Oddity Archive: Episode 116 - VideoGuide (+2 other early Interactive Program Guides)

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  • Опубліковано 18 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 99

  • @rebelwrest
    @rebelwrest 7 років тому +17

    At 13:45, if the Archive is ever short of cash, you can tape all that junk together and make it into an abstract art piece and sell it for thousands of dollars.

  • @denelson83
    @denelson83 3 роки тому +1

    6:17 - That's Boston.

  • @davidpalomares801
    @davidpalomares801 8 років тому +11

    Super Geeky Stuff: at 5:34 they show the listing which is based from the Boston TV Market. 25 is WFXT, Ch 38 is WSBK, 56 is WLVI.

  • @rogerbourgeois5068
    @rogerbourgeois5068 6 років тому +4

    VideoGuide was absolutely AMAZING. The coolest feature was that you record any show WITHOUT have to know WHEN it was on, nor what channel it was on. For example, you could, with just a few clicks, tell it to record ALL FIRST RUN Simpsons episodes. You didn't have to know the time, nor the channel. This feature would only record NEW episodes. Not repeats. You could tell it to LIST every episode of the Simpsons that was on this week, or next, and then scroll through the show synopsis, all listed vertically, which the description of the show across the bottom of the screen. If you read an episode synopsys that sounded interesting, two clicks, (or was it 3, what ever, it was SUPER simple), and the show would record. ANOTHER AMAZING feature was that if you were recording STAR TREK:TNG or some other show that came on at 7pm, and the preceeding football game ran longer than expected, VideoGuide would automatically start recording TNG when the football game was OVER...and if the channel broadcast the whole TNG episode, just delayed, you would get the whole thing recorded on your VCR. No more setting up your VCR to record 30 minutes extra, just in case the game ran long. The news feature was also fantastic. I started every morning, reading 10-15 minutes of AP world news. I was so well informed on US and WORLD events. I was SAD to see this thing not make it. My boyfriend worked for this company, so I even got to beta test it, and make some suggestions before it went to market. I ended up buying the Guide + NEWS package. At the time, I think it was $100, but I remember at the time thinking, this is TOTALLY worth it! (Yes, I did return my device and get my fully refund when they got bought out. It was nice of them to do that.) Too bad Gemstar didn't keep the alphabetical listing of shows (irrespective of channel) -- they totally hacked the interface - making it so much more problematic to find shows than it needed to be. The alphabetical listing of shows feature was the BEST, and they just dumped it.

  • @C1NDR0N3
    @C1NDR0N3 8 років тому +56

    I'd love to see this series actually aired ,but it would have to be a public broadcast, and only be accessed through a ham radio, being descrambled and running through a Betamax player

    • @ShawnMcClurg
      @ShawnMcClurg 8 років тому

      Dylan502123 I would rather see it on TV

    • @schztinky2820
      @schztinky2820 8 років тому +1

      Dylan502123 sells my brand new Xbox one 32" tv and my only kidney (my other one doesn't exist)

    • @C1NDR0N3
      @C1NDR0N3 8 років тому +2

      Shawn McClurg Thats to simple, for us, Archivians

  • @DoctorKandosii
    @DoctorKandosii 8 років тому +14

    I reckon the old fashioned printed TV guides held back the electronic guides because the newspaper and magazine companies were too damn powerful and wanted to maintain their grip on the market. That and people who were not that tech savvy probably felt intimidated by it. TV guides are still popular over here in Britain as they feature gossip columns and soap opera news. Lowest common denominator stuff is always popular.

  • @rwdplz1
    @rwdplz1 8 років тому +30

    Waiting patiently for Ben to buy some old analog television transmitting gear and hook it all up in his parent's basement

  • @MiceOnParole
    @MiceOnParole 8 років тому +7

    Love the muzak "Summer In The City".

  • @soundminedd
    @soundminedd 10 місяців тому +1

    You're my video guide ben❤❤❤

  • @musmodtos
    @musmodtos 8 років тому +2

    The Ceefax page at 2:47 is from 1980 if anybody is interested..........
    Ceefax for the non-Brits was the BBC's version of Teletext, and was a phonetic interpretation of 'See-Facts'.

  • @TimelordR
    @TimelordR 8 років тому +12

    Glad to see you're still up & running. Hope you are well in 2017.

  • @5roundsrapid263
    @5roundsrapid263 8 років тому +6

    I remember seeing Zenith TV's with StarSight in stores back in the mid-90's.

