbroken and unrepaired. But it's a
| low-end CLD-S250. I don't even remember when and where I got it,
| and the only LDs I own are the original Star Wars trilogy.
| tyingq wrote:
| I liked that the remote controls on these old things (if they had
| one) would actually have a servo physically turn the dial one
| notch.
|
| Also, ask anyone that had an old tv with a physical dial if they
| remember using a matchbook, paper, etc, to hold the dial offset
| just a little so that the picture was clear. A surprisingly
| common memory for many.
| flyinghamster wrote:
| My grandparents had a Zenith console TV that had a remote
| control that used ultrasonic tuning forks. [0] The tuner had
| presets and some sort of stepper or solenoid driving it. Hit
| the channel up button, and CLACK! thump-thump-thump you'd go to
| your next preset. You could make the TV do random things by
| jingling keys or coins.
|
| [0]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Adler#Contributions_to_...
| cf100clunk wrote:
| SpaceCommander remote control owner here. This brown (gold
| lettering and highlights) unit sits in my big box of oddball,
| vintage tech stuff along with a few vacuum tubes, QIC tapes,
| Sun-4c parts, and other now-useless stuff.
| gorkish wrote:
| Heck yeah folded piece of cardboard wedged into the dial to get
| those "in-between" signals back when I was a stupid kid who
| knew nothing about calibrating the VFO...
|
| I am still quite fond of the early "clicker" style remotes that
| used no batteries and worked by audio impulse and later used
| inaudible ultrasonics. I think it would be fun to revive the
| control scheme for a modern hobby project.
|
| Edit: someone did it! https://www.hackster.io/news/control-
| alexa-with-an-old-schoo...
| Johnny555 wrote:
| My grandparents' dog would change the channels when he
| scratched himself and his dog tags would ring at the right
| frequency.
| [deleted]
| kozak wrote:
| If you find this interesting:
| https://www.youtube.com/user/Techmoan
| ozzmotik wrote:
| techmoan is great for retrotech. also in the same vein, but
| more focused on retro compute is 8-Bit Guy, and then for just
| retrotech of all sorts, Technology Connections has to be one of
| the most well-researched and entertainingly presented channels
| on YouTube.
| reaperducer wrote:
| Techmoan is great for the visuals, but his information is
| sometimes wildly inaccurate. Still, worth checking out every
| few months.
| sixothree wrote:
| Since we're on the subject, Adrian's Digital Basement is my
| favorite.
| DaiPlusPlus wrote:
| Adding TechTangents too: https://youtube.com/c/AkBKukU
|
| And CuriousMarc (he's a legend):
| https://youtube.com/c/CuriousMarc
|
| And Cathode Ray Dude: https://youtube.com/c/CathodeRayDude
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(page generated 2021-08-25 23:01 UTC)