If there was any shakycam in it, that was sporadic and limited at best (worst). I base that on the fact that I don't remember any, and I've sat through all of it (some of it couple of times) and Serenity and I've liked it all.
OTOH... BSG annoyed me constantly with its continuous shakycam so I was barely able to last to mid-season 2. Never saw it entirely. Don't plan to. Could watch Firefly again though...
Producing an Atom cpu will likely result in a similar amount of waste and impact as a Core2 Duo
Balderdash!
1 - Computer is A LOT MORE than a CPU and 2 - To produce the same amount of "waste" you would need to produce exactly the same thing in exactly the same facility using exactly the same process. You don't even get the same results from producing similar Intel and AMD Chips, let alone Atoms etc.
and if recycling a three-year-old machine to Nigeria saves a OTPC production
I have NO IDEA what you are trying to say here. What is OTPC? One Table Per Child? Did you mean OLPC? If you did, and if you have paid attention to that project (sadly, a failure) you might have noticed several things like: - That it was intended to run without a power grid, relying on "alternative" means of power, - That it was intended to cost under $100, but be essentially free for the end user as his/her government would buy it for them, - That it didn't run Windows. Oh yes... a VERY important feature of "recycled" computers, as you can "recycle" them in-house due to that - by just giving them to the person who only uses (and only knows how to use) MS Word or Excel. Like secretaries, typists and parents. - That ALL OLPCs had to be MADE. Not a single component was recycled. All brand new. - That OLPCs were designed to be more like single-purpose appliances, as they were intended to a VERY limited user base.
Let me put it like this... Recycled PCs have about as much influence on the OLPC project as an update to Windows has to Linux or OSX users. Unless you are looking into very, very, VERY specific cases there is no connection at all.
In a world without OTPC or netbooks, there isn't a production of new low end machines, everything is at the top, and your logic worked. But not anymore.
Poppycock!
Everything IS at the top - economic or hardware top. There are no computers being made in third world countries. Everything is made IN or FOR the first world. Oh yeah, they are "assembled in China" but the MONEY comes from the west.
Even OLPCs, which were intended to be essentially free to third world kids, had to be bought by their governments in hundreds of thousands. So they actually cost (and had to be produced in) millions. And no kid could just go to the store and buy one - even if it had the money.
Netbooks on the other hand are designed for that very important function of - browsing the internet. Their buyer is the person with enough extra cash to afford a brand new computer that can be used just for the internet, but which can be carried around in an oversize pocket. Only the cheapest of the cheap come close to $200 mark and more and more they are rivaling the previous and current notebook class in both price and performance.
OTOH... If you are actually buying a "recycled" computer and not getting it for free from a family member, you can get one for about $100. Now... those are actual prices of recycled computers (here they are referred to as "repaired" but they mean more something like "repurposed"), here in Bosnia. Prices are in Bosnian currency. That is, after they check the machines, clean them up if needed, replace faulty parts etc. they even give you a 12-month warranty - for $100. And all machines are "brand-name" computers as they are all coming from companies in EU that have upgraded their own workstations and got rid of the old stuff. Heck... You can get a "like new" 22" SONY Trinitron screen that used to cost over a thousand pounds for about $100.
Now... Bosnia is a third-world country, but on the very frontier of EU. Most these computers are transported here in trucks, privately. And while labor is cheap it is
Recycling reduces the number new computers being made
Ummm... no.
How does an old 1GHz computer "recycled" to be used as a typewriter or a web-browser reduce the production of gaming PCs?
What you are thinking of are cars and various other single purpose household items like TVs, washing machines and refrigerators. Those get "recycled" vertically - they perform the same function as they did before only not quite as well as the brand new product would.
As computers are multipurpose devices, they get recycled horizontally - into a completely different section of the market. Today's high-end work station can always be used as a file/web/print server, or a media station, or a type writer etc. of tomorrow. Heck... Because it is far easier to mix and match parts, you can recycle PCs almost indefinitely.
Disregard for the Theory of Relativity is what caused Nazi Germany to fail in the Battle of Britain and so to fail to mount Operation Sea Lion and then to fail operation Barbarossa, which allowed allied forces to clinch them both on eastern and western front? Is that story from the the Red Alert universe? Before or after Albert Einstein goes back in time to remove Hitler?
As for Muslim fundamentalists... They don't think that Jews or "Jewish science" are inferior. Who told you that? They think the same thing that fundamentalist Jews think about Muslims.
