Apple's Larsonian Nostaglia

From ArsTechnica by way of Slashdot:

Just when you thought you'd never be able to get live action David Hasselhoff on your iPod video, Apple goes and does the amazing!

Finally we can watch old episodes of Knight Rider on our video iPod while toiling away on the gym treadmill. Maybe you, like me, thought the outer apex of brain-dead, techno-driven U.S. culture had been exceeded long ago. But along comes another boatload of attorneys specializing in licensing tired old media properties in perpetuity on every available new form of media. How far will this go? Will our great-great-grandchildren relax around the dormitories on Mars by watching holographic re-broadcasts of Blossom and Saved by the Bell?

Most normal people are too sensible to care. But Apple's strategy in the iPod market-space is always the subject of breathless tech-press speculation, right along with Google's next play, Ajax, and open source. Apple, after all, isn't only a computer company, but a genuine font of innovation that shapes and defines markets - like it or not. I still don't understand why people will be enamored by the prospect of watching video on tiny iPod screens - but obviously this can't the final goal. Ubiquitous distribution and on-demand content on a variety of tech platforms (PC, handheld players, entertainment centers) seems like a better long-term gameplan.

But the road towards that nirvana runs right through the ghetto of fear-driven copyright attorneys who are haunted by the notion that these silly TV shows might be released into the wild for free, without the profit hook. (Psst! Hey pal, wanna free copy of Super Train?)

Let's hope there's at least a residual for some of the actors - including old Dave. He seems to have a strange, enduring power. In fact the Hasselhoffian Recursion is a tenacious meme that has been covered on this weblog once before. A quick look at IMDB tells us he's been keeping busy lately; like other properties in the Glen Larson ouevre that have been recently reborn, this Knight may be riding again. How long before we're gazing nostalgically at BJ and the Bear on our cell phone screens while driving?