In 1991, Sheldon Cooper had a VCR. In 2024, he would have written a 12-page manifesto on the elegance of ffmpeg -i input.vob -map 0 -c copy output.mkv . The world is not ready.

The 4-hour PBS special compresses from 12 GB to 890 MB. Sheldon watches it three times. He misses none of the quantum mechanics. He does miss the warm, analog hiss of the VHS tape, which he begrudgingly admits “has a certain charm, like a vinyl record for the eyes.”

Sheldon tries to explain bitrates to his bewildered father, George Sr., using a chalkboard and a metaphor about marbles in a jar.

The Middle Ground (and the Middle Out)