That they are evil heathen child murderers who hate their (Jewish/Muslim) god and wouldn't like nothing better than to exterminate and/or enslave all the Jews/Muslims in the world, burn their synagogues/mosques and take their money, land and etc. Religious hatred beats bogus racial theory hatred any day. Plus it works instantly in both directions. And they all hated each other forever after.
Some of them ARE crazy - but not THAT crazy.* Why should they? They can always beg enough money for a meal.
*Not that there is something essentially crazy about eating roadkill (if it is fresh and properly prepared) or about being homeless. A rabbit hit by a car or by a bullet - same thing.
On the other hand... A stray cat or a dog that lives on garbage, potentially poisoned rodents and can have rabies - NOT a recommended diet.
Tell it to those who can't afford the basic health-care.
Couple of hours ago there was a story on CNN about a guy who tried pulling two of his teeth with pliers - cause he had no money to pay for the procedure. I mean - COME ON!
For fuck's sake, I've had free health-care whole my life here in Bosnia. And despite the fact that state coffers are being filled by only about 700.000 employed (out of about 3.5-4 million people) - most health-care is free here. Granted... system is swamped with elderly who often abuse it (going to doctor every other day is the only entertainment to some), there aren't enough resources (you will often wait for an ultrasound exam for a month) and most medicine that is not free is WAY too expensive for your average worker or retired person - health care is still essentially free. Some procedures and medicine require "participation in cost" but none of the basic health care does.
All of the problems health care here has are the same ones every other public system here has - general poverty, rampant corruption on every level of government and general ignorance and lack of education among the population. We have about 700.000 employed, while at the same time we have about 750.000 illiterate. Who keep voting for people based on religion and nationality. So it is perfectly normal that a pensioner barely survives on ~$200 a month, while his representative(s) in the government get ~$10.000 (+perks and benefits and bribes) a month to sit on their asses. (Couple of months ago some reporter did a story about how much work has the government done in the past year, from their own plan that they had for that year. No ministry did more than 15% of the promised. Most did less than 5%. Several did absolutely nothing. No action was taken to fix that.)
Still. No (sane) Bosnian would even consider doing amateur dental work on himself - as it has been free for all his life. Other dental care too.
And if you can't wait - you can always go to a private ordination or clinic. And pay out of your own pocket, naturally.
Come on. If Bosnia (and other former Yugoslav republics - most public systems in these countries are just slight modifications of the pre-1990's system) can give its citizens free health-care, why couldn't United States? It can't be for economical reasons.
The ONLY reason USA is even having this debate at all is because it has been taught for the last 100 years or so that socialism = communism = evil. General public is so brainwashed that they can't even accept the basic economic of buying a keg of beer. Everyone chips in, everyone gets the beer way cheaper than if they bought a bottle for themselves. You want to drink something else, and have the money for it? Chipping in a buck or two won't kill you, you get not to be a selfish bastard, everyone gets to enjoy the party, you can still BYOD and the beer is essentially free for everyone.
And yeah... Armies in democratic societies are inherently socialist.
No single man, group or corporation owns ANYTHING, down to a single nail, bullet or a shoelace that belongs to the armed forces. It all belongs to the PEOPLE i.e. - citizens of the state. You know... those same people that get drafted in the event of war. Those same people whose taxes PAY for the whole thing.
I'd come to a traffic light where a lone dog is waiting for the green (lower) light to turn on paying no attention at humans, and then again there were cases where a dog would join humans standing and cross when they do - when the green is on. I've never seen them become impatient and cross during red light - like humans do.
Moby 62% Milan Kundera 61% David Boreanaz 60% Harry Connic Jr. 59% Marc Antony 58% Lev Yashin 57% JC Chasez 56% Ashton Kutcher 56% Edward Norton 55% Sting 54%
But after some cropping and flipping of the image so that "evil" looks to the left, only Moby is still on the list:
David Copperfield 62% Arnold Schwarzenegger 56% Ricki Lake 51% Ralph Fiennes 51% Dave Farrell 49% Elton John 49% Moby 48% Laurence Olivier 47% Jimmy Smits 47% Federico Garcia Lorca 46%
Note how lips, nostrils and ears are generally unarticulated (particularly noses and ears that often are not present at all, or are just hinted) and how much more detailed american (comic) faces are. On the other hand... manga artists attribute much greater attention to eyes and hair.
You can tell the character by his/her eyes immediately. Bigger and more detailed the eyes - more innocent the character. Slits with a tiny dot for a pupil - evil fucker.
