6 ms·

Entertainment has entered a tyranny of choice. I see it personally. I can watch nearly every show and movie that was ever created but I still flip through Netfl

by bko 4y ago

Entertainment has entered a tyranny of choice. I see it personally. I can watch nearly every show and movie that was ever created but I still flip through Netflix and RT endlessly, often times choosing not to watch anything. When I was younger I would just watch Seinfeld re-runs, with commercials and all. Am I more "entertained" today than I was when I was growing up? I'm not convinced. The weirdest thing is I don't remember what I used to talk to my friends about when I was in high school. We didn't have much shared media to talk about (e.g. periodic TV shows people obsess about today). None of us so much picked up a newspaper at the time so current events were out. None of us had that many specific interests and the interests we had weren't shared. But somehow we spent hours talking about something. I wish I could be a fly on the wall of my prom table to just take in what was discussed.

justinpowers 4y ago
If you became that fly, you’d soon wish to be squashed rather than listen to adolescent chitchat.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- bko 4y ago
  Fair point...
vinnymac 4y ago
I am genuinely unsure, and had to google it. Is RT supposed to be the abbreviation for Rotten Tomatoes?
- pavlov 4y ago
  I don’t know, but I’m guessing it’s not Russia Today where I associate the abbreviation…
- Game_Ender 4y ago
  Yes. A popular way to see what shows reviewers and audiences like most. If you Google “rt <name of movie>” you will get the rating too.
- bko 4y ago
  Yes, should have made that clear. Don't know if its a common abbreviation but I guess not. мне жаль
gigaflop 4y ago
I recently watched a movie called 'Super Dark Times', which happens to focus on some teenage boys in the 90s. It makes me think that the prom table would be full of nonsense, expletives, and talking about women, but isn't that what you'd normally expect?
chrismarlow9 4y ago
Podcasts changed the game for me on this. Now there are entire days where I never turn the TV on. A bonus is that I can get basic chores done while listening or workout. It really freed me from the couch potato routine. A bonus is that many of them are educational and released weekly, so "binge" isn't really an option. There are certainly "junk food" podcasts that I listen to but the ratio of informative to junk compared to video content(movies, tv shows, etc) is way better. Though I will say YouTube has some excellent channels for learning. Podcasts are similar to books though, you have to dig through a bit of garbage to find one that works for you. Here's my list: - crime in sports - Linux unplugged - software engineering radio - the knowledge project - coinsec - persona - ten percent happier - quanta podcast - physics world weekly - ologies - darknet diaries - stuff you should know - the joy of why - fall of civilizations - smartless - money talks - planet money - small town murder - offensive security - the journal - programming throwdown - timesuck - Conan O'Brien needs a friend - philosophize this - against the odds - levar Burton reads (no longer running) - curiosity daily - science weekly - future of journalism - wtf - broken record - idea cast - swindled - malicious life - views room - behind the bastards - the exchange - stuff to blow your mind And for the "junk" I listen to just about every comedian podcast that exists: Bill Burr, Bobby Lee, Chris destefano, Stavros!, Tom Segura, (this list goes on a while...)
- criddell 4y ago
  So are you saying it isn't TV that has ruined your sex life, it's podcasts?
  - chrismarlow9 4y ago
    >sex life What is this "sex life" you speak of? (haha). On a serious note they helped me learn to be content with being alone or at least not worry about "looking" for it via dating apps, and I would say not playing that game (dating apps) is what is "ruining" my sex life (or lack of).
  - mynameisash 4y ago
    Savage Love really improved my wife's and my relationship (physical and otherwise). I highly recommend it, but if you're not familiar with Dan Savage, be prepared for some varsity-level discussions.
skohan 4y ago
Not only entertainment suffers from a tyranny of choice, but also sex and relationships. I heard in an interview that 50 years ago, people used to basically used to fall in love with heir neighbours and coworkers. Modern dating means browsing hundreds of other people in your city like they're products on a store shelf, always with the feeling there might be someone better just a couple swipes away.
- BlargMcLarg 4y ago
  And that lack of initial investment also makes it harder to bridge gaps, as would normally happen. In the context of OLD, it also puts emphasis on very specific strengths whereas others are not visible until meeting up or spending more time.
- idealmedtech 4y ago
  I see this explanation of the grind of online dating a lot, and I think it misses a more fundamental point: people fundamentally are pretty terrible at talking to strangers. Without conversational skills, a vast majority of online dating conversations simply fizzle out; often times simply due to disinterest, but I think almost always due to a lack of ability to hold a conversation and be both interesting and interested. I find there's actually a lot of success to be had online dating, if you just know how to talk to people and learn about them! It seems like such a tautology but I think it really is that simple.
  - scarmig 4y ago
    If it were just a matter of people being terrible at talking to strangers, you'd see the same issues that affect straight dating apps affect gay dating ones. They don't. (That also applies to the comment you're replying to). Any explanation of the shittiness of straight dating apps has to center gender norms and roles.
    - idealmedtech 4y ago
      I won't claim to speak for an entire community, but among my many queer friends this seems to be a common thru line! Of course like anything social there's never one clear explanation to any phenomenon.
freedomben 4y ago
I've noticed the same thing. Honestly, as much as I hate ads, I've recently discovered Pluto TV on Google TV. It feels a lot like cable used to! You can pick from "channels" and you get what you get. There's no pausing, no rewinding, and your choices are limited to what's on. I would have laughed if someone had told me that I'd be turning it on, but I frequently do. Basically whenever I'm not sure what to watch, I flip to that and throw on one of the channels.
- jimt1234 4y ago
  I watch Pluto-TV for the exact same reason: it reminds me of old school cable-TV. I turn it on and "veg out", just like when I was a teenager. I tend to watch it before I go to sleep when I'm trying to shut down anyway. The movie, The Big Short, was on heavy rotation about a year ago. Good movie. They have an entire channel dedicated to Narcos, so I'm basically fluent in Spanish now - well, "drug dealer Spanish", at least.
- el-salvador 4y ago
  > It feels a lot like cable used to! I had to stay once in an old hotel in a small town. It had an old CRT analog tv with analog cable. It brought back memories. Like the TV tuner changing channels really fast. Fast channel surfing is something I hadn’t been able to do since switching to a digital tvs and digital cable about a decade ago.
falcolas 4y ago
> I don't remember what I used to talk to my friends about when I was in high school. Gossip, mostly. Talking about your peers, who said what, how terrible teachers are for making us actually do work, commenting on style or the lack thereof, etc. Also, while there were fewer TV series, they still existed. Star Trek, B5, Knight Rider, Airwolf, etc.
mejutoco 4y ago
> I can watch nearly every show and movie that was ever created I think this is an illusion. When I check some films with awards (let's say "do the right thing", not a blockbuster but a well-known film) I cannot find them in any streaming service (maybe criterion collection). I can definitely think of tons of tv shows I cannot find on dvd, let alone on streaming platforms. Not even on torrent networks. This idea that the internet has everything is fine for some topics (like programming), but I believe it does not apply to some contents, and films are one of them. EDIT: grammar
greedo 4y ago
My HS era was pre-Internet as well. My circle of friends talked about sports, and girls. And Star Wars every now and then, and then back to sports and girls. Every once in a while nuclear annihilation would come up (Reagan 80's baby!), but eventually existential dread would dissipate until it was time to talk about college.

