Last June, fans of Comedy Central – the long-running channel behind beloved programmes such as The Daily Show and South Park – received an unwelcome surprise. Paramount Global, Comedy Central’s parent company, unceremoniously purged the vast repository of video content on the channel’s website, which dated back to the late 1990s.

  • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 hours ago

    Recent events with streaming services has really been the best argument for self hosting your own content

  • paysrenttobirds@sh.itjust.works
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    2 hours ago

    Used to be considered simply prudent to back up the vhs tapes you bought and people were encouraged to tape their favorite shows off the tv. Now some random CEO of the month has the right to bury decades worth of creative works?

  • theshatterstone54@feddit.uk
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    11 minutes ago

    I’ve just realized there’s an animated series on Youtube, that I’ve had a really hard time (read: impossible) finding anywhere else, and if LEGO (yes, I’m talking about Ninjago) decides to delete these videos from their channels, the OG seasons are nowhere to ve found as far as I can tell. Yes, there are some cartoon streaming services but those are few in number and getting fewer, so I wouldn’t bet on them or any new ones that spring up having that content available in 5-10 years. And that’s worrying. Time to download all 15 seasons and store them somewhere! (oh shit, I don’t have enough space, do I)

    Edit: found them on a downloads site from the piracy megathread, but only Seasons 1-11. I’ll get them all soon enough.

    Edit 2: The first 11 seasons from that website come up to just over 105GB and I don’t have the space. Do I buy a 256GB USB/ Drive to store this at? I’m scared that I’m getting to the point of becoming a data hoarder. Not too long ago, I didn’t know what I’d do with my single 32GB USB, now I have added a 128GB one, and a 64GB Ventoy usb to the mix, and I still don’t have enough. Wtf?

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Preservation is an invasive and destructive process. Recreating the experience of watching ‘The Daily Show’ in the 90s or early '00s is already impossible. Language and culture mildew and rot just like leather and wood.

    • Thorned_Rose@fedia.io
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      1 hour ago

      I’m the genealogist of my family. There are things about what life was like when my grandmother was young that now only I know (since she’s passed on). As I research through more and more of my family history, going back further and further, the less and less I know about what life was like when my ancestors were around, especially the minutiae of every day life. But I WANT to know what life was like. It’s fascinating and, more importantly, we don’t always know now what will be important in the future so how can we learn from the mistakes of the past if we don’t even know they existed? My kids will never know directly what living life in the 90s as a teen was like. But I do. I remember. But I won’t be here forever and if they ever want to have even a tiny inkling of what it was like, I need to ensure that the stories, the accounts, the events, the nuance, the opinions… are recorded and passed on, as my grandmother did with me.

      The saying, “History is written by the victor” is absolutely true. But if we had the little tiny details from the perspectives of lots of different people, the victor cannot rewrite history for their benefit and in their image. History, no matter how big or small, matters.

      If you don’t care. Cool for you bro. Ignore it. But for the rest of us who want to learn, recording and archiving matters. I feel nothing but honour in my obligation to ensure events and history is passed on for future generations.

    • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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      11 minutes ago

      obviously a news show isn’t going to feel the same rewatching it. that’s not the point lol.

      that would be like saying it’s dumb to preserve newspapers in libraries because it’s not going to feel as good rereading the “Hitler is dead” headline. people don’t look at old news to have a good time.

      boy was it silly of us to preserve that kind of thing and it totally never comes in handy/s

      that’s not even what people are upset about anyway. comedy Central mostly makes entertainment programming that isn’t news based and can still be enjoyed whenever. believe it or not, comedy Central has a lot of content that will stand the test of time. especially when looking at their stand-up catalogue.

      this is the destruction of a library. a digital one, but a library none the less. that’s what people are mad about.

      but you’re right. we should just dump all of our old movies and shows. they’re worthless moldy junk anyway… 🙄