What You Need to Know to Make Decisions About Web Streaming Services and Devices

 Originally posted to  Corporate Tech Decisions Magazine - April 29, 2013

Live Web streaming. If you mentioned these words only a few years ago, you would receive only a blank stare in return. Today's major product unveilings: Apple’s QuickTime series of products, Microsoft’s Internet Information Services media platform, and Adobe Media Server 5 are available and produce high-quality content. The result is that rather than traveling to attend a live broadcast, now people can attend right from their desks.

Streaming technologies are fast replacing the broadcast truck and satellite uplink for many meeting events looking to reach a national or global audience live. While Web streaming technology is not very new, its implementation in the event staging world is still emerging, and many users may be unfamiliar with the technology. However, on first look the technology and concepts for webcasting will feel familiar to most video-savvy people.

So What is a Web Stream Anyway?

 The simple answer is that it is video pushed out to an Ethernet LAN (local area network) / WAN (wide area network) or the Internet. Streaming is a transport medium that converts incoming video sources into a signal you can send across standard Ethernet networks. However, to get the video into an acceptable format, you need to modify it a bit.

The first step is to pass the incoming video, graphics, and audio through an encoder. This device converts the signal into a format that software players can handle. The encoded signal now needs to be molded or packetized in such a way that it can be received by a player looking like a single unbroken stream. Packetizing means the video and audio are not just digitized into a scheme of ones and zeros but that the output of the media encoder, often called the elementary stream, is divided into data packets of encapsulated sequential data. What this means is that the live video is converted into a digital format that an endpoint player can receive and reassemble in a logical flow as an orderly video.

Think of it like the old Pneumatic tubes business used to transport mail between floors. Because the system used bullet-shaped containers pushed by a cushion of air through the tubes, the mail often needed to be carefully bent to fit; the process of packetizing is a bit like this, only with thousands of mail a second arriving on your desk.

Unfortunately, the video squeezed into the transmittable container is still too large for all but the most robust and dedicated networks.  In order to get your video from one location to the next without compromising an entire data infrastructure bandwidth or that “real-time” feel, the signal must be made smaller. Continuing with the pneumatic tubes example, think of this as reducing the mail to be small enough to fit comfortably in the containers. The compression of 

The signal does degrade the image quality a bit, and here we have a balancing act of making the stream small enough to be sent and received in a timely manner with the quality of video “resolution.” This is a delicate balance. If too much compression is applied, the resulting signal can be unwatchable, the display size is too small, and networks may not be able to deliver the stream in a consistent manner.

Now that we have squeezed, molded, and stuffed the video into a deliverable product, we will have to undo it all at the receiving end. Once the video arrives at a destination, the software player has built-in tools to decompress the stream and decode the signal. In general, most computer media players have the ability to handle a good majority of the standard formats, such as Flash (as used by YouTube), Windows Media files (WMA), and H.264 (MPEG-4). There are some exceptions though, and depending a need for encryption security or level of high-quality video, a plug-in or proprietary player may be required. 

Data Movement on the Network

Most of us have at least a thirty thousand-foot view of how the Internet works. It consists of multiple servers and data switchers distributed across the globe, which we access via Internet Service Providers (or ISPs) such as a cable company or DSL. ISPs allow for simple, relatively quick, and mostly reliable service. Therein lays the rub. When connecting to a news page, a search engine, your local restaurant’s website, or even the cat videos on YouTube, the relatively quick and mostly reliable service is pretty much all you need. For the most part we do not notice the fluctuating download rates or are only mildly annoyed if we have to refresh a Web page to reconnect. 

When it comes to a live-streaming video of your presentation, such burps and blips are not what you want, and they can be downright devastating. There is no guarantee of the reliability of the network that the audience watching the show is using, but you can maximize the stability and availability of the content being delivered. Like the old adage of “garbage in equals garbage out,” we want to ensure we provide quality as far down the line as we can. This is where Content Delivery Networks (CDN) come in.

CDNs are just what the name says — a dedicated cluster of servers spread across multiple regions or locations that relay content such as Web objects downloads, applications, and streaming services from the source with reduced bandwidth costs and generally increased availability. A CDN network consists of thousands of nodes and an exponential number of servers providing the content to viewers via localized relay sites using what is called Point of Presence or PoPs. PoPs work to increase speed and reliability by delivering the media from a location nearest to the viewer rather than directly from the source, thereby distributing the workload and reducing delays or latency that would occur if a player were connected directly to the source location. 

Now that we have an outline of the transmission flow, you need to understand how the venue you choose can affect what you can do.

What You Need from the Venue

Clients and their designers choose venues based on a number of needs, including location, ability to accommodate the expected number of attendees, and aesthetics, but usually last on the list are the items that concern users the most. The technical capabilities of a building are often taken for granted, the thought being that if the venue is willing to accept a show, it must have all the requirements. This blissful attitude is doubly so when it comes to the Ethernet network. In most people’s mind an Ethernet network is just that like white bread in the grocery store, it is the same no matter where you go.  I just heard a collective sigh of “if only” from the AV/IT community.

The reality is far more disconcerting. The reliability and consistency of many presentation venues can be compromised by various factors, from poor design and maintenance to a fudging of the numbers. So, what do you need to know when verifying that a venue can support your need for a streamed broadcast?  The first question a Web streaming company you hire will ask is how many people outside the venue will be expected to watch some 

or all of the event. The question may seem irrelevant at first, but it is an essential one. Knowing the total anticipated viewership helps to calculate the viewer stream hours (VST). This number, the VST, will determine the minimum upload speeds the network will require. Making sure your vendor goes over this number with you is important as it will also affect the total cost. More viewers means more CDNs and more resources. Finding the VST involves a basic formula (Number of viewers x the bit rate (quality bandwidth) = VST).

In the pneumatic tube example, if the network of tubes is not maintained well or has complicated bends or turns, the mail department cannot send the letters in an expedient manner. This is also true for a venue’s Ethernet network or backbone. Asking and confirming the quality of the origination backbone (OG) is essential.  If the network or providing ISP has issues or inconsistencies, it will be big trouble for your streaming.

If you find that the backbone is fine, the next concern is network speed. Most ISPs, when advertising their quality of service, will tout download speeds, and while this is very important to the average home or business user for getting files, pages, or other content from the Web, the concern here is the upspeed. Not all ISPs treat the ability to upload the same and, in many cases, deliberately throttle the upload speeds and charge more, sometimes much more, for faster service. In some cases, ISP up speeds can be half to a third of the rated download speeds.  In streaming from our event venue to viewers webcasting is only concerned with the up speed, to be caught short could result in limiting the number of viewers, locations and quality of video. If at all possible, a minimum speed of 5 Mbits / second is recommended.