by bko 4y ago

justinpowers 4y ago

If you became that fly, you’d soon wish to be squashed rather than listen to adolescent chitchat.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
bko 4y ago
Fair point...

vinnymac 4y ago

I am genuinely unsure, and had to google it. Is RT supposed to be the abbreviation for Rotten Tomatoes?

pavlov 4y ago
I don’t know, but I’m guessing it’s not Russia Today where I associate the abbreviation…
Game_Ender 4y ago
Yes. A popular way to see what shows reviewers and audiences like most. If you Google “rt <name of movie>” you will get the rating too.
bko 4y ago
Yes, should have made that clear. Don't know if its a common abbreviation but I guess not. мне жаль

gigaflop 4y ago

I recently watched a movie called 'Super Dark Times', which happens to focus on some teenage boys in the 90s. It makes me think that the prom table would be full of nonsense, expletives, and talking about women, but isn't that what you'd normally expect?

chrismarlow9 4y ago

Podcasts changed the game for me on this. Now there are entire days where I never turn the TV on. A bonus is that I can get basic chores done while listening or workout. It really freed me from the couch potato routine. A bonus is that many of them are educational and released weekly, so "binge" isn't really an option. There are certainly "junk food" podcasts that I listen to but the ratio of informative to junk compared to video content(movies, tv shows, etc) is way better. Though I will say YouTube has some excellent channels for learning. Podcasts are similar to books though, you have to dig through a bit of garbage to find one that works for you. Here's my list: - crime in sports - Linux unplugged - software engineering radio - the knowledge project - coinsec - persona - ten percent happier - quanta podcast - physics world weekly - ologies - darknet diaries - stuff you should know - the joy of why - fall of civilizations - smartless - money talks - planet money - small town murder - offensive security - the journal - programming throwdown - timesuck - Conan O'Brien needs a friend - philosophize this - against the odds - levar Burton reads (no longer running) - curiosity daily - science weekly - future of journalism - wtf - broken record - idea cast - swindled - malicious life - views room - behind the bastards - the exchange - stuff to blow your mind And for the "junk" I listen to just about every comedian podcast that exists: Bill Burr, Bobby Lee, Chris destefano, Stavros!, Tom Segura, (this list goes on a while...)