Yes, inland. I was referring to dogs anyway. Not many roadkill pigeons either though, despite their clear laziness. Sometimes they (pigeons) will slowly walk away from in front of a moving car as if they know that you won't run them over cause you may have to clean your car later.
Back to dogs... When dogs are moving around in a pack - they don't really give a fuck about the traffic. I've seen packs of about half a dozen to dozen dogs slowly and lazily crossing a major street despite a rather large and rather loud truck coming straight at them. Apparently, they've figured out that nobody wants to risk damaging their car by running over half a dozen dogs.
And yeah... Truck driver slowed down to let them pass.
Actually... After reading through the PDF, I've found that they did that exact thing in one method - manually rotating images to get multiple angle scans of the same source. That method actually gives better results, as it covers the "perfectly aligned defects" better.
On the other hand - they ARE in fact already putting a second lamp in some cheap(ish) scanners in order to increase the scanner's gamut - but the procedure does require multiple passes, first with one lamp then with the other. "Just a small LED" wouldn't cut it though, as the light needs to be uniform and carefully calibrated.
So, the hardware is actually available to the casual user, but still... results (Quite similar to doing a quick "heal tool" pass across the crease in Photoshop)are far bellow those achieved by manual retouching while multiple scans and the processing do add time to the process. AND the examples shown are still rather "simple" in color and detail.
Then again... I am a bit "professionally biased". OK... A lot.
Dr Poyarkov said he had also noted the same dogs waiting for a green light to cross the road.
There are no subways where I live, but I've been noticing that for years now. Also, there are nearly no roadkills in the cities. Unlike along the country roads.
They're not going to contact a professional photographer just to scan some family photos.
That is why I said "contact a professional or their teenage grandson".
scanner being sold 5 years from now
And that is why I said "at this point".
But I have a feeling that 5 years from now something like "crease-fix" will be laughable. Although, I doubt that it will be this particular way of implementation. Multiple lamps can only make scanners more expensive. Maybe something along the lines of doing multiple scans while rotating the photo to get the similar effect?
However, there's another real-world application for this sort of thing: someone like my grandmother scanning lots of old pictures that may have been folded, crumpled, or otherwise damaged. Even if it's not giving the highest quality results, if the results are at all better than not processing the photo, then it's probably fine. Without automatic quick fixes, people might either scan it and leave the damage, or decide not to scan it at all. Giving even barely passable results is an improvement.
First off, I would NEVER advise senior citizens and other people born decades before the invention of the term DTP and/or computers becoming a common household item, to do ANYTHING with photos other than store them in albums. Unless they have at least some elementary professional experience in dealing with photography I would most certainly advise them to contact a professional or their teenage grandson to do any digital task involving family or other memories in photographic format for them. Not only do the older people (usually) lack the necessary knowledge, but they also often lack the physical ability to tell the difference as the vision goes rather quickly with age.
I've had enough cases of people bringing me a floppy full of.GIFs to have them printed as posters to know that the possession of a scanner and computer has nothing to do with even the elementary understanding of ways of its use. About 99% of people doing that were well over the age of 40. Not that 40 is old or anything, it's just that when they were in school only cursor they saw was on a typewriter or a slide ruler.
Second, I doubt that your grandmother possesses the necessary hardware being that scanners with multiple (angled) lamps still tend to cost thousands of dollars for a used older model.
Basically, at this point this technology is akin to employing a Formula 1 pit-stop crew at every gas station so they could replace all 4 of your tires in under 10 seconds each time you fill your gas tank. Using a technique and technology only available to particular professionals due to the cost, to provide a service that (almost) no "professional" would ever use - to the market of casual users. Car analogy - is there anything that it can't explain?
Slashdot Mirror
If there was any shakycam in it, that was sporadic and limited at best (worst).
I base that on the fact that I don't remember any, and I've sat through all of it (some of it couple of times) and Serenity and I've liked it all.
OTOH... BSG annoyed me constantly with its continuous shakycam so I was barely able to last to mid-season 2. Never saw it entirely. Don't plan to.
Could watch Firefly again though...
Producing an Atom cpu will likely result in a similar amount of waste and impact as a Core2 Duo
Balderdash!
1 - Computer is A LOT MORE than a CPU and
2 - To produce the same amount of "waste" you would need to produce exactly the same thing in exactly the same facility using exactly the same process.
