« September 2005 | Main | November 2005 »
Video Podcasting: Cure For Apple and Disney's Pocketful Of Pabulum?
Electronics | Oct 17, 05
When Apple announced its new video-capable wonder, the firm knew it would take content to persuade consumers they need to pony up three to four hundred bucks for an iPod with a hard drive, especially when the company's own flash-based Nanos and Shuffles are available for much less. Cupertino's answer was to partner with Disney to make ABC's primetime programming available the day after broadcast, at a cost of $1.99 a show. So now, you can pay for content you couldn't be bothered to view or TiVo for free, and then watch it on a two-inch screen of inferior resolution. The two shows they're counting on to drive sales have the words "Desperate" and "Lost" in their names, and those terms would accurately describe that state I'd have to be in to take this deal. But wait, there's more. Apple will also make available a host of music videos. You remember music videos. MTV used to broadcast them until they found viewer interest so low they couldn't sell advertising with them. Viacom's gift to culture then switched to more edifying, cerebral fare, such as "Jackass" and "Punk'd".
So does this mean Steve Jobs has a loser on his hands? On the contrary: the new iPod is likely not only to be a hit this holiday season, but could be the innovation that will usher in the next phase of the democratization of media access that began with websites and evolved into blogs and podcasts. As the Internet has turned countless PCs into publishing houses and radio stations, the new iPod and its likely imitators will give rise to a new era of desktop television and movie studios. Interestingly, the iPod accommodates the open H.264 standard (Quicktime is more of a memory hog) which should facilitate content creation by third parties. With broadband as a catalyst, video podcasting is the next logical step, and you can count on many players to jump on this bandwagon, from the Matt Drudges of the world to the pornographers. Independent filmmakers may also find this a new channel for distribution, perhaps tailoring their work for diminutive screens. Media behemoths like Fox, Disney and Viacom are already tinkering with “mobisodes”, brief episodes and shorts that look good on the displays of mobile phones (e.g. Verizon's V-Cast) and presumably such fare will soon be seen on iPods. And of course the ability to play home movies on these devices will give an entire generation of flyers a new way of annoying the poor soul trapped in the neighboring seat.
To be sure, there are other reasons to want a 30 GB or 60 GB hard drive in your portable media player, as they can store far more music than their flash-based brethren. But the latter can still hold a thousand or more songs, and flash is cheap. Battery life is another challenge for the iPod, in that a full charge is good for about three hours of video playback, barely enough for a single film, if that. To reach its full potential, Apple may have to improve on this.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 3:13 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
How High Gas Prices Can Save H-P
Digital Cameras & Camcorders | Oct 9, 05
Yesterday the NY Times ran a piece arguing that the economics of printing digital photos at home are, for most consumers, disadvantageous in comparison to printing them at retail outlets like Wal-Mart's Sam's Club. We looked at this issue back in November of last year – see When It Comes To Printing Photos, Should You Drive To Wal-Mart? In a nutshell, after buying a printer (a cheaper proposition lately – more on this below) printing a 4x8 at home will run you around thirty to fifty cents versus as little as thirteen cents at the store, though 8x10s are another story, with the at-home cost about a third of the $3 you'll spend at a retailer. Thus, while home printing is up 68%, home printing's share of all photo production has fallen from 64% in the prior twelve months to 48% today. Now the 'Times failed to note this decline might be due to the entry of the more casual consumer into the market, for whom photo printing is only an occasional activity and the ability to do fine editing and special effects is not an issue. Be that as it may, going forward, another factor the Paper of Record didn't mention may come into play: the price of gas.
It's likely you've noticed that gasoline has become just a tad dearer lately. Burning those dead dinosaurs to drive to a big box retailer and print that shot of Junior and his prize hamster Skippy might not be quite so attractive. Wal-Mart, Costco and others have often remarked on the negative effects of higher gasoline prices on overall sales, and it's hard to see how this effect might not apply to the photo printing business. Further, the cheaper printers get, the less painful the price of ink cartridges becomes. For example, the H-P PhotoSmart 7450, which was only around $100 last year, will run you under $75 today.
Time Period: 10/4/2004 through 10/3/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
To be sure, the printer H-P, Canon and friends hope to make their money in cartridges, and they are what drives the per photo price comparison noted above. But cartridge refills can sharply reduce this cost – see Can H-P Keep Printing Money With Ink Cartridges? And those gazing longingly at the Hum-v stranded in the driveway can console themselves with the knowledge that, whether used at home or at a store, the production of ink and printers involves lots of energy, petrochemicals and potentially toxic materials, so even without that SUV, with each and every photo there’ll be plenty of opportunities to adversely impact the environment. Happy printing!
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 8:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Cheap "Pre-n" Routers Could Let Your Neighbors Jump Your Bubble
Computers | Oct 8, 05
That title may sound like the punch line of a Paris Hilton joke, but jumping a Wi-Fi bubble refers to accessing someone else's wireless router. The introduction of so-called "pre-n" routers allows the creation of Wi-Fi bubbles covering a quarter-million square feet, and it may surprise you to learn some people don't have homes that big. So, without proper precautions, your neighbors could be enjoying free Internet connectivity, courtesy of you.
Such range is made possible by so-called "multiple in, multiple out" (MIMO) chipsets, which process several radio signals simultaneously, helping to eliminate the corrupting effects of multiple signal path interference. The "pre-n" designation refers to the fact that these products have been released prior to the establishment of the IEEE's next generation 802.11n Wi-Fi standard (for those not up on the party scene, "IEEE" stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
But what's of particular note right now is the recent drop in the price of supplying your whole neighborhood with Wi-Fi. For example, as can be seen from the PriceTrend Graph below, Belkin's Wireless Pre-N Router would have run you $130-$175 at the end of last year, but today its going for around $90.
Time Period: 12/13/2004 through 9/26/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
This router features the Airgo Networks MIMO chipset, and you'll need a Pre-n network card, such as Belkin's models for notebooks, and desktops in order to use it.
Now the 802.11n standard isn't slated for establishment until at least the year after next, but perhaps its approach is contributing to this "pre-n" price decline. Be that as it may, with this kind of range you might consider enabling security when you set up your Wi-Fi, unless of course you're one of those altruistic types who wants to give your fellow human beings the gift of bandwidth – and perhaps all your personal data as well.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 1:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
