regular camera that took shots of the office coffee pot?

well it predated ‘digital’ cameras, was around when film was still big - 1993.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Room_coffee_pot

128x128px greyscale feed was achieved with a video camera connected to an Acorn Archimedes quipped with a video capture card.

Zhang Wei can change his name to whatever the fuck he wants he’ll still ve Zhang Wei TikTok

seveneves was a banger, if you haven’t read it just go in hot.

you’re picking a fight that doesn’t exist.

have fun talking to yourself.

The only downside to the loss of physical media

and the fact that it can easily be stolen. I’ve had multiple large CD catalogues stolen, both in college and as an adult. Thousands and thousands of dollars of music <poof> gone.

No one has stolen my ripped music.

YMMV, but CDs are easy to gank enmasse. If it was all vinyl they would have had to take multiple trips pushing a dolly.

In the day of AI, will we ever have a new alternative?

perhaps we’ll see a resurgence of value added platforms that ensure it’s all human generated information. not an easy problem but… if there’s demand