# What can be done about these morons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795 "2015-07-10T20:15:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/1 "2015-07-10T20:15:28Z")
I’m talking about these mental defectives who don’t know how to hold a phone when making a video. Maybe I should find out how to petition the government to pass a law that makes it a capital crime to post a vertical video online. I’m ready to resort to physical violence over this. Can this be considered the First Great Conundrum of the Twenty-First Century: how can somebody be smart enough to put together enough money to buy a smartphone and be smart enough to get the video online, but not be smart enough to hold the phone properly? Don’t these idiots look at their own videos? Don’t they wonder why those big black boxes are on either side of their videos? :mad::smack: ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/2 "2015-07-10T20:34:34Z")
I rarely take videos on my iPod Touch (same as a phone but without phone features) and I never remember to turn it sideways. When I view the video back on my Touch, there’s no black boxes. I hold my Touch vertically and the movie plays vertically, which is the way I recorded it because I am used to holding it vertically. It’s only later when I go to share it that I realize my error. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/3 "2015-07-10T20:44:02Z")
Yep. Listen to Shawn from _Psych._ [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opHtU6S4c1g) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/4 "2015-07-10T21:58:07Z")
In the chain of moronicity from [ol] [li]Doing something you think is worth making a video of[/li][li]Using a phone to record your hijinks[/li][li]Posting your idiocy on YouTube or equivalent[/li][/ol] …I’d say “holding the phone the wrong way” is around #43. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/5 "2015-07-10T22:03:11Z")
I endorse this near-pitting and present this PSA for your entertainment: [Vertical Video Syndrome - A PSA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA) ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/6 "2015-07-11T00:28:57Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I rarely take videos on my iPod Touch (same as a phone but without phone features) and I never remember to turn it sideways. > > When I view the video back on my Touch, there’s no black boxes. I hold my Touch vertically and the movie plays vertically, which is the way I recorded it because I am used to holding it vertically. > > It’s only later when I go to share it that I realize my error. The same thing with me when I got my iPod Touch. But the first time I downloaded the videos I saw the black boxes and learned my lesson: red light on the right when recording. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/7 "2015-07-11T01:15:39Z")
Maybe they secretly expect the results to go SO viral that the market demands a feature-length IMAX release. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/8 "2015-07-11T01:17:02Z")
The phone I had - a few phones ago - would put up a warning about not being able to use HD if the phone was in the wrong (vertical) orientation. It would be nice if they all at least did that, if not just nix it as an option all together. It would be a simple software update. Vertical video indeed pisses me off. Even moreso when I know the person behind it is often in front of the camera (i.e. YouTubers) and damn well knows better. Also, if people on stage at events would make an announcement before beginning their performance. It’s what I would do if I were a personality who people would take video of all the time. “Before I start the show, all you idiots shooting vertical video right now need to rotate 90 degrees. See! It’s not hard! Now keep it that way.” ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/9 "2015-07-11T01:44:23Z")
If it’s on the iPad, I lock the orientation, turn the iPad, then watch it. But 99% of the time, I just won’t watch it. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/10 "2015-07-11T02:03:08Z")
Vertical video doesn’t bother me nearly as much as people who are clearly technically oriented and very much into their hobby, but they leave in all of the fumbling and blurry-cam. Seriously…you are reviewing a piece of professional photo gear, but you can’t keep the focus from hunting–or worse, don’t even notice that the closeup shots never were in focus? What, are you thinking you pay by the foot for film processing of an iPhone video? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/11 "2015-07-11T02:52:03Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Vertical video doesn’t bother me nearly as much as people who are clearly technically oriented and very much into their hobby, but they leave in all of the fumbling and blurry-cam. > > Seriously…you are reviewing a piece of professional photo gear, but you can’t keep the focus from hunting–or worse, don’t even notice that the closeup shots never were in focus? What, are you thinking you pay by the foot for film processing of an iPhone video? But…it’s style! Like that effect all ads had a few years ago (I don’t know the real name) where every few frames were overexposed and jumpy as if the film projector were malfunctioning. It looked very “industrial” and “gritty”. For a time, it seemed like 90% of TV commercials had it, then it was suddenly gone. To be replaced by the epileptic zoom and shake we’ve had for the last several years. I tried watching “Men of Certain Age” a few years ago, because I’m about the same age as the characters, so I thought I could identify. Not when they had shaky cam in a kitchen breakfast scene. The other thing I don’t like is the out of focus beveled effect news shows often have. They show the vertical cell phone footage in the middle of the screen, then on both sides, have to extend the video, but blurred out of focus. It’s distracting. But I guess that’s the answer to the big black boxes the OP was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/12 "2015-07-11T06:09:27Z")
