Category: Media

Video Games, Virtual Worlds And Stepping Beyond The Real.

On By WinstonIn Media, Personal Responsibility, Pop Culture, Society, Technology, Video Games1 Comment

As someone who is slightly outside the usual demographic for video gamers, I periodically get asked what the appeal is.  Of course, it’s usually phrased more like, “Don’t you have anything better to do with your life?”  That depends on how you define better.

The short answer is, “Nope.”  Told you it was short.  That’s because it’s the wrong question.  To more usefully address the implied question, I’ll need to address a common misconception.  Video games aren’t actually any worse than golf, clubbing, drinking heavily, watching sports, reading, watching TV or any other pass time.  From the start, they’ve been regarded as a brain destroying waste of time.  Just like all of the things I just mentioned.

With the exception of clubbing, I’ve indulged in all of them.  Oddly enough, I still indulge in most of them on an ongoing basis.  Not so much with the heavy drinking or sports watching, but you get the idea.  The short version is, most of the people who question my use of time, indulge in one or more of these activities themselves.  So why the negative perception of video gaming?  Because we have to blame something.

Let me use dogs to demonstrate that point.  At the moment, Pit Bulls are the “Dangerous Breed”.  Before that, it was Rottweilers, who came after Doberman Pincers, who followed German Shepherds.  The truth is, none of these breeds are particularly dangerous if trained, treated and handled properly.  But people love bad news, so that’s what the media focuses on.  If Dobermans are the evil dog, then the media are going to report every bad Doberman story they can find.  They might publish a hundred stories of Doberman attacks, but only a couple about the thousands of Dobermans who don’t attack anyone.

The same thing is true of video games.  They are just the latest “bad” thing.  The list has included, violence in Bugs Bunny cartoons, TV watching in general, cartoon watching in particular, horror movies, war movies, organized sports, lack of organized sports, reading any book except the Bible etc.  It depends who you talk to and when as to what answer you’ll get.  The simple truth is that there is no “bad” thing on that list.

Video games aren’t “bad”.  It’s how people interact with them and what they choose to invest them with that can lead to problems.  The media happily jump on a story about about an unfortunate young man who became so immersed in a game that he starved to death, or another who spent so much time gaming that his circulation failed and he ultimately died.  Whenever a gamer does something “bad”, it’s the fault of the games and not the person.

For me, video games are an entertainment.  They can provide an emotional outlet.  Like any well executed entertainment, they allow me a brief respite from the everyday.  Not to the exclusion of reality, but as a means to defocus.  Let me clarify.

In an episode of the show “Corner Gas”, the main character announces he is going to take a vacation.  He then takes his lawn chair, suntan oil, cooler etc and sets up on a nearby patch of grass.  When questioned, he refers to it as a “Staycation”.  That’s what video games are for me.  A restful opportunity to recharge my mental and emotional batteries to better deal with the real world.

Sure, I play games where I drive 180 mph, or get trophies for set numbers of head shots, or chuck someone out a window just because I can.  I also play games which involve building cities or civilizations, or solving puzzles or doing other non-violent things.  Each game is enjoyed for it’s own merits.  None of them carry over into the real world except in terms of slightly improved hand/eye coordination or logic processing skills.  Both of which are proven benefits of regular video game playing.

In the real world, I don’t do any of those things.  I don’t even drive, never mind at 180 mph.  I’ve never shot anyone, or anything, or thrown anyone out a window.  I’ve also never piloted a starship between systems, built a pyramid in Thebes, re-fought the Battle of Antietam, or flown a JN-4 Jenny along a mail route through the Appalacian mountains.  I’ve done all of those things in video games.  I’ve enjoyed them immensely.

It’s that ability to step beyond the real that is for me, the true appeal of video games.  As it is for a well written novel, a good movie, or anything else that so fully engages me that it takes me out of the world.  It refreshes my palate for the next serving of life.

Cheers, Winston

Occupying Protesters Are Taking The Easy Route

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, Media, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, Self Awareness, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Okay, you’ve finally got me. I can’t take it any more. Our society is caught in a feedback loop and just like the feedback at a live concert, the whining is driving me nuts.

