Entertainment
Old Technology Will Save The Future
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Tired of every single piece of media looking and sounding the same? Netflix lighting. Overprocessed basslines and drum beats on your favorite songs. That kind of stuff. Have you noticed that movies you rightfully thought looked crappy 15 years ago suddenly look amazing when compared to the slop that’s coming out today? It’s no coincidence. The problem we’re running into is that everybody is using the same new stuff, with the same presets, and getting the same results.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love my new tech. I recently bought a new computer that allows me to work more efficiently. I have a smartphone like everybody else, and having a camera in my pocket whenever my kids do something funny is awesome. New technology is great because it offers convenience and lets you streamline daily tasks in ways that were previously unthinkable.
However, there’s one issue, and this is a big one: all of our photos look the same. Every new TV show looks the same. All of our music sounds the same. We’re gaining convenience but losing personality in the process, which is why I genuinely believe that leaning into older technology will eventually lead us to the creative renaissance we’ve all been waiting for.
Don’t Be A Vintage Snob
As a musician who mostly uses equipment that’s at least 20 years old, I’m technically using vintage gear. The case I’m making here isn’t meant to argue that vintage gear is better than modern gear. Most stages have gone silent, with everybody running amp modelers straight through front-of-house PA systems. It’s great. You can roll into a small venue without lugging in a ton of heavy equipment, dial in your tone, and let it rip. The mix is operated by iPads, and it’s super easy to lock into a room. What I’ve noticed, though, is that everybody is using the same kind of technology now, presets and all. Because of this, everybody is starting to sound the same.
I’m not talking about genre or stifled creativity by any measure here. Great songwriters and performers still exist in droves. They’re all just playing through the same, new stuff in most instances, and you can hear it.
So much so that when I lug out my beat-up speaker cabinet and the discontinued amplifier that powers it, combined with an instrument that has electronics inside of it that are made differently than instruments that are made today, I get compliments about my tone. Here’s the thing. My tone is nothing special or groundbreaking. In some contexts, it’s probably extremely basic. It’s just unique in a world that demands uniformity, and people forget how easy that is to achieve. I have no secret sauce here. I just combined the components I could afford, fiddled around with them for a bit to make them work well together, and got what I got.
My gear is vintage, but I’m not going to tell you that vintage equipment is better and modern equipment is worse. I still use modern plugins when I record at home for the sake of efficiency, but what I use in a live setting is considered remarkable, simply because it’s becoming less common.
Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention
Lately, I’ve been looking for old camcorders. You know, the kind my parents had when I was in high school and my friends and I were trying to recreate our favorite bits from Jackass. Most of these devices, I’ve found, are extremely proprietary. Meaning you can’t just plug a decades-old Sony Handycam into your MacBook Pro and start editing. You’ll need a multitude of adapters and some patience to convert the footage so it works on a modern workstation. In some cases, you’ll even need to convert tape to digital just to watch the footage on a modern display.
But that’s where the magic happens.
That old equipment you used to plug into your TV via AV cables can now be edited using modern apps like CapCut and DaVinci Resolve. That grainy aesthetic you were looking for is real instead of created with preset filters. Congratulations. You put some work in, and now you have something unique compared to your peers.
The reason The Hateful Eight looks so amazing is because Quentin Tarantino sought out vintage Ultra Panavision 70 lenses, which are exceedingly rare today. Because of the extra effort put into the production, which required extensive workarounds, like adapting to extreme weather and harsh lighting conditions, the 2015 film looks like a classic roadshow from the 60s.
Out With The New, In With The Old
We live in a time where technology changes faster than we can keep up with it. It’s exciting, sure, but it’s also incredibly easy to fall into the preset trap that makes it impossible to stand out. Sitting here writing this, I’m beyond glad I have a word processor and a mechanical keyboard that allow me to work quickly and hit deadlines. But the ancient typewriter sitting in the other room opens up an entirely different creative headspace when I need to think about a project more deliberately.
My typewriter is louder than the final showdown in Dunkirk, and I can only bust it out when I know I’m not going to annoy the hell out of my family with it. When I intend to start blasting out words with machine-gun cadence and reckless abandon, I suddenly realize I have to be more careful. The thing doesn’t have a working backspace key. The keys sit at a steep incline, making it brutal on the wrists over extended periods of time. The hammers lock together if I type too fast. I’m forced to slow my roll and type with intention thanks to those limitations, and sometimes that’s all you need to find the perfect word for the page. Those words may never get published, but there’s something to be said about tinkering with old technology to create something new.
