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New York, 4:38 AM
Sun Nov 29
13 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #1980s more →

    Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology

    Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!

    The Secret of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" Forward Leaning Move

    Nintendo Service Training Video Explains that All Customers Are Idiots, Even Celebrities

    Music Vest Ad from the '80s is Probably the Pinnacle of Gadget Advertising

    Buy One LaserTour, Get the Lay-Dee for Free

    Atari Memorabilia to Go Under the Hammer in NYC Today

    Mario Rubik's Cube Combines Best, Worst of 80s

    80s Tech Retrospective
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    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    It looks like the two youngest kids had their bangs trimmed using the same bowl...
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of maven2k maven2k
    11/23/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: That brings back bad memories of having my hair cut like that, heh
     Reply
    maven2k was starred maven2k was unstarred
    Image of d1gw33d d1gw33d
    11/23/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Advocate®: And the Dad looks like he borrowed that mouth from Sloth (The Goonies.)
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® promoted this comment d1gw33d was starred d1gw33d was unstarred
    Image of fakejezuzdiaz fakejezuzdiaz
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    This was a British publication, right?

    I mean, judging by the year and the dental set-up of the dad in the back, I'm going to have to go with British. Definitely British.

    Let the wapping begin!
     Reply
    fakejezuzdiaz was starred fakejezuzdiaz was unstarred
    Image of Mayor McRib Mayor McRib
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    I lived these ads, minus the whole parental interaction part. I logged time on a TRS-80 at school until you could get the TI-99 4A for $50. Most adults were terrified of computers back then and the computer games pretty much sucked except for Chisholm Trail...Explaining extended basic to your parents was the equivalent of your parents explaining sex to you when you were 3.
     Reply
    Edited by Mayor McRib at 11/23/09 11:30 AM Mayor McRib was starred Mayor McRib was unstarred
    Image of UnderLoK UnderLoK
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    Forget about bringing the computer, just bring a fifth of bourbon.
     Reply
    Edited by UnderLoK at 11/23/09 10:50 AM UnderLoK was starred UnderLoK was unstarred
    Image of Bertone77 Bertone77
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    I always make the OK sign while watching video games!

    It shows how I overwhelmingly approve of what my kids are playing and works to mitigate the risk of the game console coming to life and killing us in our sleep!

    OK!!
     Reply
    Bertone77 was starred Bertone77 was unstarred
    Image of bornonbord bornonbord
    11/23/09

    @#c17038122:[www.youtube.com]
     Reply
    Edited by bornonbord at 11/23/09 11:12 AM bornonbord was starred bornonbord was unstarred
    Image of Noobs-R-Us Noobs-R-Us
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    What's with the dumb and dumber haircuts on the kids?
     Reply
    Noobs-R-Us was starred Noobs-R-Us was unstarred
    Image of Kirkaiya Kirkaiya
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    "booted from the TV" ??
    Pfft, wannabe geek! I had the Commodore color monitor for my C64, complete with composite video input (which I later hooked up to my first VCR to watch movies in my room!)
     Reply
    Kirkaiya was starred Kirkaiya was unstarred
    Image of Danny Allen Danny Allen
    11/23/09

    @Kirkaiya: Ha!
     Reply
    Danny Allen was starred Danny Allen was unstarred
    Image of ZaxxonQ.com ZaxxonQ.com
    11/23/09

    In reply to Vintage Cheese: Nothing Says Holidays Like a Family High on Technology
    Even if the game system emitted nitrous oxide, dispensed cheeseburgers, AND printed money, I do not think that it would make me THAT happy. That's some serious crazy going on there!
     Reply
    ZaxxonQ.com was starred ZaxxonQ.com was unstarred
    Image of zenpoet zenpoet
    08/13/09

    In reply to Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!
    There is no reason for this to have any live action. Period.
     Reply
    zenpoet was starred zenpoet was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    08/13/09

    In reply to Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!
    The last time I saw a cartoon duo get shit onto the big screen was Rocky & Bullwinkle. I fear MGM is going to give us all cancer.
     Reply
    Edited by Kaiser-Machead at 08/13/09 10:50 AM Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of Nick Nick
    08/13/09

    In reply to Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!
    oh, man. i have been waiting to see what a lego looks like as it travels through the digestive system for years now. i am so excited.
     Reply
    Nick was starred Nick was unstarred
    Image of Joewithay Joewithay
    08/13/09

    In reply to Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!
    I have a bad feeling about this
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead promoted this comment Joewithay was starred Joewithay was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    08/13/09

    @Joewithay: That's what you always say. You always say 'I have a bad feeling about this.'
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
    08/13/09

    @Joewithay: You always say that. I want to take a chance!
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was starred GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was unstarred
    Image of gunluva is prepared to drop. gunluva is prepared to drop.
    08/13/09

    @Joewithay:

    You ALWAYS have bad feeling. You had bad feeling about morning food-nipple!
     Reply
    gunluva is prepared to drop. was starred gunluva is prepared to drop. was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    08/13/09

    In reply to Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!
    I heard that they are going for an all-Asian cast.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Hiphopopotamus Hiphopopotamus
    08/13/09

    In reply to Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!
    LindsayJoy is already camping out for tickets...
     Reply
    Hiphopopotamus was starred Hiphopopotamus was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    08/13/09

    In reply to Holy Crap, They're Making a Lego Movie!
    Ever since I read about Lego threatening to sue Spinal Tap because they were going to include this indy lego stop motion video in their movie, I am no longer a fan. If Lego is going to sue its fan base for making movies, or even claim that they hold a "copyright" or "trademark" that allows them to limit the distribution of those movies, they have lost all the good will they had accumulated through my (prolonged and some say continuing) childhood.

