Raven wrote:Hmmmm .. see the irony?
Just because *I* cant be bothered with nearly everything on television at the moment doesn't mean that it is suddenly going to vanish. If I did have such powers, to make what annoys me go away forevermore, then Dale Winton would be purchasing a pair of brown trousers about now...
Raven wrote:1943? Sources please.
The ridiculously expensive Ampex VRX-1000 hails from 1956 - there are a couple of prototypes dating back earlier than that, but that is the first "proper" recorder. There doesn't seem to be a list of individuals who purchased them, but one was found in a farm in Connecticut at some point around 1986 (the same haul that had a bunch of OTR recordings).
Raven wrote:And do you really think any naysaying about television from partway through WWII, many decades before the internet, apps and digitally-storing, interactive recording devices were invented or could even be imagined can have any relevance to the contemporary situation of a 21st Century digital age with such a rapid pace of change?
It shows that people are always looking at the negatives, and trying to tear things down. We shouldn't be looking to find fault with the way things are, but to improve the things we appreciate. Focusing on positives rather than negatives can eliminate some of the supposed "problems" which people simply
love pointing out.
Raven wrote:Yes, and we've been lagging way behind America and Europe for years, but where they go, we'll follow - we have to. As your clip says, a fast broadband connection is "a vital part of business these days." So this obviously has to change.
But that is the point - we are lagging behind. Not just in internet availability, but in scores of areas. Things which Britain used to lead the world in have been abandoned, or neglected, or - in the case of manufacturing - nearly completely dismantled. We shouldn't be playing catch-up, we should be pioneering. Remember the early days of Vertigo? That was British talent. If things had gone differently, the majority of what was published could have easily been produced in the UK. When I pointed out that chances aren't being taken, that is precisely what I am getting at.
Weekly comics: When was the last time something in 2000 A.D. actually had an impact beyond "gee, that was kinda neat" and
meant something. Something important. The Beano, which is largely constrained by audience, still has room to grow into a title that is unmissable.
Away from the weeklies, when was the last time that Viz ran anything that made people stop and think "can you really publish that?" as was the reaction for some of the earlier material. When I say all this, it is from a position of frustration that chances are being missed, and opportunities not taken. The phrase "go big, or go home" comes to mind. It has become a rarity for things (anything - from comics, through film, television, literature...) to attempt to do anything which challenges, engages and expands beyond expectations.
Raven wrote:But you go on to write about artistic high points in the form of experimental new directions, which is a separate thing from something regaining its foothold as a highly popular mass market medium, isn't it?
Nope. It is all tied in. I use the phrase "everything is connected" perhaps too much, but it is. You get the critical attention, and press exposure, from aiming high. Look at the reaction in The New York Times to a number of graphic novels - can you imagine anything on the stands at the moment being treated in any other way but contempt by those same critics? That's the point I was making about the branding on related products - if something is hidden away in the racks at Tesco or wherever (or worse, being stocked solely in a comic book shop, with all of the connotations in polite society that carries) how do you expect people to know a title is still being sold?
Here's something I have been trying to square away with the heavy emphasis on British product which characterizes a lot of what I write about - there are no titles in key categories that I can recommend to people. When I am asked what decent crime trades are worth spending time with, I either answer Sin City or a general "Latin American film noir graphic novels" when I
should be able to reel off British titles. The ones which are out there aren't in the same league. For great SF my first instinct is always Ghost In The Shell (Kōkaku Kidōtai) - there's nothing which comes close to it being published in the UK. As for historical adventures - which used to be a massive part of the weeklies - there simply isn't the availability of the good stuff. Reprint collections seem to have worked wonders for US publishers, but there is nowhere near the same level of exploitation of intellectual properties in the UK.
A person could be forgiven for thinking that there are publishers which are embarrassed that they published comics once upon a time...