Someone says, “One percent of the population controls most of the money while the other ninety-nine percent struggles.” and a media person likes it so they make a sound bite out of it.  People hear the sound bite and like it so they repeat it.  More media people hear it being said so they  make a story out of it and even more people hear about it.  Next thing you know, you can’t read a paper without hearing it, and you can’t throw a rock without hitting one of the alleged ninety-percent who are out protesting about it.

According to this movement, the super rich elites took all the money and used it to buy all the politicians and the only way to change it is by having these massive protests.  These three points are what I like to call, delusional; accidentally right, but not for the reasons they think and wrong because it’s bloody stupid.  Now that I’ve annoyed a bunch of folks, let me explain.

First off, the super rich didn’t “take” all the money.  We gave it to them, and we continue to do so every day.  They aren’t evil.  We are gullible.  Bill Gates never forced anyone to use Microsoft Windows or Office.  People chose to give Microsoft, and by extension, Mr. Gates lots of money.  Likewise, the late Steve Jobs didn’t wait for people in dark alleys, steal their wallets and replace them with iPhones.  No hedgefund manager ever came to anyone’s door begging them to invest in their funds.  Banks didn’t force mortgages onto people who had no hope in hell of ever paying them off.  People did those things to themselves.  Blaming the super rich is a way of deluding ourselves by taking up our cultural battle cry of, “It’s not my fault!”

The other favorite cause of financial hardship is “Corporate Greed”.  Talk about delusional, blaming that is like blaming the Easter Bunny for childhood obesity.  There’s no such thing people!  Corporations aren’t greedy because they aren’t people.  It’s called anthropomorphism.  It’s our habit of trying to understand things by assigning human traits to them.  “Corporate Greed” is another way of pretending that none of this is “our” fault.  Surprise!  It is all our fault.  Those greedy corporations are actually all about HUMAN greed.  Before you start thinking about agreeing with that, you need to read on.

It’s not just the executives that are greedy.  That’s the easy out again.  Here’s the truth.  It’s damned near every single one of us.  That’s the truth.  Yes, the executives are in a position to get a visibly larger share than those elsewhere in the organization.  Let’s stop kidding ourselves though, they aren’t the only greedy ones.  If the CEO suddenly decides to give a percentage of the profits to whatever random charity you like, how long do you think he’ll keep his job?  The shareholders are just a greedy as the CEO.  What about the rank and file employees?  Do you think they’d take a pay cut if they knew the money was going directly to fight world hunger?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Stop blaming other people.  Stop blaming some imaginary bogeyman.  Accept responsibility for your choices.  We can’t change other people, only ourselves.  If we don’t like our world, it’s up to us to change it.  But it’s almost like the tagline from season one of the TV series “Heroes”, only in this case it’s, “Change yourself.  Change the world!”  Which brings me to my next point.

Do rich and powerful lobbyists use money to influence politics?  Of course they do!  (See, I told you they’re right about that.)  We need to be clear about why they do it though.  No it’s not because they are corrupt, or politicians are weak, or because the New World Order told them to.  Nope.  The reason once again is closer to home.  All those people who whine that the system is broken so there’s no point in participating,  they give carte blanche to the lobbyists and the politicians to work out any deal they like.  The system isn’t going to change itself, it’s up to the voters to do it.  So if you can organize thousands of protesters all over the country, how come you can’t get them to the polls.  It’s votes that put politicians in office. Organize block voting, and you could have a huge impact on who gets into office and who gets out.  But it’s a hell of a lot easier to sit in a tent in the park and blame the super rich and corporate greed.  Which brings me to my last point.

Protesting may raise awareness.  I doubt it, but it might.  Do you really believe that everyone else is so stupid that they won’t realize there’s a problem if you don’t camp in a park?  I recently lost my job because of greedy people making bad decisions.  Do you think I didn’t know that was a bad thing?  The biggest annoyance out of all this is the massive self-righteous arrogance of the protesters.  The idea that they are more aware or enlightened than the rest.  If everyone else understood what they do, we’d all be out there.  Well, not all of us would.  I know I wouldn’t because I understand something they don’t.  The protests won’t work because shortcuts never do.  If you really want to change things, you have to do the heavy lifting just like everyone else.

