#without the quality taking a nosedive?

[cipheramnesia]

I wish there was a single word to describe the way anything, the instant it falls into investor hands, takes a massive quality nosedive, absolutely scorcher earth unusable. While simultaneously any time any single one of those investors or major shareholders makes any kind of public comment, without being filtered through several public relations experts, about literally anything at all, they reveal they have a grasp of the world similar to a four year old, but with far less ability for self reflection or basic reasoning. And, parallel to this, the only positive qualities of whatever the investors sullied turn out to come exclusively from middle to bottom tier employees fighting tooth and nail for a shred of product quality, enduring a monsoon of ridicule from said investors who subsequently take credit for the minor uptick in quality for something they remain determined to ruin. And at no point does anyone on the investor end even by accident consider themselves the source of the commensurate nosedive in consumers and profit, despite mountains, oceans, galaxies of evidence piled around them.

There should be like one derogatory word for this, and don't say "capitalism" because no investor thinks of capitalism as derogatory.

[bonefall]

How are we feeling at the book finale? Because outside of the Sunbeam girlboss moment telling Berryheart just how bad of a family she was AND maybe possibly foreshadowing her rejecting Nightheart, I think we miiiight get some more Dark Forest cats than planned before :D (also I may be wrong but- didn't Podlight have children? Would he even be eligible as Medicine Cat in BB?)

Podlight's totally eligible in BB! He has no canon children and I didn't give him any. In BB there's also an interesting quirk in that Podlight is notoriously Mistystar's... not EXACTLY a good-for-nothing grandson, but a bit of a "fratboy" working through daddy issues. Is is extra funny for this cat to be a villain lmao.

Also: Better Bones RiverClan Family Tree

Anyway... my thoughts on the spoiler thread's ending. Mostly negative, unfortunately. I am really hoping that a lot of this is misrepresentation.

I've enjoyed every book of ASC that's come out so far, but if this thread is accurate, this is going to be the first one that I actively dislike. It sounds like there was a serious nosedive in quality.

ON THE ENDING; Park Cats, and The Berryheart Gathering.

Park Cats.

It is profoundly frustrating to me that we had TWO traveling books in this arc. Do they not know by now that traveling books are widely detested for a reason??

Frostpaw and Nightheart were AWAY FROM THE CONFLICT for most of this book, what the fuck?

The plot barely advanced at all. There's been one major conflict in this entire arc, the invasion of RiverClan, and we are 4/6ths of the way through without any other major battles. This is boring.

Riverstar is a major character through this bullshit, now with a magical perfect connection to Frostpaw through plot convenience so he can give her tutorial tips, because GOD FORBID we have a more grounded story for once. I'm so sick of DOTC fanservice. Was a super edition not enough?!

And speaking of Riverstar's Home, they pretty clearly ripped a lot of inspiration out of it. Frostpaw and Nightheart go on a journey with random human-related shenanigans before finding a cardboard cutout of a culture

I'm not gonna lie guys. I do not like the Park Cats. I HAVE TO SAY; It's a step in the right direction

They are not demonized. They are treated as good and legitimate. They are seen as having wisdom and living peacefully.

This is Good. This is Fine.

(im still kind of mad they needed riverstar to come save them back in riverstar's home, like every non-clan culture does apparently, but HOKAY fine ok it's fine)

.....butt.

They're boring. guys, they have one thing that is unique to them, and it's meditation. They live in perfect peace and harmony. there's nothing there.

It's easy to be a perfect, peaceful society if you have no conflict ever.

IF THE SPOILER THREAD IS ACCURATE, we don't see them address strife, how they DO handle disputes, what DOES happen when a cat engages in "criminality," or even really see what their spiritual beliefs are besides "meditating"

And that's why the idea of Frostpaw taking away a good lesson from living with them strikes me as so hollow. WHAT is she taking from them? JUST vague, quiet meditation?? Why couldn't Riverstar just magically teach her that?

It also bothers me that this culture is exactly the same as it was in Riverstar's Home. It's in stasis. Nothing has changed, nothing has grown, they haven't picked up new customs. They don't even seem to have their own history besides remembering that Riverstar showed up generations ago.

It's not a culture, it's a plot device.

I swear, I'm really trying to like them, but RH left this really sour taste in my mouth and them showing up again in this book has only made me more frustrated.

I AM happy that we're going to maybe start trying to address the violence of Clan Culture, but it is coming in the middle of a book where nothing fucking happens, and they're starting to fumble the bag on the xenophobic radicalization that I'd been praising in the past few books

And by that, I'm referring to...

Berryheart's Gathering

through the books so far, I've been praising the slow rise of tension coming from the radicalized members of ShadowClan.

I think the way that Berryheart and her little Concern Club had been slowly escalating in their bigotry and violence was (and remains) unironically fantastic.

We had started off with it just being a group to "discuss the issues," which evolved into active bullying and harassment, progressed into attempted murder, and we left off on the idea that Berryheart's Hate Group was planning something with RiverClan's murder party.

And we are reaching a turning point in that arc, the payoff of a long and well-laid escalation, with...

normal democracy.

berryheart and her supporters approach puddleshine reasonably with their concerns and intent to call for a vote to depose tigerheartstar. doing the thing the fucking code addition was made for

This comes AFTER Sunbeam has a Girlboss Moment telling off Berryheart for being a bad mom in front of the whole gathering and everyone claps, mind you, so this is clearly supposed to be the narrative's big "oooo consequences for Berryheart" moment

So anyway Berryheart brings up that they want tigerHeartstar deposed, and then Puddleshine's like "haHA THIS WAS A ROUSE"

"Actually I only told you i agree to point out how this code addition can be exploited over a disagreement with ONE issue!!!!1"

i just...

im......

would Brokenstar training babies be One Issue? Would Bramblefake being a bully to his entire clan be One Issue? Would Leopardstar allowing Tigerstar to take over RiverClan be One Issue?

One Issue....

And MIND YOU I'm Pro-tigerHeartstar, actually, but the WHOLE fucking point of the rule is that you can depose someone who is not acting in the best interest of the Clans. Fym ONE ISSUE??

IT'S A BIG ASS ISSUE!

So anyway Berryheart is embarrassed in front of everyone, tigerHeartstar tells the group, "You're going to support me or get out of my Clan"

All of her supporters fall in line, but Berryheart chooses exile.

So Berryheart and her group isn't punished for the hate crimes, it didn't lead to anyone getting actually hurt, this faction of cats just settled back down and Berryheart alone was exiled for political opposition to occupation.

not the hate crimes

GOTTA STRESS

The hate crimes did not cause lasting damage, the radicalized group did not cause any violence at this gathering

Berryheart is exiled for political opposition to occupation.

