The International Writers Magazine
THE THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS OF A BUDDHIST AMONG BAPTISTS
• Reverend Father Antonio Hernández, O.M.D., A.B.F.
Founder of the Independent Order of American Buddhist Fathers
suriak@yahoo.com

---

THE CURSE OF THE DVD-HEADS Why Video is better - the war continues

Don't Put it in Naomi

It is not usually my custom to reply in any way to criticisms of my articles here at Hackwriters Magazine. If I did, I'd be wasting the rest of my life. Yet I must respond to Dan Schneider, who recently graced Hackwriters with a critique piece.

I very much liked what Schneider wrote, and I let him know it. His counter against my "DVD rant" was quite good. Almost as good as my reasons for despising DVD technology... not quite, but almost.
To return the compliment in kind, I can state with complete confusion that I don't know what kind of weed Mr. Schneider has 'enjoyed' to make him rush to the defense of the DVD. It is as I have always argued: a marvelous example of fascist technology trickle-down to the public, and the brainwashing therefrom. And still not worth it.

Trying to tell DVD-heads that some don't like DVD is very much like crashing an audience with the pope: you don't want to try it without full football gear, Kevlar vest and a hell of a life insurance policy. Yet my objections stand.

Mr. Schneider pointed out- quite accurately- the monumental flaws of VHS. I doubt he's old enough to recall VHS when it was new, but he has a good handle on the problems of the twisted VHS universe. (Hey, I never wrote that VHS was perfect. We just thought it was at the time. Like Mr. Schneider thinks of DVD!)
Yet that was precisely my point: the VHS technology always should have been better than it was, the marketing should have gone quite a ways further than it ever did. What makes anyone think DVD is or will be any different? It's just smoother consumer mind control. Poor Mr. Schneider must have been blindfolded and taken at gunpoint to buy his VCR- the same with the tape- if he saw such wear and tear after a dozen viewings. (You're not supposed to leave them in the sun, Dan!)

Let me counter by re-stating that I still have most of my ORIGINAL VHS collection, and I occasionally watch them on my father's ORIGINAL VCR. (Two cables and a plug for the outlet. How many cables does DVD need again?) Let's wait a few decades to see what brand of technology Mr. Schneider will be watching.
My money will be confidently on the VCR- perhaps not my father's, but certainly mine which is now nearly a decade old. Perhaps this is what enrages DVD fans: they can't stand seeing all these VCRs hanging around- they want VHS to be eradicated. Sorry, I have to hiss and boo at you on that one. As to hook-UPS, does any sane person really believe that DVD is as easy as a VCR to connect? When did the VCR ever require half a dozen additional cables and an intermediary "black box"? What are the DVD companies trying to do, invent black-box recording technology for film watchers? With a VHS, you can still jam in the same old two cables, plug it in and watch the movie. In THX stereo no less.

Anyway, think of Mr. Schneider and me as two old politicians having it out on our stumps. Just remember who is right.

And what did Mr Schneider say? You can find out here

More Lifestyles and Comment

Home

© Hackwriters 2000-2004 all rights reserved