Many years ago Alex and I lived together, and as he bought Sky and then Sky+, I remember complaining 'It makes life too easy'. I don't think I had much of an explanation as to why that was a bad thing. With the recent promotion of Sky+, and Virgin's alternative, I find myself feeling the same thing again. This time, however, I might have an explanation. Slavoj Zizek argues that such devices (like the VCR) take pleasure away from you, rather than give it to you, and I can't help agreeing with him. These are devices that make you more dependent, not more independent. Something is being taken away from you, not given to you. The plush, clean, sophisticated adverts for Sky+ with major celebrities recommending it, in some way dishearten me. They seem empty and vacuous, and I can't help thinking this is the type of life they are advocating also: a life where you no longer have to do anything, everything is done for you. The box will not only record the programs for you, it will watch them too, saving you time and effort.
[Part two of this post will appear tomorrow.]
7 comments:
It also removes the watercooler moments when you discuss last night's gogglebox. Because you might have seen it, the next person may have recorded it to watch later in the week and the other may be using 'series link' and intending to watch it all one weekend when his wife is off on a hen do in Prague.
So the question stops being "Did you see xxx last night?" and becomes "Have you seen xxx yet?" which completely changes the dynamic of the conversation.
I don't have Sky or Sky+. But I do have a HDD recorder for a few things. That said, I usually manage to watch them on BBC iPlayer before I get to play the recordings back!
I'm not sure if I should wait for Part 2...
Slavoj Zizek said this about the VCRs in an advert he was doing for More 4 right? Those are the best kinds of ads when you don't know you're watching them.
I can't understand why you wouldn't want to be able to remove adverts from your tv experience. That's what Sky+ gives me.
There is a risk with Sky+ that become enslaved to it, "I must watch this tonight or I'll run out of space". That's bad obviously and I think it's the kind of thing Zizek was talking about.
Making things easier for society is better because it means progress. You may as well say "I think being able to watch movies on television is bad because it stops you from the effort of going to the cinema".
You may as well say "Cinema is bad because it stops you reading books" or "Books are bad because it stops you listening to stories".
Our history is a struggle for progress. Each new invention takes us away from the cave. And allows us to spend more time thinking.
The new adverts for Sky+ are rubbish though.
I agree about the Sky+ ads. Aimed at the stupid. Maybe at people who can't read TV listings :)
Don't get me wrong, I think Sky+ is an amazing piece of technology; I just can't justify a Sky subscription in the first place as we don't watch that much TV.
I do miss the cricket though (but it's better on the radio anyway) and football is always better watched in the pub.
Interestingly, the captcha for this comment starts with the letters "tv..."
Yes, you should have waited for part two! Or I should've explained part two would try to give the other side of the argument. However, there are still a few points on which we disagree.
I don't see how making things easier for society equates as progress. Progress anyway is an old 19th century concept. Why is it necessarily good? What's wrong with living in a cave? I'd like to argue we had a lot more time for thinking in a cave than we do today.
Progress, if we can use it, should be towards a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us. It should be towards advances in medicine, and raising the general standard of living throughout the globe, not so that middle class Westerners could pause live TV.
I'm not sure if you were joking about the More 4 advert, but I read Zizek's views in his book How to Read Lacan. I'm sure he expands on them in more detail in his other books, and you should look to them for a better understanding of them (I don't think what you say is what he means). I'm sure I've simplified them.
Removing adverts from your TV experience is definitely a good thing though.
I'll talk about the other bits in more depth later. But just wanted to clear up one little thing: Zizek is currently doing teaser trailers for More 4 (those adverts at the end of the adverts that pretend not to be adverts). In one of which he talks about the dangers of the VCR.
Ok, I haven't seen those so was unsure of what you meant! Also, Adrian, I have no idea what a captcha is!
Here is a link to me talking about Captchas on my blog: Captcha 22
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