DISCLAIMER: This video has absolutely nothing to do with magic as a singular subject, though it does feature magic in it at a particular point. If this has been put in the wrong forum, I apologise profusely.

To the Good People of the Café,

I put this here purely for your own enjoyment. A self-written skit entitled:

New Computer VS Old Computer --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nHhAWIUGDA

Inspired by true events, this is a playful look at the differences between old and new technologies. Having computers run the world certainly give us a broad common basis of familiarity when it comes to experiencing the quintessentially 'OLD PC'.

Comments always welcomed.

Cheers Lads and Ladies!

Rowan

While humorous I am afraid many will accept the "gap" between new and old as immense when that difference is small compared with "no computer" and "any computer." Most businesses today could be run quite effectively on an old 286 for a fraction of the cost. The new expensive models only free up the employee's time so that they can make personal phone calls and browse the Internet on company time. Saving time is meaningless if the gain is not meaningfully applied.

Today's computers have to run faster just to stay in the same place since a majority of processor time is spend on background processing wading through megabythes of unrequested drivel. Huge diskdrives with fast retrieval just leads to sloppy "housekeeping" habits, and retrieving 20,000 search responses means little if the lazy ready only scans the first page.

As a business consultant I think I'll shoot the next business owner who says he can't give promised raises because he has to get a faster computer.

"I have more ram than you do -- nyeh - nyeh!"

Nicely done though -- don't let me dampen your production enthusiasm.

Thanks for your in-depth feedback funsway!

As I stated earlier, this skit is here purely for enjoyment. It points to nothing more than itself: extreme juxtapositions for the sake of a giggle. That being said, you have taken time to give a lengthy response and this is obviously something that you have a passion about.

I agree with you completely. I am part of an apologetics group where we discuss hot button issues; this term's subject being the culture of 'one-eyed prophets' (per say) who either label technology as infallible & beneficial or Luddite fundies who designate it as evil.

I certainly hate the way Western consumerist lifestyle is applauding those who bask precociously on the summit of technological innovation, ever-ready to upgrade at the slightest hint of 'machine redundancy' and peg the old machine into landfill. Then there is the unavoidable and FRUSTRATING issue of 'built in redundancy' which just about every production company engages in nowadays.

I would like to think that this skit remains frivolous enough to capitalize on our broad common basis of familiarity with computer stereotypes. I can't imagine a viewer going away thinking 'So true. I need to upgrade my computer this second, regardless of how new it is.' No PC runs like the fictitious New PC Incarnate in this skit. Anyone with an ounce of sense would realise that any machine is singularly flawed. The danger, if any, is that this skit facilitates or justifies the endless and fruitless pursuit of 'the perfect machine'.

Maybe I'm reading too far into your response, but I thought I would dignify you with a thought-out reply.

Thanks again for watching! Nothing will ever quench my enthusiasm, short of a fridge falling on my head... or a computer even.

Regards,

Chappo

Must be great to be part of such a group. American education suffers greatly from refusing to look to work being done in other nations/cultures around the world. While pursuing my last Master's degree I was continuously criticized form bring in educational models from "non-traditional" areas such as Australian work with Distance Learning. In a recent discussion with some Graduate studants here I was disturbed to learn that some professors ignot any authors or studies of the "pre-PC" era, readily teaching that those not educated in a computer environment can't possibly understand edcucational and social problems extent in age cohorts who can't imagine life without a computer. So, rather than just a passion, I have a real fear that our culture will dissolve into a myopia in which language is limited to SpellCheck and "facts" defined by what comes up on the first page of a Google search. The danger is in devaluating "knowledge" in favor of "believing" what someone else believes is important or relevant.

So, I applaud the advances in computational speed as a tool when I need it, but often wonder, "exactly what is the CPU doing now" while that green bar creaps across the status bar. "Big Brother" in a box? Is it the Virus Protection companies who launch the latest terrors? What flashing, invasive ad is about to appear in response to key words from my text? Nameless shadows are making decisions about "what is best for me," and charging me for the invasion.

For magic we are already seeing many who will not buy a new trick unless they can see a YouTube demonstration with a large number of hits. Then they will pretend that this trick is of interest to their intended audience with no concern over audience engagement. In the near future I expect someone to appraoch my table in a restaurant and ask, "Wanna see some magic?" Then he will set a laptop on the table and interupt my meal with a computer enhanced production version of his sloppy sleights and "popular" effects.

I hope your research can prompt future threads in other sections of the Café' where the influence of computer bondage on magic performance can be discussed.

Loved it! Very creative. Fun. Thanks for sharing it!
Ted L

No longer available in my country because of the music copyright infringement???

@ Leondo: Thanks for your wonderful comments!

@ Tim: Germany is the only country that will not display the video. The audio analyser says we are using a copyrighted song, when in fact we are using an authorised, royalty-free lvie recording of the song in question. I apologise! Thanks for at least giving it a try though!

OK it annoyed me so much that someone can decide what I can or cannot see I invested in a couple of VPN's (Virtual Private Networks) and now I have IP addresses in the UK and the USA and can connect to the internet using either of these addresses and the website I am visiting assumes I am accessing it from within the county

The advantage is I can now watch all my old favorite TV shows in the UK and USA yoo-hoo!

loved the clip by the way...
Tim

Tim, that certainly made me chuckle. Incidentally, Germany has some of the strangest copyright laws I have ever seen.

Also, thanks for your kind words regarding the clip. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Best Wishes,

Chappo

In Germany, you can also use a free proxy server to work your way around the youtube problem. There are many services like that. vtunnel.com works fine for me.

Hmmm... Free eh?