A lot of our discussion here has concerned the tools and processes to make a Web streamed video event stable and consistent. A static IP address for the streaming equipment is very important as well. Many large networks use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) addressing, which automatically doles out or deactivates IP addresses from a table as needed or per a lease time rule. While broadcasting a Web stream upload via a DHCP address is not tragic, ensuring the system is using a static address can help make sure that any network rules or lease time issues will not interrupt the transmission.

If only you could eliminate the cable, life would be so much easier.  Do not, I repeat, do NOT use a wireless connection as the connection between the transmission rack and the ISP. An oft-repeated and sage commentary on Wi-Fi communication holds true that the wireless transmission of data is the single most convenient method of connecting to date, yet it is also the single most unreliable method ever concocted. Wireless, especially Wi-Fi, is highly unregulated and is, by extension, extremely congested. In even minor urban areas, the number of Wi-Fi routers, access points, and devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones is awe-inspiring. All of this congestion means that the number of possible sources of interference is infinite, and the likelihood of causing disruption to your show stream is just too high. 

Why Go Pro?

At this point, you might be saying to yourself, “This all seems very complicated and requires a vendor to provide the service. My kids use Ustream and YouTube to stream to their friends — why can’t I use them too?”  The truth is you could, and services like Ustream, Stickcam, Bit Gravity, and the rest provide great service and tools. This may be a fair option for some shows, but beware that they also have some pitfalls.

As with anything free or cheap, you have to ask yourself how the service provider makes its money and why it is free?  Many online portals generate revenue by providing only standard-definition video unless you purchase a pro package. They also make money from ads. Often, ads are placed in your stream every so many viewer hours, and you do not get to choose the ads. Imagine your competitor's ad coming up during your show.  These services offer rates that eliminate the ads, but most are yearly plans, so an ad-free, two-hour presentation will cost you a year’s subscription.

Hiring a professional webcasting vendor ensures that you will have a fully vetted system, venue and assured CDN’s. A professional vendor will also have the skill to help resolve any issues that may pop up anywhere down the transmission path.

Providing your viewers with the option of a presentation webcast opens new doors of revenue for your business, creative flexibility, and extended reach for the viewer.  A little understanding of the mechanics can go a long way

 

 

The AV and IT Conversion Conversation

This article originally ran on Corporate Tech Decisions magazine. 

Ethernet once was the dominion of the IT folks who made sure that you could find the files you needed on the server or could send these to the networked printer. As AV folks, we lived in a “...and never the twain shall meet” coexistence, and there was balance in the world. Even though Ethernet, the process of networking computers together, is nearly 30 years old, audio/video and control systems rarely venture into connecting via the RJ45 (the one that looks like an old phone connector on steroids). This is no longer true, as every manufacturer is expected to have a network port and an app for Ethernet connectivity.

As could be expected, when the AV folks began to start connecting systems to networks once solely populated by beige sedate machines, conflicts were sure to arise. AV and IT have officially entered into a serious and lifelong wedded bliss. In any marriage, some presumptions or even misunderstandings can persist until the partners reach the point where paragraphs can be communicated with a word and a look.

To help alleviate the inevitable conflicts, let's chat about some common terms and misconceptions and how to work through them; think of it as preemptive counseling.

What’s the IP addressing, Kenneth?

Most of us know that this refers to the address of a device or computer, but hey, it’s early, and we must ease ourselves in. As a refresher - If your computer is on the network, it has an Internet Protocol Address (IP Address); this is how the servers and IT managers know where and when you are on the system.

A bigger question is whether or not the device can be addressed via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), static, or both. These are two addressing schemes IT departments use to manage devices and access. Static means just that, an address that is set and never changes, you want this for access to a common shared item like a printer. DHCP describes addresses that can change each time you connect to the network. DHCP chooses an address from a pool and allocates them as needed. These can have a determined lease time: one day, one week, or 3 hours. The benefit of DHCP is that once a group of addresses are set aside in a table, they can be assigned or put back in the pool automatically, taking the burden of having to manually supply an address to each user or device. Which one to use depends on how the network is set up and designed to be utilized.

Porcine by Any Other Name, Still Not a Hog?

One of the main concerns of an IT department upon being presented with an Ethernet ‘appliance’ like a control system processor or devices from media servers to thermostats or lighting control switches is that it will hog the bandwidth. Their fear is founded in the IT departments’ prime directive. All business data must be the top priority to the detriment of all others. Email and other business applications must remain operative at threat of the COO’s wrath, not a fate we wish on any of our co-workers.

The truth is that this all depends on what the device to be hung on the network actually does. This can be a bit like rehashing what the definition of “is,” but there is something to this, and knowing the difference can help alleviate the debate. A control system can potentially create a bit of traffic as they poll all devices connected to them on the network or relay commands from a tablet or smartphone app and update feedback from them. In the larger business network, this is minimal and should not be of great concern in most common install applications. There are exceptions that prove the rule, of course, and each must be considered individually, but on the whole, a few conference rooms controlling lighting and equipment will barely register above the general network traffic.

The Formidable Porcine

On the other hand, there are some devices that will rightly put the IT department into a screechy, bug-eyed rain dance. While sending control commands to a video or audio player is minimal regarding traffic generated on the network, sending the actual video or audio can be real trouble. The Stones may have sung, “...it’s only Rock n’ Roll…,” but the truth is that it takes gobs (that’s a technical term, folks, I swear) of data to send a simple song from one computer to another.

Many manufacturers of professional media streaming devices will recommend that the CAT5/6 output(s) be connected to their dedicated network to allow for bandwidth room and avoid mucking up mission-critical network usage. (There is also the danger of putting an unwanted voltage on the line with proprietary pinouts). While connectivity for Ethernet control and maintenance can live off of the general network, the pipes for the actual media often live on their own parallel network.

There is another more pervasive gremlin to the well-balanced company network; the era of consumer networked streaming appliances has the potential to turn mild-mannered IT folks into hypersensitive hypochondriacs for a good reason. The fast rise of small and portable boxes like Roku, Apple TV, TiVo stream, and a host of others that can connect in moments and begin streaming great boatloads of content (data) can bring a system to its knees. 