The consequence she faces for the hate crimes was simply not having her son Spireclaw back her up because she caused trouble for Fringewhisker. Like it's on the same level as being a bad in-law and not ATTEMPTED MURDER BASED ON BIGOTRY

And tigerHeartstar, jesus christ

His consistent trait has been becoming unreasonable WHEN HIS FAMILY IS THREATENED. WHY are we tossing this out the window now?

I REALLY REALLY hope that the spoiler thread is misrepresentation, and tigerHeartstar didn't ACTUALLY exile her but said something like, "this is what we're doing. don't like it, leave. you don't have the votes"

SO FOR NOW; I'm going to reserve judgement on what the writers are doing with tigerHeartstar.

This seems like the exact sort of thing that may be worded in an inaccurate way

But that said,

I'm beside myself with disappointment in this turn of events. Why is this about legitimate political proceedings? Why did they make the CULMINATION of this arc about bigoted violence and radicalization a legitimate, peaceful attempt to use the process THEY JUST ADDED, FOR THIS EXACT PURPOSE?

Anyway, then it ends on a cliffhanger

Podlight claims to be the new medcat, pointed out as just being a political maneuver, to appoint Splashtail as the new leader.

Frostpaw watches on in shock and thinks about how bad it is that a murderer is now in charge of RiverClan, and how no one would believe her if she told them all now

I sure hope the next book contains something worth reading. like a fight or something. in the battle cat series. in the arc where theyre trying to say something about violence.

[mother-of-houseplants-2]

my shameless hot takes! (please don’t hate me):

fiona was the best character on the show, and it was always intended to focus on her pov. that’s why the show took a dramatic nosedive in quality after she left.

lip wasn’t a horrible person for yelling at her a few times. he wasn’t always considerate or kind, but fi made mistakes and deserved to be called out. being a fiona stan doesn’t mean i ignore her flaws.

debbie was the worst character on the show season four onwards. she was annoying, selfish, and often unnecessarily cruel. she was also a subpar (if not straight up bad) mother. also we don’t talk enough about how she is literally a rapist???

fiona and jimmy-steve should have been endgame.

gallavich is cute and mickey is such a wonderful character but ian is the most annoyingest guy ever.

speaking of which, the gay jesus storyline was literally the worst thing to ever happen to shameless and literally makes me cringe every time i think about it.

mandy was a legitimately compelling and interesting character and deserved better. lip and mandy honestly should have been endgame.

on that note, tammy is the most annoying person on the planet oh my fucking god. lip should not have stayed with her, she was an annoying, controlling, stuck-up bitch. they should’ve had split custody of freddie and gone their separate ways.

fiona was the kids’ mom. and they never appreciated her for everything she did.

sheila was a hugely important and delightful part of the show and her loss was genuinely devastating. however, her relationship with jody was weird af.

carl’s growth and storyline was impeccable; one of the best in the show. however, it weirds me out to think of him as attractive because we watched him grow up!

liam deserved better! he was always treated as an afterthought in the later seasons, and the others never accepted or encouraged his attempts to connect with Black culture. also, fiona should’ve taken him with her when she left since she was his legal guardian.

kev and v were the best couple on the show! however, kev was in the right during the whole argument after the girls were born; v wasn’t the most attentive or caring mother at first.

none of the age difference / power dynamic couples were okay or hot or romantic or whatever. ian x ned and ian x kash was abuse and statutory rape. lip x that teacher in s3 was statutory rape. lip x helen was an abuse of power. debbie x tommy was weird on his part and also rape. the woman at the shrimp place sexually harassed carl. fiona x mike was an uncomfortable power dynamic. karen x frank wasn’t funny, it was predatory behavior that culminated in rape. none of this was funny or hot or okay.

lip was at his best in college, and should’ve gone back at a different school when he got sober. the bike shop was a weird turn.

fiona could have been a good businesswoman but failed because she tried to take risks without anyone else’s support. most of her business blunders were not her fault. and on that note, although she should’ve asked the kids first, it was her right to take a mortgage out on the house. it’s her house. she’s run it her entire life.

however. fiona baby why are you ok with capitalism stop it…

frank was abusive and neglectful. monica was emotionally manipulative and neglectful. grammy was abusive. it’s okay to feel bad for them as characters (i definitely felt bad for frank when he had dementia) but they are child abusers first and foremost.

frank probably would have been successful and happy if he’d never met monica.

seasons 1-3 was the golden era of shameless. as soon as it ventured into more of a comedy/weird ass political commentary show, it really veered away from what made it special: its gritty, honest, and vulnerable look into a family in poverty, bound together by love. that’s what made it so, so good.

[milaswriting]

oh! i saw a wonderful ask on another blog i ust KNEW i had to ask you the same thing about my dear Golden ROs! i don't know if you can answer because maybe we'll find out in game, but i would love to know more about the ROs POV! the ask was this:

I was wondering how do the ROs measure up self esteem wise? Like how do they see themselves? Do they think they’re attractive? Ugly? Why? What’s their favorite and least favorite quality about themselves?

(i forgot basic courtesy because i was a bit excited so: Hi Mila!!! i hope you are well! take care of yourself!)

Ohh, interesting! None of the ros have big enough egos to think that they’re perfect, so there’s that haha.

I think A prides themselves on their loyalty, they really are ride or die when they’re all in, whether that be a friendship or a relationship. Y’know, they’ll be there for you no questions asked. Though, A definitely knows that they’re not great when it comes to people skills, and it does frustrate them more than they care to admit — like I’ve imagined so many emotional situations involving A and they’re so stiff and nervous and don’t know what to do.

B’s generosity, they’ll genuinely ensure that everyone around them is okay, like there are so many simple things in life that bring them happiness, and people seem to forget that simplicity should be cherished. Least favourite quality is probably their self-esteem, there are points in B’s life where it’ll take a nosedive and they’ll be super hard on themselves and that’s never healthy.

K’s favourite quality is probably their musical talent, even though they never actually share it with anyone. It’s a bit of a linkage to a good part of their human life that they actually like to remember. Least favourite quality, the fact that they feel like they need to have a facade. There’s nothing more they want to do than let someone see every part of them, even all the skeletons that they keep in their closet.

P loves the fact that they can be inspired by anything and just create a sketch of art, of course everything they’ve ever drawn isn’t perfect, but the fact that they know they can do something they enjoy without magic really warms their heart. I’ve mentioned this before, but P has this conflicting relationship with emotions because they’re so emotionally intelligent, but their emotions have often made decisions for them which has often caused bad outcomes for them—so that’s their least favourite quality.

[sakebytheriver]

God.

That episode was just.

No.