They’ll find out that taking the easy route almost never takes you where you want to go.  What they should really be occupying are some political activism workshops.  Maybe someone can host a few in a tent in a park.  Have fun with that.

Cheers, Winston

Anonymous Has A Plan To Save The World

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Media, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Apparently Anonymous has a plan to change the world.  Yay!  I’m so excited I can hardly keep from gagging.  For those not paying attention, that’s called sarcasm.  Why would I not be more supportive of a group trying to change the status quo and make the world a better place?  Fair question.

If I thought they were likely to make the world a better place, I’d be more enthusiastic.  If I thought their plan might work, I’d be more enthusiastic.  If the guy wasn’t wearing a V for Vendetta style Guy Fawkes mask while reading his little rant/manifesto, I’d have less of an urge to kick him in the “man-bits”.

A Guy Fawkes mask, really?  I think that annoys me mostly because I enjoyed the movie so much.  I might also point out that the actual heroes of the movie didn’t wear masks.  Of course that isn’t what Anonymous wants to hear.  According to them, their power lies in the idea that they are anyone and everyone.

Well, I can tell you they aren’t everyone, because they sure as hell aren’t me.  Oh sure, I share some of their concerns.  Corporations should be good citizens and take a leading role in charity work and community building.  Consumerism is out of control and we care more about things than people.  We need to close the gap between the very rich and the very poor.  Elected officials should have the interests of ALL the people in mind, not just the ones who gave money to their “war chests”, and never put their party above the people.

There are some key differences though.  I don’t think their protests are going to do anything at all.  I don’t think their plan is going to make even the tiniest bit of change happen.  Why?  Because I don’t think they understand the problem.  They complain about the uber rich and corporate greed and the deficit and consumerism and all their other issues, and they miss the truth.

The truth is, it’s not “them”.  It’s “us”.  We are the problem.  One of the terms I hear in connection with this is “Kleptocracy”.  This is just the sort of delusional misinformation I would want spread if I was one of corporate heads they claim to hate.  The idea is that those running things are robbing the people blind.  That we are in fact being run by thieves.

Truth be told, it’s actually a “Meocracy’.  We’re  being run by people who put themselves and their interests first.  Whether it’s corporate heads, the shareholders who drive them, or the unionized employees who demand more, they’re all me.  “Meocracy” is screaming for tax cuts because you don’t need the services they pay for, then screaming when the services aren’t there when you want them.  “Meocracy” is talking about poverty and starvation from the comfort of your home, with a full belly, a cellphone, laptop and big screen TV.

“Meocracy” is what drives our society.  The reason Anonymous isn’t going to change anything is simple.  Anonymous is the pinnacle of the “Meocratic” movement.  They are the ultimate expression of the denial of personal responsibility which is the hallmark of a “Meocracy”.  They see everything as someone else’s fault.  “People don’t starve because I didn’t feed them.  They starve because corporations didn’t feed them.  Billionaires didn’t feed them.”  This is the Anonymous mindset.

You can’t demand change.  Well, you can, but it won’t work.  The protests and other drama won’t change peoples minds.  If you really want to change the world, I’ll help you get started.  Give up your cellphone and your cable and your internet connection.  Take that money and give it to a homeless shelter, or a soup kitchen, or a reputable charity.  Do that every month.  Only buy domestically produced goods.  Stop supporting third world sweat shops.  Get involved in grassroots politics. Stop giving your money to corporations who don’t treat their workers fairly, or their communities with respect.  Educate voters.  Educate candidates.  Educate yourselves.  Stop believing your own press.  You’re not more enlightened than anyone else.

Do all of these things for five years.  Consistently.  Then  you can come and tell me your plan to change the world.  Maybe by then you’ll have thought up something more useful than protesting against things that mean nothing.  Maybe by then you’ll understand where Anonymous has it wrong.  What’s needed isn’t to band together against some powerful and corrupt “other”.  Change will only come when understand that the powerful and corrupt are us.

Here is a simple fact.  Apple has more liquid capital than the U.S. government.  They are immensely wealthy.  Does this mean that I’m going to give up my iPhone and boycott them as punishment?  Don’t be daft.  They haven’t done anything wrong.  They are a corporation.  Their job is to make money.  They just happen to do it very well.  They didn’t force me to buy their phone.  Me, I made that decision.

