Slutantions

I found a VHS tape at the junk store, labeled just “A Surprise!”. Since I’d recently set up my VCR and old 80s TV, I thought I should check it out.

i want a little box on my desk with color-coded floppy disks that all contain a single story or project im working on.

Something like this?

Look, I know it’s old but floppies are definitionally digital.

Analog does not mean “old” or “pre-internet.” It means that the signal is a continuous wave, rather than discreet chunks of ones and zeros.

For something like computers, this looks like how pricey "gAmiNG" laptops look all fancy but fall apart in about the same timeframe as the lower end laptops for students. But if you've ever handled the sort of laptops for banks or businesses, you'd wonder why laptops can't all be like this. People swear by Lenovo Thinkpads for a reason. Dell's Latitude (general productivity) and Precision (has the power of a gaming laptop but far less bs) lines, HP's probooks, all feel really nice and last for-fucking-ever. But you can't buy them in a store even if you wanted one.

So the trick is to buy what big organizations are buying, but you likely gotta get 'em secondhand when the orgs are done with them. For basic clothes, mil surplus might be a good port of call, for technology see an e-waste recycler or sometimes government auction (you just gotta know what to ask for; ThinkPads, Dell Latitude/Precision, HP Probook/Zbook). Otherwise try to thrift old, pre-enshitification items. The blanket I had as a kid is still going strong and has lived to bury multiple sets of newer bedding (which have worn thin and torn). Kitchen items, see if you can shop at a restaurant supplier.

so naturally

Then they made a premium subscription with exclusive content. Which gave me weird vibes but like apparently people were asking for that. Still wish they hadn't gone back on their whole "no tiered content" pledge, but it's mostly BTS and outtakes, so fine. I can live.

And then I learned that Sam Reich spent FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS on an Emmy campaign. Glad they have the $ to do so, I'm sure if they'd been nominated it would have driven a lot of new business, and I'm not such a gatekeeper that I'd say chasing casual viewership inherently alienates your core audience.

And then they went and partnered with a cop show. An LAPD cop show. While the LAPD is violating state law to protect the illegal and inumane ICE operations happening in Dropout's own back yard. And not just did they lend the name of their show and studio, and likenesses to Copaganda, but cast members volunteered to lend their own names as well.

In using your real name for a fictional character, (even if it is a fictionalized version of yourself), you validate anything that that character says, does or supports as your own.

The Dropout cast involved with this crossover have chosen to tell the Dropout.tv audience, especially immigrants, people of color, and any other marginalized group, that you are a friend of those who would do them harm. That you are not safe, and thus the spaces that you cultivate are not either.