ketose

I just meant that, if given the choice, I would want the couples to have successful marriage. At the same time, I can also enjoy watching the train wreck without being a bad person.

I think it would take a pretty bad person to hope the marriages fail. Expecting them to fail and watching the carnage is another matter.

PCs weren't even all that great at spreadsheets. I used a few of them in the early 90s (the bookkeeping course was in the computer age... plus a big ass workbook). There were cells, but there were only so many and you could only see a certain number at a time. If you had some kind of monthly report and could plug in values to a set of formulas each time, it would probably seem like a miracle. Otherwise, it was kind of frustrating.

When I wrote about Apple innovating, I didn't necessarily mean it was the best business strategy. It was an aspect of the fact that Jobs wanted to control every aspect of his computer, both hardware and software. Macs were stable because they could only use Mac hardware from Apple. It also made them expensive, which was a barrier to the market. They were popular in industry for computer graphics. I remember shows like Babylon 5 boasting about all their Mac-based CGI in the 90s. This strategy works better with the iPod, IPad, IPhone because those devices are self-contained and upgrading usually means throwing the old one out for a bigger screen or faster processor. Those devices also have to "just work" because you can't just open it up, fiddle with the wires or reinstall the OS. Still, their products are at least 50% higher than competitors' prices and their sales have kind of plateaued.

I'm just old enough to remember life without computers in the home. We got one of those fire sale $99 Texas Instruments computers. Then I got a hand-me down Commodore 64. The TI had a cable that connected to a cassette recorder. The Commodore eventually got a 5 1/4" disk drive (from Toys R' Us, which was a major retailer for that stuff in the US) and I learned to write programs and make "graphics" on it. Because of the TV interface, I used it to make credits and title cards for VHS home movies.

I heard at one point that Xerox was taking all the bright minds in computer science and putting them in one campus to keep them from bringing anything to market. Xerox was the copier company and a paperless office was the last thing they wanted. Of course, most businesses still kill a medium sized tree per day with all the papers flying around, even three decades later. Apple's unofficial motto must be "innovate or die" because they tend to represent the expensive, leading edge of technology integration rather than market penetration. The iPod was the king of portable music players when people still had such a thing. They have a very popular phone and tablet, but Android Samsung devices are closing in on them. At work, I have a Windows tablet. I like it because I can connect a mouse to the USB port. Xerox really kicked ass with the mouse.

It's kind of ironic that Cameron was being sought for Palo Alto when the most famous thing to come out of that group was the GUI which was shown at the end of this episode.

It's kind of implausible that two guys could get enough information on a project neither of them was on for the last few months, find a company willing to bankroll it and beat the head start Cardiff had all in time for that year's COMDEX. But hey, it's good TV. I'm not sure how the story of this episode could have been anymore heavy handed. Gordon saves the day with his knowledge of the industry and his ability to "fix it" when something goes wrong. At the same time, he's the past with his "touchscreens are a fad" line and the fact that Apple is a hugely influential company despite not being one of the biggest technology companies. For the next 20 years after the Mac is introduced, IBM clones and Windows dominate the market. Cameron is again cast in the role of being beyond her time. Intuitive controls and massive computer networks end up winning the day. Joe is somehow saddened by killing her dream, even though Cardiff could stand to make millions of dollars while Apple struggles for years. I saw a scene for the next episode on Story Sync. I'm pretty sure Donna is trying to get herself fired from TI so she can join the band.

I think the sex scenes are jarring because they are jarring. AMC seems to think this is important to maintain an audience. The tension between Donna and her boss was sexier. The sexiest thing I've seen so far is the Cardiff Giant which is way ahead of it's time in 1983.

It sounds like there's going to be some kind of compare and contrast with Doug's upbringing compared to Jamie's. I'd guess that if she has trouble connecting and tries to put on a good show it has more to do with her screwed up childhood than some desire to be famous on reality TV.

