• realitaetsverlust@piefed.zipEnglish
    1401·
    12 days ago

    “In the twilight of bourgeois decadence, even the most trivial ornaments of culture shall be seized by the ruling class, for in latestage capitalism the elites will weaponize every spectacle - yes, even the egirls - to distract the proletariat from its chains.” - Karl Marx

  • UnspecificGravity@piefed.socialEnglish
    1042·
    12 days ago

    Weird to think that there is some percentage of this world that still goes to BestBuy, GameStop, and watches ads on TV and that its big enough to be worth marketing to.

    • binarytobis@lemmy.world
      43·
      12 days ago

      I’m often surprised when I hear how other people live. Conversation at work will go like:

      Employee A: “Youtube ads are getting ridiculous.”

      Me: “You still see Youtube ads?”

      Employee B: “Yeah, just get Youtube Premium. Such a smart investment.”

      Me: “Wait, what?!”

      Several of my millennial friends have cable TV and Tivo or something just because they are creatures of habit and are too tired from raising kids to consider changing their process. Weirdly, my boomer parents are the most tech savvy media consumers I know. They just have terrible taste.

      • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
        316·
        11 days ago

        This is one of those things that I go against the Lemmy hivemind on. I cut out pretty much every streaming service and sail the high seas for most of my media.But I consider YouTube Premium worth the cost.

        I got grandfathered into it when Google Music shut down and I really haven’t felt the need to change anything. YouTube music is better than Spotify. I don’t have to constantly play the whack-a-mole game of ad blockers that will inevitably break during a YouTube update. I don’t have to rely on finicky software to get videos to play in the background with my phone screen off.

        Look, I get it. All these features used to be offered for free without ads. I think that more than anything is why people are so rabidly against premium, because they feel like they had that stuff stolen from them. But YouTube is a service, not a right. You were never guaranteed those features permanently. The cost of Premium is miniscule compared to the benefits I get from it. I use YouTube a LOT. Weather for how to videos, or ASMR, or background music, or documentaries, or podcasts. I like knowing that no matter where I use it, from my computer to my phone to the random smart TV in a hotel that I cast to, I’m not going to see any ads.

        All this is based on the current services offered at the current price. If and when they start making those services shittier or increase the cost, then I will seek alternatives; but not before.

        EDIT: I love all the many replies going “Yea but you could just use this program combined with this plugin on your locally hosted server. Just use these 3 different pieces of software. Have you tried Squootle? Just use Squootle and SEvR, bro. If you use Squootle you can download the video, recompress it, and play it from any desktop running Windows 7.”

        • BremboTheFourth@piefed.caEnglish
          15·
          12 days ago

          Man I just use ublock on Firefox, it works on all my devices including my phone, and I’ve never once had to play with it

          • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
            23·
            12 days ago

            And can you play videos on your phone with the screen off?

            How about when you cast to a smart TV? Does your browser based ad-block work then too?

            What do you use for music? If it’s Spotify, why? YT premium costs just about as much.

            • DontHurtMe23@lemmy.zip
              8·
              12 days ago

              I’m not the person you asked, and I don’t care if you buy YT premium, but Firefox mobile can play background videos, the only finicky thing is it pauses when you turn your screen off, but you can press play on your lockscreen to start it again.

              I use smarttube next on my television.

              For music, I personally do Qobuz because they pay marginally better than Spotify (albeit still not a ton.)

              • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                4·
                12 days ago

                It is, however, the music publishing industry. Mostly Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music.

                Those 3 behemoths of avarice hoard the rights to 80%+ of the popular music of the entire world, so they’re arguably just as undeserving of your money as Google is 🤷

                • Passerby6497@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  12 days ago

                  I personally think the music industry is worse than Google, but they had a head start on being shitheads

            • frizzo@piefed.socialEnglish
              31·
              12 days ago

              Chuckles, yeah buddy there was this adVanced app the I had to REinstall it. Paying is for suckers.

            • acockworkorange@mander.xyz
              1·
              10 days ago

              Brave plays them in the background without ads. I don’t ever cast youtube, no philosophical reason, I just don’t feel the need to.

              I use Amazon music for music, just because I’m too lazy to move services.

              I refuse to contribute to Google in any way, shape, or form. But I understand your choice, and I know how hypocritical this sounds after I just said I have Amazon music. But the world is highly imperfect and so am I.

            • thermal_shock@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              12 days ago

              Use smart tube apk on your tv if you have an android device doing video, or if your tv supports apk installation from usb. Nvidea shield or similar works amazing.

        • binarytobis@lemmy.world
          11·
          12 days ago

          To be honest I just don’t want to google to get more money. They suck.

          Also your use case is very specific. The people I was referencing have more basic needs that would be easily bypassed with ublock. It’s fine if the way you like to listen to music is best served by youtube with a subscription.

