AV Adviser

Netflix beating Spotify in name recognition

I'm a bit dumbfounded that I still get asked, on a regular basis, "what is Spotify?".  Everyone seems to know what Netflix is.  Is it merely the fact that Netflix has been around longer?

Netflix and Spotify are similar in that they offer streaming entertainment.  We won't take into account the Netflix arm that delivers actual discs to your home.  The difference is that Netflix offers streaming video where Spotify deals with audio. 

Netflix has been around quite a bit longer than Spotify, to be sure.  There's more to it though.  Netflix started to appear in consumer products.  If you're buying a TV, Blu-ray player or gaming device chances are that there's a Netflix app enabling you to sign up and receive on demand video.  Spotify doesn't have that sort of chance for in your face marketing.  It's not like AV receivers would come with a Spotify app. 

The Spotify penetration on Facebook, at least in my world, seems quite deep.  Spotify is set up to announce to your Facebook world what you are listening to at any given time.  You can disable that feature but it'll eventually go back to sharing mode.  It's Spotify's way of marketing but is it working that well?  You'd think that someone would see that their friend is listening to something on Spotify and be curious enough to investigate the service. 

I suspect it works that way in the younger demo.  Kids aren't afraid to click on things and are, generally, more curious.  Whereas oldsters, are hesitant, afraid of breaking something and too busy to be bothered.  It doesn't help that you have to be on Facebook in order to subscribe to Spotify. 

Why doesn't Spotify begin an old-fashioned ad campaign.  All they have to do is hammer home the point that for $10 a month you can have the largest record collection in the world.  It sounds like a false promise but, the thing is, it's true. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

The CD Slowly But Surely Dying

I talked about the demise of the CD a few months ago when Sony announced the closing of their New Jersey manufacturing plant.  It's still my contention that the vinyl LP will be around after the CD is gone.  But it was a good run.

NPR's Joel Rose does a nice piece on the CD including an audio report, The Legacy Of The CD: Innovation That Ate Itself. Trust me though, I don't want to see it go.  I have nearly 10,000 of them in my collection.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

A Look At The Latest Internet Content Set Top Box, Boxee

There are so many choices for attaining and streaming internet content from your router to your living room TV these days.  The Boxee is one of the latest to hit the market.

Boxee has been around for awhile as an internet site and has met with quite a few challenges.  For details on their struggle here's the Wiki page.

What's unique about the Boxee set top  box compared to Roku, Apple TV, etc?  Well, for one, the box itself.  Its odd shape guarantees the top spot on the pile of equipment.  But what about the content and user experience?

Here's a review from Linux, Review: Hands on with the Boxee Box .

Turnstyle Turntable, One Crazy Record Player

I've never seen a turntable like this.  No one has ever seen a turntable like this. 

Designed by a gentleman by the name of RD Silver, the "Turnstyle" record player is a thing of unique simple beauty.  Not only will it play 12" records but it has a speaker as well.  I haven't seen a record player this cool since the Close'N Play.

Here's the complete story including diagrams and demo shots from Yanko Design, Nothing But Scratch.

Close'N Play

Turnstyle

Seamless Interface Of Computer To TV Screen Gets Closer

Last week I discussed various ways of getting video from your computer onto your TV screen.  As we all know, this industry moves fast. 

It appears Apple isn't even promoting Apple TV on their site.  Things are afoot.  What they will be, exactly, is anybody's guess.  But Alex Albrecht, co-host of the popular podcast, Diggnation has some ideas he kind of spews forth.  Alex and Kevin come from the IT side of things and often miss the boat when they try to tackle A/V subject matter, but they're onto something here. 

Here's the episode.  The discussion pertinent to us is about 20 minutes in.  Be forewarned, Diggnation's audience skews young because they use an irreverent style (swearing and drinking). 


If you have a question or I may be of service call me at 216.431.7300 or 440.724.0558

TV Content on Your Computer

Last time I discussed watching content from the internet on your television.  Now it's time to look at it the other way around.  Granted, this line is already becoming blurred and will surely become a moot point in the not to distant future. 

Before I get to that, I teased about a fly in the ointment.  It's the internet service providers (ISP) who, in essence, give you access to the internet.  The big players are AT&T,  Time Warner, and Comcast.  Now let's see...what do they have in common?  Ah ha!  They all provide TV content as well.  Granted, AT&T is a new player to this game. 

Now think about it.  If the future means everyone is going to be able to watch TV shows, movies, etc.  via streaming it on the internet then where does that leave the cable TV companies?  With much fewer customers, that's where. 

They are already seeing the erosion.  Tech savvy, early adopters are already dropping their subscription and using devices like the ones I discussed in the last post.  TV series on DVD via Netflix is also reason for some to jump ship. And, in these dour times the first bill to get rid of is the cable bill.

