Widescreen Vs. "Fullscreen"-Here we go again

Last night at work, I got a phone call from a customer who ended up complaining about the widescreen movie he had obtained at my store. (You see, we carry movies at the retail store I work at.) A brief explanation of the widescreen format did not satisfy him, because he wanted to see the "whole picture." He didn't want to see "the chairs on the side" of the picture, he wanted to see "the people talking." Oh, and we were watching this movie on a 25" TV/DVD player.

I really tire of having this conversation in 2007. We have had widescreen movies since the 1950s. Television has always been until recently, a rather square image. Even the most casual viewer of a film at a movie theater must realize that the image they see at the theater is wider than the traditional TV image they have been watching. And yet I have had customers actually say "no they're not!" Actually mention a term like "aspect ratio" and peoples eyes start to glaze over. People, wake up! In many films half the image is lost if you watch a "fullscreen" version. In reality, many studios do not even produce "fullscreen" versions on DVD anymore. Widescreen has become the default format for DVD. A few studios produce two versions, making you choose at the store which one you will buy. You know what? Widescreen always outsells "fullscreen." Don't believe me? Look at some sales data on videoscan or imdb. Many stores no longer even bother carrying "fullscreen" versions, if they are produced.
Ever look at the new digital TVs for sale? Yep. Most of them are widescreen sets. Sony no longer makes non-widescreen sets.
Here are some examples of differences in the Original Aspect Ratio of some films and the butchered, Modified Aspect Ratio versions.




There are other great examples at widescreen.org, please check them out. Some make you realize how unwatchable "fullscreen" really is.

Is it OS upgrade time for you?

Microsoft is releasing its new operating system, Vista. A version will likely be in the next computer you buy. But hang on, there will be no less than seven versions of Vista available!
Admittedly, three of these are enterprise class, aimed at business users, but that still leaves four versions to choose from when either upgrading or buying your new computer! This article at Ars Technica helps explain the options...
So how many of you are planning to upgrade to Vista this year?

Welcome

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. I hope to bring you a variety of interesting "cool tidbits" that may make you laugh, make you think, inform or possibly anger you.
Topics will undoubtedly include science, technology, consumer affairs, gadgets, and experiences as they relate to these.

Something about me
I've wanted to try something like this for a while now, and just decided to go for it today.
I am in my 30s, a retail manager at a national chain, a technology enthusiast, and have used computers since I was in the sixth grade. I have worked in radio and used to have my own VCR repair shop back in the early 90s, when people used to have things repaired.
Feel free to email me or leave your comments and we'll see how this goes.
Thanks for reading!

Canceling web services

This article in PCWorld magazine was very revealing about how difficult it can be to cancel some web services. I can personally vouch for the difficulty in canceling Rhapsody. I had virtually the same experience as the writer of this article. What are your experiences with canceling web services, either bad or good?