New Leverage is so uninterested in the cons and the stories of individual episodes and more importantly they have almost completely abandoned the original conceit of the OG show, which was at its core telling everyone to eat the rich, instead they are only interested in expanding upon the lore drops and emotional catharsis moments the characters would go through in the OG show, but rather than sprinkle it into the episodes sparingly and with the express purpose of using them to aid in the story that the indivdual episode was telling or letting them evolve naturally from the story at hand, the reboot is instead clearly starting the writing process from these emotional moments and working backwards instead of starting with the con, probably because they think the fans will like these moments more than any other part of the episode and because these writers clearly want to show off how good they are at writing emotional moments that get actors Oscars for crying on cue, (if only they were actually good at writing those moments maybe this post would have a different ending).

This last Magiq Baby episode was just so clearly written around the emotional monologues they gave Sophie, the con and the villain being written not for the episode, but for the writers to have a reason to make Sophie say those words instead, not letting the monologues come from the story and the con of the episode itself, but rather from their own desire to have her be emotional. It's sad and disappointing to see just how far the writing quality in Leverage Redemption has fallen from the original and this episode is just the perfect example of that drop with the con becoming almost nonexistent and nonessential to the plot which has just taken a nosedive into trying to set up this big bad from Sophie's past (and don't even get me started on that dumb little lore drop of Sophie possibly having a secret daughter like come on 🙄) without putting any work into the story of the episode they have at hand. The original show had an entire season building up to Damian Moreau and yet they never let themselves forget the original conceit of the show which was ultimately to shine a light on how rich people will screw over as many poor people as it takes to keep their postition of power, new Leverage is not interested in telling that story, no, this new show is fanfiction, delving into the pasts and the emotions of the main characters separating them from the world around them and in the process from the story the show is supposed to be telling, providing fan service rather than story. The original show used these characters as tools to tell the story that the rich should be eaten, the reboot thinks that the characters are the story. Trying to distract the audience from the lack of substance within each episode and con by overcompensating with characters falling into the "everyone wants to get an A in therapy" trap that so many shows are falling into these days. This episode felt like a fanfiction written by a Sophie stan who wrote the Mama Prosper character as a plot device trying to put Sophie into a situation where she has to tell the truth and be emotional and can't use her superpowers rather than something actually motivated by the story of the episode, it's cliche, it's sloppy, it's a facsimile of what Leverage used to be. This episode was a subpar fanfiction that tries to build upon the solid ground laid by the original show's subtle nods towards Sophie's past by hammering the audience in the face with a bad version of the story we have all been writing in our own heads since the first time the name 'Lady Charlotte Prentice' ever left Sophie's lips, the best part of Leverage's storytelling in the past was that they knew when less was more, Leverage Redemption has completely abandoned that framework to the detriment of the show's canon, happy to instead completely forget about the cons and the artistry and the meticulousness the original writers put into the plots of each episode letting the con become an afterthought rather than the driving force of the episode. It's utterly devestating to watch as the perfectly woven thread of the original Leverage's approach to conartistry is hacked to pieces by the sloppy laziness clearly being shown by Leverage Redemption's writers who can only see the show's characters rather than its universe

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Watch this video first, then scroll down.

I want to do a quick exercise. Close your eyes.

I want you to picture your best friend. Think about what specifically you love about them. What trait makes them them?

Now open your eyes.

I don't know what each of you came up with, but I'm pretty sure I know what you didn't come up with. I’m pretty sure none of you thought, "What makes Jim Jim is the fact that he's six-foot-two and a redhead." I'm guessing you chose their inner qualities, their sense of humor, their generosity, their intelligence, qualities they would have no matter what they looked like.

There's one more quality I'm pretty sure you didn't choose. Their race.

Of all the things you could list about somebody, their race is just about the least interesting you can name, right down there with height and hair color.

Sure, race can be good source material for jokes at a comedy club, but in the real world, a person's race doesn't tell you whether they're kind or selfish, whether their beliefs are right or wrong, whether they'll become your best friend or your worst enemy.

But over the past ten years, our societies have become more and more fixated on racial identity.

We've all been invited to reflect on our inner whiteness or inner Blackness, as if these racial essences define who we are.

Meanwhile, American society has experienced the greatest crisis in race relations in a generation. Gallup has been asking Americans how they feel about race relations, and this chart is the result.

So as you can see, between 2001 and 2013, most Americans felt good about race relations. Then both lines take a nosedive.

It's no exaggeration to call this one of the greatest crises of our time. And clearly we need new ways of thinking about race if we're going to reverse this trend.

So today I'm going to offer an old idea, but it's an idea that's been widely misunderstood.

You've probably heard it before. It's called color blindness. What do I mean by color blindness? After all, we all see race. We can't help it. And what's more, race can influence how we're treated and how we treat other people.

So in that sense, nobody is truly colorblind. But to interpret the word colorblind so literally is to misunderstand it.

Colorblind is a word like warmhearted. It uses a physical metaphor to capture an abstract idea. To call someone warmhearted isn’t to talk about the temperature of their heart but about the kindness of their soul.

And similarly, to advocate for color blindness is not to pretend you don't notice race. It's to support a principle that we should try our best to treat people without regard to race, both in our personal lives and in our public policy.

And you might be thinking, what's so controversial about that? Well, the fact is the philosophy of color blindness is under attack.

Critics say that it's naive or that we're not yet ready for it as a society or even that it's white supremacy in disguise.

And many people agree with these feelings.

[ Continued... ]

--

By: Coleman Hughes

Published: Sep 26, 2023

Like any young writer, I am well aware that an invitation to speak at TED can be a career-changing opportunity. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I was invited to appear at this year’s annual conference. What I could not have imagined from an organization whose tagline is “ideas worth spreading” is that it would attempt to suppress my own. 

As an independent podcaster and author, I count myself among the lucky few who can make a living doing what they truly love to do. Nothing about my experience with TED could change that. The reason this story matters is not because I was treated poorly, but because it helps explain how organizations can be captured by an ideological minority that bends even the people at the very top to its will. In that, the story of TED is the story of so many crucial and once-trustworthy institutions in American life.

Let’s go back to the start.

This past April, I gave a talk at the yearly TED conference in Vancouver, Canada. In my talk, I defended color blindness: the idea that we should treat people without regard to race, both in our personal lives and in our public policy. (This is also the topic of my forthcoming book.) 

Even though a majority of Americans believe that color-blind policies are the right approach to governing a racially diverse society, we live in a strange moment in which many of our elite believe that color blindness is, in fact, a Trojan horse for white supremacy. Taking that viewpoint seriously—while ultimately refuting it—was the express purpose of my talk. 