Add to this folks who see nothing wrong with connecting digital signage boxes (many made by the folks listed above), and you can see why bringing your own device is a maddening proposition. Think of it this way: IT does not bemoan, chide, scold, and often outright forbid employees from connecting to popular web-based audio and video sites just because they are the “no fun police.” The potential for multiple tablets or mobile devices turning into mini streaming portals is just too much by half. Best advice? Just because it worked at home without ill effect does not mean it is harmless on the work network.

Preventing the Pandemic

Nothing can put the knee-knocking night sweat fear into network administrators more than a virus being set wild on their system. It is bad enough that some people will click on a link promising fabulous wealth for a $100 deposit from someone they never heard of. Now, you want to put a device they have never seen before, which does not include their standard suite of defense tools on their network? You can see why some flat-out refuse to even consider the option.

Overall, pro-network-capable AV devices are less prone to virus attacks and hacking as they use embedded operating systems and generally do not have the type of vulnerabilities inherent in more prolific software architectures. The fact is that these control systems do not have enough of an install base to merit all but a passing glance from those looking to wreak havoc. Any control system or other device that uses an open-source OS or consumer platform, like XMBC, which is the basis of many home content boxes or removable storage, is prone to attack and can act as a gateway to the larger system.

In the end, the marrying of AV, IT, and other non-standard network equipment is inevitable. Like any relationship or marriage, you really never know someone until you move in with them, share common space, and have to share the duties. This process of converging technologies and landscape will have its highs and lows, but taking the time to sit down and break bread between the departments will go a long way to minimizing conflicts.

I encourage you to comment below to let me know what you think I missed or even outright got wrong. My experience may not be yours.

 

CODIFYING CODPIECE

This post originally appeared on the AVNation.tv site. 

 

Andrew Robinson, formally an editor at Home Theater Review, continues to make waves among the Ivory Towers holders of Audiophilia, and I like it.

I like it a lot.

Mountain Fresh Air

Andrew is a breath of fresh air, like a straight-line wind of fresh air, inside the hobby world of home theater. One of the first Salvos I heard was in the form of his report/ review of the Rocky Mountain show, where he barely contained a direct and well-deserved dressing down of the exhibitors. His premise? That the high fidelity, high-resolution proponents and manufacturers have effectively priced themselves out of any community growth.

In effect, the audiophile holy rollers codifying the culture has resulted in them shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly.

Perhaps this is a pushback from the consumer and "PROsumer" products, which have had a seminal rise with viable budget-conscious buyers options. There is something to be said for defending quality and excellence, but when it comes to the result of circling the wagons, it also creates a wall. Every manufacturer is looking to draw folks in with their array of 'oh, Wow' products posted as glossy equipment pornification in magazines and blogs. What happens for the rest of us once we get past these obvious, select client-only devices?

Gilded Cages/Ivory Towers 

When I started out as a young man attempting to cobble together a better system, many of my best tutors owned remarkable systems but took the time to show me why they decided on the gear they had but, more importantly, showed me how to choose the quality at my budget. There was an entry-level ability, one with room to grow.

Codification when it comes to standards or procedures – the process to ensure the best work is accomplished – is valid, and I know that this is what many in the hobby are trying to do in their heart of hearts. Sadly, what a mid-level enthusiast like myself endures feels like the strutting of Codpieces, no longer concerned with the qualities; it has morphed into the bejeweled and feathered presentation of superiority.

Killing A Culture

A funny thing happens when you start to codify a culture rather than strengthen it begins to deteriorate.

In the early 1980's I was deeply involved in the nascent alternative and punk culture. When you think of punk, it often consists of the image of a metal-studded leather jacket and buzz cut or Mohawk-topped youth. But this was not the case at the start. If you had attended an early punk or American hardcore show, the folks in the audience and on stage ran the gamut of looks. From plaid shirts and sports jackets to surfer types with long hair and buzz cuts wearing loafers and Dr. Martens boots. Look at Iggy and the Stooges- not your atypical punkers with bowl cuts and rocker's hair.

Those early days were amazing times of breaking the bonds of the corporate music monopoly and spurring a revolution in DIY ethos from The Cleaners From Venus/Martin Newell cassettes to the Detroit sound. Rock music was stripped of its over-embellished predecessors' indulgences back to the blues roots made to snarl with Les Paul's electrified steel-stringed guitar. As the genre gained traction and its ranks started to swell, a change occurred. Slowly but surely, the scene began to stratify into semi-distinct subgroups – perhaps because of outside scorn or a desire to be unique, the fans of these new genres began to codify what look was acceptable.

 Where once it was okay to attend a Dead Kennedys show with long hair, it soon became a daredevil proposition; this much to the lament of the scenes provocateurs and stars. Like the WWI trains, before the biases could be healed, travel was already in motion, and the lines of battle were drawn. To be sure, there were always the talented (The Clash, Elvis Costello, Fugazi, The Ramones ) and those less so, but with the stratification and codification came a loss of power and message. And snobbish aspersions were cast upon anyone not in the clique.

Audiophilla, Auto-Asphyxiated

The audiophile hobby has turned into an elitist club not because it is necessary to do so but because those promoting it as such find pleasure in dismissing others.

Am I wrong? Prove it – Andrew is the only one, so far, in the hobby media to welcome those of us who are just starting out or have defined budgets. If not for him, I would stick to my high-resolution digital music and headphones.

In the end – This is bad for the hobby and the business of AV integration. If I am reluctant because of the closed-shop mentality of the hobby, why would I pursue the next step?

 

JC Penny'd

Google announced some terrible, terrible
news a few days ago, its Reader product is to end in June of this year.
 Somewhat surprisingly, this has caused an uproar - a bit more than the
folks at Google expected with the various online petitions circulating. There
is one even on the White House - We The People page.  Tech and social news
sites were instantly in an uproar decrying the news in breathless posts,
followed by a flood of giddy articles on what services could replace readers
and which had the best importing tools and interfaces.  

What’s all the fuss? you might ask.  

If you are unfamiliar with Google Reader
(GR from here on out) or RSS feeds, here is the skinny.  RSS or Really
Simple Syndication,  which GR is mostly based on, provides a method of
subscribing to a blog or webpage. These subscriptions allow for news stories,
posts, and updates to come to you rather than having to go to each individual site
to see them.  GR provides a place to aggregate these subscriptions into a
single-managed feed. Folks like me who have over 500 news subscriptions in
their feed laud the management tools, which allow the ability to quickly find
stories and keep them for later reference or to share. 

