-- Cordelia, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
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I am so tired of the lousy interface on electronic media, like DVDs and players. For example, whether it's the fault of the programming of the discs or of the players, the fact is that something as simple as the Subtitle button usually does not work, either on my Blue-ray player or my moribund HD-DVD player. I mean, what the heck? They have the standards all lined up, why don't they just follow them?And I just started re-watching the complete series of Buffy The Slampire Conveyor (on DVD, but in my blue-ray player), and after the first episode I checked out the commentary track... and then when I started watching the second episode, I could not get rid of it! No matter how I restarted the episode or even the machine, the friggin' commentary track was still on. Through experimentation and intuition, I realized that if I changed the audio language to French and then back to English, probably the commentary would be gone. And it was. But how stupid an interface is that. I mean, the engineers are making machines and discs for a multi-billion dollar industry, you'd think they would take the care to get the basics right?
I could continue for pages about the menu interface on the DVDs and the layout of the remote controls, but I'd get bored, and you already are, so I'll try to calm down.
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By the way, why Alyson Hannigan (Willow on Buffy) is not The Next Nicole Kidman yet, I don't know. She is awesome.Fortunately I now discover she is having new success on the highly praised "How I Met Your Mother" show, which I've hurriedly ordered.
And this is promising. :)
Alyson on YouTube is a mixed bag, but this is kinda cute. (Where do talk show hosts get those questions from though? They are all over the place.)
Update 16.3: I found a few old fave pics of Alyson. Goodness me.
I hear you. And very well, might I add. It was after a fit of rage on the same subject that I started investigating intelligent remotes (but that's another story).
ReplyDeleteI sit in front of the TV to watch a movie mostly when I am too exhausted to read or do anything else. All you want is to relax, and what you get is to experience the kind of frustrations you're describing! ARRRGH!
But the worst part is that, as a product designer, I know that this is seldom the fault of the engineering team. Bean counters and marketeers, the scum of the earth, conspire every time to come up with ever crazier deadlines and even stupider outsourcing schemes that make it impossible to get the job right.
It's not for lack of wanting nor trying, it is simply that, should you manage to get it right and on time just once, then those useless parasites get the feeling that they should have pushed harder to get there even sooner. And you can bet that the next time around, they will manage to screw you up even better. It seems that their act is now quite polished, as pretty much every consumer product is crap.
After all, they can always blame the engineers...
I purchased a new Blackberry Pearl as the battery life eeked into my acceptable range. Can I just say the UX is hard to get used to for those of us used to crap!
ReplyDeleteFor example, being a tech writer I tried to find how to set the speed dial for my fav numbers. I knew how to do it on the last three cell phones I've had in five years.
I couldn't find the help, nor could I find the way to do it in the various option applets. Then as I walked to my car, resigned to go see the dealer, I just pushed the 2 button and it popped up my address book as asked me who I wanted in that speed dial slot.
Whoa! Elegant. As is Alyson Hannigan, I think we can all agree. ;o)
Oh ya.
ReplyDeleteI miss the greatly intuitive interface on my old Ericson phone. Stupidly they don't make that beautiful little phone anymore, so when it died I got a Razr, and the moto interface sux ass.
Obscure fact: Alyson Hannigan is the only one who can completely expose herself on American television without suffering a fine.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theonion.com/content/video/fcc_okays_nudity_on_tv_if_it_s
It's type-casting. Alyson Hannigan played Buffy's "ugly" friend for so long, the public can't accept her as a beauty.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened to Dawn Wells, the gruesome Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island, and to Jan Smithers, who played plain-jane Bailey Quarters on WKRP.
It's sad.
I thought Willow was the cute one and Buffy the strong one. I couldn't get used to the new Buffy and only lasted half an episode. I've got to get around to trying it out though.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing, how can you take the Tasters Choice (Maxwell House) guy seriously? Even if he was Frankenfurter for a tour of Rocky Horror.
Mike, if that's how it is, then people are blind and that's indeed extremely sad. Bailey was really cute, and more interesting than the dolled-out Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteAlex: the "new buffy"? You mean after the different actress in the movie? Well, the show was really good, give it a chance.
I think Buffy herself was an acquired taste, but the show had a great ensemble and often great humor.
It's type-casting. Alyson Hannigan played Buffy's "ugly" friend for so long, the public can't accept her as a beauty.
ReplyDeleteHer ugly friend? A nerdy character, but not ugly.
Not ugly, but clearly somebody most boys would not notice. Unlike if I'd been one of them, I'd have been all over her.
ReplyDeleteBig E, this used to be a serious blog dealing with serious issues! Maybe you should try turning off your TV and forming an original thought. I hear it's all the rage these days!
ReplyDeleteI tried that, but it hurt my likkle head.
ReplyDeleteWell we can't have that! :-)
ReplyDeleteWould I be right in thinking Willow filled the same role as Kaylee in Firefly, and Gabrielle in Xena?
ReplyDeleteI have been promising to watch Buffy for a while. Do I start in on Season 2 after they've all got into the flow of it, or do I need to start at the beginning? So many shows are okay in the first season, but the cast and writers are not up to speed yet.
Firefly must have been unique, that was on par from day two (luckily they didn't show day one until the end of the season).
Willow is the cute, shy geek.
ReplyDeleteLater she has wonderful parts when she briefly becomes a vampire, and an evil witch. Very sexy, especially the leatherclad Vampire Willow, very laid-back sadism.
I think the first season has many excellent shows. And there is continuity to consider.
Maybe I'll lean on my FIL to lend me his copies of Buffy. I'm not quite ready to sign up for Netflix, still using up my new DVDs from Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI like the shy geeks. I even fell for the character of Cameron (Summer Glau) in The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I hear Summer first appeared in Buffy, before she was in Firefly.
So Thursday morning my cell phone beeped at me. A txt message coupon for 30% off at Borders (kinda like WH Smiths with a coffee shop). So I got Buffy season 1 for about $25.
ReplyDeleteAs I picked the box off the shelf (excuse me, could you open the glass case so I can get a boxed set please) I could almost hear my wifes eyes rolling at the Vampire transformations, monster costumes and all the turn offs she finds in Dr Who, Lost Boys, Xena....
I like Willow. Never doubted it for one instance. She reminds me of a lightened up Millie from "Freaks and Geeks", or a Net Savvy Gabrielle, without the long staff.
However I see your Willow and raise you a Martha Jones.
I've always found "Willow" very cute.
ReplyDeleteAND she can get away with appearing naked on TV? Total respect!
I also liked Gabrielle. After she became a little less of a chatterbox, and a little more than just that. :-)