MacGyver Challenge: CDs and DVDs
I’m going to make a bold assertion here: Computers encourage waste. Certainly, they fail to discourage it, by supporting the practice of perpetual revision. Nothing we produce is ever really final anymore—we can “save as” ad infinitum, creating two dozen variations of the same mix CD or vacation DVD because the first 23 just weren’t quite right. And the ever-dropping cost of media only makes things worse.
Not very long ago, I was incredibly stingy about burning things to DVD—back in the old days (circa 2000), the going rate for good-quality DVD-Rs topped $30 per disc. Now we buy them for literally pennies each, which condones the habit of making “test disks” that end up nothing more than shiny slivers of plastic in the scrap heap. Say you burned 50 copies of your band’s speed-metal concert onto DVD—before the bassist decided the skull buttons on the Extras menu should be green instead of blue. Or you tried to save a little money by purchasing generic discs in bulk, only to find out they’re better for holding drinks than data. Now it’s your turn to play DJ; the smartest solution for keeping these spent discs spinning wins a subscription and a ReadyMade T-shirt. Deadline: September 30, 2007
Send photos or projects to: MacGyver Challenge, 817 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94710 or articles@readymademag.com.
Text by our resident MacGyver, Anthony Discenza