It also provides a quick

take on what news is ‘trending’ in the tech publications - if you saw a
story come up repeatedly from various sources one could fairly well know
something big was breaking. An NPR commentator, I forget which, stated that
Google Reader went from a news hounds friend to a pro tool in a relatively short time, a statement that I find disturbing and depressing -(more on this later).  I use GR to find stories for the AV Nation shows, but I was sucking up info on it long before.

I feel like I have just watched Goolge get JC Penny’d.  The store, if you have not been listening to business news radio of late, made some big changes in the last few months with hipper
styles, must-have exclusives, and, in a radical departure from standard retail,
offered everyday low prices. The company was only marking up the items by 20%
rather than the 50 -60% standard, eschewing the cycle of sales. The reality,
and the argument JC Penny has been making, is that most sales are preceded by
price increases so that the (x) off percentages will appear larger and still
make the store more money than if you had bought an item “at full price”.
 Seems pretty logical no?  Instead of having to wait for a sale or
coupons or other price cut incentives, JCP was offering a known entity - the
price will always be low.  It’s a win-win, right? Well, no, actually, as the
company's stock has been nose-diving, and sales are downright dismal. Why?

JCP ran smack dab right into the “but I like it that way” contingent of shoppers whose attraction to the process was not in the buying of goods they needed or wanted but the whole framework of rituals. The aforementioned business news shows all had some variation of the interview with ‘former’ or ‘confused’ JCP shoppers who were dismayed at the loss of their preoccupation with trying to game a system.  Forget that, just like a Vegas gambling house, the price game was already won by the retailer.  Whether these folks knew it or not, they were facing the loss of the false sense of power the game gave them.

This same sense of gaming the system is the explanation many are giving for the demise of GR.

A common refrain from a good number of folks, including some of my friends, is that they now use their social graphs to get the news. I use Twitter and, to a lesser extent, Facebook and G+ to get industry and world news as well, but it is not a reliable source(s). Is Twitter useful? Yes- but having it as your main news feed is akin to kids learning from other kids on the playground just what sex is - never the full story and nearly always full of incorrect and sometimes dangerous presumptions.

The Social experience was lauded as opening a new stream of information, one unbounded by the restrictions of traditional media.  We were to get the news often ignored (or, if conspiracy-minded - censored by the Left/Right/Gov’t controlled media) to fill in the gaps.  Instead, many have chosen to narrow cast by limiting the news they get by relying on their friends who most probably are interested in just the same things and have similar opinions.  This is getting the news you want, and it makes folks happy, or rather, it lulls them to a false sense of knowing.
 

This is more than a loss of product; it signals a change that may very well alter many users' views and
trust.  Yes, I realize that many Google products have gone to the grave before, but when a base of 10 million users means nothing to a company (and offers them no alternative) - one has to wonder.   I wonder where all of those Reader addicts will get their feeds - this is a grand opportunity for a biblical slingshot.  Google Reader was praised as being the largest single source driver of traffic to sites, even larger than Fark.com. How panic’d are people? Feedly reportedly gained over 500,000 new users, including me, in less than a few days. 

Think of it this way: if Feedly gets only 2% more of the reader refugees, this is a substantial number to base some serious growth on.  What other productivity tools will Feedly offer me?  I am eager to find out

 This article originally appeared on the AVNation.tv page. 

 

Larga Vida a la Segunda Pantalla

The Custom install AV industry has both hailed the influx of consumer out-of-the-box ecosystem solutions and afeared them as a sign that the Mayan doomsday is nigh.  Driving all of this is the migration, especially of the millennial set, to tablets, smartphones, and laptops as not only an ancillary or second screen but the primary.   Recently Tech crunch explored this trend as one of the main motivators for Apple to produce the Mac mini.  My response to them is below. 

The ‘Second Screen’ is fast becoming the primary screen for viewing most content. If you are under 30, this is an obvious fact. Even Phillip Swan of TVPredictions.com has started to, begrudgingly, come around on this. Swanni has for years decried the move from 60” 7.1 surround sound anchored plasma screens to 9.7 tablets, so much so that I developed the Swanni inverse square law - namely, the more he states no one will watch such small screens, the number of folks doing so doubles.

This is further proof that the iPad is a machine for consumption, not the creation of content (regardless of what the cult of fruit apologist would have you think). I would love an iPad, but I need a machine that allows me to work, not just play. Despite my misgivings, the Surface tablet with its breakaway keyboard may be the answer.

Why is such resistance to what is, at minimum, going to take a large market share by installers and dealerships? Because a universal content viewer is also a universal replacement for the proprietary touchscreens and controllers. The custom AV Industry is overjoyed and hides under the covers, scared. Where once we designed systems and rooms for a shared experience from a central room the shift has been toward distribution of the same content over a network and to different rooms/ locations. This might seem like comparing grains of sand, but the economy of scales is immense.

What To Expect When Expecting (Support)

What you need to do to insure success with technical support. 

Everyone one of us has been there, with racks of gear
installed and the shadows growing long on the rear lawn,  the final run through and  system QC is stuck -  a bugaboo is stopping all operation.  The homeowner is eagerly waiting to sign off
and get you out of their home for the first time in three months. The other
trades have begun pointing to you as the cause of the trouble and cost overages.
 You can just hear the security installer
gravely telling the homeowner:   ”..if you had let me put in my  dedicated keypads this will be working fine
and done...”.   Your nerves are
frazzled – you begin to see hallucinations as your fears manifest themselves.  Before your eyes the last payment (nearly all
your profit) becomes a squawking Blue Jay flying from your grasp straight
toward the nearest window. Finally, you put a call into the manufacturer's tech
support.

Now the real fun begins. 
First one must make leaps and bounds through the automated call system
like the Mario Brothers bounding over the rocks for coins.  At last you are connected to a human who
after listening to your synopsis of the situation states  ...”‘funny,
I have never heard of that issue before!’ or proceeds to insist that you go
through the same basic check lists you performed twenty times prior to
calling.  As darkness falls the crick in your neck gets worse
from keeping the phone against your ear and your stomach rumbles in protests as
the smells and sounds of the clients dinner waft down to the cellar.  Now your patience worn thin the vitriolic
bile begins to rise.   

It did not have go this way. 

Over the recent holiday I read a good many social posts from
associates about how they were on hold or frustrated with the time it was
taking to resolve ‘the’ issue.  I read
through these with an equal amount of concern and chagrin.  I no longer work as a support person you but
you can never quite take the support out of the person.  