As you might imagine, TED is an unbelievably well-oiled machine. In the weeks and months leading up to the conference, I wrote my talk, revised it in conjunction with TED’s curation team, and cleared it with their fact-checkers. I have never prepared more thoroughly for a talk. On April 19, I stepped onstage in front of an audience of nearly 2,000 people and delivered it.   

TED draws a progressive crowd, so I expected that my talk might upset a handful of people. And indeed, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a handful of scowling faces. But the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The audience applauded; some people even stood up. Throughout the meals and in hallways, people approached me to say they loved it, and those who disagreed with it offered smart and thoughtful criticisms. 

But the day after my talk, I heard from Chris Anderson, the head of TED. He told me that a group called “Black@TED”—which TED’s website describes as an “Employee Resource Group that exists to provide a safe space for TED staff who identify as Black”—was “upset” by my talk. Over email, Chris asked if I’d be willing to speak with them privately. 

I agreed to speak with them on principle, that principle being that you should always speak with your critics because they may expose crucial blind spots in your worldview. No sooner did I agree to speak with them than Chris told me that Black@TED actually was not willing to speak to me. I never learned why. I hoped that this strange about-face was the end of the drama. But it was only the beginning.

On the final day of the conference, TED held its yearly “town hall”—at which the audience can give feedback on the conference. The event opened with two people denouncing my talk back-to-back. The first woman called my talk “racist” as well as “dangerous and irresponsible”—comments that were met with cheers from the crowd. The second commentator, Otho Kerr, a program director at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, claimed that I was “willing to have us slide back into the days of separate but equal.” (The talk is online, so you can judge for yourself whether those accusations bear any resemblance to reality.)

In response to their comments, Anderson took the mic and thanked them for their remarks. He also reminded the audience that “TED can’t shy away from controversy on issues that matter so much”—a statement I very much agreed with and appreciated. Because he said as much, I left the conference fairly confident that TED would release and promote my talk just like any other, in spite of the staff and audience members who were upset by it. 

Two weeks later, Anderson emailed to tell me that there was “blowback” on my talk and that “[s]ome internally are arguing we shouldn’t post it.” In the email, he told me that the “most challenging” blowback had come from a “well-known” social scientist (who I later learned was Adam Grant). He quoted from Grant’s message directly:

Really glad to see TED offering viewpoint diversity—we need more conservative voices—but as a social scientist, was dismayed to see Coleman Hughes deliver an inaccurate message. His case for color blindness is directly contradicted by an extensive body of rigorous research; for the state of the science, see Leslie, Bono, Kim & Beaver (2020, Journal of Applied Psychology). In a meta-analysis of 296 studies, they found that whereas color-conscious models reduce prejudice and discrimination, color-blind approaches often fail to help and sometimes backfire.

I read the paper that Grant referenced, titled “On Melting Pots and Salad Bowls: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Identity-Blind and Identity-Conscious Diversity Ideologies,” expecting to find arguments against color blindness. I was shocked to find that the paper largely supported my talk. In the results section, the authors write that “colorblindness is negatively related to stereotyping” and “is also negatively related to prejudice.” They also found that “meritocracy is negatively related to discrimination.” 

I wrote back to Anderson:

Far from a refutation of my talk, this meta-analysis is closer to an endorsement of it.  The only anti–color blindness finding in the paper is that color blindness & meritocracy are associated with opposing DEI policies. Well, I do oppose race-based DEI policies in most (but not all) cases. Unapologetically. But that is a philosophical disagreement, not an example of me delivering incorrect social science.  I feel it would be unjustified not to release my talk simply because many people disagree with my philosophical perspective. By that standard, most TED talks would never get released.

To which he responded: “Thanks, Coleman. Great note. More soon.” 

Before this email exchange, I hadn’t seriously considered the possibility that TED might not post my talk at all. What’s more, the fact that the “most challenging” blowback to my talk was a social science paper showing that color blindness reduces stereotyping and prejudice puzzled me.

About a week later, I received an email from Whitney Pennington Rodgers, the current affairs curator at TED and the point person for the curation of my talk. Whitney said that in lieu of releasing my TED talk normally, TED was inviting me “to participate in a moderated conversation that we would publish as an extension of your talk.” I’m always happy to converse and debate, so I agreed—too hastily, in retrospect. I had assumed that the phrase “an extension of your talk” was meant metaphorically—i.e., that this “moderated conversation” would be a separate video. Only later in the email exchange did I realize that it was meant literally. In other words, TED wanted my talk and this “moderated conversation” to be released as a single, combined video. 

I had two problems with this. First, it would hold the release of my TED talk hostage to the existence of this other “moderated conversation” (which at the time was not guaranteed to happen at all). Secondly, I worried that tacking a debate to the end of my TED talk would effectively put an asterisk next to it. It would imply that my argument ought not be heard without also hearing the opposing perspective—that it shouldn’t be absorbed without a politically palate-cleansing chaser. Given that my talk had passed the initial fact-checking, the curation team, and had been cleared by Anderson and Rodgers themselves, I saw no reason why it wouldn’t be released and promoted as any other talk would be. I told Rodgers as much over a Zoom call. 

Because she and I were unable to come to an agreement, I had a follow-up call with Anderson. On that call, he conceded that his employees’ anger stemmed from political bias, but nevertheless asked me to agree to an atypical release strategy: TED would release the debate and the talk as separate videos, but at the same time. He sold this idea to me as a way to amplify my talk—as if this atypical release strategy were conceived for my benefit. That made little sense to me. The reality, I told him, was that these nonstandard release strategies were intended not to amplify my message but to dilute it. After all, the whole genesis of this debacle was the fact that certain TED staffers wanted to nix my talk altogether—and Anderson feared an internal firestorm if my talk were released normally. Clearly, the release proposals being pressed upon me were conceived in order to placate angry staffers, not in order to amplify my message. 

By the end of the calls, we had reached a compromise: TED would release and promote my talk as they would any other, and I would participate in a debate that would be released as a separate video no fewer than two weeks after my talk.

I held up my end of the bargain. TED did not. 

My talk was posted on the TED website on July 28. The debate was posted two weeks later. By the time the debate came out, I had moved on—I assumed that TED had held up its end of the bargain and was no longer paying close attention. 

Then, on August 15, Tim Urban––a popular blogger who delivered one of the most viewed TED talks of all time—pointed out that my talk had only a fraction of the views of every other TED talk released around the same time. Urban tweeted: 

There have been a million talks about race at TED. For this talk and only for this talk was the speaker required to publicly debate his points after the talk as a condition for having it posted online. As it is, the lack of standard promotion by TED has Coleman’s talk at about 10% of the views of all the other talks surrounding his on their site.