criddell 4y ago
So are you saying it isn't TV that has ruined your sex life, it's podcasts?
- chrismarlow9 4y ago
  >sex life What is this "sex life" you speak of? (haha). On a serious note they helped me learn to be content with being alone or at least not worry about "looking" for it via dating apps, and I would say not playing that game (dating apps) is what is "ruining" my sex life (or lack of).
- mynameisash 4y ago
  Savage Love really improved my wife's and my relationship (physical and otherwise). I highly recommend it, but if you're not familiar with Dan Savage, be prepared for some varsity-level discussions.

skohan 4y ago

Not only entertainment suffers from a tyranny of choice, but also sex and relationships. I heard in an interview that 50 years ago, people used to basically used to fall in love with heir neighbours and coworkers. Modern dating means browsing hundreds of other people in your city like they're products on a store shelf, always with the feeling there might be someone better just a couple swipes away.

BlargMcLarg 4y ago
And that lack of initial investment also makes it harder to bridge gaps, as would normally happen. In the context of OLD, it also puts emphasis on very specific strengths whereas others are not visible until meeting up or spending more time.
idealmedtech 4y ago
I see this explanation of the grind of online dating a lot, and I think it misses a more fundamental point: people fundamentally are pretty terrible at talking to strangers. Without conversational skills, a vast majority of online dating conversations simply fizzle out; often times simply due to disinterest, but I think almost always due to a lack of ability to hold a conversation and be both interesting and interested. I find there's actually a lot of success to be had online dating, if you just know how to talk to people and learn about them! It seems like such a tautology but I think it really is that simple.
- scarmig 4y ago
  If it were just a matter of people being terrible at talking to strangers, you'd see the same issues that affect straight dating apps affect gay dating ones. They don't. (That also applies to the comment you're replying to). Any explanation of the shittiness of straight dating apps has to center gender norms and roles.
  - idealmedtech 4y ago
    I won't claim to speak for an entire community, but among my many queer friends this seems to be a common thru line! Of course like anything social there's never one clear explanation to any phenomenon.

freedomben 4y ago

I've noticed the same thing. Honestly, as much as I hate ads, I've recently discovered Pluto TV on Google TV. It feels a lot like cable used to! You can pick from "channels" and you get what you get. There's no pausing, no rewinding, and your choices are limited to what's on. I would have laughed if someone had told me that I'd be turning it on, but I frequently do. Basically whenever I'm not sure what to watch, I flip to that and throw on one of the channels.

jimt1234 4y ago
I watch Pluto-TV for the exact same reason: it reminds me of old school cable-TV. I turn it on and "veg out", just like when I was a teenager. I tend to watch it before I go to sleep when I'm trying to shut down anyway. The movie, The Big Short, was on heavy rotation about a year ago. Good movie. They have an entire channel dedicated to Narcos, so I'm basically fluent in Spanish now - well, "drug dealer Spanish", at least.
el-salvador 4y ago
> It feels a lot like cable used to! I had to stay once in an old hotel in a small town. It had an old CRT analog tv with analog cable. It brought back memories. Like the TV tuner changing channels really fast. Fast channel surfing is something I hadn’t been able to do since switching to a digital tvs and digital cable about a decade ago.

falcolas 4y ago

> I don't remember what I used to talk to my friends about when I was in high school. Gossip, mostly. Talking about your peers, who said what, how terrible teachers are for making us actually do work, commenting on style or the lack thereof, etc. Also, while there were fewer TV series, they still existed. Star Trek, B5, Knight Rider, Airwolf, etc.

mejutoco 4y ago

> I can watch nearly every show and movie that was ever created I think this is an illusion. When I check some films with awards (let's say "do the right thing", not a blockbuster but a well-known film) I cannot find them in any streaming service (maybe criterion collection). I can definitely think of tons of tv shows I cannot find on dvd, let alone on streaming platforms. Not even on torrent networks. This idea that the internet has everything is fine for some topics (like programming), but I believe it does not apply to some contents, and films are one of them. EDIT: grammar

greedo 4y ago

My HS era was pre-Internet as well. My circle of friends talked about sports, and girls. And Star Wars every now and then, and then back to sports and girls. Every once in a while nuclear annihilation would come up (Reagan 80's baby!), but eventually existential dread would dissipate until it was time to talk about college.