After spending more than ten years inside a technical
support division I have found that it is all about expectations and honesty.  Put another way it is about what each side of
the conversation expects from the other and the fear of appearing
unknowledgeable. These two items are at the root of more frustrations in
support calls than any other – even when faulty gear is the issue.

While many manufactures can improve the type and quality of
their support services, the honest truth is that the problem starts at both
ends

Knowing what the
other side of the conversation knows. 

What makes a great technical support person is not just an
encyclopedic knowledge of the technology and devices involved but the ability
to visualize the system as described over the phone and to then find the
missing items. This is where you – the supportee – can make the process move
along by describing the setup you are having issue with in detail.  I would rather hear you over explain then
presume I ‘know what you mean’.  

One of the best things a technical support  floor manager can hear is one of her techs
saying something akin to ‘Okay, if I have heard you correctly – you just pushed
 the top keypad button in the lower hall
which is tied to the Push[20] in programming … 
Rather than  “so you pushed the
button”? 

One of the best examples of how a technical support phone
conversation can go amiss comes from a story on ‘tech support nightmares’
postings I first read on a BBS board.  The
Story is from a phone support tech that was helping a person send a fax from
their computer for the first time.  The
tech duly had the caller change a setting or insure that the phone line was
connected properly (and was live) he would ask the user “Is the document on
screen?, okay hit send.  Despite insuring
that everything was set up correctly several times over the tech exhausted of
options began to issue a Return Authorization for the computer’s repair
(remember that this was in the days when most computers had to be sent in as
the boards were all one).  The situation
was only solved when the tech asked caller to use the File| Info menu to read a
serial number:

Caller: Sure, hold on a second I have to move the paper to see

Support: Sorry, what are you moving?  The menu should be just above the document

Caller:  Yes it is but
I could not see the mouse because the document was over the screen….

(Evidently he thought it would work just like a regular fax machine and scan his
physical copy then transmit) .

Here both sides of the conversation used the term ‘Document
is on the screen’  to mean something
slightly different – a simple linguistic misunderstanding which delayed  finding a solution.   I remember this story every time I work with
a client to troubleshoot or explain a process.

Knowing what you know

The technology is getting simpler to use while
simultaneously becoming exponentially more complex to troubleshoot.  All of this means that the technology, tools
and even the interfaces are changing and new technologies are being integrated
before the previous tech as begun to settle. 
It is a daunting task to keep up with it all even when you live and
breathe it on a daily basis. 

As folks who are deeply tied to the AV integration industry,
one which truly converges a great gob load of technical disciplines into
seamless systems there is a pressure to be an expert on all of it or face the
possibility of being leapfrogged by someone who does.  This a harder nut to crack as it requires us
to face our paranoia and  accept that to
not know something is only a temporary condition so long as we admit it.  

Knowing what you actually know is a huge step to helping get
your problems solved.  A support person
is not going to riff on you for not knowing (if they do it should result in
disciplinary action from the company) – but will for being caught proclaiming
false expertise. Why?  Because it causes
confusion and delay ( as Sir Topham hat would say) .

When the company I worked for first started to roll out
wireless systems using  the 802.11
protocol, which  we all now simply call
Wifi ,  (rather than then the proprietary
lower UHF Transceiver systems previously offered) the  hold times with support tripled.   The cause of this flood of calls was not the
product itself , per say, but the folks who called in first claiming they
absolutely understood  not just how to
set up a wireless connection but also how to connect a lager network of
devices.   To be fair most knew a bit,
often enough to get their computer connected using a wifi tool, but were
missing the understanding of what actually made it all work. One of the most
common misunderstandings we would encounter was how a computer connected with
no issue by just entering a passkey in the wifi setup but the control devices
would not.  Often if came down to a
misunderstanding of how DHCP worked versus static addressing. Simple enough but
we experienced an all too common aggressive stance from the caller that they “knew
how to set up a network and had done several successfully’.  This puffing up of the chest only got in the
way of an honest dialog.   In comparison
callers who knew admittedly knew nothing about networking took less phone time
as they let the support folks guide them through the process.  

As I stated
earlier there is much we can say to fix what companies provide in terms of
support (This is another article altogether) yet, we as clients can go beyond
demanding and find ways to work with our support to streamline and maximize the
end point gain.  Namely, a solution.



Mine is just one set of tools, what have you
noticed helps?  What would you change about the level of support you
encounter on a daily basis?

 

*This article originally appeared on the AVNation.tv blog.  Check out our podcasts for and by AV professionals

 

Retrograde, in Reverse.

Looking back at past innovations leads to the future.

The innovations of the past are more than examples of wrong turns or outdated methodologies and they are more than modern entrails readings. What the study and working knowledge of past technologies are is inspirational. One prime example is how telephony engineers re-examining the process and patent for a frequency jamming resistant torpedo controller developed by ‘the worlds most beautiful woman’ just prior to WWII lead to our modern smart-phone communications - a process called CDMA. The fact is that nothing is built out of the blue but is based on processes that came before, something akin to Broca’s brain.

 If you are a fan of Scientific American magazine you might recall that some of the most thought provoking articles were not the five page with pull out centerfold on DNA mapping but were located near the back of each edition. Just before the ads selling Name a Star services and other science fandom accessories were the magazines anti- agitprop agitators such as James Burke and his ‘Connections’ articles. Mr. Burke’s column took the reader on a delightfully wandering path to discover how things actually came to be, like how the water wheel lead to breakthroughs in modern computing. The BBC series based on his writings only added to the wonder and prodded one to never take for granted any common device - each has so much history and wonderful things to teach us about why our modern world works the way it does.

I was re-reading  the fantastic AV shout article 'What Goes Around, Comes Around: A Historian’s Response to Unified Communications' By K. Daniel Armstrong recently  and it got me to thinking.  The past is something we are bound to repeat, whether we know it or not. Sometimes this is a good thing, a very good thing.

When I was just cutting my teeth in presentation and live events industry, I was promoted to become a programmer and system engineer using the then cutting edge live show controller Dataton. I presumed that most of my time would be bonding with CRV’s and industrial DVD / Laser disc players. Then they sprang the slide projectors on me. For those of you who are flummoxed by the large spinning discs of plastic some of us used to listen to music on - Slide projectors were these loud, finicky lightboxes that went clickity-clack when you needed to change an image on screen. They were film projectors in slo-mo and my blood ran cold every time the company booked me on yet another, bigger show with them.

