Monday, January 26, 2009

Still Confusion About DTV Conversion

Well it looks like February analog shutdown will not take place. Nevertheless, the local stations have been doing everything possible to try to assist those who may not be ready for change in over-the-air delivery of TV if it happens next month or this summer. A few days ago I participated with representatives from all the local stations in a test. As part of that test, individuals with questions could call into a phone bank that we were hosting at the CET studios. While there were many different questions, several seemed to be more prevalent than others.

Many people are still confused about waiting until February 18th to turn on their converters. THERE IS NO REASON TO WAIT. Not only can you get all your favorite programming that is available on the local stations’ analog channels, there are several digital–only channels now available. You will find 24 hour weather information on some commercial stations, a how-to channel from CET and even a special channel featuring coverage of the Ohio legislature. They are all available now free. All you need is a digital TV or a DTV set top converter for your old TV set.

Many people with new digital high definition (HD) sets have not set them up properly to actually get HD. These new sets, just like DTV converters, need to be set up when you first turn them on. Read the instructions. The local DTV channels must be scanned in. If you just plug in the set and don’t set it up properly, you may only get the analog channels even though you have a new digital set. Since in most cases on a new digital set the analog picture looks so much better than was possible on the old analog-only set, people are so delighted that that don’t realize that they are not seeing and enjoying real digital HD and don’t bother to really learn about controlling the new set. A good hint…if you have a new DTV set and you see any snow, shadows or ghosts on the screen, you are NOT watching a digital channel. You need an antenna (indoor or outdoor) that can receive both UHF and VHF channels. This does not need to be an expensive one. My tests show that a $15 set top “rabbit ears” model is fine for the majority of viewers in our area. Also don’t immediately go for an “amplified” or “powered” antenna. With digital technology sometimes too much signal is as bad as not enough.

If you have questions about DTV or any other consumer electronics technology, just send me an email.

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Still Confusion About DTV Conversion

Well it looks like February analog shutdown will not take place. Nevertheless, the local stations have been doing everything possible to try to assist those who may not be ready for change in over-the-air delivery of TV if it happens next month or this summer. A few days ago I participated with representatives from all the local stations in a test. As part of that test, individuals with questions could call into a phone bank that we were hosting at the CET studios. While there were many different questions, several seemed to be more prevalent than others.

Many people are still confused about waiting until February 18th to turn on their converters. THERE IS NO REASON TO WAIT. Not only can you get all your favorite programming that is available on the local stations’ analog channels, there are several digital–only channels now available. You will find 24 hour weather information on some commercial stations, a how-to channel from CET and even a special channel featuring coverage of the Ohio legislature. They are all available now free. All you need is a digital TV or a DTV set top converter for your old TV set.

Many people with new digital high definition (HD) sets have not set them up properly to actually get HD. These new sets, just like DTV converters, need to be set up when you first turn them on. Read the instructions. The local DTV channels must be scanned in. If you just plug in the set and don’t set it up properly, you may only get the analog channels even though you have a new digital set. Since in most cases on a new digital set the analog picture looks so much better than was possible on the old analog-only set, people are so delighted that that don’t realize that they are not seeing and enjoying real digital HD and don’t bother to really learn about controlling the new set. A good hint…if you have a new DTV set and you see any snow, shadows or ghosts on the screen, you are NOT watching a digital channel. You need an antenna (indoor or outdoor) that can receive both UHF and VHF channels. This does not need to be an expensive one. My tests show that a $15 set top “rabbit ears” model is fine for the majority of viewers in our area. Also don’t immediately go for an “amplified” or “powered” antenna. With digital technology sometimes too much signal is as bad as not enough.

If you have questions about DTV or any other consumer electronics technology, just send me an email.

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Monday, January 19, 2009

Some Good Ideas Just Take Time

There is a popular quotation about Cincinnati that came to mind a few weeks ago when I read that Cincinnati Bell announced they have now determined that they would no longer need to publish a printed edition of the “White Pages.” The quote, attributed to either Mark Twain or Will Rogers - it matters not - reads, “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times.”

The company, in their application to the PUCO, noted that most people now get their telephone listing information on line or from some other service rather than relying on the paper and ink tome that is distributed each year. While some might think that this is innovative thinking from one of the area’s high tech leaders, I had a little chuckle. What took us so long?

Beginning in 1975, France began an ambitious project to update the nation’s aging telephone system. This led to the creation of electronic phone books. Called Minitel, the telephone company customers were given a custom designed terminal for free. While it was not a computer as we know it, it did have a small screen and keyboard and was attached to the incoming telephone line. So some 34 years ago, France Telecom reasoned that it would be cheaper in the long run to give away free terminals and teach its customers how to look up telephone listings on the terminal instead of continuing to print and ship millions of phone books each year.