oh Id on 't kn ow Ik in do fl ik ei t. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/13 "2015-07-11T07:58:34Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > I’m talking about these mental defectives who don’t know how to hold a phone when making a video. > > Maybe I should find out how to petition the government to pass a law that makes it a capital crime to post a vertical video online. > > I’m ready to resort to physical violence over this. Can this be considered the First Great Conundrum of the Twenty-First Century: how can somebody be smart enough to put together enough money to buy a smartphone and be smart enough to get the video online, but not be smart enough to hold the phone properly? > > Don’t these idiots look at their own videos? Don’t they wonder why those big black boxes are on either side of their videos? > > :mad::smack: That is annoying, but IMHO, not nearly as much as the putzes that film a moving object with a static (or nearly static) camera, upload it and say “Yes” when Youtube asks them to “fix” the shaky video, then end up with a video where the world shakes, spins and wobbles around the subject of the video. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/14 "2015-07-11T14:20:26Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > The other thing I don’t like is the out of focus beveled effect news shows often have. They show the vertical cell phone footage in the middle of the screen, then on both sides, have to extend the video, but blurred out of focus. It’s distracting. But I guess that’s the answer to the big black boxes the OP was talking about. THIS. I can’t stand it. Put the plain black bars up instead. I don’t want something that not only is going to draw my attention away from the thing I want to watch, but is SPECIFICALLY going to have action timed with the action in the main area, because it’s really the same video. If you don’t want static back bars, put something periodic out there. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/15 "2015-07-11T14:39:51Z")
You know what’s worse? People doing recipe, howto or unboxing videos with one hand, while they hold the camera in the other. Get a tripod, morans. ---
**Author:** ![Curid1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Curid1992](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curid1992)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/16 "2015-07-11T16:46:39Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > I’m talking about these mental defectives who don’t know how to hold a phone when making a video. > > Maybe I should find out how to petition the government to pass a law that makes it a capital crime to post a vertical video online. > > I’m ready to resort to physical violence over this. Can this be considered the First Great Conundrum of the Twenty-First Century: how can somebody be smart enough to put together enough money to buy a smartphone and be smart enough to get the video online, but not be smart enough to hold the phone properly? > > Don’t these idiots look at their own videos? Don’t they wonder why those big black boxes are on either side of their videos? > > :mad::smack: Its a bit annoying but does it really matter? Aren’t you taking this non-issue far too seriously?! I once held my phone the wrong way but didn’t realize And it was the first video i had ever made. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/17 "2015-07-11T19:52:02Z")
That’s understandable, and good that it was just once, but unfortunately we still need to beat you severely. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/18 "2015-07-11T20:02:39Z")
Why can’t a phone be made that records in landscape even though you’re holding it vertically, if that’s how you prefer to hold it? ---
**Author:** ![Curid1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Curid1992](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curid1992)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/19 "2015-07-11T21:23:17Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Why can’t a phone be made that records in landscape even though you’re holding it vertically, if that’s how you prefer to hold it? It’d be a good idea if all phones had the option under the camera/recorder, to always record horizontally/landscape, despite the orientation of the phone. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-be-done-about-these-morons/724795/20 "2015-07-11T21:23:43Z")
I’m sure that will be coming in Android Nougat or iOS 10 And need a patch right on release date 'cause then you can’t record …