It was the best thing that could have ever happened to me- being put on these shows. I had the good fortune to meet and learn from the slide men- gentlemen who had been working and making these industrial revolution sewing machine looking boxes sing and delight audiences for decades - and my world changed. Slide folks were practitioners of an ancient art that,on first pale, looked and acted as if completely divorced from more ubiquitous technologies of audio and video which were slowly encroaching on their native lands. These folks taught me about form and function, about how to properly space text and how a show flow should feel. Being given the privilege of learning from these masters just how the art of multi-image worked, seeing the analog mechanics just enthralled me. The lessons I learned, of stripping things down to their fundamental processes, seeing beyond the shiny gloss has helped me to continue learning with a wide eyed fascination.

The past repeats itself in new ways everyday. 

 

It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore!

Fiber Optics and the coming revolution in Live Events signal distribution.

 

When
you mention the word fiber to most event staging folks it is likely that the
reaction will be a commiserating hand on the shoulder and a comment that their
doctor said the same thing to them followed by an invitation to compare
medications prescribed as well.  
In truth for most of us employed in the collection
of industries I like to call the Live Life any practical experience with fiber
optics is usually limited to having one of those color changing tubes shaped
like a Christmas tree.  Oooooh pretty! There is a good reason the industry
has paid very little mind to the coming revolution in topology- we need to be
confident in the pathways and conduit which we send video and audio down.
 We cannot ask of a do-over when things go amiss, its live People!

Because
of the nature of these live events the staging industry is resistant to and
even 
suspicious of changes to the main backbones infrastructure.  One only
has to take a look at how long it took DMX to truly take hold and the rather
limp implementation of the ACN protocol, which has many called for applications
and improvements yet still is relatively unknown.  One only has to look at
how few shops implement Ethernet control on their devices to understand the
situation. Don’t get me started in how bumpy the early days of wireless mics
were!  Beyond the confidence factor and mantra that you are only as good
as your last show - heck these days you are only as good as your last CUE!-
there is often a good deal of information and skills ramp up required.

I spent
ten years away from the event staging world earning my living in the cushy
upholstered rooms of an AV manufacturer- helping folks get their residential
and corporate boardrooms systems designed and tech supported.  These types
of projects always involved some cutting edge product, technique or interface
but alas, fiber was almost never used - unless it was as a run to the pool
house from the main living area to prevent damage from a lighting strike. When
I reentered the world of live events the first few months were like looking at
the fishbowl from within. So much had remained the same with the switchers,   miles and miles of Copper and DVI connectors!  A DVI connector would have
caused a near riot if spotted being installed to a home or boardroom - how
quaint! But the changes were almost too daunting to consider with full blown
media servers which have built in tools for projection geometry/ image masking,
HD-SD everywhere and Fiber by the reel stacked on tall shelving units with bins
of SC and LC connectors.  I would be lying if I did not feel just a bit
intimidated by it. 

Fiber
is just too much to learn and the terminations are so finicky as to require
special epoxies and clean suits in special rooms like those you see in Intel
commercials, certainly not a field termination system! I mean, really the price
alone is prohibitive enough to restrict its use to esoteric shows or the ‘Big
Boys’ only.  Well Buck-O’ I am here to tell you in the simple words of
Col. Sherman T. Potter - Horse Hockey! Well, mostly. The Truth is that Fiber is
not nearly as delicate anymore and new termination tools make the job easily
mastered by anyone who has terminated BNC connections.  Tactical fiber and
connectors make the topology as rugged if not more than its copper compatriots
- Heck the military uses this stuff in the field nowadays. The issue of cost is
where the ‘Well, mostly” part comes in but it might not be on the scales of differential
you have pictured in your head.



On
Episode Seven of AVNation.TV’s Live Life Podcast we tackle this emerging and
growing use of Fiber on Live Shows.  We dig deep into the topic with
experts Barry Grossman of WorldStage Inc and Bill Brady of Alford Media. We
learn the basics of fiber, pitfalls to avoid and the practical knowledge to begin
your conversion from copper. Fiber has solutions for event companies of all sizes
and we ask- when will your shop be next? Join us for an entertaining and
informative hour of all things fiber - I promise it will wake you up!

I’m a 3D Believer

Thoughts on the DIY revolution of 3D printing and AV Nations DIY show about this.

For those of you who have heard my commentary (okay, lets be honest here - Rants) on AV Week against 3D Television the title of this post may have given you pause. Rest assured my  assessment  of 3D video as a less than worthless are still in tact.  What I am becoming a full frenzied devotee of is the world of object printing .

Photo Courtesy of Bennett Harris/ HarrisEducational

If you are unsure of what 3D and object printing have to do with one another you are missing a movement that very well may change how we do nearly everything. What I have just written is a bold statement and one fraught with the dangers of over extended presumptions ala Steve Jobs euphoric babblings prior to the unveiling of the Segway.  Even so it can be said with fair confidence that 3D object printers will change how my kids interact with products. It may be that someday soon it will seem as imperative to business success to have a 3D printer version of an offering as it is to have a social media outlet today

There are a number of methods but essentially the printers produce an object by progressively adding substrate in a precise manner to create the item.  Depending on the process and materials used this could take hours or days and vary in quality but the end result is an actual item (key fob, drawer handle, gear or anything really).  This is the ultimate cyber-geek dream - coding to generate a physical item. It is all the code with the satisfaction of ‘hand crafting’. (Although in my experience most heavy users of 3D printers are heavy Techshop people).

To say that is is the coolest thing since Shopbot would be an understatement, if only slightly. The design to concept timeline can be cut down dramatically and can be done from the comfort of ones own bedroom - if so desired. Forget made in America, made in China - this is made in your home. People are making full scale models with working parts, scale models for Architecture and image mapping pre-production as well as one-of-a-kind customized design hardware.   

Photo Courtesy of Bennett Harris/ HarrisEducational

Beyond the gee-whiz factor of the above this process has huge potential and my futurist self sees an end to manufacturing as we know it.  It will be disruptive like nothing else we can image, it may cause revolutions and riots worldwide, (yeah, really deep reality distortion field event horizon now), economies will change.  

