Here's something you might be interested in.
You, dear readers, are intelligent media consumers and also connoisseurs of the web. So you've all seen The Oatmeal's excellent illustrated story, I tried to watch Game of Thrones and this is what happened. Right? Right.
My own story is hardly as dramatic. But I thought it worth pointing out, as part of my endless quest to understand YouTube's place in the media universe.
Layer Cake was a well-reviewed 2004 British crime pic that brought attention to both director Matthew Vaughn (who went on to do Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class) and Daniel Craig (who went on to be James Freaking Bond). So of course interest is going to be high in that sort of back catalog film, right? Perfect for Netflix instant, right? Wrong.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44176/
(Cue whiny Luke Skywalker voice.) But darn it, I want to watch it now! Fine, I'll go rent it at Amazon.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44177/
Well, phooey. Guess I'll have to pay a bit extra and rent it on iTunes.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44178/
Or not. Gosh, I wonder if there's anywhere at all online that I can pay to rent Layer Cake! Let me just Google "layer cake online rental" and...
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44179/
O HAI YOUTUBE. So no - I did not illegally download Layer Cake. I just watched it on YouTube. For free. Because it was there when I searched for a way to rent it. Sigh. I liked the ending.
You, dear readers, are intelligent media consumers and also connoisseurs of the web. So you've all seen The Oatmeal's excellent illustrated story, I tried to watch Game of Thrones and this is what happened. Right? Right.
My own story is hardly as dramatic. But I thought it worth pointing out, as part of my endless quest to understand YouTube's place in the media universe.
Layer Cake was a well-reviewed 2004 British crime pic that brought attention to both director Matthew Vaughn (who went on to do Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class) and Daniel Craig (who went on to be James Freaking Bond). So of course interest is going to be high in that sort of back catalog film, right? Perfect for Netflix instant, right? Wrong.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44176/
(Cue whiny Luke Skywalker voice.) But darn it, I want to watch it now! Fine, I'll go rent it at Amazon.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44177/
Well, phooey. Guess I'll have to pay a bit extra and rent it on iTunes.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44178/
Or not. Gosh, I wonder if there's anywhere at all online that I can pay to rent Layer Cake! Let me just Google "layer cake online rental" and...
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/22/44179/
O HAI YOUTUBE. So no - I did not illegally download Layer Cake. I just watched it on YouTube. For free. Because it was there when I searched for a way to rent it. Sigh. I liked the ending.