Google Maps on iPad

Last night Google updated their iPhone app to also work natively on the iPad, as well as a list of new features. Download it if you miss Google Maps on your iPad!

Why I ditched the Disney Movie Club

Like most people, I was sucked into the Disney Movie Club by the allure of inexpensive movies. For the privilege of purchasing five movie for only $1 a piece, I had to commit to purchasing five more movies at their regular price of $29.95.  Although the Disney Movie Club sells their movies at far higher prices than other retailers, for around $155 to get ten movies, I figured it was a decent deal (not a good deal, but a decent one). I can of course, get ten movies cheaper elsewhere, but I wanted to give Disney a shot.

After the five movie commitment is met, you can cancel or continue at a "VIP" level, and I even considered sticking around. What changed my mind and made me decide to cancel after my commitment, was the horrible customer experience I had with the Disney Movie Club.

I ordered two films, one being Oz The Great and Powerful and I waited ten days (Disney tells you to wait 7-10 for delivery). On the tenth day my order still had not shipped and I called up Disney, I was told Oz was on back order. I was a bit puzzled that they couldn't ship the other movie, since other online retailers will do that for you (Target, Macy's, Amazon, etc.) but Disney decided to keep a hold on the one movie until both could ship. I asked the person on the phone if my order could be split, so I could at least get one of the movies I ordered. I then asked if it would affect the shipping cost, and was assured that it would be the same (he lied, I was charged an extra $2 for splitting the order). I called back a few minutes later and asked if the Oz movie could be cancelled and another ordered in its place, because I didn't want to wait on a back order. I then asked if the two movies would ship together, and was told yes she'd put them together in one shipment. Wrong, another lie. The two movies were on different shipments, and I was still charged the $2 extra (it's not about the money, it's the principle).

So after being lied to twice, being overcharged on shipping, and having to wait close to 20 days for a movie that I was supposed to get in 7-10 days (and there was no reason for it, they had the movie I'm stock), that's why I decided to give the Disney Movie Club the boot. And I say, good riddance to bad rubbish!

Why 3D is a waste of money

Unlike what Hollywood tries to pawn off on a misinformed consumer, 3D technology is nothing new. The first 3D film I saw was in 1990, I was 10 years old and on a family trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. In one of the Disney theaters, I was presented with a 3D short film. The visuals were spectacular; Goofy was only inches from my face. It felt like if I reached out, that I could actually touch the characters.

Now fast forward 23 years to the present, 3D movies in comparison are terrible. Take The Avengers for example, released last year. In a movie lasting 143 minutes, only 10 seconds of it could actually be considered 3D. The rest of the movie was simply holographic. Think back to a holographic baseball card you may have had as a kid, or even the holographic image glued to the slipcover of the 3D Blu-ray for The Avengers; it shows depth, but you can still tell it's a flat card. That's all the movie shows, depth, with the occasional "jump off the screen" moment. Each scene that showed any true 3D laster a 1/2 second, spread throughout the movie, it adds up to about 10 seconds in total. Despite the movie being mainly holographic, it wasn't entirely. Toward the end of the movie, when you see reactions on the TV, that's a flat shot. No holographic effects at all. Then in the following scene when everyone is standing by their cars, we go back to the holographic imagery. In Coraline (2009) this happens quite often. The so-called "3D" is turned off so much, that it feels like a 2D movie.

Why are people paying extra for a mediocre experience, one that is over 20 years old? Since Hollywood was losing theater viewership for the more comfortable and personal home theater experience, they decided to pull an old technology off the shelf, blow the dust away, and pretend it's new. But it's not new, instead they took an old technology and made it even worse. The 3D movie I saw 23 years ago is far superior to the junk Hollywood is producing today. And people are paying a premium to get ripped off. That's why when I had a choice between a reasonably high ticket price to see Iron Man 3 in 2D or an outrageous ticket price to see Iron Man 3 in 3D, I choose the 2D version. Not just for the price, but also because I knew I'd get a better viewing experience in 2D than I would in the faux 3D.

The reason Hollywood is producing junk these days, is because they spend more time and money putting everything in 3D than they do coming up with a good story. Despite high box office results, the Transformers movies sucked. They do, you can admit it. The old cartoon from the 1980s was good, so what happened? More focus was on the special effects and cutting deals with Chevy, than they were with having a good plot and telling Chevy NO, Bumblebee is NOT a Camaro, he is a Volkswagen Beetle! Consumers have more voting power than they think, and they cast their vote with their dollars. If you want better movies, instead of junky 3D flicks, stop spending money on this 3D nonsense.