        • djdarren@piefed.socialEnglish
          1·
          11 days ago

          I’m not fundamentally opposed to YT Premium, I just think it’s hilariously overpriced.

          I’d need a family plan. That would cost me £20 a month, just so I can watch YT videos. I baulked at paying Netflix whatever the fuck they started charging a few years ago, but at least they’re producing multi-million pound shows.

          I used to have Premium from Ukraine via VPN. It was great. I spent a year or so paying them five quid a month. Then they closed that loophole and now I pay them nothing, and download all the videos I want with yt-dlp into my Jellyfin server.

        • callmemagnus@lemmy.world
          0·
          11 days ago

          Aren’t you confusing YouTube music premium and youtube premium ?

          Only the first is required for music streaming. The second is just a huge waste of money if you only watch YouTube videos on a computer (the first is too in the sens that you don’t need it)

      • RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        1·
        11 days ago

        I definitely buy YouTube premium, have had it for a few years. But I also use it a ton instead of Netflix or Amazon or anything else. I figure at a minimum of 50 hours a week on YouTube I should probably pay for it, even at the like $20 AUD a month or whatever it’s climbed to at this point, and creators get a % of my premium money so that supports people.

    • Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca
      18·
      12 days ago

      I haven’t been to Best Buy since I caught them jacking the prices on laptops for boxing day ‘sales’… that was 10-15 years ago

      haven’t been to GameStop in about the same timeframe when I stopped sinking money into consoles because they were/are more expensive then pc gaming in the long run.

      also haven’t turned my 65inch tv on in about 2 years. it’s all streaming on my desktop with pihole so clean watching.

        • turmacar@lemmy.world
          4·
          12 days ago

          There’s weirdness sometimes if devices don’t respect your network’s dns settings and just use their own. You can override that by forcing a dns redirect if your router supports that but not all consumer ones do unless you put openwrt or something on them.

        • funkajunk@lemmy.world
          1·
          12 days ago

          Not necessarily, a lot of apps use internal values for DNS resolution and other tricks to counter DNS level adblocking.

      • Kairos@lemmy.today
        4·
        12 days ago

        Yes. They are similar stores and are therefore competing for each others’ customers. Hence this headline.

    • dan@upvote.au
      3·
      12 days ago

      Best Buy has been one of the best places to buy PC components like GPUs from (as long as they’re in stock), since they don’t mark up prices above the manufacturer’s pricing, and they price match with Microcenter in case Microcenter’s price is lower.

    • Tanis Nikana@lemmy.world
      3·
      12 days ago

      I don’t have a connection to broadcast television, channels, cable, and advertisements, and I just watch my shows by pirating. I think most of us are like that: TVs are for game consoles, or at best, a TV hooked up to a computer with YouTube on.

      Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a TV showing broadcast content at my friends’ houses either.

      Who the heck is keeping the TV industry profitable?

      • dan@upvote.au
        1·
        12 days ago

        I think most of us are like that

        Tech-savvy Lemmy users (and their friends) are a small portion of the population though. Plenty of people pay for cable TV, IPTV, or a similar service, and/or VOD platforms like Netflix.

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      41·
      12 days ago

      Unironically, Best Buy pivoted really well into the modern market and they sell a lot of broad tech stuff at good prices. I’ve bought a lot of stuff including SSD’s, ram, and a big 43" monitor from them with good discounts. Don’t diss them till you’ve used them.

      GameStop though, I’m still not sure how theyre in business. Mostly Nintendo physical items I think.

      • Bahnd Rollard@lemmy.world
        2·
        12 days ago

        Best buy has been on my “one-bad-black-friday bankrupsy” bet for years, yet they seemed to have survived the death of Sears, Radioshack, Circuit City, and Frys Electronics…

        For me, as a customer, they are the shop of last resort. I will go literally anywhere else because they will likely have the thing, but no specific models. If you need an SSD, RAM (lol no in todays market) or a cable they will likely have it, but its going to be a smaller range than Microcenter, if time is no object, just order exactly what you need.

        The thing I will give them credit for is keeping the home theatre market, I feel that only a fool will buy a TV without physically looking at it first (they turn the blue up, just an FYI).

    • MDCCCLV@lemmy.caEnglish
      41·
      12 days ago

      They both have some items that are semi exclusive or are better to buy from. Like if you want to buy big exercise equipment, it’s easier to return it if you have a physical store. Also, online places have higher rates of counterfeit items. So there are plenty of specific reasons to buy things in person.

      • lemming741@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        12 days ago

        Counterfeit concerns, porch pirates, and also basic manufacturers warranty coverage is simpler in my opinion. I don’t want to deal with cross shipping and email chains and off shore call centers when my gadget dies. I’ll pay a 5% premium for that convenience.