  • @kbhasi
    @kbhasi 7 років тому +12

    Nice! It's interesting how the VideoGuide interface looks (at least to me) modern for its time, though i was surprised at the fact that the TV audio cuts out when using it, because I'm so used to modern cable TV EPGs that still play the audio while browsing the guide, and in the case of my cable TV provider, they have an option on the box to enable a small channel preview.
    In addition to that, when my cable TV provider launched their digital service in 2004, not only was the remote design a great departure from the plain slab remotes of their analogue boxes, but their EPG was a vertical list, and the user was only able to view 1 channel's schedules at a time. and there was a channel preview that was fixed and could not be removed.
    Now, with their current generation cable box, not only did they completely revamp the UI, but they added in a feature to have the more traditional EPG style with the horizontal layout that shows the schedules for multiple channels at once, but the vertical layout is still the default, especially for people who have been with them for a long time, not to mention that small channel preview.
    They also added a whole bunch of other features too, such as a PIP feature and (finally) proper closed captioning controls, though a lot of channels here in Southeast Asia still use hard-coded Chinese subtitles.
    I know we have been using that provider for as long as I can remember, not only for their TV service but also for our Internet service, so much so that I never got to experience dial up myself, we just had cable Internet for as long as I can remember, and even though we switched to their fibre service for Internet, the way my house is designed does not allow for me to switch to their fibre TV service.

    • @und4287
      @und4287 3 роки тому +1

      To my knowledge, the EPG that Sky in the UK used played music instead of the TV audio (at least the older versions did)

    • @kbhasi
      @kbhasi 3 роки тому +1

      @@und4287
      Yep, I remember that too, as I was living in Australia from 2003 to 2005 and later found that Foxtel was using Sky's infrastructure at the time!
      In Singapore, I liked that StarHub had PIP in their EPG, even though they only had a vertical list at the time and not a horizontal list like they do now, but then when I would go to visit some family members in Australia, I was slightly thrown off by the Foxtel EPG music without PIP. That was before the Australian side cancelled their Foxtel subscription some years ago and just use an antenna now.

  • @Channel37TV
    @Channel37TV 5 років тому +1

    5:10 : Dallas-Fort Worth market listings, post-July 1995 - 2: PBS KDTN (now Daystar); 4: Fox KDFW; 5: NBC KXAS; 8: ABC WFAA; 11: CBS KTVT; 13: PBS KERA; 21: UPN KTXA. The inset image appears to be Boston listings - 5: ABC WCVB; 4: CBS WBZ; 7: NBC WHDH; 25: Fox WFXT.

  • @WestleyWolf
    @WestleyWolf 8 років тому +3

    the VideoGuide was also eventually the Gemstar guide Plus+ for certain RCA TVs and PCs at the time. eventually Tivo would take over the Gemstar Guide Plus+.

  • @kit-ekat8139
    @kit-ekat8139 3 роки тому +1

    i already had summer in the city stuck in my head, this definitely didn't help.

  • @fixman88
    @fixman88 8 років тому +2

    I had a JVC VCR back in 1996 or so that had VCR+ compatibility, and I remember the little IR transmitters on a wire like the one you showed that had to be placed on the front of the cable box to change the channel to automatically record programs (they were called 'IR Blasters'). The ones I had worked pretty well. I don't recall seeing any standalone EPG boxes but I do remember seeing TVs with them built-in (even though I never owned one). And once again the Archive proves that Odd is Good...

  • @5roundsrapid263
    @5roundsrapid263 8 років тому +1

    There was a similar system around 2007 called Moviebeam. Not just a program guide, it downloaded digital PPV movies off-air. It lasted about a year.

  • @VaderTheWhite
    @VaderTheWhite 7 років тому +2

    I know that remote! My family just had it lying around and I used it as a toy phaser! I never knew what it was for.

  • @Dannypuck
    @Dannypuck 8 років тому +6

    17:19 If you're looking for a casket, go see Cal.

  • @Dappis
    @Dappis 8 років тому +3

    I could listen to ben talk about obsolete technology for days
    >tfw realizes i've marathoned atleast 20hrs of Oddity archive

    • @TheApoohneicie
      @TheApoohneicie 3 роки тому

      I’m glad I’m not the only one. I have been binging Archive for over a week now. I think my husband hears the theme in his dreams.

