It’s 1995, and I’m trying to watch a video on the internet. I entered the longest, most complex URL I’d ever seen into AOL’s web browser to view a trailer for Paul W.S. Anderson’s long-awaited film adaptation of Mortal Kombat. I found it in an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, tucked away in the bottom of a full-page ad for the film. Online marketing at the time was such an afterthought, studios didn’t even bother grabbing short and memorable web addresses for their major releases, let alone dedicated websites. (Star Trek Generations and Stargate were among the few early exceptions.) After the interminable process of transcribing the URL from print, I gathered my family around our Packard Bell PC (powered by an Intel 486 DX and, let’s say, 8MB of RAM), hit return and waited as the video slowly came down our 33.6kbps dial-up connection. And waited. It took 25 minutes for it to fully load. After corralling my family once again, I hit play and was treated to an horrendously compressed, low-resolution version of the trailer I’d been dreaming about for months. It was unwatchable. The audio was shit. But that was the moment I became obsessed with online video. I imagined a futuristic world beyond my boxy CRT set and limited cable TV subscription. A time after VHS tapes when I could just type in a URL and enjoy a show or movie while eating one of those rehydrated Pizza Hut pies from Back to the Future 2. The internet would make it so. Looking back now, almost 30 years later,... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-03-01 17:00:14 UTC ]
Over the past decade, Christopher Castellani—artistic director of Grub Street in Boston, one of the country’s largest literary centers—has written a trio of novels about an Italian immigrant family, the Grassos, a family much like his own. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
For the past decade the American Booksellers Association has been warning about the need for succession plans and the graying of booksellers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
HarperCollins has taken full control of its India arm, following 10 years of running it in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Scholastic will refresh the Horrible Histories series to mark the books' 20th anniversary in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Book charity Booktrust is marking the 20th anniversary of its free books for babies scheme,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Orion will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012, marking the milestone by re-releasing 20... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/07/2011 - 09:00 Oxford Professor of Poetry Geoffrey Hill will compete against former winners David Harsent and Sean OBrien to win The Forward poetry prize for Best Collection on its 20th anniversary. Hill took the coveted Oxford poetry role... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 01/07/2011 - 09:00 Walker Books has launched an award for new illustration to help mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the company's founder, Sebastian Walker. The Sebastian Walker Award will be run in collaboration with the MA course in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 16/06/2011 - 15:44 Publishers are vying to be the champions as they bring out titles to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the death of Queen star Freddie Mercury in November 2011. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this