# CNN's holograms

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-holograms/471311>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 5, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-holograms/471311 "2008-11-05T17:54:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-holograms/471311/41 "2008-11-06T20:01:49Z")

</div>

> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> Remind me again why people watch CNN?

It’s the only cable news network I could get in hi def. I still never saw the “holograms” because I was flipping around. Can someone provide a link?

It’s be cool if they made it all blue and transparent like [this](http://www.geocities.com/~special_effect/holo_darth_sidious.jpg), and with projection rays like [this](http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/images/r2-d2-princess-leia-hologram.jpg).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-holograms/471311/42 "2008-11-06T21:40:23Z")

</div>

And here is [CNN’s own story on this](http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/06/hologram.yellin/index.html).

What the heck are they thinking?!

They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to put this together. They have to construct an entire room with 35 cameras to make it work. Why?! WHY?!

It adds absolutely nothing to help illustrate the news story. If you are going to have people on-site then show them on-site. You have less information watching this ridiculous broadcast then you would have had watching the host talk to the reporter on a video screen. The context of them actually being on the scene is lost completely.

It is a giant leap backwards.  
It is a giant leap backwards that costs a fortune.  
It is a giant leap backwards that they hyped up as something incredible.

This is the most pathetic cable news thing I have ever seen.\*

\*A little bit of hyperbole, unfortunately this really is only the most pathetic cable news thing I have seen all day.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-holograms/471311/43 "2008-11-06T21:46:03Z")

</div>

It was a pretty craptacular effect. To me, it didn’t seem much different from the green screen Hollywood has been using for decades to make somebody look like he’s somewhere he’s not. Except on CNN, the video and audio of the virtual people were terrible.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-holograms/471311/44 "2008-11-07T00:28:07Z")

</div>

I tend to watch The Daily Show a couple of days behind so I haven’t seen this week’s yet, but I’m so glad to hear that Jon covered it. I’m looking quite forward indeed.

As to the question of why people watch CNN, for me in Berlin, it’s the only english-speaking news channel I get (only english-speaking channel period actually).

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnns-holograms/471311.md?page=2)