It was “Me” because I live in a “Meocracy”.  Apple, Microsoft, Chrysler, Hitachi, Acer, none of them are responsible for where my money goes.  I could as easily give it to a soup kitchen, but I choose to give it to these and other corporations.  It’s my money, and my choice.  That’s the lesson Anonymous needs to learn.  Changing yourself is your prerogative, changing me is mine.

You can’t force people to change.  No matter how much you might think they need to.

Cheers, Winston

EA To Sell Gamers To Advertisers.

On By WinstonIn Media, Pop Culture, Society, Technology, Uncategorized, Video GamesLeave a comment

The nice people at Electronic Arts (commonly know as EA) are rolling out a new service called “Legend”.  Sounds impressive right?  Well here’s the thing, it’s not.  At least not for gamers.  Or is it?

Confused?  Sorry.  I’ve got some mixed feelings about this one myself.  First, let me tell you what “Legend” is.  It’s an analytic tool which EA will use to provide advertisers with detailed usage habits of it’s products.  This would allow advertisers to be much more specific in their marketing efforts.

From the corporate side, this is a potential goldmine.  If it works as (you should pardon the joke) “advertised”, there isn’t a marketing department in the industry that won’t want a piece of it.  On the player side, my first instinct is, “Oh goody.  More ads shoved in my face while I’m gaming.”

But maybe I’m looking at this wrong.  Not that that ever happens, but maybe this one time.

Maybe this time, they’ll start to get it right.  What if they use this marketing data to develop a functional “less is more” approach?  How about using this new analytic to create ads which are more effective, and can therefore be less pervasive.  That could work out to being good news for gamers.

Only time will tell.  But if the vendors in Fallout New Vegas start trying to sell me a “Simpsons” t-shirt to go with my new “West 49” board shorts, then I’ll decide whether or not it’s a good thing.

Cheers, Winston

If “Not In My Backyard”, Then Whose?

On By WinstonIn Environment, Green Energy, Media, Politics, Society, TechnologyLeave a comment

Christina Blizzard, writing in the Ottawa Sun is slamming David Suzuki and Dalton McGuinty. One for being a “pompous ass”, and the other being praised by a pompous ass for wanting to build wind turbines where the wind blows.

Before I go any farther, I want to make it clear that this is not to bash Mx. Blizzard.  I subscribed to the Sun for many years.  I’ve always enjoyed Christina\s articles, and this is not an attack on her personally.  Only on the views expressed in the article in question.

Apparently, Dr. Suzuki endorsed McGuinty’s green energy initiatives and  stated bluntly that it would be “absolute insanity” for Provincial Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak to scrap them if voted in during our pending election.  She raises the point because of it’s status as a registered charity, The David Suzuki Foundation is not allowed to participate in partisan politics.  Fair enough.  On the other hand, Dr. Suzuki had apparently stepped down from the board, so is no longer bound by those rules.

Part of her ire stems from a plan put forward by Premier McGuinty’s Liberal party to place 260 massive wind turbines near the town of Zurich on Lake Huron.  According to Mx. Blizzard,  “Each turbine consumes 1.6 hectares of prime farmland – that’s some 405 hectares of farmland that could be use to grow crops.”  She then adds, “How green is that Dr. S?”

Just a couple of quick points.  If she’s so keen to preserve farmland, where has she been while the farms around Orleans have been sub-divided into the history books?  Oh and by the way:  Nice use of the diminutive “Dr. S” to undermine his standing with the readers.  She is an op-ed for a second string tabloid.  He is an internationally recognized leader on environmental issues who hosted a long running science program on national TV.  This probably has a lot to do with her later characterizing him as a “pompous ass” for telling homeowners to use energy efficient light-bulbs and caulk draft-causing leaks in a couple of “creepy” ads in partnership with the provincial government.  I suspect that when you can’t compare credentials, trash-talk is really all you’ve got left.

All of which serves as background for the point I want to make here.  In her unending quest for truth and objectivity, Christina Blizzard talked to the rural residents around Zurich, Ontario and discovered something remarkable.  They are “outraged” by the “monstrosities” springing up and feel they are a “blight on the landscape.”  I’m shocked, aren’t you?