  • @AirknightTails
    @AirknightTails 7 років тому

    9:50 I have that same Remote (I use it nowadays as a Remote for my GoldStar VCR as I don’t have it’s Remote in the first place)

  • @robsimp1436
    @robsimp1436 7 років тому +3

    I bet the batteries are to backup your download in case the power goes out, so you don't have to redownload every time you lose power for a second.

  • @5speedfatty
    @5speedfatty 8 років тому +12

    lol, I cut the cable years ago benny boy!!! Yer one of my favorite channels

    • @schztinky2820
      @schztinky2820 8 років тому +1

      Cereal Killer do you use Netflix and prime and Hulu+

    • @MrWolfSnack
      @MrWolfSnack 8 років тому +3

      I haven't had cable TV since 2002 and haven't had satellite since 2009. I have free TV and wired up an outdoor antenna aerial indoors that I saved from the garbage dump (someone's 60 year old aerial toppled over in a thunderstorm and they dumped the mangled heap on the curb for scrappers). I cut the aerial off the mast, luckily it wasn't damaged in the fall, and then hung it up inside my attic from the rafters, making sure the antenna pointed towards the downtown district where all the antennas are, and then ran the line down to the basement where it goes into a CO-AX hub and branches the antenna signal under the floor up to the bedrooms in the house. Comes in crystal clear on my 2 HDTV's and 3 CRT tube TV's. The only time I get bad reception is when there's intense thunderstorm activity over the house and the lightning interferes with the signal and makes it jitter. When I had DISH, it would lose signal any time there was a rainstorm. I even put Rain-X and waxed the dish to keep the rain off of it, but it didn't help that much. Satellite is too impractical when you live in a location with inclement weather.

    • @JetScreamer_YT
      @JetScreamer_YT 3 роки тому

      I do have streaming cable, but I rarely watch it anymore. News, and network mostly. Not too many cable channels. It tired old programming. I split the cost, so I can have the option to check something out in the future. Always Sunny, or Shameless type thing.
      UA-cam is where it's at. UA-cam is the future. In many ways SNL predicted this, from the Judy Show to Wayne's World and WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!

  • @jackla2525
    @jackla2525 8 років тому +6

    Interesting, never knew these existed. We had DirecTV in the mid-90s (About the same time most of this would have been available). That already had a really good EPG built-in so at least if you had DSS you wouldn't need to pay for an additional guide. Plus if you had a Sony DSS unit and a Sony VCR they could link together for very easy one-click recording.. just like a Tivo (well with the limitations of using a linear video tape)

    • @schztinky2820
      @schztinky2820 8 років тому

      Jack La I prefer the logo guide on the old receivers

    • @jackla2525
      @jackla2525 8 років тому

      Yeah i remember the logo guide. Made it super easy to find channels. I was bummed when they took that out.

    • @schztinky2820
      @schztinky2820 8 років тому +1

      Jack La the 2008 grid guide looks awful the blue white and yellow one looks boring

    • @schztinky2820
      @schztinky2820 8 років тому +1

      Jack La I used the logo guide when I was 5. 9 years ago

  • @gamblincabbie9505
    @gamblincabbie9505 8 років тому +7

    Aspen Mortuaries, where Oddity tech goes to die.

  • @sawbonesquad4876
    @sawbonesquad4876 8 років тому +5

    a mortuary ad is oddly apropos for a failed attempt at getting the program guide to work

  • @TheBronxBunnyMan
    @TheBronxBunnyMan 6 років тому

    The intro to this had me so confused at first because the video referenced in the intro was the same video at the exact point I had left off at during the previous night.

  • @chrysanth.5700
    @chrysanth.5700 8 років тому +4

    This is pretty amazing to see this kind of technology still barely work even if its original function is long since past.

  • @RickinBaltimore
    @RickinBaltimore 8 років тому +27

    Uh Ben, what the heck with that opening

    • @DrewberTravels
      @DrewberTravels 8 років тому +3

      I was wondering the same thing. heh.

    • @FelfopReturns
      @FelfopReturns 8 років тому +8

      I believe that is a parody of the featured tech. Seems obvious after watching the video, but I am old.

    • @mario0318
      @mario0318 8 років тому +5

      Isn't it a spoof of a TV program guide based on the OA? I understood it as a parody given the episode's topic, like Felfop Returns said. Pretty sure funny guy Ben knew what he was doing there.