Two days later, I checked to see if Tim was onto something. As of August 17, the two talks released just before mine had 569K and 787K views, respectively, on TED’s website. The two talks released immediately after mine—videos that had less time to circulate than mine—had 460K, 468K views, and 489K views, respectively. My talk, by comparison, had 73K views—only 16 percent of the views of the lowest-performing video in its immediate vicinity. 

My debate with Jamelle Bouie—a New York Times columnist with almost half a million followers on X, formerly Twitter—has performed even worse on TED’s website. As of Tuesday, September 19—after having over a month to circulate—it had a whopping 5K views. That makes it the third worst-performing video released by TED in all of 2023. 

Either my TED content is performing extremely poorly because it is far less interesting than most of TED’s content, or TED deliberately is not promoting it. A string of evidence points to the latter explanation: unique among the TED talks released around the same time as mine, my talk has still not been reposted to the TED Talks Daily podcast. In fact, it was not even posted to YouTube until I sent an email inquiry. 

According to its website, TED’s mission is to “discover and spread ideas that spark imagination, embrace possibility, and catalyze impact.” They claim to be “devoted to curiosity, reason, wonder, and the pursuit of knowledge—without an agenda.” My experience suggests otherwise, with TED falling far short of those ambitions and instead displaying all the hallmarks of an institution captured by the new progressive orthodoxy. TED’s leadership must decide whether it wants to do something about it—or let the organization become yet another echo chamber. 

==

Let's call this what it was: an attempt, at a grassroots level, of agitating for blasphemy laws within TED. That's really what it was, accusations of blasphemy and heresy.

The correct answer, and there is one, is to discipline - and if necessary, dismiss - employees who violate the values and ethics of the organization. No matter how shrill and couch-fainting they are. Netflix did it. Get rid of them and they'll squawk a bit, and some of their fellow fundamentalists will rally around them, but they'll be out of your organization. Release a statement about your company's principles and values, and then let it blow over. Because it will.

You don't concede to religious fanatics. You stand up to them. Consistently. Especially when they work for you. (FFS, how were the highest levels of management afraid of the plebs?)

[kelabu-dikala-nisha]

𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚙𝚝. 𝟸 — Valuation Based on Numbers is a Suckass Dogma

These simple lines that form as something that we called "numbers" have—paradoxically—the authority to be a standard that could define us. If you're someone who has achieved a high amount of accomplishment academically since you were young, wherever you go, people will always bring it up to praise you and see you as a person with quality.

But, what if it's someone without any academic achievements? Would people see this person as someone with quality? Or would they even describe the person as "smart"?

What I'm trying to imply is that society is too easily perceives these individuals as ideal, remarkable, or highly esteemed solely based on the "numbers" they possess; the amount of money they have, their followers on social media, the trophies they accumulate, and the power they wield in politics. But they wouldn't take any interest and see people who own "low / bad numbers" as valuable. Remember Black Mirror's Nosedive? I hope our society will never become like that.

Have you experienced a time in childhood when you always hid your exam results from your mom when you got bad grades? Because you were scared of getting spanked, or it felt like proof that you were stupid, so you just wanted to get rid of it? As you get older, I hope you finally realize that the number on that piece of paper doesn't define you at all. You might suck at Math, but that doesn't mean you're stupid, right? People can be smart at other things, not just academics.

And then... The number on your weight scale. Phew, this is like your ultimate enemy. Especially if you're a female. Every time you meet your relatives or your mother's friends, they always commented on your body. "Oh, you gain weight" or "Wow, you look skinnier." Since you're a kid, you always think that there's a certain weight number that defines you as beautiful. But, believe me, that kind of thought is absolutely wrong and only damages your self-worth. I hope this primitive way of thinking could be eradicated, and people should stop commenting on young girls' bodies. Yes, I'm referring to those Asian aunties. They are adults, they should be wiser with their words.

It's bonkers that you are valuing someone by their "numbers." Numbers could fluctuate. They cannot be use as a measurement to value a person. You cannot base your judgment of a person purely on numbers. Their weight, their height, their monthly salary, their number of friends—you shouldn't even determine your partner's love based on the number of gifts they give you.

These simple lines that form as something that we called "numbers" is domineering the society—in a subtle way. It's funny, yet also saddening, to see people racing to achieve high "numbers" to be seen as valuable. Yes, we live in a materialistic world, it's a part of civilization. But there's a philosophical viewpoint that contradicts the existence of numbers as societal norms; Nihilism. Should we learn about Nihilism? And would it be a solace from this demanding world of ours?

[biomorganism]

Barber Westchester (2021):

Directed By: Jonni Philips Letterboxd

Where to watch: Free on youtube (includes interconnected series)

This movie contains: cartoon depictions of abuse, fantastical mental health crises, religious trauma and turmoil. This review does not detail these depictions in any meaningful way.

I waited quite a while to watch this movie

After stumbling across one of the smear tests for Barber, posted sometime in 2020 by Jonni on Twitter, I fell in love with her style, and especially the weird little creature known as Barber Westchester. I attribute a lot of my present affection for movies to my experience with Barber, so I really owe it to this movie in one way or another.

In a tragic twist of fate, however, I didn’t know about Secrets and Lies in a Town of Sinners: Season 1 (2020) until I gathered a couple friends to watch the movie, almost doubling the length of our blind watchparty. Secrets and Lies is a 10 episode prequel series of nearly 50 minutes and provides a glance at the various interconnected lives of Des Almado, a key setting for both stories. Barber isn’t incomprehensible without it, but it isn’t what it should be, as they’re both part of a larger cohesive work. Season 2 is actually coming out as I write this!

You should watch it for the full story!

Barber Westchester is a story about finding footing in a world that isn’t easily made for your feet. Themes of loneliness, inner turmoil, and kindness shine through in particular as Barber’s NASA internship takes an unexpected nosedive. With a smaller and uneven cast of characters, the focus of conflict between Barber vs themself and Barber vs The World feels like two equal battles that are in their own way, battling one another.

The animation and art direction for the movie is stunning, A lot of work being accredited to Jonni Philips herself, but not without help of several Guest Animators, responsible for the several scenes of unique animation styles, reserved mostly for character vignettes. Everything is colorful, bouncy, defined a little twitchy, but most importantly: Alive. Barber is a joy to watch in motion, and unlike anything you’ll come across without a dedicated search.

The sound and music of the movie is every part bouncy, colorful, and defined as the animation. The soundtrack by Dylan Kanner is one that compliments the action  with quirky fun ambient beats, or more sombre synths in slower moments, with full musical pieces opening, closing, and occasionally throughout the movie. I find myself coming back to a few tracks just to listen every now and then, especially For You (Barber Westchester version) and Look Around (at the World Around You).

While recorded in slightly varying levels of audio quality, the cast gives their all and every character has a personality that shines through in their writing and delivery. Chris Kim (also a guest animator!) provides the voice for the Barber and does a hell of a job doing it. Barber wouldn’t be what it is without them.