Okay, maybe I’m being a little bit sarcastic there.  Realistically, I would have been more genuinely shocked if they had been happy about it and declared the turbines “paragons of aesthetics in harmony with their natural setting.”  That would have been news worthy.  The fact is, it’s another in a long line of “not in my back yard” issues.

Years ago, when I lived in  a different city, there was talk of building a Young Offenders Facility there.  Much of debate didn’t focus on the jobs such a facility would bring to a “one industry town” where the “one industry” had been declining for years.  Nope.  Most of what made the news were residents worrying what such a facility would do to property values and city councilors pandering to them.   Everyone agreed it was good, just not where they happened to live.

I don’t think you’ll find too many people who will argue in favor of coal burning generating plants over wind turbines in terms of sustainability.  Not unless they work for the coal industry, or they just want to be difficult.  As for the rural residents around Zurich, sorry, you just happen to live where the wind blows.  I’ve spent some time in the area myself, and I know how steady the winds are on the east shore of Lake Huron.  Nothing against the people there, but no matter where they wanted to put them, someone would complain.  It would be someone’s back yard.  This time, it’s in yours.

Sadly, coal, oil and other fossil fuels aren’t going to last much longer.  There are only so many waterways suited to hydro plants, and if the tragedy in Japan is any indicator, nuclear may not be the greatest either.  Barring any major breakthroughs, it seems probable that if you live in a naturally windy place, you could end up with a turbine or two… hundred.  By the same logic, if you live somewhere with a lot of sun, I see a high probability of solar panels in your future.

We need to develop these more sustainable energy technologies now, not when the last puff of smoke from coal drifts away on the wind off Lake Huron.  They have to go somewhere.

If “Not In My Backyard!”, then where?

Cheers, Winston

The Internet Isn’t The Last Haven Of Democracy.

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Media, Pop Culture, Society, TechnologyLeave a comment

Courtesy of a raging bout of insomnia, I was browsing some back stories on Maclean’s.  That’s when this gem caught my eye.  On Aug 12th, Peter Nowak posted this article: “Governments Must Adapt To Internet, Not Other Way Around”.  According to Mr. Nowak, democracy “is the de facto model that almost every online operation works on”.

“The popular and good rise to the top… the bad and unpopular is ignored or voted down.” It seems he is equating popular with good.  Hardly a supportable position given the current popularity of reality tv and Jackass movies.  Rising to the top isn’t necessarily a sign of quality, only of popularity and people’s urge to part of the “In Crowd”.  The fact that something gets 80,000,000 hits doesn’t mean that it’s good, only that nobody wants to be the one that doesn’t know what everyone else is talking about.  Popular doesn’t equate to good, more often, only to easy.  Lolcats get more hits than ethical debates.  Contestants on reality shows garner more votes than elected officials.  Yeah, popular is a sure sign of quality.

His next little piece of genius involves praising the hacker collective known as Anonymous.  These self appointed judges/juries/executioners are defenders of openness and democracy according to this guy.  He indirectly praises them for their attack on Sony in retaliation for their lawsuit against the person who posted an illegal hack for the PS3.  Peter seems to believe that it was wrong of Sony to take legal steps to protect their intellectual property.  On the other hand, he is perfectly okay with Anonymous using illegal steps to punish them.  There are a couple of details he leaves out in his paean to digital frontier justice.  The takedown of Sony didn’t just affect “Sony”, it affected the employees, the gamers, the people whose jobs rely on those services being up and running.  It’s like Robin Hood burning peasant huts so they can’t afford to pay taxes to the sheriff.  It sounds good in theory, but the sheriff is still going to want his taxes.

Anonymous is also the group who took it upon themselves to post the home addresses of members of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police force.  This was in retaliation for BART shutting down cell towers to prevent protesters using them to organize.  Let’s deliberately endanger the live of the officers, their spouses and their children.  Way to pick your heroes Peter. If the persons responsible for that particular act are caught and convicted, they should be tossed into the deepest, darkest hole available and left there.  Pending further notice.

