Video conferencing everywhere

Part of my job allows me to work with the latest video conferencing technology. This allows me to sometimes see what the tech future holds. In the next couple of years video conferencing will be everywhere. From cell phones, to computers, to TV's, you will not just hear who you're talking to on a call, but you will also see them. While I'm a strong advocate for enhanced communication through video interaction, I've begun to think of the negative implications. For one, it will be harder to call in faking that your sick. Instead of your boss saying you don't sound sick, he'll say you don't look sick. Second, with video conferencing on cell phones, the government will have to pass a new law banning video calls while driving. And finally, no more using the phone while using the bathroom. Not that I've ever done this. So get ready to smile because soon you will be seen and heard by those that you remotely communicate with.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Digital TV Transition

Today was supposed to be the day that analog TV went bye bye. But thanks to our new president, procrastinators now have until June. Sort of. Broadcasters were given the option to turn off their analog signals today. Four stations where I live actually did turn their analog transmitters off today. Luckily for me, I was able to use the transition as an excuse to convince my wife that we needed a new flat screen TV. We have satellite service for cable stations, but I'm way to cheap to spend the five dollars a month for local channels. I was able to argue that it was a much better investment to buy a $1400 46" LCD TV and a $30 antenna instead of keeping our old analog 27" TV and buying a $60 digital to analog converter box ($10 after the government rebate). I'm still not quite sure how I won that argument. I guess I'm just lucky to have a tech savvy wife who understands the economy of tech coolness versus the economy of dollars and cents.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Is Printed Media About To Die?

A few months ago my wife and I were discussing weather or not to cancel getting our local news paper delivered. We enjoy getting the paper, but were frustrated with a number of things. Our newspaper got bought out by a company in Colorado. The new owners fired half of the staff, cut the newspaper size in half, and starting to raise rates. Another frustration was that when ever we went out town, we would cancel the delivery for the dates we were gone. Our carrier would continue to deliver the paper while we were away, making a huge pile in the driveway. One other concern we had was the amount of paper being wasted and what impact this has on the environment. But even though we had frustrations, I was not ready to depart from getting the news.

After much discussion I convinced my wife to try an online subscription to the newspaper. She was very skeptical. Our paper offers a 6 month online subscription for about the same amount we were paying for one month of hard copy delivery. They offer the full paper viewable in a web browser. Receiving the newspaper in electronic format has been a wonderful change for both of us. For one, we can now view the paper wherever we have a computer with an Internet connection. It really clicked for my wife when we spent Christmas with my parents. They live up in the mountains and what they receive as a paper equals about one small section of our paper. It was great to keep tabs on our local news while being away. Another change for me is that I find myself reading more of the paper than before. I often got annoyed trying to flip the large pages of a conventional paper. It's just never been a user friendly medium to work with. So instead of reading just the front and back of each section, I now at least flip through every page. I also no longer have to go out into the cold and crawl under the car to receive my news. I just log on from the warmth of my desk chair.

Another point that I have on the subject is that there are now various electronic devices that you can download books to read. I have an uncle who is a principal of a new private high school. Instead of spending money on hard copy books, he had the students buy the Sony e-book device. The students now download any books that they need to read for school. Also the ipod touch and iphone have a number of books that can be downloaded. My last thought to add is we've already seen music and movies get assimilated to digital down-loadable format as a perfered method for the masses. So, will print follow suit?

The Evolution of Storage Mediums

The other day I was reorganizing my closet and came across some old tapes. My son was in the room with me picking up anything and everything that I removed from the closet. He is very curious and likes to play with my tech junk. I started to think of all of the different types of storage mediums I have dealt with through my life and began to realize how different my son's life will be. My son often asks, "whats that?" when he picks up an object. When he picked up an audio cassette and asked what it was, I thought, should I tell him what it is? My mind then began compiling a list of all the various formats that he will never use. So in no particular order, here's a trip down memory lane of audio, video, and data formats that I have used but no longer do:

1. Records - I always hated this format because it wasn't portable and you had to do tricks like putting a penny on the needle to keep a scratched record from skipping.
2. 8 track tapes - I remember listening to John Denver and Olivia Newton John in our motor home on family trips. I just could never find the rewind button on the player.
3. Cassette Tapes - I went through at least 3 Walkmans. This format introduced me to the dark side of boot legging. Too bad I no longer have a player to listen to noisy recordings made from the radio.
4. CD's - Ahh digital music. Actually I'm old fashioned and still buy CD's and then rip them to my ipod. I like to have a hard copy.
5. DAT (digital audio tape) - I mainly used this in the studio.
6. DCC - A rival to DAT that quickly died.
7. Mini Disc - A smaller recordable low quality CD in a case developed by Sony. Why? The world may never know.
8. DVD Audio - Surround sound music. I was hoping this format would take off and replace CD's. But instead the world decided they wanted portability at the sacrifice of quality.
9. SACD - Sony's attempt once again to create their own format to compete with DVD Audio.
10. Beta max - A higher quality than VHS but more bulky.
11. VHS - My wife and I have purged most of our video tapes. I still keep a tape for testing. Man these are hard to watch compared to DVD's.
12. S-VHS - A better version of VHS. I still have a player collecting dust in my closet.
13. Laser Disc - Imagine having to turn you DVD over half way through the movie.
14. 5.25 floppy disc - I have no words.
15. 3.5 floppy disc - Ahh so much better than 5.25. I can even put them in my pocked and not damage it.
16. ZIP disc - So much storage, yet still a bit bulky.

Now I know I've missed some formats, but this is just off the top of my head. Feel free to add any that I may have missed in the comments link. I hope this has been an entertaining walk down memory lane. I also look forward to future storage mediums and how it will affect our daily lives.