Years after I acquired a bootleg of it on VHS tape, I can now watch the NBC Tomorrow Show interview with John Lydon on crisp (albeit riddled with lossy compression) DVD. DVD (digital versatile disc) is the long awaited improvement over the long-standing home video format, VHS (vertical helical scan). What the former gains in image resolution, it sacrifices in the form of visible digital compression artifacts; part of the information is lost, hence “lossy compression.”
Tom Snyder wanted Johnny to perform according to showbiz conventions: “I ask you the questions we’ve already agreed upon, you give me the answers I’m expecting.” Nevermind whether the Host is genuinely interested in or informed about the Guest. Johnny famously (though perhaps predictably) wasn’t having it, and at one point Snyder, bereft of his cool, demanded to know if there was anything John liked – the classic clueless grownup question.
Tom Snyder had a late night talk show in the late 70s/early 80s on the NBC network; one of his producers evidently thought it was a good idea to feature the “new wave” in music, and Snyder had as guests Iggy Pop, The Jam, Elvis Costello, among others. Snyder has since dropped from the scene, and DVD is about to be replaced by a new videodisc format.
Excerpted from: Gordon Winiemko / Some Thoughts About “New Media” in Quotes
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