“The fundamental principles of the internet, therefore, are then same as democracy – each user is entitled to freedom and openness, so long as they don’t harm anyone else.”  Where he comes by these “fundamental principle” is never actually explained.  >he also doesn’t explain why Anonymous gets an exemption to the “don’t harm anyone else” part.  The fact is, the internet was created to share information.  Pure and simple.  Other people may have chosen to use it for their own purposes, but that doesn’t make it anything more or less than what it was designed to be.  Just because of bunch of spoiled children have decided that it’s easier to play “activist”as a way to act out when they don’t get their own way, doesn’t make them right.  When an allegedly serious journalist like Mr .Nowak buys into their fantasy, it just feeds into their bloated ego driven God complex.

His closing statement is the best illustration of his clearly delusional disconnect from the real world.  “Governments will inevitably have no choice but to acquiesce and adapt to what are ultimately basic human desires: to be open and free.  Otherwise, as advanced technologies make living in a virtual online world more realistic and palatable, people will inevitably abandon the real world and move into the ether permanently, leaving governments with no one to govern.”

If luck is with us, maybe Peter will be an early adopter of permanent virtualization.  Then any decent spam filter will keep his views in the junk folder where they belong.

Cheers, Winston

Max and I Liked Zombies When Zombies Weren’t Cool.

On By WinstonIn Media, Personal, Pop Culture2 Comments

Okay, so I know this may be a bit of a departure from the usual, but the usual is usually over-rated.  I’m a Zombie fan.  Not Rob Zombie.  Not Voodoo zombies.  I’m talking contagion driven, George A. Romero ZOMBIES.  Ever since I first saw Night of the Living Dead many, many years ago, I’ve been a fan.  Long before the current Zombie renaissance, I was a fan.

Their current popularity is kind of a good news bad news thing.  The downside is that you get a lot of people who don’t give an infected rat’s patootie about Zombies and just want to make a quick buck.  The god news is, it lets all the secret Zombie lovers out of the closet.  That’s where it gets fun.

One of those long term Zombie fans wrote a couple of books that you may have heard of.  “The Zombie Survival Guide”, and “World War Z: An  Oral History Of The Zombie Apocalypse”.  It’s not just that these are both brilliant additions to Zombie canon, they were written by the last person whose name you would associate with horror.  Max Brooks.

Now I can tell that all of you are sitting there waiting for the punchline.  You are probably wondering who Max Brooks is and why I think it’s surprising that he wrote these books.  Well, I’m glad you asked.  He’s Mel Brooks son.  You know, “High Anxiety”, “Young Frankenstein”, “Blazing Saddles”.  That Mel Brooks.

At first, I was blown away to think that the son of one of the funniest people in movies was writing Zombie books.  Then I read a bit more and realized that like me, Max is a long time fan.  Just because his father did funny, doesn’t mean he has to.  My father was a hard-rock miner.  Me, not so much.  Once I got my head around that, I could enjoy the irony of it.

Here’s hoping that Max Brooks can enjoy a long and successful career.  Us old-school Zombie fans have got  to stick together.

Cheers, Winston

Blockbuster Canada Was A Victim Of It’s Own Success

On By WinstonIn Media, Personal, Society, Values1 Comment

I think it’s only fair to say upfront that I work for Blockbuster Canada, but not for much longer. The most recent deal fell through, and with nothing promising on the horizon, the receiver is recommending the liquidation of the company to pay the creditors. The problem is, they aren’t our creditors.

Before our parent company Blockbuster US went bankrupt, they bought themselves some time by using Blockbuster Canada as collateral for their debt. When they went under and were purchased by Dish Network, that $70,000,000 bill wasn’t part of the deal. That debt transferred to us. We didn’t incur the debt, but we were held accountable for it. Such are the joys of international commerce. Dish Network chose not to exercise their option to purchase Blockbuster Canada, largely it seems to avoid the creditors we inherited. Nice for them, not so much for us.

Blockbuster Canada was a successful, profitable and slowly expanding business. When the fiasco in the US pushed our company into receivership, we had posted an operating profit of $112,000,000 last year and had about $15,000,000 in liquid assets. That success is what ultimately killed us. That success is why we could be used as collateral. If we hadn’t been as strong as we were, we’d be better off now.