        Also shuckable hdds

  • LouNeko@lemmy.world
    36·
    12 days ago

    Look im glad she’s getting a paycheck but why do people give these 2 soulless companies free marketing by falling for this fabricated rivalry.

  • Cruxifux@feddit.nl
    21·
    12 days ago

    I remember when you weren’t allowed to have piercings or coloured hair to work at these places lol

    This is much better.

  • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    202·
    12 days ago

    Whatever Best Buy used as a filter to enlarge her eyes creeps me out. At least the Game Stop version looks like an actual person

    • Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works
      6·
      11 days ago

      Look at the size of her face overall on the left, and the size on the right. Now look at where her eyebrows are on the left and where they are on the right. The camera on the left is slightly closer, her makeup is different, and her eyes are open wider. I don’t think it’s a filter.

      • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        01·
        11 days ago

        The height of her head is the same and she has the same jaw position in both shots, yet multiple features of her face are larger on the left.

        It’s a filter

        • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
          11·
          10 days ago

          Lenses distort features at different focal lengths without any filtering. An extreme example is fish eye lenses on action cameras.

    • psycotica0@lemmy.ca
      0·
      12 days ago

      All of her facial features are a bit bigger on the left, like her nose. I wonder if it’s a focal length thing like this dude?

      GIF

      • SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org
        0·
        11 days ago

        Can’t tell if it is for the ad-girl. But I have to mention, that - ACKSHUALLY - this is not happening because of the focal length, but because of perspective, i.e. the distance between camera and subject.

        In order to achieve the same framing on a subject, like the dude in that GIF did, with different focal lenghts, you have to adjust how far away you stand.

        So for practical purposes, especially for portrait photography the focal length kinda forces you to do that, but it’s not the cause of perspective distortion.

        You could achieve the same effect, by taking the sameish picture with a wide angle lens and moving away from the subject with each shot and then cropping the foto to get the framing/field of view to fit the first pic in sequence. Of course you lose resolution and image quality that way, so it’s not recommended.

  • BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world
    14·
    11 days ago

    this is fuckin weird. i went to school with her. she came to my apartment for a poker night once. wild seeing her on lemmy

  • madjo@feddit.nl
    13·
    11 days ago

    Dutch beer brand Amstel had a long running commercial campaign that featured 3 friends enjoying their beer.
    After that campaign ended, competitor Bavaria hired two of three actors and made a commercial with them enjoying a nice holiday and having them say Bavaria’s tag line “Zo, nu eerst een Bavaria” (And now finally a Bavaria).

    • Obi@sopuli.xyz
      2·
      10 days ago

      Trying to make my Dutch better, isn’t that more like “So, now first a Bavaria”?

        • Obi@sopuli.xyz
          2·
          10 days ago

          But in every day meaning, it would be closer to what you said? I’m struggling to understand where the “finally” concept came from, but I know some expressions carry further meaning than the words that compose it sometimes.

          • madjo@feddit.nl
            2·
            10 days ago

            The word “zo” has a lot of different meanings. In this case it’s said at the end of a (difficult or long) task as filler word.

            Like “zo, dat is klaar” (that’s (finally) done now), or “zo en dan nu tv kijken” (and now (finally) time to watch tv)
            It doesn’t mean “so” in that case. It’s more similar to “hè hè” in that case. An expression of weariness and/or tiredness. And that’s why I translated it to “finally”. “Now this task is finished, I can finally relax with a beer”.

            I hope this clears things up for you?

            • Obi@sopuli.xyz
              2·
              10 days ago

              Aaah yes that definitely helps clear it up! And gives me a new perspective on “zo”. Thanks so much for taking the time to type this up.

  • thatradomguy@lemmy.world
    12·
    12 days ago

    This reminds me of when the “can you hear me now?” guy from Verizon moved to Sprint, I think it was. How about them Epstein files though?

  • x4740N@lemmy.world
    101·
    11 days ago

    I’m sorry but who is she for me and others that don’t live in a*erica because I have no clue who she is

  • Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    91·
    12 days ago

    GameStop as I knew it from a few years ago is dead. Now that almost all games are digitized, its stores only carry a handful of discs and cartridges with barely enough to cover half a wall in shelves. The rest of the store is mired in miscellaneous pop culture crap like Cowboy Bebop T shirts, pop figures, and some various other knick knacks. It can’t live up to its name so it might as well shuffle off from store fronts and on to the collective memory of gaming enthusiasts.

    • no banana@piefed.worldOPEnglish
      61·
      12 days ago

      GameStop died here. I haven’t seen one since before the pandemic. It’s been blissful.

      • ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com
        1·
        12 days ago

        I live in the UK and I haven’t seen GameStop in about 15+ years. They stopped operating here in 2016, but the one nearest to me shut down long before that.