It’s good in like every way, sure, but who is this for?

Barber Westchester, ultimately, will shine the brightest for fans of Indie films, queer art, weird and experimental stuff, stories that play with the concept of reality, and stories that like to focus on one soul’s connection with everything else. It isn’t easily approachable for any old Joe off the street, but if you think you might be interested, absolutely give Secrets and Lies in a Town of Sinners a viewing. If you like one, you’ll like the other.

Barber Westchester: Parrots outta 10

[freaky-flawless]

So I Got Cleo's G3 Doll

Here's my thoughts under the cut. Just wanna put a disclaimer that I am someone who doesn't consider themself a fan of Gen 3, but is keeping an open mind. So just keep that in mind as you read, I am biased and do compare her to the G1 dolls, but I try to give credit where credit is due.

Like I said previously, I love the doll itself. Her face up is pretty (mine does have a slight imperfection, but its subtle enough that I'm not bothered by it), her hair is pretty, her skin tone and the shimmer they added to it are beautiful. I love her new body as well, though I do wish her torso and neck were a little longer. Specifically I love her big ears and hands. I do like G1 Cleo's hand pose a little bit more, but overall her new hands are great, and because they're bigger they're easier to remove. And finally, this will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I could do without the chest articulation in place of something else, like a doll stand.

I can't say much on the quality of her hair as it's not something I'm all that knowledgeable about. All I can say is that it feels more...plasticy? Compared to her G1 doll's hair. I'm having a hard time getting it to stay flat. I also think it's kinda odd that they seemingly made it a point to give all the dolls long brushable hair, but didn't provide brushes. Don't get me wrong, I have an abundance of Monster High brushes and don't need any more, but kids brand new to the series don't. And as someone with nieces, I can say for sure that they love brushing doll hair. I feel like doll stands and hair brushes are pretty standard things for dolls to come with nowadays, especially at that price range.

I'm very amused at how much she looks like Nefera, in the sense that the two of them look even more related than G1 Cleo and Nefera. It does look to me as though they took more inspiration from Nefera's G1 design more than Cleo's, which is interesting. I also discovered that Nefera's shoes, though they don't fit, match G3 Cleo's outfit pretty well, aside from the black in them.

Speaking of G3 Cleo's outfit...that's where my biggest disappointment lies.

I haven't exactly been subtle about my dislike for her boots. They don't go with the style of her dress, and overall I think giving a character who grew up in a hot desert climate boots is a super weird choice. On top of that I don't find them to be flattering on her new leg molds. Her calves are much thicker now, and adding thick boots to them really accentuates it and makes her look slightly awkward and disproportionate. However the actual quality of them is pretty good. There's a decent amount of detail, and I appreciate that the slit in the back of them doesn't go all the way up so they can't lose their shape, which is actually an issue I have with a couple G1 dolls. I would say the same for her accessories, they're well detailed and the paint job on them is really nice.

Her dress is where things take a nosedive. I think before I was so distracted by how much I disliked her boots that I didn't pay that much attention to her dress. But now that I have her and have felt the material I'm really disappointed by it. I don't know what material was used to make it, but I can assure it's plastic and pretty cheap feeling. Compared to G1 Cleo's clothes it feels like a cheap costume. I will say this material is probably more play proof, but I do have G1 Cleo's basic outfit, which is over ten years old by now, and her jumpsuit still looks brand new, and the material is so soft. It feels like real clothes. And compared to other modern doll lines the quality of her dress is kinda embarrassing. They couldn't have used a nicer material?? And aside from that, she has this new beautiful body mold, I would have really hoped that they'd have given her an outfit to accentuate it a bit more, like Draculaura's does.

Interestingly, I think her outfit in the show and on the box art would look better on her doll, and her doll's outfit would look better on her 3D model.

tldr; the doll is gorgeous, she should have come with a brush and a doll stand, her accessories are well detailed, and the quality of her dress is cheap.



[fatalism-and-villainy]

Anyway, hello all - here's the state of the Alpha.

I ended up taking an impromptu tumblr break for most of March, and my desire to post about stuff that is not Hannibal has taken a serious nosedive. It's been a long time since I've been so enthusiastic about a fandom - I didn't realize the degree to which I'd been participating out of obligation before, and how stagnant I was feeling about the kind of stuff that's been on my dash. I really feel like I'm having a completely fresh start, and that I've found something that's just for me, and that I don't feel pressure to tailor to my existing followers/context. And it's something that's the perfect balance for me - it appeals to my id, and it has an artistic/storytelling sensibility that I respect. Rewatching it has just been the gift that keeps on giving for me - I'm feeling the need to write mini essays for the first time in ages, not out of a internally-imposed pressure to produce content, but just because I want to and I'm enthusiastic. And working on fic for it has brought me a lot of joy as well. It... genuinely feels like falling in love again.

(This really goes to show how life-context dependent one's relationship with media is - though I'd seen the show before, I think the place I'm at now of a) the concept of kink being sexy being much more at the forefront of my mind, b) being more into film and visual media, and c) having more of a background now in camp and decadent literature, has given me much more of a framework for understanding and appreciating what the show is doing.)

This has prompted me to reflect on the state of fandom right now, and my relationship with it, and how I might best want to move forward with how I engage with it. I haven't come to a solid conclusion about that yet.

Anyway, tumblr, and the way I interact with it, have been a source of consternation for me over the past year or so. But I think finding a new fandom outlet that I'm really passionate about has given me a framework for engagement, for now. And I think I've found a way to somewhat quell the anxiety cycle/need to be engaged here 24/7 that I think was weighing me down before.

My hope is that I can enjoy myself for as long as I can with this interest, without either becoming too insular about it, or too enmeshed in fandom wank and detached from the source material's quality and personal significance to me.

[thesurestthing]

May 4, 2022 Paperwork/Immigration/Funding Update

TLDR; We need as much money as we can get, as soon as we can get it to cover immigration fees and health costs for our at risk family in the wake of a paperwork fuck up and bouts with covid.

 Hi everyone, just here with an update on our situation again. Right after Eleanor's birthday in early March we got word that our petitions for name corrections had been processed by relevant authorities, but only half of our requested changes were approved. Technically it's enough to get her papers in order even if it's not exactly how it's supposed to be, how we wanted it to be.

Unfortunately, although the one change has been approved, it still needs time to work through the system before we can actually receive the updated birth certificate. In March 2022 Rob and I were granted additional immigration extensions valid until July 2022, costing us about 1.2k USD. We probably won't be able to get Eleanor's papers sorted until after that and we won't be leaving the country to reset our visas without her, so we're hoping to raise at least another 1.2k USD to file for another extension in July.