It is kind of weird for Jamie to move in with Doug (and his parents) if she has her own place. Then again, she may have roommates since a nurse in New York probably needs roommates to cover rent. I'm wondering if she considers Doug a schmuck for living at home or some other thing he does in the episode.

I think editors and producers egging people on are very good at manipulating reality. I don't think the reality stars are thinking 20 moves ahead with grand Machiavellian schemes. Mostly, the people who do these shows just seem to have a desire to be the center of attention. The funny thing about this "experiment" is that being on TV tends to reinforce the possibility of an arranged marriage to create an emotional connection. Ironically, it is considered unethical to do a lot of things on reality TV in a academic psychology setting. People who go to the same school or work in the same place get married all the time with nothing more special in common than physical proximity. These three couples are also on a TV show and isolated from other people for a week or so. This is the kind of thing that manufactures a connection. I kind of wonder how this show came about. Did the production company know this was going to be on bottom-tier Biography channel? The contestants didn't even seem to know the nature of the situation. If they're looking for fame and fortune, this is probably not the place to find it.

I don't know if Jamie is a big ball of crazy, but she definitely has issues. I think she may have actually went on The Bachelor to find a man. As for the warming up thing, I know I have a hard time being comfortable with people and it takes longer for me than most. Once I get to know someone, I'm pretty outspoken. Jamie seemed to commit to this consciously, but she couldn't control her visceral reaction to a strange guy touching her. That was apparent even on The Bachelor. She might be pulling the long con, but she doesn't seem that cagey. Jamie and Doug are definitely the show. Cortney and Jason are the "married too soon" couple and Vaughn and Monet are the sex isn't everything couple. If I wanted to be cynical, I'd wonder if the experts found someone who warns up slowly and will eventually fall all over a guy who sticks around and pays attention to her. Because Jamie makes for good TV.

I definitely want to stay out of the defending Doug and Jamie game because I have no idea how famewhorey their match is. I do think you have to separate the filmed scenes with the cut in "interviews" because those were done possibly days after the fact. Doug may be joking about "wearing her down" in retrospect in an interview after Jamie got comfortable with him. I also have to take some of what they say with a grain of salt because I thing Doug and Jamie are being snarky as hell with each other, possibly as a defense mechanism. Cortney and Jason seem kind of naïve while Vaughn and Monet have unrealistic expectations.

Doug and Jamie seem to be getting the romantic edit. In the last episode the other couples essentially said "yeah, we boned. No big deal" while it took until the end to see Jamie go in on that kiss with Doug. A small number of reality show relationships work, so it's possible.

I would think that a show like this that was sight unseen would have trouble convincing vendors to just hand over stuff since there might be no one watching. A lot of money might have gone to last-minute plane tickets to the family members who were willing to show up. Cortney, Jason and Jamie had very little family there so the ceremony may not be a big deal. Also, I think the concept of the show could create a negative association with marriage. I think if this show takes off, they might do a reunion show and do a more elaborate second wedding for the couples that make it through.

St. Valentine was known for marrying Roman soldiers who were forbidden by Claudius to distract themselves with love. I think there was a higher proportion of arranged marriages among the higher classes where status mattered. Poor people had more freedom because there wasn't much marrying up. I found this show pretty interesting because one of the reasons people get together is proximity. People meet in school or at work, both of which have limited populations to choose from. For the most part, Monet and Vaughn and Cortney and Jason have some personality matches plus they find each other physically attractive. I think Jamie didn't like Doug's look to start off, but she's already tried to deal with attractive guys on The Bachelor and that didn't work out for her. I think she has issues that only an ugly guy has the patience to handle.

One thing I saw more in this episode is that while Doug is a funny and charming guy, Jamie has kind of a dry sense of humor herself. What makes them so quotable is their banter. Having a sense of humor is good, but the other partner has to get it or it's kind of wasted. I think Vaughn and Monet have strong personalities and neither of them may not make the best spouse right now. Cortney and Jason both come off as really young even though they are about the same ages as the others. They both seem to have a lot of single person activities. I don't think they would have time to date each other, let alone marry.