Comments by "Mike Black" (@RevMikeBlack) on "Technology Connections" channel.

  1. I remember when the RCA discs came out. They were really awful and paled in comparison to LaserDiscs, which were pretty good.
    3
  2. VHS = 2 hours. Can hold a full movie. Beta = 1.5 hours. Can't hold a full movie. VHS wins!
    2
  3. I'm no prude, but I think television could use a little less vulgarity. I think writers use profanity to compensate for their poor writing skills.
    2
  4. U R CRAY ZEE... which is why I never miss an episode. I like being around my own kind.
    2
  5. Excellent presentation.
    1
  6. Unfortunately, when you remaster Star Trek TNG, all you have is remastered Star Trek TNG.
    1
  7. You may not be aware of this, but the tube amplifiers in those B&H projectors can be easily be modified in great sounding guitar amplifiers. They're not loud, but they sound great for recording.
    1
  8. I grew up in coastal South Carolina where hurricanes and gales are common. Home generators didn't exist back then, so we always had our hurricane lamps ready to go. We used them for camping, too. They weren't the brightest, but they were 100% reliable. Later we started using Coleman "white gas" lanterns which are superb. I have two 50+ year old Colemans and they work flawlessly.
    1
  9. I never copied VHS videos because I'm not a thief. However, there are technical reasons as well. My background is in audio & video production. I had the privilege of working with the best gear in the early 1980s, primarily 3/4 Umatic and 1 inch video formats played through top grade Sony Trinitron monitors and multitrack audio. It was a superb grade of NTSC that the average viewer has never seen, even to this day. When you were accustomed to that level of quality, VHS cassettes looked awful, even through decent monitors. If you compounded the problem by copying one VHS to another, the result was double-butt ugly. I don't have the time or patience to watch double-butt ugly video, which is why I always bought or rented OEM videos. They may not have been perfect, but they weren't ugly.
    1
  10. I live in a popular southeast coast resort city. In 2023 there are still Redboxes all over our city because we fit the Redbox business model perfectly. Every hotel room and rental condo contains a TV and a dvd player. Hotel pay per view rates are very high, so a quick ride to a Redbox makes economic sense. I saw a Redbox in front of a CVS pharmacy a few days ago. It was filled with current popular titles, so I assume it's still making money. Personally, I thought Redbox would never survive, but I'm obviously wrong.
    1
  11. You just gave me one more reason NOT to buy an electric car.
    1
  12. I've never encountered meowing bees, but I'll bet it would be impressive.
    1
  13. My profoundly over-priced Amana microwave has a moisture sensor popcorn button. It consistently makes my popcorn burn. Instead, I have experimented with my favorite brands and I know exactly how long Pop Secret, Act II or Orville Reddenbacher need to go before I hear a two second gap between pops. Using this paradigm, my popcorn is perfect every time.
    1