Does the Younger Generation Lack Substance?

Is the younger generation totally lacking substance? Many have argued that in the age of quick bites (or bytes) of information in place of intense and involved content consumption, the youth of today are completely one-dimensional. They only know what they read on the Internet, only appreciate the opinions of their peers, and think they know it all after watching a few news programs. But is this true?

I've often argued in favour of the teens today: just because they're communicating via instant messaging, speaking in choppy, bite-sized sentences that involve "like" as every second word, and often using cryptic Internet slang (lol, ttfn), this doesn't mean that they're stupid or lack the capacity to actually carry on an intelligent conversation (like, seriously!) But I'm beginning to wonder if all of this sporadic, digital consumption is in fact leading to a seriously intellectually (or culturally) deprived group of individuals.

What prompted this thinking? For the past few weeks, I've been reading and hearing about all the hoopla surrounding the movie Twilight, which is based on the hugely popular book series of the same name. Shopping mall tours are jam-packed with fans looking to meet the actors. Young girls everywhere are screaming at the top of their lungs at the sight of the lead actor, what's-his-name (and yes, he is an unknown actor). Wow, I've been thinking to myself. I know I've heard that these books are really good, and it looks like the movie is just as great. It was only recently that I found out the movie hasn't even hit theatres yet!

I understand why there was a lot of anticipation for the new Bond movie before it came out. Daniel Craig proved himself a great actor in the last one and, well, the Bond series has been around for decades and has built a longstanding reputation and fan base. The same goes for the latest Batman installment, Dark Knight. Heath Ledger was an actor known to always deliver a fantastic performance. But the young'ens today are going crazy for this new actor guy with clearly no clue as to whether he, or the movie, is actually any good! Apparently a brooding face, spiky hair, and smart marketing are enough to warrant a fan base these days.

Within the next few years, the early baby boomer crowd will slowly be moving into retirement, while these teens and tweens enter the workforce. Let's hope that by that time, some substance is injected back into the group as a whole, and they, like, learn a thing or two about true appreciation for the spoken or written word; and for someone's acting chops by actually seeing them act, not just crack a smile on the red carpet.

Could Bond Put a Sour Taste in the Mouths of Blu-ray Owners?

Is James Bond giving Blu-ray a bad name? Reports are flooding the 'net that James Bond Blu-ray DVDs from a new collection are failing to play in many Blu-ray players, leading to customer frustration and anger. This isn't good news for a format that's only just begun to resonate with the average buyer.

According to various online forums, like Amazon and AVS Forum, the new DVDs, which include titles like Die Another Day, Live and Let Die, and From Russia With Love, reportedly begin to play but then cut out part way through; get stuck in the menu; or just lead to a black screen. This has been reported from owners of a variety of Blu-ray players from a number of manufacturers; although it appears from comments that the discs play just fine on a PlayStation 3 gaming console (which has a built-in Blu-ray player). I can't attest to the issues from personal experience since I haven't tried the DVDs myself. But given the high number of angry customers posting online, it appears that an issue does indeed disc with at least a few of the titles in a few players. However, many cite that a firmware upgrade will rectify the problem.

The Bond franchise is hugely popular, so there have likely been major sales of these titles. Will these issues turn people off of Blu-ray? While a firmware upgrade might eventually solve the playback issue, it doesn't solve the initial frustration of curling up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn only to watch a black screen. Luckily, I gather from sifting through the comments that some consumers are forgiving.

"My positive experience with so many other discs gives me optimistic confidence that the problem with these 6 discs will soon be a fading bad memory," says one commenter on Amazon.com. However, he's obviously an early-adopter and technophile, claiming to already own upwards of 100 Blu-ray discs.

Other buyers are unfortunately not so forgiving.

"The end result is a big fat black eye for Blu-ray," chimes in another buyer. "The Blu-ray Disc Association, the hardware manufacturers, and the content producers need to get their act together."

One techy reader on AVS Forum claims that these issues are the very reason he won't recommend Blu-ray to "ordinary people". "The worst part is just because these player's firmware can be upgraded, the studios think it's okay to break compatibility at will," he says. "It's not like they can't test these discs on the available players. There has to eventually come a point where they expect the mass market to be able to buy Blu-ray and they will have to freeze the feature set to what works on all players in the marketplace."

On a positive note, all those who did manage to get the discs playing cite impressive video quality and great sound.

Bottom line: it's clearly beneficial both visually and audibly to make use of the Blu-ray format, despite any one-off issues that might occur during these relatively early stages. Remember: HDMI didn't come out of the gate perfect either, but it has quickly become the de facto standard in home A/V connectivity.