Flying AirTran

Flying home was interesting. Airlines are now offering Wi-Fi service...for a fee, of course. I purchased usage for my flight home out of curiosity. I was able to watch a little bit of "Bizarre Foods" via my NetFlix account. However, it kept pausing and loading. Obviously there's still a long way to go to perfect certain new media options while traveling. My guess is that the plane was moving to fast for the satellite hookup to keep up with. Nevertheless, it's fascinating to see how far technology has come over the past few decades. Seeing the paths that technology is currently traversing is just mind boggling.

Disney's Spaceship Earth - Week of 10-11

My wife surprised me with a last minute vacation to Florida last week! While down there, I got to speak with a number of staff (excuse me, cast members) including a higher up that is setting me up with a one-on-one with an Imagineer during the winter break. More relevant to this class, however, I got to ride on Epcot's updated Spaceship Earth. As the script made references to the history of communication, the narrator also slipped in innuendos to modern media; monk's copying books by hand were the first file back up system, trade roads in ancient Rome were the world's first world wide web. This is a smart way of engaging a younger generation. The ride also sported a new touch screen menu in each of the vehicles that, after snapping a picture of your face and uploading it to the ride system, presented you with a map (to input where you were from) and a few multiple choice questions about what type of future you wanted to have. At the ride's finale, you were presented with a video staring two cartoon characters (featuring your super-imposed head from earlier) acting out a future based on your answers to the questions. As you exited the ride, a giant monitor displayed the images of the various riders and where they said they were from. Apparently, social networking has now gone as far as infiltrating theme park rides.

Star Wars Eternity

I recently heard that all six of the Star Wars movies are going to be re-released into theaters. My initial response is, "How much more can Lucas milk this franchise for?" I know I'm going to go see them and give him more of my hard earned cash, but I can still be frustrated that he continually dangles the same item over and over, just freshly polished each time. Once I started venting to my wife, though, I realized he's probably made billions off of the original releases, VHS, dvd, probably laser disks and PSP disks, books, video games, merchandising, Disney's Star Tours, and that's when it hit me... Disney is slated to convert their Star Tours rides into Star Tours 2. It is scheduled to open in May 2011 and will supposedly be a 3D prequel to the series. After checking, I found out that LucasFilms will then be re-releasing the Star Wars Episode I "The Phantom Menace" sometime in 2012, but in 3D. I have a sneaking suspicion that someone recently bought stock in the newest 3D technology. Again, it's smart of both Disney and LucasFilm to update something that's proven to be big money makers for them. This is a great way to entice Granddads and Dads everywhere to take their grandkids and kids out and share in the Star Wars phenomenon, which will result in exposure of an entire new generation of fans. I wouldn't be surprised if one day the news reports Lucas is dead and while watching his televised funeral procession, the camera zooms in, and there's R2-D2, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and Boba Fett as the pallbearers....in 3D!