You don't even get the same results from producing similar Intel and AMD Chips, let alone Atoms etc.
and if recycling a three-year-old machine to Nigeria saves a OTPC production
I have NO IDEA what you are trying to say here. What is OTPC? One Table Per Child?
Did you mean OLPC? If you did, and if you have paid attention to that project (sadly, a failure) you might have noticed several things like:
- That it was intended to run without a power grid, relying on "alternative" means of power,
- That it was intended to cost under $100, but be essentially free for the end user as his/her government would buy it for them,
- That it didn't run Windows. Oh yes... a VERY important feature of "recycled" computers, as you can "recycle" them in-house due to that - by just giving them to the person who only uses (and only knows how to use) MS Word or Excel. Like secretaries, typists and parents.
- That ALL OLPCs had to be MADE. Not a single component was recycled. All brand new.
- That OLPCs were designed to be more like single-purpose appliances, as they were intended to a VERY limited user base.
Let me put it like this...
Recycled PCs have about as much influence on the OLPC project as an update to Windows has to Linux or OSX users.
Unless you are looking into very, very, VERY specific cases there is no connection at all.
In a world without OTPC or netbooks, there isn't a production of new low end machines, everything is at the top, and your logic worked. But not anymore.
Poppycock!
Everything IS at the top - economic or hardware top.
There are no computers being made in third world countries. Everything is made IN or FOR the first world.
Oh yeah, they are "assembled in China" but the MONEY comes from the west.
Even OLPCs, which were intended to be essentially free to third world kids, had to be bought by their governments in hundreds of thousands.
So they actually cost (and had to be produced in) millions. And no kid could just go to the store and buy one - even if it had the money.
Netbooks on the other hand are designed for that very important function of - browsing the internet.
Their buyer is the person with enough extra cash to afford a brand new computer that can be used just for the internet, but which can be carried around in an oversize pocket.
Only the cheapest of the cheap come close to $200 mark and more and more they are rivaling the previous and current notebook class in both price and performance.
OTOH...
If you are actually buying a "recycled" computer and not getting it for free from a family member, you can get one for about $100.
Now... those are actual prices of recycled computers (here they are referred to as "repaired" but they mean more something like "repurposed"), here in Bosnia. Prices are in Bosnian currency.
That is, after they check the machines, clean them up if needed, replace faulty parts etc. they even give you a 12-month warranty - for $100.
And all machines are "brand-name" computers as they are all coming from companies in EU that have upgraded their own workstations and got rid of the old stuff.
Heck... You can get a "like new" 22" SONY Trinitron screen that used to cost over a thousand pounds for about $100.
Now... Bosnia is a third-world country, but on the very frontier of EU. Most these computers are transported here in trucks, privately.
And while labor is cheap it is
Recycling reduces the number new computers being made
Ummm... no.
How does an old 1GHz computer "recycled" to be used as a typewriter or a web-browser reduce the production of gaming PCs?
What you are thinking of are cars and various other single purpose household items like TVs, washing machines and refrigerators.
Those get "recycled" vertically - they perform the same function as they did before only not quite as well as the brand new product would.
As computers are multipurpose devices, they get recycled horizontally - into a completely different section of the market.
Today's high-end work station can always be used as a file/web/print server, or a media station, or a type writer etc. of tomorrow.
Heck... Because it is far easier to mix and match parts, you can recycle PCs almost indefinitely.
Disregard for the Theory of Relativity is what caused Nazi Germany to fail in the Battle of Britain and so to fail to mount Operation Sea Lion and then to fail operation Barbarossa, which allowed allied forces to clinch them both on eastern and western front?
Is that story from the the Red Alert universe? Before or after Albert Einstein goes back in time to remove Hitler?
As for Muslim fundamentalists...
They don't think that Jews or "Jewish science" are inferior. Who told you that?
They think the same thing that fundamentalist Jews think about Muslims.
That they are evil heathen child murderers who hate their (Jewish/Muslim) god and wouldn't like nothing better than to exterminate and/or enslave all the Jews/Muslims in the world, burn their synagogues/mosques and take their money, land and etc.
Religious hatred beats bogus racial theory hatred any day. Plus it works instantly in both directions.
And they all hated each other forever after.
Some of them ARE crazy - but not THAT crazy.*
Why should they? They can always beg enough money for a meal.
*Not that there is something essentially crazy about eating roadkill (if it is fresh and properly prepared) or about being homeless.
A rabbit hit by a car or by a bullet - same thing.
On the other hand...
A stray cat or a dog that lives on garbage, potentially poisoned rodents and can have rabies - NOT a recommended diet.
