I was in my 20s (mid 1980s) when I first saw James Burke's excellent #Connections series. I "lost my innocence" when he explained what planned obsolescence was. About that same time, I learned about media conglomerates via Bill Moyers show. I learned about #shrinkflation probably around that time, too; #enshittification was further down the road.
And people wonder why I'm so cynical about big business.
The 80-second clip above captures a rocket launch, something of which we've all seen footage at one time or another. What makes its viewers call it 'the greatest shot in television' still today, 45 years after it first aired, may take more than one viewing to notice.
The Greatest Shot in Television: James Burke Had One Chance to Nail This Scene
https://www.openculture.com/2024/10/the-greatest-shot-in-television.html
#HackerNews #GreatestShot #Television #JamesBurke #FilmScene #Documentary
The 80-second clip above captures a rocket launch, something of which we've all seen footage at one time or another. What makes its viewers call it 'the greatest shot in television' still today, 45 years after it first aired, may take more than one viewing to notice.
2/ Now THIS is how you report a rocket launch for the BBC!
https://youtu.be/cCJh5D0FCZk?si=xGMKyZSemkFA1kyZ
Almost half a century on, "Connections" remains a masterpiece of television. I found it enthralling when it was first broadcast, despite being too young to follow all of James Burke's arguments, and it still draws me in, forcing me to think even while it entertains.
And nobody has ever been less appropriately attired for farm labour than Burke is here.
BBC Archive: "1978: Could You Survive Without Modern Technology?"
This is a must-watch for folks today, who are even more #TechnologyDepedent, @wesdym ! Wow!
#KesslerSyndrome #CarringtonEffect #SocietalCollapse #DependenceOnTechnology #OverDependenceOnTechnology #TechnologyTrap #JamesBurke
I remember watching this when it first came out @wesdym! TY for the reminder!
A pendulum! This jogs my brain to an apparently-random #memory, likely from #JamesBurke's #TheDayTheUniverseChanged series, about how #latitude was easy to determine via the skies, but that #longitude could not be measured until timepieces that did NOT require a #pendulum to drive it were invented.
Pendulum movement isn't very functional on a rolling #ship, after all.
And at that moment, the name of the item
I held and it's purpose snapped vividly to mind: it was a #sextant!
5/x
JoeJoeTom (aka Eerie Tom)
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