October 18, 2020: On guard in Knoxville.
The obvious tactic to strike fear in your heart right now is the easiest: the phrase “269-269”.
(I don’t need to do horror movies. I pay attention to current events, I follow Iowa State sports, and as far as I’m concerned the scariest movie of the 21st century is Gone Girl. )
However, there is something even scarier out there — another unraveling thread in the American cultural fabric. From NBC:
Fans of the classic “Peanuts” comic-strip are expressing outrage over the fact that the quintessential animated holiday specials based on the series have moved to the Apple TV+ streaming service instead of airing on network television.
The linked story, like pretty much everything written about streaming video, pays minimal lip service to/completely ignores the fact that millions of American cannot obtain high-quality-livestream-capable Internet access at any price. The best many more can get is to huddle around an iPhone eating into a data plan on an Apple TV+ subscription costing $5 a month. There are DVDs available, but it’s getting harder to get a DVD player.
Whether 10, 25, or 50 years hence, families will not be gathering around any sort of device to watch a classic YouTube unboxing video or whatever. (And certainly not Quibi. What is Quibi, you ask? Exactly.)