Early Adoption

Looks like Sony and Samsung are rolling out 3D TVs!

My dad and I were discussing this after watching Avatar 3D and I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised at how fast it is happening. Now, these models still require the silly glasses, but I figure it won't be too long now that we won't need the glasses at all!

They appear to be quite pricey, close to $4000, which is about 50% more than the cost of a similar sized non-3D model. I suppose only those with large amounts of disposable income will be early-adopters.

What are your thoughts on early adoption? I tend to wait, just because I try to be frugal with my cash when I can. I'm generally a generation behind on console systems, making it MUCH cheaper as I go through the massive game catalogs.

This does leave me a bit forlorn every time there's a huge release for the latest gen systems, though. I'm currently looking on sadly as my friends enjoy FFXIII and Heavy Rain.

Regardless, until I once again have gainful employment, I won't be able to partake of the most recent offerings that the industry puts before us. I avoid the harrowing tales of early adopters, but I equally miss out on the fun that goes along with being the first to own a new system or game.

So is early adopting something you regularly do? Only with specific products? Only once in a while? Does it depend on your disposable income?

Perhaps someone will regale us with a tale of early adoption horror...

Avatar 3D

I saw Avatar 3D last night. It was pretty good, definitely worth the $8 ticket for the experience. Especially because of the 3D effect, it was really awesome to see. I honestly figure this film shows the future of entertainment. I know that Japanese electronics manufacturers are working on 3D projection technology that won't require glasses and will work on a home TV. I'm pretty pumped for that happening in my life time!

As far as the movie itself... without going into spoilers, it was a terrifically beautiful movie that was ruined by being way too black-and-white, way too overtly political, and having an arbitrary deus ex machina in the film that most people found difficult to swallow.

For myself, the first two were the biggest problems since I could readily accept the idea as presented in the film which led to the deus ex machina situation.

However, a lot of the lines that came from the film's BBEG were totally out of place in the context he was saying them, and clearly a political statement by the film's writers/director. It was frustrating how blatant James Cameron was about shoving his opinions into this fantastic sci-fi story.

The ethics as presented by the film were extremely black and white. There was no questioning who was right, what was evil, etc. In my opinion, the film missed a chance to truly be thought-provoking and challenge the viewer to actually have to think for themselves. As it stands, the film is completely vapid and suffered from being so clear-cut.

Overall, Avatar is definitely a film worth seeing just for how beautiful it is. As I mentioned before, the 3D effects are amazing and really add to the film's visual beauty. I also loved the portrayal of advanced human technology, and figure that they got it pretty accurately. I figure we'll see a lot of stuff similar to that in my lifetime.

Bottom line: Avatar is a good movie that could have been great, but definitely wasn't.