Now of course, the story is that we were struggling for relevance in an increasingly digital age. That’s the problem when you just recycle your stories from when Blockbuster US was tanking. There isn’t the same pressure from streaming/mail/kiosk use. I’ve worked at Blockbuster for nearly five years and in that time, I’ve definitely seen customers drop out of sight as they move to the other entertainment channels. I’ve also seen more than a few of them come back. Some come back for the selection of new releases and older titles, or for the rental terms which are apparently better than the on demand service they were using. The one thing almost every returning customer listed in common was service.

The fact is, that’s why those services cost so little. There’s no human interaction, so you only have to pay a handful of people at the back-end. There’s no front-end cost. But that lack of personality is also the problem with that model and the reason that so many people come back to brick and mortar stores. That’s the first thing I emphasized to every new hire. We aren’t in the movie/game business, we’re in the service business. People can get their movies or games anywhere. The only reason they come to us is because we offer something none of those other channels can provide. That one special ingredient is service.

It’s an attitude that was encouraged at every level. I’ve worked more than a few jobs over the years, and Blockbuster Canada was the most customer driven. AlLL of the staff were empowered to use discretionary credits to resolve problems. It was understood that it’s better to lose a few dollars now, than a lifetime worth of business.

Our customers come to our store because they want that level of service. If there’s a problem, they want it solved on site and usually on the spot. They want people to remember what they like and be able to recommend things to watch or to avoid. That’s part of what sets us apart from an algorithm that tracks your viewing habits and makes recommendations based off of them. Algorithms work great for machines, but not so great with people just yet. I’m not saying they never will, but so far, not so much. Of course, people can get all the review information they want from rottentomatoes.com. This is true of course, but I’ve been there and frankly, they and I tend to have some divergence of opinion. They provide an aggregate result of all the reviews they receive. Unless you agree with the taste of most of the people you know, it’s not much use.

So what is going to be lost when they lock the doors that last time? My job and those of about 2300 other people. Some much needed income for my family and those of the other 2300 families. Most importantly perhaps, a business where people are treated like people and not just ambulatory ATMs. You see, I specialize in customer service. That doesn’t mean that I try to upsell every person who walks through my door. It means knowing the people who come into my Blockbuster location as people. Sometimes, it means telling them why they don’t want to sign up for that tempting sounding promotion. Sometimes it means telling them that the movie they are thinking about buying is much cheaper at another retailer. Sometimes, it means giving them a shoulder to cry on or an ear to vent to.

What are people gaining by the destruction of Blockbuster Canada? Not a damned thing. When Blockbuster Canada closes, it’s not going to make anything better for anyone. It’s actually going to make things a little bit worse for the thousand-plus people who enjoy coming into my store each weak. People might gain a couple of bucks by not paying our outrageous prices to rent movies. To some that might be enough. I just don’t think it will be for everyone.

I’ve enjoyed my time at Blockbuster. I’ve been fortunate to work with some truly wonderful people. Some of my regular “customers” have become close friends. Anywhere I go in my community people smile and say, “Aren’t you the Blockbuster guy?” That ‘s a rare gift. It’s just one more thing I’m going to miss. Like I’m going to miss the ten year old girl who’s mother gives her the Blockbuster card and five dollars to come in and rent her own movies. The mother has been a customer at that store for years. We’ve talked often and she got to meet my daughter when she stopped in to see me after school one day. So she feels safe letting her daughter come into the store and rent her own movies. Her daughter gets to feel “all grown up” and I smile every time she comes in. I’m going to miss this one older couple who come in about once a week but only when I’m working. They know that I understand what kind of movies they like. When I’m cleaning the shelves or doing returns, I always keep an eye out so I have something new for them. I could write a dozen more, or a hundred more. It doesn’t make a difference because this isn’t about what I do, or the lives I touch. It’s about the bottom line. It’s better for Blockbuster Inc.s creditors to liquidate my company, my store, my livelihood, my community.

I’m certain I’ll find another job. I’m confident I’ll be good at it. I’m not sure I’ll ever get that sense of being part of the community around me again. When the people you serve come in week after week for years, and want to talk to you about movies, games, their kids, their job, their car, their vacation, their neighbor etc, they become real to you. They aren’t customers anymore. The secret is, they never were. They are people like you, like me and they are what I’ll miss the most.