After that we'll still need whatever we can get for trips to Manila to get American paperwork sorted, and then we need to fly out of the country together to reset our visas so it no longer costs us 1.2k every few months for overstaying.

Rob is still having intermittent complications from long covid and his general pre existing disabilities. His eyesight took a nosedive back in the beginning of February and we’re just now getting around to seeking treatment for that, he needs a lot of dental work done because of low quality dental work in the past, we’re trying to find him some quality cuff crutches to alleviate the pressure on his joints, we’re looking for specialists local to us to get him the care that he needs. A couple months ago he needed an MRI to check out his brain after what we thought was a neurological event.

You all have been so incredibly kind and helpful and amazing and wonderful, and we are so grateful for each and every one of you for sharing and donating to help keep our little family together. My sweet daughter, disabled partner, and my exhausted self thank you so so much.

Our preferred method of receiving donations is Rob’s paypal, so here’s the link for that as well as alternate methods of donations we are capable of receiving,

PayPal Donation Link (preferred bc lowest fees) -- https://href.li/?https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=AAPN4HRA9YLA4

GoFundMe -- https://href.li/?https://www.gofundme.com/f/family-riding-out-covid-overseas 

Ko-Fi -- https://href.li/?https://ko-fi.com/anexperimentallife 

Secondary Paypal Link (bc some non-US folks had trouble with the preferred one--but this one takes full fees) -- https://href.li/?https://ko-fi.com/anexperimentallife

For those not in the know about what's happened, here's a link to a past post with more details. There's also some info on the gofundme

https://anexperimentallife.tumblr.com/post/673717992166670336/jan-18-2022-us-couple-in-danger-of-being-forced

Thank you all again so much, more than words can even say.

[myticklishanimeheroes]

My Hero Academia

Eijiro Kirishima Tickle Headcanons

Our favorite sunshine boy and local rockhead is actually a monstrous tickle fanatic. He willingly lets his bros tickle the daylights out of him as well, interestingly enough without his quirk, he's actually very sensitive.

Lee:

Initially you'd assume Kirishima either isn't ticklish at all or that his quirk makes him completely immune to it. However, you'd actually be wrong, he has a few spots that are actually incredibly ticklish

Kirishima's sweet spots are all on his upperbody, the first is his armpits and tickling here literally sends him up the wall haha. The next best spot is his deep innie bellybutton, an unusual spot for sure. Finally his last spot is his hips and waistband

You don't even have to fight him to get to these spots... he will outright let you tickle him if you ask... in fact he will start to invite you to some sessions with the Bakusquad, if you enjoy it enough

Digging into his armpits makes him howl like a dog. Their especially sensitive to brushes and hard tickles, which make him squirm and babble. Be sure to get the center of his armpits for the best results.

His bellybutton is really just an extension of his super ticklish abs. All the nerves in there send him into a nosedive. Interestingly, he's so ticklish here but still bares it in his hero costume. Digging into the bellybutton with a toothbrush or an oiled brush works best .

His abs can be really worked over with a soft brush and soapy water as well

Then those hips and waistband of his.... really this is an unfair spot for him. The reactions he makes are as he says "unmanly". He squirms and wiggles like a belly dancer and his laughter takes on a more hiccupy quality.

His laughter and reactions overall are well above average, though he's not quite as ticklish as some of his other classmates.

Ler:

Is undefeatable as a Ler as he abuses the hell out of his quirk to both hold down and resist tickling back from his Lee.

Loves to target the other members of the Bakusquad, Kaminari and Bakugo especially.

HE is the only one who can get away with tickling Bakugo (or maybe its he's the only one who can withstand his retaliation)

Tickle attacks happen when you least expect it: Ida, Ojiro, Mina, and Midoriya are all targets of this

He starts at the worst spots first because it's "manly" to go for the kill first, though his style usually starts soft and gets harder as he goes on.

Teasing is in his blood, he is an expert teaser and will not hesitate to fluster and work over a sensitive Lee.

Yes sir, Kirishima is a raspberry boy, Bakugo especially.

Prefers to use his fingers instead of tools, thinks it makes the tickling more personal.

Overall ticklishness is an 8/10

Prefers to be Ler but fits as a Lee as well

[miraclespin]

I know that someone somewhere uploaded Blu-Ray rips for the series (raws, but still); specifically, an account on Twitter linked to it. My issue is that it was a link to a torrent, specifically, and one that wasn’t familiar to me- basically, if it’s not Nyaa (especially for anime), then I’m not going to be very trusting of it.

Aside from my increasing nervousness of torrenting without a VPN (I cannot get one because I have very little money, and no way to spend it online regardless), I’m generally kind of weary of torrents in the first place (that’s right- weary, not wary; while I am certainly the latter, I am also very much the former because the more obscure your interests, the longer a time a download wait is). Is there anywhere else I might would be able to find it, and would the source be verifiable? Also, has anyone actually tried that torrent out? I know I pointed it out to someone else who was asking the same thing that I was.

I’m mainly asking at all because Blu-Ray releases tend to have improved animation quality, and I know that after the second season, KJ’s animation quality takes a teeny bit of a nosedive. I also happened to find out that updated animation very much does exist, and as such, subsequent airings of the affected episodes showed the improvements exclusively. I do not have the same faith that the American side of things was given the same privilege, somehow.

[dracotheocracy]

Also do they ever make out in white collar because I remember that show being really homie erotic. Also do you remember when the hot thief’s best friend who I think was bald had to pretend to be him or something and had to distract someone so he was all like “oo I can’t sleep unless I have silk pjs and there’s whales in the background” because I remember that scene really clearly.

like do the two main guys ever make out? no, peter burke (fed) has more romantic chemistry with his wife than he does with neal (hot thief) and also hats off to matt bomer because neal is as straight as an immovable rod from dungeons and dragons 5th edition, in fact i actually didn't and still don't see anything homoerotic in their relationship until season 4 at which point the quality of the show's writing had kind of taken a bit of a nosedive because the writers couldn't wrap their heads around the idea of switching the focus onto the two black characters in the main cast instead of rehashing the same conflict between neal and peter but reskinned and with extra layers of contrivance for 2 more seasons. like i get that most people were probably watching the show for those two's antics but it really couldn't have killed them to devote more time to diana and jones if it meant keeping the writing from becoming stale (edit: like seriously as characters diana and jones were criminally underdeveloped in my professional opinion they really should've gotten more screentime)

also yeah you're thinking of mozzie that's neal's best friend and in fact i know exactly the scene you're talking about, i forget which episode and which season it's from but it's that scene where mozzie is getting babysat by the feds in a hotel room...? (i don't remember for the details) for some reason and he takes advantage of the fact they already think of him as weird and eccentric to levy a bunch of hyperspecific requests about his living arrangement so he can set up some ferris bueller/home alone style bullshit and sneak out without them noticing he's even woken up

[doramcdonald]

DJI Mini 3 Pro: The perfect balance of performance and portability!