Tell it to those who can't afford the basic health-care.
Couple of hours ago there was a story on CNN about a guy who tried pulling two of his teeth with pliers - cause he had no money to pay for the procedure.
I mean - COME ON!
For fuck's sake, I've had free health-care whole my life here in Bosnia.
And despite the fact that state coffers are being filled by only about 700.000 employed (out of about 3.5-4 million people) - most health-care is free here.
Granted... system is swamped with elderly who often abuse it (going to doctor every other day is the only entertainment to some), there aren't enough resources (you will often wait for an ultrasound exam for a month) and most medicine that is not free is WAY too expensive for your average worker or retired person - health care is still essentially free. Some procedures and medicine require "participation in cost" but none of the basic health care does.
All of the problems health care here has are the same ones every other public system here has - general poverty, rampant corruption on every level of government and general ignorance and lack of education among the population.
We have about 700.000 employed, while at the same time we have about 750.000 illiterate.
Who keep voting for people based on religion and nationality. So it is perfectly normal that a pensioner barely survives on ~$200 a month, while his representative(s) in the government get ~$10.000 (+perks and benefits and bribes) a month to sit on their asses. (Couple of months ago some reporter did a story about how much work has the government done in the past year, from their own plan that they had for that year. No ministry did more than 15% of the promised. Most did less than 5%. Several did absolutely nothing. No action was taken to fix that.)
Still. No (sane) Bosnian would even consider doing amateur dental work on himself - as it has been free for all his life. Other dental care too.
And if you can't wait - you can always go to a private ordination or clinic. And pay out of your own pocket, naturally.
Come on.
If Bosnia (and other former Yugoslav republics - most public systems in these countries are just slight modifications of the pre-1990's system) can give its citizens free health-care, why couldn't United States?
It can't be for economical reasons.
The ONLY reason USA is even having this debate at all is because it has been taught for the last 100 years or so that socialism = communism = evil.
General public is so brainwashed that they can't even accept the basic economic of buying a keg of beer.
Everyone chips in, everyone gets the beer way cheaper than if they bought a bottle for themselves.
You want to drink something else, and have the money for it?
Chipping in a buck or two won't kill you, you get not to be a selfish bastard, everyone gets to enjoy the party, you can still BYOD and the beer is essentially free for everyone.
Why hammer?
Simply freeze the penis first.
Haven't you ever used a frozen sausage in a fight?
Avoid Texas afterwards.
Particularly Dallas.
And yeah...
Armies in democratic societies are inherently socialist.
No single man, group or corporation owns ANYTHING, down to a single nail, bullet or a shoelace that belongs to the armed forces.
It all belongs to the PEOPLE i.e. - citizens of the state. You know... those same people that get drafted in the event of war.
Those same people whose taxes PAY for the whole thing.
Who has private armies? Dictators and warlords.
Back in the early '80s Nancy Burson did the first computer "image" of Big Brother by combining Mao, Hitler, Stalin, and Khomeni
Typical. No Reagan. Not even Saddam Hussein.
Both he and Reagan were good guys and best of pals back then. Hilarious.
Standard SOP for solid waste burning is SERGEANT MAJOR IS A COCK SUCKER!
[citation needed]
That sounds like original research to me. Umm... How was it?
Expect perfection? I DEMAND IT!!!
I've seen both.
I'd come to a traffic light where a lone dog is waiting for the green (lower) light to turn on paying no attention at humans, and then again there were cases where a dog would join humans standing and cross when they do - when the green is on.
I've never seen them become impatient and cross during red light - like humans do.
He just keeps them closed. You know... playing it cool.
Here is what myheritage.com says about the photo:
Moby 62%
Milan Kundera 61%
David Boreanaz 60%
Harry Connic Jr. 59%
Marc Antony 58%
Lev Yashin 57%
JC Chasez 56%
Ashton Kutcher 56%
Edward Norton 55%
Sting 54%
But after some cropping and flipping of the image so that "evil" looks to the left, only Moby is still on the list:
David Copperfield 62%
Arnold Schwarzenegger 56%
Ricki Lake 51%
Ralph Fiennes 51%
Dave Farrell 49%
Elton John 49%
Moby 48%
Laurence Olivier 47%
Jimmy Smits 47%
Federico Garcia Lorca 46%
Conclusion: Moby == representation of evil.
Comparing caricatures with realistic depiction of humans? Come on... That ain't even a proper straw-man.