    Aside: Why does editing remove my hyperlinks?
     Reply
    Edited by weatherman at 08/13/09 8:25 AM weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    08/13/09

    @weatherman: Lego threatening to sue Spinal Tap
    Stop motion video in question:
     Reply
    weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    08/13/09

    @weatherman: While your sentiment is understandable, it's sort of weird to associate a commercial entity with goodwill to consumers. Lego's purpose is clearly to enrich its stockholders. Any goodwill that it generates has the purpose of instilling brand loyalty in its consumer base. I interpret this lawsuit as behavior consistent with Lego's purpose as a self-serving entity.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    08/13/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: I don't think it's weird at all to think that a company, especially one that produces toys, should be able to do well by doing good, or at the very least do better by not being bad. I'd say that principle is one of the most dominant trends in marketing right now, actually.
     Reply
    Edited by weatherman at 08/13/09 9:56 AM weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of deliciousburglar deliciousburglar
    08/13/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: just a note. there are no stockholders in lego. privately owned.
     Reply
    Hiphopopotamus promoted this comment deliciousburglar was starred deliciousburglar was unstarred
    Image of Hiphopopotamus Hiphopopotamus
    08/13/09

    @deliciousburglar: There are still stockholders, just not public stockholders.
     Reply
    Hiphopopotamus was starred Hiphopopotamus was unstarred
    Image of deliciousburglar deliciousburglar
    08/13/09

    @Hiphopopotamus: no. one man one man owns it all. unless you are qualifying bank loans as stockholders.
     Reply
    Edited by deliciousburglar at 08/13/09 10:35 AM deliciousburglar was starred deliciousburglar was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    08/13/09

    @weatherman: Any company does good by providing a product that people enjoy and are willing to pay for. Lego is an example of this sort of company. While some companies also do good things that are unrelated to their businesses, such as donating to charity, such acts are motivated by good public relations rather than altruism. Why would a business give up resources to do good if they were not aware of any public relations or other benefits? Conversely, bad things they do, like torture their workers, will generate negative sentiment that will hurt their business.

    To illustrate, the large bank that I work for donates millions of dollars to charity every year. In fact, it is the largest donating entity in the area in which I live. These donations are immensely important to the proliferation of non-profit entities in the area. However, why should a bank care about this? The reason is that its helps generate a positive perception of the bank that helps it in its retail businesses. You can bet that very little of this charity is truly selfless. Reputations are very important to banks, which is why they spend money doing good things to establish good reputations.

    It should not matter that Lego is a toy company. Like banks, Lego has great stake in its reputation as a "family-friendly" company and its association with wholesome fun. Your initial post demonstrates this point - you said you would not buy Lego products because the company did something that you did not approve of. This is not related to their products in any way. Instead, it illustrates the importance of Lego's reputation to its business. With this in mind, how can anyone possible conclude that Lego does good solely for the purpose of doing good, given that its business is so dependent on its reputation, which is bolstered by acts that people perceive to be altruistic?

    Our entire generation has been sold on the Lego experience - the belief that buying and assembling Legos is a way to participate in an element of good in society. There is nothing wrong with this belief, and it is true in a way. However, it is naive to assume that Lego (the company) generates this perception for reasons other than profit. There is a difference between doing things altruistically and doing things for public relations benefits.
     Reply
    Edited by Hello Mister Walrus at 08/13/09 11:09 AM Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of weatherman weatherman
    08/13/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: I never said that they were doing anything for any reason other than profit, or that they do good for the sake of doing good. I was simply suggesting that their spurious lawsuit threat is antithetical to their profit motive because it harms their brand image, at least in my eyes.
     Reply
    weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    08/13/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: Or to be more explicit, for companies like Lego, a good reputation is the same as money. We don't say Microsoft is truly benevolent for giving us software since they get something in return - money. With this same logic, even if Lego does something good for us, we cannot equate this to being benevolent since Lego gets a good reputation in return. Lego is certainly aware of the commercial importance of its reputation.
     Reply
    Edited by Hello Mister Walrus at 08/13/09 11:32 AM Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    08/13/09

    @weatherman: But that is irrational. Once you accept that even Lego's good deeds are motivated by profit, lawsuits like this should not change your perception of them, since these are also motivated by profit.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Hiphopopotamus Hiphopopotamus
    08/13/09

    @deliciousburglar: There are 205 outstanding shares of Lego company stock owned by various individuals, board members, and investing interests. There is 1 share of Class A Lego stock with controlling voting interest, owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen.
     Reply
    Hiphopopotamus was starred Hiphopopotamus was unstarred
    Image of deliciousburglar deliciousburglar
    08/13/09

    @Hiphopopotamus: i work at LEGO actually. what i think you are referring to is a tax scheme Kjeld works under. make no mistake in that its a private company.
     Reply
    deliciousburglar was starred deliciousburglar was unstarred
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