Maybe those typed pages get scanned, drawn on, rendered in Photoshop, and manipulated long after the ink dries. It may not be high art, but it’s allowed to exist on its own terms.
The moral of the story is that we need to tinker. We need to be curious and think past the presets. Modern tech isn’t going away, nor should it. But when you stop and think about how to use something with its own unique set of limitations, the world opens up. Even better, when you learn how to combine these things, the sky’s the limit.
Entertainment
Check out some of the best deals under $25 available to buy ahead of Amazons Big Spring Sale
Best early deals under $25 ahead of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale
The countdown to Amazon’s Big Spring Sale has begun, and while it doesn’t officially start until March 25, there’s already quite a few early deals worth checking out at the retailer. If you’re not looking to drop a ton of cash during this seasonal sale event, we’ve gathered up some excellent deals under $25 that you can shop right now.
These range from the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, if you’re looking to upgrade your streaming setup this year, to some sweet Lego sets, including the delightfully colorful Lego Botanicals Petite Sunny Bouquet, but there’s much more to explore. As the Big Spring Sale gets closer, we’ll be sure to update this with even more discounts that cross our radar, too.
Mashable Deals
Note: You don’t need to be a Prime member to shop the sale, but Prime members will receive exclusive deals on a variety of items.
Best early Amazon device deal
$24.99
at Amazon
$49.99
Save $25.00
Why we like it
2026 has started off strong when it comes to what’s available to stream, and if you’ve been looking to upgrade your setup to enjoy it all in 4K, the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is worth a look. At the moment, this streaming stick has returned to its lowest-ever price of $24.99 at Amazon, which is 50% off its list price of $49.99. It’s a pretty excellent price to pay for what you’re getting.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Plus supports 4K Ultra HD picture quality, which helps bring out the colors and crisp details in the shows and films you watch. It also supports Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos audio, which provide a little extra boost to picture and sound as well. And with support for Wi-Fi 6, you’ll get to enjoy smooth streaming quality. If it sounds like the streaming package you’ve been searching for, this early deal at Amazon is well worth jumping on.
More early Amazon device deals
Best early Lego deal
$23.99
at Amazon
$29.99
Save $6
Why we like it
The Lego Botanicals Petite Sunny Bouquet is a lovely little set to have up on display this spring, and what better time to grab it than while it’s on sale? At the moment, Amazon has knocked the price of this 373-piece set down to $23.99, allowing you to save a few dollars off its list price of $29.99. If its caught your eye, this is a great time to grab it and piece together a pretty bouquet to have up during the warmer months ahead.
Mashable Deals
More early Lego deals
Best early Bluetooth tracker deal
$14.99
at Amazon
$27.99
Save $13.00
Why we like it
Want a better way to keep an eye on items like your wallet, keys, or bags? It’s worth looking into a Bluetooth tracker, like the Life360 Tile. This helpful little device can be attached to a wide variety of items so you can easily track them if they escape your eyesight. If it sounds like something you need, Amazon’s dropped their price for a limited time to just $14.99 ahead of the Big Spring Sale.
Usually they’re listed for $27.99, so this deal saves you 46% overall. Plus, a variety of different colors have been discounted to this price, so you can pick out the option that best suits you.
More early deals under $25
Entertainment
The Channing Tatum Action Movie That Blew Away The Competition
By Phillip Moyer
| Updated
White House Down stars Channing Tatum as Marine Corps veteran John Cale, who is working as a Capitol Police officer who applied for a job in the Secret Service before getting rejected as unqualified. However, after a paramilitary group seizes the White House, it’s up to Cale to save the president and stop the terrorists from starting a nuclear war.
While not seen as a bad movie, per se, White House Down wasn’t warmly received by critics when it was released in 2013, leaving the film with a 52 percent Tomatometer rating. The film, directed by Independence Day and Moonfall director Roland Emmerich, was praised for the chemistry between Channing Tatum and co-stars Jamie Foxx and Maggie Gyllenhaal, but derided for its overuse of action movie tropes.
Some critics noted the level of self-awareness the movie had, leading them to consider White House Down a parody rather than a straightforward action thriller.
