Re: Plan 9 from Outer Space

Sean O'Hara <seanohara@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> It doesn't take very fancy equipment to make professional-looking
> packaging (especially when so many legitimate DVD covers are done
> in Photoshop).

But what about the DVDs themselves?  They have professional-looking
labels on them.  And they're real DVDs, not DVD-RWs or whatever.

> And companies like VCI, Alpha, and Mill Creek are professional
> outfits, even if some of their releases are of questionable legality.

The set I was speaking of *is* by Mill Creek.

> Sadly, retailers don't check to see whether the products they're
> dealing with are legit.

I'm sorry to hear that.  If I buy something at Barnes & Noble, I
assume all the royalties have been paid, just as I assume it isn't
stolen property.

> As an example of how unscrupulous the PD video business is, when a
> company obtains a decent print of a film, they often put a "bug"
> on the screen, like the channel ID used by TV stations, so their
> competitors don't just copy the DVDs and redistribute them under
> their own label.

Those are annoying, but I don't see how they're unscrupulous.  Anyhow,
with digital signal processing it shouldn't be difficult to take them
out again.  I look forward to TVs that offer that option.

TV networks keep pushing the envelope.  First "bugs," then short
animations during a show to tout an upcoming show.  I've recently seen
stationary "bugs" that tout an upcoming show and remain on the screen
for the duration of the show I'm trying to watch.  That's where I draw
the line.  If enough people put up with them, soon no doubt networks
will have little animations touting upcoming shows that run for
the duration of another show.  After all, is that really any more
distracting than never-ending animations on the sides, top, and bottom
of websites one is trying to view?  Those are one reason I no more
plan to "upgrade" to a graphical browser than I plan to add lots of
new roaches to my kitchen so I can admire the constant scurrying out
of the corners of my eyes.
-- 
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html
before emailing me.