Right now the technology is still  nascent but I see a none too distant time (25 years?!) where my kids will be “downloading” the things they want to buy rather than going to a store (so horse and carriage!) or waiting for a delivery to arrive. With the advance in circuit boards that can be etched with the components as part of the board rather than added later and soldered - almost any device can be printed in parts then assembled.  Granted this excludes large ticket items like cars and appliances but in the increasingly miniaturized electronics world I would be surprised if someone has not already done this in a proof of concept.   

Are you ready to take control ? It is (almost) yours for the making.
Manufacturers and retailers  will not take this lying down of course, not to mention the angst it will cause the labor force who rely on the jobs these sectors provide, and a serious fight is ahead. I fear that we will see attempts to put DRM restrictions on the proliferation of object codes and organizations like the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) sprout up to defend those who  pioneer the delivery and ‘receipt’ of such devices. It would be wise to review how the music industry did (good grief, still does) resist online proliferation and how it is an unstoppable channel when people decide just how they want products delivered. heck, look how hard publishers fought Amazon until it was clear that their clients demanded to get all titles via the online clearing house.  

 

This grand future and nail biting  is a bit off  into the future (but not by much!) and right now the projects are fun and provide a way to keep ‘the little grey cells active’ as Hercule Poirot would say. On Episode 11  of the DIY Show with great guests Robert Gusek, Michael Kohler, Anthony Zoit and Jonathan danforth  we explore 3D printing, the tools, the techniques, how to get started,  what can and cannot be done and where it is all going.   

I invite you to take a listen then tell us about your object printing experience, desires, concerns or straight out questions.

Magical Thinking

Is a business model outside of the apple eco-system (or similar) simply wishful thinking or is there something to the reality distortion field becoming the norm? 

My oldest son lost a tooth yesterday and called me with all the eagerness that a seven year old could muster about the event.  Rooster, my name for him - no not his given name, was excited as this is a milestone, to him, toward teenage hood that others in his class were experiencing  with more regularity.  He was revved up like a rockabilly front-man in new town about getting a golden dollar from the tooth fairy.  Gonzo, my youngest at five, expressed concern about the fact that an unknown and nocturnal creature would be in their shared room while he was asleep and unaware.

“How does the tooth fairy get into the house and put the money under the pillow” - Gonzo asked.

“Magic silly”  answered Rooster.

“But magic isn’t real” retorted Gonzo

“If magic is not real then the tooth fairy can’t be real, mommy?... is the Easter bunny magical?” asked Gonzo.

 

 Photo Credit David Sifry via EveryStockPhoto   

Now here is the quandary. While some would simply gloss over the question with a ‘yes dear’ they use good magic’; I have never been fond of what I call magical thinking, of retelling the tales and lying to my kids about what I know is a fallacy that will either lend them to believe anything can be true or reject everything. To be honest, my sons would not allow such a glib off putting.   Once my oldest came into an understanding of Christmas I wanted to de-stress telling him that Santa Claus was the deliverer of gifts, as you can expect I lost this ‘discussion’ with my wife as soon as she stated “don’t you dare”.  If you are married you understand.  I realize that this makes me sound like the kind of person who reads Charles Bukowski while Joy Division plays in the background but  the reality is  quite kinder than that. Still I do refer to ‘the Santa Character’ when I speak of him, but I do not overtly correct my kids.  So it came as no surprise that my youngest would try to rationalize his fear by deconstructing what was causing him concern and that my oldest would try to accept it, despite himself, because there was the immediacy of money to be had if it were true.    

This episode started me thinking.  Is the AV industry  facing a challenge to its fundamental way of creating installations and some of us are ignoring the fact that the bubble has burst because we still see money in the myth? We know the playing field is changing but by how much and are we truly on the cusp of the great change? Apple has taken the ecosystem model and made it both box store consumer friendly and powerful enough to satisfy all but the most finicky media-philes.  Are we currently only mopping up the last of the ‘legacy’ installs while deluding ourselves that the tooth fairy will provide?

It has been suggested that we are currently in a hybrid moment which will shake out the industry into a more streamlined and unified methodology - just look at how every manufacturer MUST have an iPad app or be relegated to the out-lands.  If we are indeed seeing this happen I feel that historians will note it as the Brundlefly period. Change is afoot but a hardwired and dedicated  (and yes , proprietary) system has a place in the market, a shrinking market to be sure but one whose rock bottom is not zero.  There is value in the model, with some modifications. Installations who need guaranteed reliability, durability and consistent operation require the standard model to insure it will not be filled with service calls and un-billable revisions.

Joseph Campbell - the great writer on myth and meaning-  made a strong argument that myth may have been elbowed out of our day to day conscience by science but its value is strongest when we are facing the ultimate mysteries to stir a sense of awe, humility and respect for what we do not yet know.

The morning after the great tooth fairy debate,  I  had the following conversation with my boys while driving to school:

Gonzo - “Dadu,is magic real? “
Me- “ No,not the way you are asking”
Rooster-” Does that mean the tooth fairy is not real?”
Me - “What do you think?”
Gonzo - “Will I get a dollar when I lose a tooth”
Me - “Yes”
Rooster- “I’m not sure I want to know the answer today”



Update: November 28th. 

Mark Coxon has a great retort to my post on his fantastic blog AV Phenom-  Read it here

Pump Up the Community

We talk a good deal about community these days, in building connections, social graphs and connecting via social media. The Politicos talk about rebuilding the economy by communities coming together but the actuality is a rare sight indeed.

One of the places that actual communities come together is via a remarkable radio station – WLNG of Sag Harbor Long Island. The place is almost an anachronism in the radio
business at 5,300 watts the station should only be a footnote yet its reach and influence is that of stations with 10 times the power. The Station is a marvel that honors the years of relentless promotion and guidance by the remarkable Paul Sidney. When Mr. Sidney died it brought forth an epiphany on just how much the station has meant to me and the town I grew up in – you can see my ‘eulogy’ here.

Stations like the Uber local WLNG have been the subject of ridicule and praise since their inception and, to be honest, the station has been worthy of both. It is one part the radio show in ‘One Crazy Summer’ and one Part “Pump Up The Volume’ providing oddball shows like Swap and Shop while catering to the tourists expectations of a “Beach Community” broadcaster. Which makes the actions of the WLNG staff during hurricane Sandy all the more remarkable – or should I say commendable for I could not imagine them NOT being so dedicated.