Try these instead:
Japanse Spiderman manga vs. American Spiderman Comic.
Note how lips, nostrils and ears are generally unarticulated (particularly noses and ears that often are not present at all, or are just hinted) and how much more detailed american (comic) faces are.
On the other hand... manga artists attribute much greater attention to eyes and hair.
You can tell the character by his/her eyes immediately.
Bigger and more detailed the eyes - more innocent the character. Slits with a tiny dot for a pupil - evil fucker.
Like I said... City dogs. Reasonably well lit city streets.
Yes, inland. I was referring to dogs anyway.
Not many roadkill pigeons either though, despite their clear laziness.
Sometimes they (pigeons) will slowly walk away from in front of a moving car as if they know that you won't run them over cause you may have to clean your car later.
Back to dogs... When dogs are moving around in a pack - they don't really give a fuck about the traffic.
I've seen packs of about half a dozen to dozen dogs slowly and lazily crossing a major street despite a rather large and rather loud truck coming straight at them.
Apparently, they've figured out that nobody wants to risk damaging their car by running over half a dozen dogs.
And yeah... Truck driver slowed down to let them pass.
Are they guessing the meaning of the light by the position?
That is the theory I've heard of.
Actually...
After reading through the PDF, I've found that they did that exact thing in one method - manually rotating images to get multiple angle scans of the same source.
That method actually gives better results, as it covers the "perfectly aligned defects" better.
On the other hand - they ARE in fact already putting a second lamp in some cheap(ish) scanners in order to increase the scanner's gamut - but the procedure does require multiple passes, first with one lamp then with the other.
"Just a small LED" wouldn't cut it though, as the light needs to be uniform and carefully calibrated.
So, the hardware is actually available to the casual user, but still... results (Quite similar to doing a quick "heal tool" pass across the crease in Photoshop)are far bellow those achieved by manual retouching while multiple scans and the processing do add time to the process.
AND the examples shown are still rather "simple" in color and detail.
Then again... I am a bit "professionally biased". OK... A lot.
Dr Poyarkov said he had also noted the same dogs waiting for a green light to cross the road.
There are no subways where I live, but I've been noticing that for years now.
Also, there are nearly no roadkills in the cities. Unlike along the country roads.
They're not going to contact a professional photographer just to scan some family photos.
That is why I said "contact a professional or their teenage grandson".
scanner being sold 5 years from now
And that is why I said "at this point".
But I have a feeling that 5 years from now something like "crease-fix" will be laughable.
Although, I doubt that it will be this particular way of implementation. Multiple lamps can only make scanners more expensive.
Maybe something along the lines of doing multiple scans while rotating the photo to get the similar effect?
That was a Fender Stratocaster. Not a Les Paul.
And you do realize that the skin color is the most superficial racial characteristic and that I have mentioned is as such?
However, there's another real-world application for this sort of thing: someone like my grandmother scanning lots of old pictures that may have been folded, crumpled, or otherwise damaged. Even if it's not giving the highest quality results, if the results are at all better than not processing the photo, then it's probably fine. Without automatic quick fixes, people might either scan it and leave the damage, or decide not to scan it at all. Giving even barely passable results is an improvement.
First off, I would NEVER advise senior citizens and other people born decades before the invention of the term DTP and/or computers becoming a common household item, to do ANYTHING with photos other than store them in albums.
Unless they have at least some elementary professional experience in dealing with photography I would most certainly advise them to contact a professional or their teenage grandson to do any digital task involving family or other memories in photographic format for them.
Not only do the older people (usually) lack the necessary knowledge, but they also often lack the physical ability to tell the difference as the vision goes rather quickly with age.
I've had enough cases of people bringing me a floppy full of .GIFs to have them printed as posters to know that the possession of a scanner and computer has nothing to do with even the elementary understanding of ways of its use.
About 99% of people doing that were well over the age of 40.
Not that 40 is old or anything, it's just that when they were in school only cursor they saw was on a typewriter or a slide ruler.
Second, I doubt that your grandmother possesses the necessary hardware being that scanners with multiple (angled) lamps still tend to cost thousands of dollars for a used older model.
Basically, at this point this technology is akin to employing a Formula 1 pit-stop crew at every gas station so they could replace all 4 of your tires in under 10 seconds each time you fill your gas tank.
Using a technique and technology only available to particular professionals due to the cost, to provide a service that (almost) no "professional" would ever use - to the market of casual users.
Car analogy - is there anything that it can't explain?