A Box Office Disappointment
Audiences seemed to enjoy the White House Down, with CinemaScore giving the film an A- audience rating. However, those who took to the internet to share their reviews were similarly lukewarm towards the film, as demonstrated by the film’s 62 percent Popcornmeter score.
Regardless of how audiences felt about White House Down, the movie ended up with disappointing box office returns. The film made $205 million worldwide and only $73 million domestically. With a production budget of $150 million, these numbers were probably not enough for the film to break even after marketing and distribution costs are taken into consideration.
Another Film Hurt White House Down’s Chance Of Box Office Success
One thing that probably didn’t help White House Down was the fact that it was released three months after Olympus Has Fallen; another movie about a terrorist attack on the White House. Olympus Has Fallen starred Gerald Butler as a secret service agent tasked with rescuing President Benjamen Asher (played by Aaron Eckhart) after North Korean terrorists take over the White House.
When raw numbers are taken into account Olympus Has Fallen actually performed slightly worse than White House Down. While both films received an A- CinemaScore, Olympus Has Fallen received a 49 percent Tomatometer score and made $170 million at the box office. However, Olympus Has Fallen only cost $70 million to make, making the less-watched film yield a higher financial return.
While White House Down quitely left theaters, never to be heard from again, Olympus has Fallen spawned two sequels, London Has Fallen (2016) and Angel Has Fallen (2019). Neither sequel ended up selling more tickets than White House Down, but each sequel in the Has Fallen film series cost less to produce than the previous film making each entry into the series a box office success.
Channing Tatum’s Career After White House Down
Channing Tatum went on to receive top billing in a wide variety of films after the moderate failure of White House Down.
This includes reprising the role of the undercover cop Jekno in 22 Jump Street, the villainous Jody Domergue in Quentin Tarantinos The Hateful Eight, and the American spy Tequila in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. He also reprised the role of the male stripper Mike Lane in the sequels Magic Mike XXL and Magic Mike’s Last Dance.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance, coincidentally enough, is another poorly-performing movie that has proved its staying power on streaming. The film only made $57 million off of a $45 million budget. However, after being released on Max, the conclusion of Channing Tatum’s stripper trilogy spent several days in the streaming service’s top three films.
While it’s probably far too late for a White House Down sequel to ever materialize, it remains to be seen whether the recent surge in White House Down’s popularity on streaming will lead to Channing Tatum being given more lead roles in straightforward action films.
White House Down is streaming on Paramount+.
Entertainment
Metas VR Metaverse takes one more step into the grave
When Facebook changed its name to Meta a few years ago, the idea was that the VR metaverse would become a huge pillar for the company. I think we can safely say that’s not going to happen.
On its community forums, Meta confirmed that Horizon Worlds, the flagship “hanging out and doing work meetings in VR” app for Quest headsets, will no longer be available in VR after June 15. It’s not going away entirely, as Meta recently reoriented its metaverse efforts toward a Horizon Worlds mobile app. But Mark Zuckerberg’s COVID-era dream of people spending huge portions of their days wearing VR headsets and messing around in Horizon Worlds seems to be dead.
In fairness to Meta, the multi-platform approach to Horizon Worlds isn’t new. It’s been available on mobile and desktop since 2023, and it must be successful enough in the mobile format for Meta to keep supporting and building upon that version of the Horizon Worlds metaverse. But when it was supposed to be a VR system seller, Horizon Worlds was often the subject of mockery online for its underwhelming visual quality, initial lack of legs for avatars, and its reputation as a virtual ghost town.
Mashable Light Speed
Of course, as of right now, that doesn’t mean Meta is giving up on VR. When it announced that Horizon was going mobile earlier this year, Meta reaffirmed its commitment to VR as a format.
“We have a robust roadmap of future VR headsets that will be tailored to different audience segments as the market grows and matures,” Meta said in a press release. “And Meta remains the single biggest investor in the VR industry. Why? Because we believe in VR as a critical technology on the path to the next computing platform.”
The enduring popularity of things like VRChat signals that there is a market for these sorts of virtual hangout spaces, but Zuckerberg’s specific vision of the metaverse just never really took off as intended. At least we got a few memes out of it.
Check out some of the best deals under $25 available to buy ahead of Amazons Big Spring Sale
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