This weeks T6 is shorter as I am still getting acclimated, along with my lovely wife and my 2-year-old son to our newest addition. Emmett Caleb – pictured above – joined us on June 21st at 10:33 am. Week two appears to be establishing a regular routine of feedings and my oldest is coming to terms with being the oldest with as much grace as a 2 year old can do.
Several of you have emailed me with suggested links; I apologize in advance for not including them here but will make every effort to add them to Issue 18.
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* Wifi / Mobile*
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The First Wi-Fi Certified 11n Product is
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The decision to test 11n product was somewhat controversial since 11n is still only in a draft state with the IEEE, albeit a very stable version 2.0 draft. However, it was the first time the Alliance said it would test interoperability for an unfinished standard
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There's a lot of pre-N products shipping, and there will be more next year. To make sure people have a good experience, we think an interoperability program is paramount." And he was right, there’s no lack of 802.11n products.
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http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3686431
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T6 Commentary: For all you out there who are looking with eager eyes toward the ‘n’ standard brining mass-market wireless video distribution to the home, you finally have a platform to work with. As the article states, there is no lack of Pre-n products out there but few share a common version or implementation of feature sets. It will be very telling and exciting to see how all the manufactures bring their products up to date and compete to flesh out 2.0 features. With everyone jockeying to be the early leader\innovator, ease of setup and interrelationships with video system manufactures will be key.
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For those of you who have been told by the box store geeks that you should no longer buy ‘a’, ‘b’ or ‘g’ routers and access points should re-read the comments concerning interoperability testing concerns. Also take note that the IEEE version is only in draft with the expectation of final approval for release by summer of 08.
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* Format Wars *
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Warner to Delay 'Total HD' Disc
. . Warner Home Video said yesterday that it's delaying the launch of a dual-format HDTV DVD until next year. |
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The announcement, which was made yesterday at an entertainment conference, sparked immediate speculation that Warner is less sure that the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD will continue beyond this year.
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http://www.tvpredictions.com/warner062807.htm
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T6 Commentary: Is HD-DVD a ‘dead man walking’? The announcement from Warner Bros delaying the release of HD-DVD format (albeit the dual format version) comes on the heels of Block Busters stores and via mail movie rentals supporting only Blu-Ray. See T6 Issue 17, Volume 3 for link to the Blockbuster article).
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* The Biz *
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Supreme Court Ruling Could Raise CE Prices |
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The Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a 5-4 decision to make it easier for manufacturers to require retailers stick to minimum advertised prices (MAP), a move that could raise prices at retail, the dissenting justices said.
The high court’s decision over rules a previous anti-trust statute that said MAP agreements were illegal. In the future courts will decide on a case by case basis whether the MAP agreement violates anti-trust laws.
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Since we are a specialty retailer and require a cost structure where we can hire the right people, train them and show some differentiation, we hope that this ruling will stick. We hope it could help improve margins, which would be a good thing. Of course if manufacturers don’t enforce this it doesn’t matter. But overall our outlook is one of measured optimism.”
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http://www.twice.com/article/CA6456240.html]
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T6 Commentary: I have noted on several occasion here in T6 on the diminishing margins for many of the AV mainstays. It has been well documented in too many publications to mention how diminishing profit margins on high ticket items like flat panels has caused something of a sink hole in the retail industry. From Box Stores to Boutiques, stores are closing or pulling back on expansions because of the lost income based on sales of plasma and LCD panels. While the Supreme Court ruling centered on a fashion manufacture’s squabble with a discounter, it must give hope to those AV retail outlets teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Yet, I have some reservations about this as the MAP process denies the consumer fair and affordable access.
Why does this remind me too much of Adam Smith’s oft quoted statement:
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary.
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*New Media*
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Internet Radio Hears the Sound of Defeat
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The Copyright Royalty Board's new regulations on Internet radio royalty payments -- with which Congress has decided not to interfere -- designate a flat fee that must be paid each time a song is played. The new regulations cover all broadcasts since January 1, 2006, leaving webcasters open to high back-fees and possible legal action.