The Stations broadcast facilities are not in some high-rise building or even in the main town but sits precariously on the edge of a bay. The location is part of the charm but it h
as its dangers as Sandy’s fury demonstrated. During the height of the storm the station kept broadcasting even as the water began to creep steadily toward the building eventually breaching the floor and walls. Still the staff kept broadcasting. Doning fisherman’s boots (which hopefully prevented them from grounding) they continued even as the water rose to ankle high depth. Only when it became evident that things were about to get a lot worse did the staff (I believe) reluctantly leave their posts and suspended their outreach. As soon as the waters began to hint at receding , WLNG was back on air.
What is even more remarkable is that this is in line with a long-standing tradition at the station – to ride out the storms and provide a comforting and familiar voice in times of natural disaster. It is remarkable not for WLNG as their entire existence has been to serve the community, to bring it together.

Many are already mourning the death of radio but long after the Clear Channel cookie cutter stations have long been forgotten WLNG will still be transmitting and serving with a purpose.
Are you as dedicated to your clientele?

This post was orignally published on AV.Shout.com 

From Grass to Gauss

I orginally posted this as a comment on Lee Distad's Blog about how some of our best and most endeared equipment were obtained for free or little more.  You can see his original post here. 

 I have a few items which I obtained for little or nothing by being the one who took up the call to “Clean the #$%* inventory closet !” - it is one of the benefits and occupational hazards of the industry.

Still my most precious (sooo precious ) find was the Teac R1000 reel to reel tape deck. I worked as a groundskeeper and all around assistant fix it guy at a condominium complex in Southampton Long Island. I was only fifteen at the time and almost rejected it when the elderly gentleman offered it to me. The unit came with spare reels, classical music tapes and the amazingly five blank tapes (never used!). This was the beginning of my entry into AV of any sort. It took me hours to figure out to connect to my Realistic record player and amp. It took another few days for me to become familiar with all the features and how to record from a source.

None of the above would have set me on my path to a career in AV - it spurred an interest in better audio gear for sure but it took something more to grow an ember into a fire. If you are old enough you will recall that there was a time when people thought that backward masking was a subliminal tool that wrecked havoc on young minds, especially those who listened to the heavy metal genre.

AnYwAy! I wanted to figure out just what Prince was saying at the end of a song on the Purple Rain album -(yeah, I know Prince is not heavy metal and no, I cannot recall which song (Darling Nicki maybe?) ) - and I had a tool to do it. I had seen a segment on the local news about backward masking and the potential dangers (it must have been sweeps week) but I could not remember exactly what they did to make the words evident. I knew it had something to do with reversing the tape but the concept was new to me and took some conceptual thinking I had not used prior. When I finally got it right I was overjoyed, ecstatic actually. I wanted to know more and Radio Shack became a frequent stop for me, which lead to a tech school, college and a career.

What was the message from Prince? “Drink your Olvatin..” no, no that is the wrong secret message. Actually it was some prophecy nonsense that mixed the heeled one’s amorous topics and revelations. Come to think if it - it was about Ovaltine ....

 

The Last Temptation of Distractions

I wrote the following as a response to a friends article in Residental Systems magzine blog.  The article entitled "Sandy the AV Disaster"  asked , after several days of no power,  "How did people survive before technology?!"  The below is my extended answer. I encourage you to read the post here. 

 

It is an interesting question you, Unknowingly(?), ask Anthony.  Just how reliant are we on a constant stream of distractions.  If you ask a recent business study- much too much. 

Setting aside the dystopian fear that we will soon leave no written evidence  of post 2k civilization for future archeologist to study; one has to ask-just how meth-headed have we become?  

The first step, so it is said, begins with acceptance.  Alright then - We are Junkies.  This being said we have two questions.  1. What do we do to minimize the uncontrolled craving? 2. What can we do to reduce the effect of another massive outage.  While I am really concerning myself with item one it will have a lot to say about item 2.

In all honesty my family was pretty darn lucky and came out mostly  unscathed  from Sandy. We were more than prepared for the worst though - both in finding a place to stay and to entertain/ inform ourselves.  As an tech aficionado and worse, as an industry insider I have been morbidly fascinated with just how folks cope when technology goes awry or away.  To be clear, I LOVE my tech - so much so that I my social profiles include the description of ‘...one part technorotic.  Yeah, I feel it right there baby.  Yet, to be completely honest I actually consume  very little media.  I know, I know, this is akin to a vegan cooking at the meat station of a restaurant so a little background may be necessary.

In my late twenties (all too long ago) I had just been divorced from by my first wife and had begun to live truly on my own for the very first time - meaning  no roommates or “long term” guests. I was an odd environment for me for I went from my Mothers home to dorm mates to roommates to my wife’s apartment.  I left for my new place carrying only my clothes, a broken down radio and my CD’s setting up shop in an 800 sq foot studio facing out onto 90th street and the Yorkville towers (or Jump Central as we came to call them - but that is another tale). While temptations were plentiful with offers from friends of second hand loaners  and even my parents offering to purchase me a then new to market flat panel, I decided to try living without a television.  My decision was not a holier-than-thou crusade from the screeds of the intelligista but one based on a need to keep myself from becoming a recluse and wallowing in my pain.

The five years  without this magic box of distractions being at my beck and call was illuminating. I wish that I could say that this made me more productive but that simply is not true.  What I did do was get out a lot more,(sometimes too much and too often at the neighborhood bar), and as I was suddenly on the prowl for a mate (however temporary) I did find ways to occupy my time.  This was not to say I completely disconnected myself, heck no.  That time in the bars? - often it was to watch a game or special event. In fact it lead to meeting my true love -(it is a long story, best told over a good number of drinks, but the one minute version is: boy goes to bar a few blocks away from normal to be ‘alone’ and watch the game, girl is there to meet blind date, girl mistakes boy for date, boy responds ‘I am not him but I really wish I was’ - Love and marriage, horse and carriage... you get the rest). Regardless, with no cable tv I was also without any form of broadband, or as we called it back then -’Always On’, internet.   

The solution to getting my media was in the preparation.  Not wanting to waste my time accepting anything that came via the glowing phosphor screen I researched what was to be on of interest and planned accordingly.  I downloaded content, movies, blog text and articles via my works super T1 connection and set aside specific time to gorge myself.  

The simple statement is that since I no longer had the media available to me as a distraction it eventually became less important. Of interest to be sure, but far less of my life than before. So to answer your question of “ How did people survive before” (all this) “technology?!" It was quite simple, we planned ahead and we were, quite frankly, a bit more finicky about it.

I try to live by Thoreau's words of “...all things in moderation and excess in none”, it keeps me sane in a paradigm shifting world.