  • @Headywon
    @Headywon 8 років тому +6

    Interesting editing at the beginning there....

    • @wraithgames
      @wraithgames 8 років тому +2

      It was a joke parodying the guide :D

    • @Headywon
      @Headywon 8 років тому +2

      I got that from the video but not the audio lol

  • @robertbruce7686
    @robertbruce7686 3 роки тому +1

    Ben shows us how damaging self harm is...

  • @pcross84
    @pcross84 7 років тому

    I watched this at 8:58, and was like, "How does his guide know my local machine time?"

  • @altebander2767
    @altebander2767 5 років тому +1

    What a weird concept. In Europe we had Teletext and some VCRs even were able to be programmed using the program listings there. In fact those even work today as Teletext is still rather active even on HD channels.
    Here's an example from the UK where they, for some reason, turned off teletext: ua-cam.com/video/UtJRs5Wn8UY/v-deo.html
    Essentially it parses the programme pages in Teletext and uses that data to set the timer. At least on German Teletext pages there was/is some extra hidden information to tell the VCR what channel and day this is for.

  • @someguy23475
    @someguy23475 8 років тому

    We had a VideoGuide in its final days.

  • @TheMediaHoarder
    @TheMediaHoarder 8 років тому

    All that trouble just for something to tell you what's on TV? I'd pretty much given up on TV by this point anyways, and it was still to get far worse after that. At least you can still get the Antenna TV network in your area with no onscreen bug, my local station added it a couple years ago for a St. Patrick's Day gift and thus I can't watch it anymore.

  • @SameNameDifferentGame
    @SameNameDifferentGame 8 років тому +1

    We got DirecTV pretty early on, around the time I finished middle school/started high school (1997) and I remember it always having an interactive program guide. Did they develop their own, or use one of these? No idea if my folks were paying extra for it or not...

    • @SameNameDifferentGame
      @SameNameDifferentGame 8 років тому +1

      Oh, rad. Good to know. Thanks!

    • @Tornado1994
      @Tornado1994 7 років тому +2

      I had DirectTV early on when it was known as DSS during 1996 and I too remember it having a built in IPG. From what I recall, yes, they used their own Interface.

  • @bunnybismuth
    @bunnybismuth 2 роки тому

    Yeah but that Garfield clock though

  • @atcabovetheclouds3317
    @atcabovetheclouds3317 8 років тому

    Audio Source @2:38 ???

  • @theskeleman7937
    @theskeleman7937 8 років тому +1

    God I haven't been here for centuries

  • @jamespriest7328
    @jamespriest7328 6 років тому

    Forgive me master for my weakness! I will never tune out from ur channel again.

  • @armron94
    @armron94 5 років тому

    I had to use the newspaper. I still do use a newspaper.

  • @your_local_questerian
    @your_local_questerian 3 роки тому

    why was the VideoGuide channel shut down?

  • @sbblakey
    @sbblakey 8 років тому

    Ben when are you gonna do an episode on superstations?

  • @georgelucas1242
    @georgelucas1242 8 років тому +2

    It's kinda romantic and sad if you think about it, forever looking for a signal that's already passed on. Couldn't you send a signal to it some how?

    • @ZXRulezzz
      @ZXRulezzz 8 років тому +1

      Well, sure you could. You just need to know the characteristics of that signal, such as frequency, modulation, encoding, protocol etc, and then you might be able to trasmit something to this box from your computer with SDR. But it's most likely way too much of a hassle...

  • @GeoNeilUK
    @GeoNeilUK 8 років тому

    Biggest problem with these services, subscription only.
    Though I am surprised there wasn't an IPG based on Teletext in the UK/Europe considering Teletext was built in to a huge amount of TVs, some higher end videos had something called Startext but I have no experience of that.
    The other problem, no standardised way for AV equipment to talk to each other, why oh why did they not come up with a standard wire protocol? Probably because teletext already took up the vertical blank on broadcast TV, but would an out of band system been so hard to do?
    Also, it would have been impossible to set VideoGuide to work with Sky even if their service was active due to the design of the remote and Sky using three digit channel numbers.
    And anyway, Sky have their own IPG (of course) so it would have been pointless, but a standard wire protocol for AV equipment to talk to each other (openly licensed which is probably why it never happened) and teletext really should have happened.
    Perhaps if the EBU got their arse in gear, America could have still completely ignored it.

