Betamax Time Travel Failure: A Cala-very wonderful story by ChatGPT

[Roofus]

Calavera was a man born in the wrong decade. He was obsessed with the 1980s, the music, the fashion, the movies, and everything in between. He had a particular interest in technology, and he was convinced that Betamax was the superior video format, far better than the popular VHS that had taken over in the market.

Calavera had a plan, a crazy plan that he thought would right the wrongs of history. He was going to travel back in time and make sure Betamax won the format war against VHS. He had studied the history of the format war and knew precisely where and when to go.

He built a time machine in his garage, using old parts and a lot of imagination. He set the machine to take him back to the year 1979, when the format war was at its peak. He was confident that with his knowledge of the future, he could change the course of history and ensure Betamax's victory.

As soon as he arrived in 1979, he set to work. He went to every electronics store he could find and bought up all the Betamax tapes he could. He talked to the people, explaining to them the superiority of the Betamax format and why they should choose it over VHS. He even went as far as talking to the executives of Sony, the company that produced Betamax, and convinced them to make some changes that would ensure their victory.

Calavera felt confident that he had done everything in his power to make sure Betamax won. He returned to his own time, eager to see the results of his actions.

But when he arrived back in 2023, he was shocked to see that VHS had won the format war after all. He couldn't believe it. He had spent so much time and effort trying to change history, and yet, he had failed.

As he dug deeper, he realized that it was his interference that had caused VHS to win in the first place. His actions had set off a chain of events that had led to the downfall of Betamax. By buying up all the Betamax tapes, he had caused a shortage of supply, making it harder for people to access and use the format. And by talking to the Sony executives, he had inadvertently caused a delay in their production schedule, giving VHS the upper hand.

Calavera realized that his obsession with the 1980s and his desire to change history had caused more harm than good. He realized that sometimes, it's better to let things play out on their own. He couldn't change the past, but he could learn from his mistakes and move forward.

From that day forward, Calavera decided to embrace the present and leave the past where it belonged, in the past.

[ian]

Well, chatGPT has done it! it's come up with the perfect premise for Calavera! a movie I want to see made with a more interesting plot than most Hollywood movies.

In fact, it's a little too perfect... you wrote that didn't you Roofus?

I expect to see the movie starring the real Calavera, written by chatGPT and directed by Roofus in the coming couple of years.

We all know the time machine he built in his garage was just the front of Kitt welded to the back of a Delorean. And it had enough space for him and Max Headroom. Of course it had an 8track and cassette player with Michael Jackson and WHAM! tracks.

[Roofus]

Well, chatGPT has done it! it's come up with the perfect premise for Calavera! a movie I want to see made with a more interesting plot than most Hollywood movies.

In fact, it's a little too perfect... you wrote that didn't you Roofus?

I expect to see the movie starring the real Calavera, written by chatGPT and directed by Roofus in the coming couple of years.

We all know the time machine he built in his garage was just the front of Kitt welded to the back of a Delorean. And it had enough space for him and Max Headroom. Of course it had an 8track and cassette player with Michael Jackson and WHAM! tracks.

I wrote the prompt:

Write a story about a man named Calavera who is obsessed with the 1980s and travels back in time to make sure Betamax wins the format war against vhs only to find out it was his interference in historical events that caused VHS to win in the first place

[ian]

I feel like you did the heavy lifting with that prompt and chatGPT just did some basic padding.

In the final scene of the Calavera movie, as he decides to embrace the present we see him put his copy of Caddyshack on BETA in a box on top of a bunch of other tapes and close it up and then we cut to him sitting on a couch and hitting play on Caddyshack on an internet streaming site. And the credits and viewers tears roll!

[Roofus]

Now it's an audiobook!

[melancholy]

I know this is Null, but some real talk.

It won’t be long now, and sites like Audible are going to have a real problem. If they can build an AI that can detect the parts of a book where a character is speaking and is able to assign each character different voices, AI would actually be better than your typical book narrators with a more diverse vocal range at a fraction of the cost. I’ve been listing to Audible for a year now, and while I have no problems with the readers themselves, I would jump to AI in a heartbeat if I could just throw a epub in and have it spit out an audiobook with a diverse cast of voices that stays consistent through the entire book.

[ian]

Can we get the audio book with my revisions about specifics on the time machine and boxing up the beta tapes added in?

And being serious, yes I can see AI making a HUGE impact on audiobooks. Even though I can't stand audiobooks, it will make them much better. And I would listen to a bunch of my favourite books I've ever read if they had characters and voices all done great.

I can't stand audiobooks for the same reason I don't read movie scripts or watch people play games or look up lyrics and sheet music or watch things with subtitles, because I'd rather consume media properly. Buuut If audiobooks were so good they were more like a radio play, it would be great to listen to a bunch of stories I liked reading.
Give me all of Feist and Tolkiens works with your concept and I'd gladly listen to them instead of reading them again.

[Calavera]

I don't know how I missed this. I LOVE IT! And the audiobook version *chefs kiss

AI has really been improving quickly here lately. I hope it doesn't take over the world. Maybe I should go to the past and prevent people from working on AI and instead focus their attention on Laserdisc. I know I said I was going to leave the past in the past but damn it you can take the Calavera out of the past but you can't take the past out of the Calavera.

[ian]

I know I said I was going to leave the past in the past but damn it you can take the Calavera out of the past but you can't take the past out of the Calavera.

Damn, we've already got a sequel!

Someone put that into AI along with Calavera trying to get laserdisc to be the dominant failed media format over video CD!

He doesn't want the format to succeed, only to beat the other failed format slightly!