If you're into drones, you are guaranteed to have stumbled across the brand DJI! As a constant voice of innovation in the industry, they constantly push the boundaries of what is possible. The DJI Mini 3 Pro is no exception! In this article, we will take a nosedive into its specs and features.

Compact and Portable

As the 'Mini' in the name suggests, the DJI Mini 3 Pro provides a powerful machine with a compact footprint. With folded dimensions of 9 cm x 6.2cm x 14.5 cm and unfolded dimensions of 36.2 x 7 x 25.1 cm. The DJI Mini 3 Pro is light at approximately 249 gms, making it an easy choice for travellers and hobbyist photographers. The sub-250 gms weight also helps it fly under the radar of drone regulations in countries across the globe. 

Amazing Flight Performance

The DJI Mini 3 Pro boasts impressive flight performance despite its small size. Equipped with powerful brushless motors, it can fly at speeds up to 16 metres per second! Additionally, it can ascend and descend at a rate of 5 metres per second, leading to an agile flying experience. 

Extensive Battery Life

Battery life is a crucial feature to consider when shopping for drones. The DJI Mini 3 Pro has an enhanced battery life paired with a high-capacity battery, translating to a maximum flight duration that's anywhere between 37 to 47 minutes! This ensures that you can capture vast areas of land without constant recharges. 

Advanced Camera System

Even the most incredible drone bodies can be rendered useless without a fantastic camera to capture footage with! But the DJI Mini 3 Pro's camera with a 1/1.3 CMOS 48 MP sensor provides exceptional picture quality, perfect for utilising the full-capability of the drone. The Mini 3 Pro can record 4k video at 60 fps while providing a 1080p, 30 fps live view. The camera is mounted on a 3-axis mechanical gimbal, ensuring smooth, stable footage irrespective of challenging weather conditions. Along with impressive video capabilities, the DJI Mini 3 Pro camera can also capture HDR photos, ensuring the output has rich detail and vivid colours in photo and video formats.

Shooting Modes

DJI Mini 3 Pro has a range of intelligent shooting modes, making it easier to use and more accessible to beginners! These modes include:

ActiveTrack 4.0

The ActiveTrack 4.0 programs the drone to automatically track and follow a subject, thus keeping it in the frame while avoiding obstacles. This is ideal for dynamic subjects like sports, animals or vehicles. 

QuickShots

QuickShots are predefined flight patterns. You can choose from Dronie, Circle, Helix, and Rocket modes, all of which are programmed to help simplify the creation of cinematic footage.

Waypoints

The waypoints feature allows DJI Mini 3 Pro users to plan and execute pre-set automated flight paths to help them focus on framing the perfect shot while the drone handles the piloting. 

SmartPhoto

The SmartPhoto feature optimises camera settings to the location's conditions, ensuring your footage or photograph is of the highest quality. 

Other Enhancements

The DJI Mini 3 Pro also boasts enhanced safety features, including a Return to Home function that brings the drone back to the take-off point in case it loses signal mid-flight or the battery runs low to critical levels. 

The drone's remote control features customisable buttons, and a 1080p/30 fps live view!

Conclusion

The DJI Mini 3 Pro has set new benchmarks for compact drones with its impressive and extensive list of features. We confidently recommend the drone to travellers and hobbyists looking for the perfect balance between image quality and portability.

[nickgerlich]

At The Movies

If you live long enough, you get to witness many tech revolutions. It’s also how your house becomes littered with obsolete junk. I guess that’s the price of Progress.

All of my students today have been witness to the arrival of streaming music and video. These advances are truly revolutionary, in that we no longer need tangible products to listen or watch, other than some kind of device to capture wifi. Ownership is out, rentership is in.

And we are now witnessing the slow, painful death of legacy media like CDs and DVDs. Who among us still has stacks of these laying around though? I bet you also have a CD and DVD player somewhere, although it may not be attached to speakers, amplifier, or a TV.

Best Buy is the latest to tap nails in the coffin of the DVD. They plan to phase out all discs by early 2024, but promise to continue stocking them through the holidays if you just have to have a few more.I remember when the DVD debuted in the US in March 1997. They were available in Japan in November 1996, and I had seen them in Taiwan at Christmas 1995. They were a revolution, and quickly replaced VHS, which had been the mainstay for roughly two decades.

The DVD was the logical extension of the CD, which arrived in 1982. While CDs quickly replaced vinyl records and cassette tapes, they are well on their way to an unceremonious death. To put things into perspective for both tangible music and video, only 33.4 million CDs were sold in 2022, while at the same time, 41 million vinyl records were sold. Score one point for nostalgia! CDs peaked in 2000, and sales have dropped 95% since then. DVDs are in a nosedive these days as well, peaking at 6.1 billion in 2011. Wired Magazine predicted sales of only 300 million units in 2022.

I confess to having stacks of both, but I couldn’t tell you the last time I listened to a CD or watched a DVD movie. My legacy DVD player sits forlornly on the TV stand, in dire need of an HDMI cable. I don’t see myself connecting it any time soon.

Best Buy is wise to clear out remaining stock, because it will allow for better use of its selling space. In fact, one of the KPIs that retailers use is sales per square foot. If you’re using space to display products that are barely selling, you’re not doing your best. Sure, one might argue that someone needs to take care of the dwindling niche market that still wants DVD quality in their home theatre, but I suspect that business will be left to an online firm like Amazon who can service those customers from one central inventory.

And that’s for as long as it is viable for them to do so, depending on both customer demand as well as movie studios continuing to produce discs.

Revolutions like this take no prisoners; they take victims. Sometimes it takes a while for the revolution to take hold, but it does so eventually. Sure, there will always be a few who choose not to adopt the new way, but they do so at their own peril. Unless there is a revival—think vinyl records—the old way will be buried. How long it will be remembered is debatable.

Lastly, consider this. Inventory is a two-edged sword. You can’t make money without inventory, but too much of it can become the bane of your existence. And when you remember that the task of the retailer is to have the right stuff at the right price, in the right place and at the right time, you see what a balancing act inventory management is.

Kudos to Best Buy for a wise decision, even if it will pain some customers in the process. We barely had DVDs for a quarter century, and already they are on death’s door. That’s the nature of tech revolutions.I just have to wonder what will replace streaming, because right now, it seems unfathomable. I bet there are some futurists already scheming its replacement, though. And I hope I’m around long enough for one more revolution.

Dr “Keep The Wheels Turning” Gerlich

Audio Blog