Posted by on under boing boing, airline entertainment, vanity project, 3d screens, satellite broadcast, giant robots, video demand, broadcast and cable, flipbook, auditoriums, blockbuster, entertainment systems, gimmick, no doubt, mey, punters, filmmaker, adjunct, sound eff | 
My latest Guardian column, "Why economics condemns 3D to be no more than a blockbuster gimmick," discusses the difficulty of making truly 3D movies (that is, movies that lose something crucial in 2D) in a world where movies need to find a home on 2D small-screens in order to recoup. Movies, after all, rely on the aftermarket of satellite, broadcast and cable licenses, of home DVD releases and releases to airline entertainment systems and hotel room video-on-demand services - none of which are in 3D. If the movie couldn't be properly enjoyed in boring old 2D, the economics of filmmaking would collapse. So no filmmaker can afford to make a big-budget movie that is intended as a 3D-only experience, except as a vanity project. What's more, no filmmaker can afford to make a small-budget 3D movie, either, because the cinema-owners who've shelled out big money to retrofit their auditoriums for 3D projection don't want to tie up their small supply of 3D screens with art-house movies. They especially don't want to do this when there's plenty of competition from giant-budget 3D movies that add in the 3D as an optional adjunct, a marketing gimmick that can be used to draw in a few more punters during the cinematic exhibition window. I have no doubt that there are brilliant 3D movies lurking in potentia out there in the breasts of filmmakers, yearning to burst free. But I strongly doubt that any of them will burst free. The economics just don't support it: a truly 3D movie would be one where the 3D was so integral to the storytelling and the visuals and the experience that seeing it in 2D would be like seeing a giant-robots-throwing-buildings-at-each-other blockbuster as a flipbook while a hyperactive eight-year-old supplied the sound effects by shouting "BANG!" and "CRASH!" in your ear. Why economics condemns 3D to be no more than a blockbuster gimmick...
Tagi: boing boing, airline entertainment, vanity project, 3d screens, satellite broadcast, giant robots, video demand, broadcast and cable, flipbook, auditoriums, blockbuster, entertainment systems, gimmick, no doubt, mey, punters, filmmaker, adjunct, sound eff
Posted by on under frt, gimmick, pepsi, webcam, mdash, marketing |
Augmented reality is stupid as a marketing gimmick—hold a Pepsi can in front of your webcam and be underwhelmed!—but this use of it is both practical and amazing. As you drive, this...
Tagi: frt, gimmick, pepsi, webcam, mdash, marketing
Posted by on under nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp, work pants, cable installer, doing projects, knee pads, knee pad, first glance, background story, youtube, heavy weight, gimmick, painters, armor, squares, pockets, flooring, knees, amp, rsquo, demo |
Armor Professional Work Wear makes work pants (mostly for painters) that have additional pockets for knee pads. Sounds like a simple gimmick that you might think, big deal, at first glance. I was lucky enough to demo a pair and was very impressed. The construction of the pants was very solid, material was a heavy weight but still comfortable. The knee pads are flexible squares that simply slide in and out of the knee pockets so it’s very easy to take them out for wearing them around the house and then put them in when it’s time to work. Not to say they are a problem to leave in because you really don’t notice the knee pads just walking around.
The knee pads will not replace a true knee pad for those laying flooring or other such work but for just doing projects around the house or general construction work you wouldn’t believe how they change the way you work. Our shop has concrete floors but when you are wearing these it changes the way you work by allowing you to get down under projects like second nature. I also showed them to a cable installer and he thought they were the greatest invention since sliced bread because in addition to added support, these would help keep his knees from getting muddy/wet outside.
The background story on these pants in also pretty interesting one. It is all about professional painters but I think they are ideal for anyone who has a favorite pair of work pants, which I would bet is everyone who reads coptool.com. Cost is $35 (white) & $40 (tan) per pair. Here is a YouTube on these:
Tagi: nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp, work pants, cable installer, doing projects, knee pads, knee pad, first glance, background story, youtube, heavy weight, gimmick, painters, armor, squares, pockets, flooring, knees, amp, rsquo, demo
Posted by on under digg, gimmick |
3D is right down there with Smell-O-Vision
Tagi: digg, gimmick
Posted by on under nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp, kilt wearers, work pants, kilts, quality work, workman, gimmick, peoe, trade show, joke, seattle, high quality, job |
You may have seen something on these before and maybe, like I did, though it was a joke or at least a gimmick of some kind. If you have taken a trip to Seattle recently however you will actually see a good number of people walking around in Kilts. The Utilikilt company, based in Seattle, sells a ton of kilts everyday including their Workman’s Kilt which goes for $230. That is a fair amount more than most high quality work pants so it would seem there are some avid kilt wearers out there. Blaklader, another maker of some nice professional work gear, has the Gasglow Kilt which was admittedly created as a “trade show piece” but apparently was so popular it’s now a part of their regular product mix. Very interesting trend to keep an eye on, perhaps in a few years we will all be wearing Kilts in the summer wondering how we ever lived without their natural cooling properties...
Tagi: nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp, kilt wearers, work pants, kilts, quality work, workman, gimmick, peoe, trade show, joke, seattle, high quality, job