Cheers, Winston

Videogame Addiction 1.1a update

On By WinstonIn Media, Pop Culture, Society, TechnologyLeave a comment

This information is indicative of a more open position on the part of the APA. As such, I felt it important to post it in the interest of balance and fairness.

In doing some further reading, I discovered the APA (American Psychiatric Association) classifies video-game addiction and Internet addiction as “reward driven behavioral disorders”. It will include these and others in an appendix of the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. See, they really DO right the book on addiction. They still aren’t considering it an addiction, but are including it to encourage further study.

In the previous post, I indicated only that the APA doesn’t view video-game “addiction” as an addiction. The fact that they are encouraging additional study indicates it’s still a possibility. In the meantime, let’s try understanding instead of labeling.

Cheers, Winston

Videogame Addiction

On By WinstonIn Media, Pop Culture, Society, Technology2 Comments

So I’ve been reading again. This time, it was an article about the perils of video-game addiction. I actually found it sort of refreshing. In amongst the drama of neglected family and career, there was an item rarely seen in such an article.

Turns out, the American Psychiatric Association (the organization that literally writes the book on addictions) doesn’t believe that video-game addiction is real. I think that is great news. It’s not because I don’t believe that some people do really bizarre things in the name of gaming, it just removes the easy reason. Let me explain what I mean by that.

Many people seem not to really understand the concept of addiction. I have a teenage daughter (your sympathy is appreciated), and she and her friends use addiction to describe anything they consume in excess amounts. A song, a tv show, a snack, a celebrity, all have been preceded by “I’m totally addicted to….”

The culture of their youth was saturated with a conflicted message. Public Service Messages told them that alcohol, tobacco and drugs are addictive, but the social message was that they are enjoyable. This creates the shorthand association between pleasurable excess and addiction. My daughter understands that she isn’t actually addicted to the song, snack or whatever. It’s just a figure of speech. The problem is that common usage corrupts and replaces the actual meaning in peoples minds. That leads to a larger problem.

My daughter says she can’t possibly do dishes right now because she’s “addicted” to the show she’s watching. Someone else says they’re not attracted to their spouse anymore because they’re “addicted” to pornography. Is it really surprising that someone will say their life was ruined because they are “addicted” to video-games?

Jackson Toby, professor emeritus at Rutgers University writes, “I do not believe that the concept of `addiction’ is useful; it only describes strong temptations; it does not explain strong temptations. What makes the temptation so strong? The memory of past pleasant experiences with the behavior that we are talking about – in this case video-games.” He goes on to say “I don’t believe that someone can be addicted to video games.”. Addiction is a label, and the label isn’t the thing.

As soon as you apply that label, you avoid responsibility. “It’s not my fault, I’m an addict.” The person isn’t choosing to spend sixty hours a week playing World of Warcraft, they can’t help themselves. It’s not accurate, but if they see it enough in the media, it becomes real. The addiction label is also incredibly disempowering. Once the person believes themselves addicted, they assume the addiction has power over them. Not only are they being told they aren’t responsible for their actions, they’re powerless to change them.

The video-game addiction label is also a mask. It’s a false image hiding the real cause of the behavior. If a person can’t actually be addicted to video-games, then why are they destroying their lives? It’s easier to accept the mask than look at what it hides. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but that’s what we want.

When I was a teenager, video-games weren’t the boogeyman. I guess Pong just didn’t get it done for everyone. Back then, Dungeons & Dragons was the mind destroying addiction. One person killed themselves when their character died in game. Another was killed during a “live-action” adventure. Grades suffered as kids cut class to game. It was the “gamepokalypse” of it’s day. Then people moved on to the next media sensation and the hype died. Everyone realized that D&D hadn’t caused the tragedies associated with it. It was just a vehicle for deeper issues. Video-game addiction is no different.

If someone loses their spouse, children, house, job or even their life because they won’t stop playing a video-game, you need to wonder what’s going on inside. Saying “addiction” isn’t going to help anyone. At least not anyone looking for an answer instead of a soundbite.

Cheers, Winston