The Perils of the Digital

One of my favorite video stores, Vidiots, is having financial troubles. They are encouraging their members to rent movies, which I still do. I like the process of going to the store and picking out movies on impulse. I like the physical act. I don't like sitting around and having everything at my fingertips all the time. But there is a problem - more and more - the dvds at vidiots skip are scratched or otherwise fucked up. The other night, I saw Winter's Bone at the cheap Culver City theater. The print was old and there was some sort of wear mark across the middle of the screen. It wasn't huge, but it was slightly noticeable. It didn't bug me too much. Analog imperfections are tolerable. But digital imperfections are unwatchable. Dvds that skip or stop basically ruin the entire movie. Digital marks or buzz or whatever you call it looks horrible up on screen or at home. Digital purports to be a "perfect replica," yet we see the imperfections constantly. Computers die and stall and break. DVDs don't last. We get excited about the new technologies, the ipads and flat screens and blue ray, but how long will they work for? We spend hard earned money on these devises and they are designed not to last. Planned Obsolescence.