    • @JoebDragon
      @JoebDragon 8 років тому

      I think the cable guide channels analog cable in the UK had an teletext guide as part of them.

  • @Knucklesthegreat
    @Knucklesthegreat 8 років тому

    1:28
    ....*currently watchng bill nye on netflix*
    um... i think a certain dr.insano from atop the 4th wall may want to debate with you about that, benny boy.
    i think. not 100% sure.

  • @dorourke105
    @dorourke105 7 років тому

    Maude, okay now you made me feel old

  • @s8wc3
    @s8wc3 5 років тому +1

    This is one of those wonderful products that only appeals to nerds. Overpriced, overcomplicated, but cool

  • @Lethaltail
    @Lethaltail 8 років тому

    All you need is a TV.

  • @renaj9206
    @renaj9206 Рік тому

    Anyone else have to scroll to the comments during the intros so they miss the Max Headroom pic?

  • @calsavestheworld
    @calsavestheworld 2 роки тому

    Who has cable/satellite anymore?

  • @PhirePhlame
    @PhirePhlame 4 роки тому

    "Record codes"?

  • @Metlhd313
    @Metlhd313 8 років тому +1

    Nice Garfield Clock

  • @albear972
    @albear972 8 років тому

    Sweet Atari 2600 graphics 2:45

    • @Mentski
      @Mentski 8 років тому +1

      Believe me when I say the Videotex graphics format that Teletext used is VERY different to what a 2600 could do. The 2600 drew everything real time, line by line, due to having no frame buffer, leading to a very recognisable style with incredibly blocky text.
      Teletext, however, is a purely character-based display format, where each cell in a 40x25 grid can be assigned as either a control code (to change colours and "display modes") or data, which is then interpreted by the reciever (in Teletexts case, a compatible TV).
      Because Teletext's primary use is to serve information, that means regular text is relatively high res (and rendered on the TV end), and it's only when you switch into graphics mode where things get 2600-style blocky, as each character could - instead of text or punctuation - be displayed as a block of 6 pixels (in a 2x3 box) in any arrangement.
      (if you want to see how insane the Teletext format is and have a go at making graphics in it, check out edit.tf)

  • @STOG01
    @STOG01 7 років тому

    256kbit? that's not bad at all.

  • @Magnus_Loov
    @Magnus_Loov 3 роки тому

    All these "Program Guides" over all the years have been pretty useless if yo ask me. It always was a very, very slow (still is) affair scrolling through the list. At the time, the TV-guide was much faster to read through. And much more text could fit onto one page compared to the lowres stuff on the screen.
    Later on web based TV-guides took over and there has never been a time when a TV/Set-top box based program guide has been a better alternative to use.
    As all the other "alternative" Smart TV options like apps and browsing on the TV with a bad remote. Best way to combine internet and TV is connecting the PC to the the itself directly via HMDI.

  • @visaman
    @visaman 8 років тому

    No need for a guide at the time when I got 12 stations max.

  • @McBanditHope
    @McBanditHope 8 років тому +2

    Bit of an editing flop right at the beginning.

  • @Bucky749
    @Bucky749 4 роки тому

    Just wondering if you’d be interested in taking part in a 90’s tag series? you could post as a Ben’s junk 90’s Q& A edition or something like that . You put the video on you channel then I put in a play list for more information check out my UA-cam channel Bucky749 and the play list #90’s tag 2020. Thank you for your time and. Keep up the great work .

  • @armron94
    @armron94 5 років тому

    I want using a rabbit ears until 2008. Then I got a roof antenna. By 2015 then I got cable. Then I start watching your shows. And they're so fun to watch.
    My channel
    Tyler Yaw/Melton YM

  • @Colorband
    @Colorband 8 років тому +2

    I'm one of the first 100 watchers! I get a thingamajig. I want this comment.

  • @DanZero77
    @DanZero77 8 років тому

    Have some fun and celebrate (all the time you wasted on obsolete and outdated 1990s tech!)

  • @lastotallyawesomebleach204
    @lastotallyawesomebleach204 Рік тому

    The 90's was the pinnacle of useless overpriced technology that never caught on or quickly became obsolete.

  • @frankcabanski9409
    @frankcabanski9409 3 роки тому

    Fools actually paid to see TV listings on a screen? Ridiculous.

  • @internetuser-os5hw
    @internetuser-os5hw 8 років тому

    Why not show you face?