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T6 Commentary: *SIGH*. Good-bye Pandora and its genome project, good-bye Radio IO, Good- bye any and all independent free form music providers. Musical Variety, choice and access is to be dead and buried. Do not for a moment deny that the clear channels of the world are jumping for joy and are already making plans to dance on independent Internet radio’s grave. I have made it quite clear in multiple issues of T6 how I support DRM –(or the ‘watermarking’ process as an alternative)- and artists rights for control of their music distribution and rights. I have long supported the civil action Metallica took against Napster –(stealing is stealing-Period). But the latest actions by the CRB is just plain silly, not to mention fodder for conspiracy theorist who think the CRB is just an arm of the greedy RIAA, ASCAP and the Clear Channels of the world.
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In synopsis; the new CRB rates would triple existing rates for online transmission AND make these charges applicable to EACH time the song was played. This is not how terrestrial radio royalties are paid, why the difference? As aptly put by Gene Simmons –(yes of KISS)-on the Henry Rollins show: “.. I don’t know why a young person would start a band today, there is no profit model anymore… you –(points into camera)- killed it”. It is true that CD sales have dropped dramatically over the last two years and terrestrial radio arbitron numbers are stagnant. The Recording industry –(this includes record companies, distribution companies, brick and mortar music stores, recording studios and the manufactures who supply them)- is in a full out panic. The old tried and true business model has utterly crumpled in the face of the Internet and its tools for distribution.
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It is not just a case of artist getting their due, which I truly want to see. I spent too many years working FOH boards for truly indie bands that were only signed to their own label and attending shows of friends and local acts in support, to not understand the drive and bare bones budgets some bands subsist on. The CRB ruling could POTENTIALLY mean more royalty income for these bands – IF there is anyone to play them. The Catch 22 here (‘that’s quite a catch Doc’) is to be protected by copyrights a musician must sign away air time opportunities. While it is true that there are a number of streaming sites crying wolf here but to clobber the minority and ignore the wide swath of the scythe and its decimation to the majority of small player is … well, ignorant. It is also true a number of bands have parlayed their fan base and MySpace sites to sell 50, 60, 70K ‘albums’ so an alternate profit model and controlled distribution system is being viably used.
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In short the CRB ruling helps to finally turn the revolution into an arm of the status Quo.
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'Marketplace' Report: Cable Set-Top Boxes
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This weekend, TV viewers will be able to buy their own cable set-top boxes instead of being forced to take what the cable company gives them.
Congress pushed for this change in order to promote competition, but consumers may have a hard time finding boxes compatible with their systems.
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11601695
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T6 Commentary: So why does cablevision get a lengthy stay on this? Ugh!
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ISP deletes all user media files every night
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Anyone who is a customer of ISP Exetel may find that any media files he or she placed on the online storage space are not there when he or she looks at them the day after uploading. This isn’t an error; Exetel has made it a policy to delete all media including MPEG, MP3, AVI, and WMA files every single night.
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http://www.geek.com/isp-deletes-all-user-media-files-every-night/
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T6 Commentary: A simple and effective method for avoiding any and all legal issues. If you can prove you remove any and all questionable content every night then there is not much to get legal traction on. The problem here is just how the ISP can determine if you have fair use rights from ripping a CD to store on your allocated storage space, or if you obtained the files ‘illegally. What if I put a bunch of files for my friends and family to share? As the article states, there is a way out by emailing the ISP and declaring that all the content on your virtual hard drive is, well. Yours. I am not clear on just how effective this practice could be in protecting the host from legal implications if a user is found to be using the online storage for less then honest purposes.
ISP’s initially offered online storage as an ‘extra’ for some subscription packages or as a way to up the feature war with a competing ISP. Now with all the hysteria and draconian tactics of the RIAA this small and unassuming option has everyone looking at it as an Achilles heel.
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Check out T6’s ‘Culture Corner’ with links to bands you should know and Inspired technical links from those who inspire me.
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Does anyone actually read the liner notes? Let me know, the comments section of T6 is now open. At the end of every issue find the Comments link.
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All quoted material is the copyright of the respective sites and \ or authors- except were noted or comments are clearly mine.
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All T6 commentary opinions expressed are mine alone and are not necessarily those of Crestron Electronics, its employees, associates or even their families. Just my big mouth
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