3D Television

Recently, there has been a lot of publicity around the newly developed "3D" televisions that are being released this year by many of the leading television manufacturers such as Sony and Samsung. 3D has been a very interesting and intriguing concept for a long time now and it always seems to be very popular to the public. However, when I think of 3D, all I can picture are those funny paper glasses with a red and blue lens that don't even really work. Many theme parks have some fairly sophisticated 3D rides that create a somewhat realistic 3D effect, but none of these things ever reach the home consumer market. Could this new 3D TV technology actually be practical and will it be successful financially?

I personally don't think so. First of all, 3D just seems really gimmicky. The new 3D televisions still require you to wear glasses and no one is going to want to wear bulky glasses everytime they watch tv. It's one thing to see a 3D movie once in a while that you have to wear glasses for but that would be a total pain for everyday use. As of right now, there aren't even any tv channels that broadcast in 3D and there probably won't be for a while. Even when they do, how good will the experience be? Will it even be worth it?

The worst thing of all about these new 3D tvs is the cost. Even for cheap sets, they will still run you at least $1500 for a decent size tv. For most people this is way too much considering they probably already bought a new LCD or LED tv within the last year or so. This seems like a scam by tv manufacturers to get as much money as possible out of consumers for an over-the-top, pointless feature. Unless these new tvs can manage to provide new, groundbreaking 3D technology, there is no way they are going to sell very well. 3D tvs are just one of those things that sounds sweet the first time you here about it, but once you find out more information, you realize it's a complete waste of money.

No More Space Program

Man walking on the moon is arguably one of the most amazing achievements of mankind. I was not even born until over twenty years after this amazing acheivement but I am still amazed and intrigued by man landing on the moon. Because of this, I was extremely excited with the announcement of the Constellation space program that is going to be sending man to the moon once more. NASA's goal was to have men on the moon by the year 2020 and the program was moving along very smoothly, with the new rocket prototype test flight occuring last fall. Everything seemed to be according to plan until President Obama announced his preliminary fiscal budget for 2011.

In his budget, there was a huge spending cut to NASA. He didn't specifically say that he was cancelling the constellation program, but that is essentially what he did. There is no way that NASA can keep on funding the program with the huge budget deficit that they are going to have next year. This is a real shame. Space exploration is something that Americans have always been able to be proud of in the United States and now all that is over. Obama wants to eventually totally privatize the space industry. I think that the space industry should always be the responsibility of the government because it helps to unite the country, especially when you see that american flag on the side of the space shuttle. It gives such a sense of national pride. With a private space industry, it just won't mean as much anymore. I think that it is going to turn into another business type deal. The private space companies are only going to be concerned with making money.

Hopefully, Obama realizes how much eliminating the space program will hurt his image and he will change his mind. If he doesn't change his mind, then I hope that future presidents do. The space program is such an amazing accomplishment for mankind, not just the United States. It helps to unite countries that are usually fighting against eachother to work together for the common good. Without continuing to push deeper and deeper into space, I think that the world will lose one of its greatest assets and this would be a real shame.