Skip to content

The iPad and Dolphin Murder

2010-01-30 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Internet & YouTube · news analysis

Hank weighs two new media technologies: Apple's iPad, which he thinks will succeed only in unexpected ways (and books still beat e-readers), and YouTube's new rentals, easy but too pricey next to Netflix and wrong for computers; he then rents and reviews The Cove, a superb documentary whose exposure of Japan's dolphin harvest he says has no word bad enough.

What is said

00:00:00 — Apple's new tablet: interesting, but if the iPad takes off it will be in unexpected ways, as blogs and the iPod changed newspapers and albums; maybe study guides

  • ★★ Hank notes Apple introduced a tablet PC on Wednesday, mocks the idea that no one had thought of one before, but says he finds it very interesting. (playful) (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Hank thinks that if the iPad takes off it will be in ways no one expects, as blogs broke the newspaper format, the iPod the album, and films never suited desktop computers. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank thinks the iPad will make sense for study guides with interactive tests and diagrams, but not for a regular (word cut off). (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★ The description asks viewers to subscribe to Wheezy Waiter so that he will make videos all the time. — 00:00:00 · Craig Benzine

00:00:45 — Hank, an e-reader user for five years, on why books will always beat e-readers (throwability, flippability)

  • ★★ Hank says he is an early adopter of e-readers and has used them for about five years. — 00:00:45
  • ★★★ Hank argues books will always beat e-readers: a book takes handling you would not give an iPad (shown on screen) and can be flipped back through, especially nonfiction; e-books still have a place. — 00:00:45

00:01:16 — Battery-life gag; reviewing YouTube's new rentals: easy via Google Checkout, US only, 24 hours; long-form needs TVs; $3.99 steep next to Netflix

  • ★★ Hank tried YouTube's newly launched rentals program and watched a movie; with Google Checkout already linked to his Google account, renting was very easy. — 00:01:16 · YouTube, Google
  • ★★ Hank says the YouTube rentals are available only in America and a rented movie can be watched for 24 hours. — 00:01:16 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank thinks YouTube must recognise that people don't like watching long-form content on computers; rentals won't really work unless they work with people's televisions. (hedged) — 00:01:52 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank compares the $3.99 rental price with the $5.99 a month he pays Netflix for about five DVDs a month plus unlimited streaming. — 00:01:52
  • ★★ Hank says the rental was a good experience overall but the price seems steep; the model makes no sense to him unless he gets more for his money or pays less. (hedged) — 00:01:52

00:02:21 — Review of The Cove as a film: high-energy documentary, great pacing and story, a deeply disturbing result

  • ★★★ Hank calls The Cove fantastic as a film, one of the most high-energy documentaries he has seen, with great pacing and story, depth and breadth; he would watch it again. — 00:02:21
  • ★★ Hank says what the filmmakers' espionage reveals at the end is more disturbing than anything he has ever seen, in real life or on film. — 00:02:21

00:02:56 — Worth $3.99, go watch it; ideologically, Japan's dolphin harvest has no word, the closest being Orson Scott Card's 'xenocide'; sign-off to Maureen

  • ★★ Hank says The Cove was worth $3.99, hopes the filmmakers earn plenty to keep doing such work, and encourages viewers who can stomach it to watch it before it leaves YouTube on Sunday. — 00:02:56
  • ★ Hank says The Cove rental costs $3.99 and, he thinks, is available only in North America and only until this Sunday, after which it will be on Netflix. (hedged) — 00:02:56
  • ★★ Hank says he generally sees humans as often right and often wrong, and very rarely comes down absolutely on one side of an issue. — 00:02:56
  • ★★★ Hank says there is no word for what is going on with the dolphin harvest in Japan; the closest he can find is Orson Scott Card's 'xenocide'. — 00:03:25

Threads in this video

BR2_3ea23cbde5