So, how do the cable companies and AT&T make up for lost revenue?  With their ISP hat on, they put caps on how much you can download in a month.  Currently they are somewhere in the range of 200 gigs per month.  After that you pay at a price per bit which can add up quickly. 

Here's the big concern.  With more and more content being downloaded and high def ( think lots o bits) on the way, reaching that cap is going to be more and more common.  After all, it's the future and there is no stopping the future. 

What will probably happen is more tiered ISP pricing.  You want unlimited download caps, you'll pay more. 

This will also be a huge concern for mobile devices and smart phones where current caps are around 5 gigs per month.  But that's another story. 

Now, back to the idea of TV content on your computer.  Youtube was the breakthrough for this.  Where we, the public, were the content providers.  Well maybe not creating TV content but, we were recording TV shows and then uploading them to the site for everyone to view.   How altruistic of us. 

TV networks, in many cases, were none to pleased at this notion.  Outdated thinking to my mind.  It's great publicity for a show.  Saturday Night Live skits posted to youtube led to large gains in viewership. 

Still, the old school mind set is that they own the content and they'll decide how to deliver it.  So, most networks now offer many of their own shows available for viewing on their internet site.  Missed 30 Rock last night?  Watch it on your computer today.  Or watch it on your iPhone on the commuter bus ride...but watch that download consumption. 

Now comes sites like Hulu which have made agreements with a number of TV networks to provide a portal to content from more than one company.  This arena is very new and only now gaining any kind of large viewership. 

Along with this new way of watching comes all sorts of legal wranglings and questions of how one makes money with it.  Topics that are too confusing and unclear at this point for my readership.

As always, if you have a question or if I maye be of service call me at 216.431.7300 or 440.724.0558

Internet On Your Home Theater

Watching internet content on your family room television and watching TV programming on your computer...the two worlds have definitely come together.  There's plenty to discuss too.  I'll save the TV content on your computer for another time. 

A common question that's asked of me is whether I can turn someone's main viewing TV into a monitor.  You know, so they can sit on the couch with a wireless keyboard and...what...do work?  You really want to check email, bring up word documents or spreadsheets while you're on the couch?  Isn't that why you pushed yourself away from your desk in the first place, to take a break and to getaway from work?

Obviously I'm not a big fan of this idea.  Heck, Microsoft offered us this option with Web TV back in the mid 90's.  It's still around today as MSN TV and it still hasn't caught on.  Granted, the concept behind it when launched was to provide internet access, mostly email, for folks who had no use for a computer.  This usually meant our parents or older folks in general. If you really want to do this you can, using products such as Addlogix's Internetvue or Atlona's  AT-HDAIR.  Both work wirelessly making for little  muss and fuss.  

A word about wireless technology.  It's really the same thing as radio frequency (RF) transmission.  It can be as simple as AM and FM reception or more complex like wi-fi networks.  The bottom line is that it's still sort of a black magic.  Sure, every product is going to state how far the signal will carry or its  ability to be picked up, but there are so many environmental variables that can interfere with the reception.  These range from the construction of the building to what your neighbor may be doing in his garage late at night.  Take all specs on wireless range with a grain of salt, and make sure when you buy the product there's a return policy in case the signal just won't get to where you need it to go. 

Back to the subject at hand, watching internet content on your TV.  This will be the viewing source of choice in the future.  Physical media such as DVDs, and even perhaps Blu-ray one day, will dissappear the way VCR tapes have.  Some TV's already have an ethernet (phone jack) connection built in and all TV's in the futre will have one.  Some will even have built in hard drives to store video.  In other words, your TV will be hooked up to the internet. 

The easiest way to do this now is through external boxes.  These range from gaming consoles like the Nintendo Wii or Sony's Playstation 3, which allow sites such as youtube or Sony licensed content to be streamed and viewed over the internet. 

Others include "movie type" boxes from Vudu Roku and Apple TV.  Each of these sources offer varying types of programming.  Here's a nice story from PC World that tells of numerous devices, their content and rates them. 

As far as offering high definition content, some do and most will.  We're in the early stages.  It calls for a great deal of bandwidth and a large hard drive if you intend to store it.

These boxes should be hard wired using an ethernet (CAT 5) line from your computer router.  Remember the cautionary remarks about wireless.  They will then reside with your other home theater equipment such as the DVD player and cable box. 

Speaking of cable.  There's an interesting caveat to all of this streaming of internet video content to your television.  I'll talk about this and the other side of the equation, TV content to your computer, next time.  Now there's a tease for ya'.

If you have any questions call me at 216.431.7300 or 440.724.0558.