Why I still like to see films the old way
CHINA has a lot of people.
The biggest population in the world, in fact, at 1.42 billion. We keep track of our citizens with National Insurance Numbers, but then we only have 66 million. In China, they are moving into more sophisticated ways of keeping tabs.
Electric cars in that country record where their drivers are at all times and automatically send the information to the Government. No sly breaks in a layby between jobs for white van men or secret office romances in the back seat.
If they have the technology to log where you are, they may well have cameras and microphones fitted as well, which leads into all sorts of possibilities.
TAfter all, it has been suggested that webcams on laptops can spy on their owners. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg covers his with tape and the FBI Director James Comey admitted all computer webcams in Government offices in the US are covered. Just in case.
Oo-er, missus. What has technology been looking at when it has been staring into your life through your laptop?
Smart TVs can be spies in your home, phones can eavesdrop, and add in CCTV cameras that populate every city, town and village and you could be followed from cradle to grave.
Back in China, they are trialling a new system for students: tracking chips in HE music and film business is having a topsy turvy time.
Music chain HMV went into administration with part of the blame on the falling demand in the UK market for CDs and DVDs.
Popular music lovers now download their choice of listening. Film and T V can be streamed into your home. Why build a film archive on your shelves when you can search Netflix and Amazon Prime for a title?
At least, that’s the theory, but of course, not all the films, series or programmes you might want to watch will be there. Which means collectors have become a niche market.
My chum Ian has a great library of quality drama from T V and film, mostly bought at bargain prices – from HMV, as it happens – as well as a complete set of the works of Laurel and Hardy.
My shelves include French and Scandi Noir collections and I recently added a boxed set of Norman Wisdom films for nostalgia. school uniforms that will record the time and date they enter or leave school. A little adaptation and every fashion clothing item could carry one and a person’s life could be mapped on a daily basis.
If it is happening in China, you can bet governments in the west might also be considering it. Perhaps just for those who are considered security risks, at first, but once the population gets used to the idea, everyone can have one. If you have not done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. Goes the mantra.
Unless a break in a layby is necessary during a hard day’s work, and you don’t want anyone to know about your office romance.
I’m old school and, whether music or film, prefer to have a CD or DVD in my hand with sleeve notes to bring back memories.
The Wisdom films I watched at the cinema and again on T V with my daughters when they were growing up. Netflix doesn’t give you those memories.
Now I’m looking for a DVD George Formby collection to replace my unusable VHS set.
Digital streaming accounts for 63% of the music market but there is still nostalgia for the past. Vinyl sold 4.2 million LPs last year and cassettes are in the midst of new discovery. The band The 1975, Kylie Minogue, The Prodigy and Ariana Grande all had hits on cassette last year. Apparently there is even a market for original Walkman sets from the 1980s and 90s, presumably by retro lovers who want to annoy complete strangers on their way to work with the background noise that used to leak from them like escaping gas.
Still, each to his own. I have a CD library and have downloaded hours of music on to an MP3 player for the car.
Even as an oldie, I can still cut a rug. But I draw the line at a Walkman.
I prefer to have a CD or DVD in my hand with sleeve notes to bring back memories.