Over the years the French system has undergone many iterations and today half of the 60 million telephone customers in France use an electroninc telephone book.

For sure it is always dangerous to compare private industry with state supported competition. Nevertheless there are many technologies in place around the world that make some of the “advanced” technology here in the US look very dated.

As long as we are on the subject of telephone books, do you think they will also stop the delivery of the “Yellow Pages,” “The Yellow Book,” “The REAL Yellow Pages,” “The Pink Pages,” “The Blue Pages,” and “The Partiot Indiana Business Directory” to our porches anytime soon? There is a National Forest worth of trees to be saved if they do.

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Some Good Ideas Just Take Time

There is a popular quotation about Cincinnati that came to mind a few weeks ago when I read that Cincinnati Bell announced they have now determined that they would no longer need to publish a printed edition of the “White Pages.” The quote, attributed to either Mark Twain or Will Rogers - it matters not - reads, “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times.”

The company, in their application to the PUCO, noted that most people now get their telephone listing information on line or from some other service rather than relying on the paper and ink tome that is distributed each year. While some might think that this is innovative thinking from one of the area’s high tech leaders, I had a little chuckle. What took us so long?

Beginning in 1975, France began an ambitious project to update the nation’s aging telephone system. This led to the creation of electronic phone books. Called Minitel, the telephone company customers were given a custom designed terminal for free. While it was not a computer as we know it, it did have a small screen and keyboard and was attached to the incoming telephone line. So some 34 years ago, France Telecom reasoned that it would be cheaper in the long run to give away free terminals and teach its customers how to look up telephone listings on the terminal instead of continuing to print and ship millions of phone books each year.

Over the years the French system has undergone many iterations and today half of the 60 million telephone customers in France use an electroninc telephone book.

For sure it is always dangerous to compare private industry with state supported competition. Nevertheless there are many technologies in place around the world that make some of the “advanced” technology here in the US look very dated.

As long as we are on the subject of telephone books, do you think they will also stop the delivery of the “Yellow Pages,” “The Yellow Book,” “The REAL Yellow Pages,” “The Pink Pages,” “The Blue Pages,” and “The Partiot Indiana Business Directory” to our porches anytime soon? There is a National Forest worth of trees to be saved if they do.

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Batteries NOT Included...

OK, the tree is packed away, the lights have been taken down from the housetop and Mr. Rumpke has disposed of the wrapping paper and boxes. All is right with the world. But wait, it is now time to replace or recharge those batteries powering the plethora of electronic gizmos that wound up under the Christmas tree this year. Devices of all sizes and shapes rely on batteries to keep them, playing, ringing, talking, moving, navigating and sometimes irritating. I thought that this would be a good time to review some basics about batteries.

The “Holy Grail” for many designers and manufacturers of everything from cell phones to automobiles is to produce a light-weight, long-lasting, powerful battery. Unfortunately as the saying goes, “pick one of the three.” You can’t have all those features. At least not right now. This is a much more critical issue with large batteries used in hybrid cars than it is for the Wii Remote or Zapper. In reality, battery technology has improved radically, especially for small batteries used in portable electronic devices like mobile phones and iPods.

There are two basic types of batteries that you might use in your home or office. One category is designed to be used once and discarded and the other recharged many times. Both have pros and cons. For example, for devices that will be used seldom, like flashlights in the car, your best bet is to use non-rechargeable batteries as they have longer shelf life than most rechargeables. Of course you need to remember to check them periodically so you don’t get caught with a dim light on a dark and stormy night.

Most new portable devices now use rechargeable cells and their life between charges has gotten much better over the past decade. The lap top I am writing on right now and my cell phone both use Lithium Ion cells. These, and their cousin, Nickel-Metal Hydride, are very common in consumer applications. They are small, light weight and maintain their charge for longer periods of time than the old nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries of years gone by. Those cells were prone to “memory” problems. That means that if the battery was not completely discharged when you recharged it, it would only recharge to about 50% of capacity. Lithium and Nickel Metal Hydride cells do not have memories so they can be recharged anytime. Even newly designed NiCads have less of a memory problem.

All rechargeable batteries have a finite number of charging cycles. For example, my laptop battery is about three years old and will only run for about 25% of the time than it did when it was new. But I am cheap and am usually near an electrical outlet. Also most rechargeable cells will loose their charge faster than non-rechargeables when left on the shelf. So remember to recharge those camera batteries before going over the river to grandma’s house next year.

A few things to keep in mind. NEVER try to recharge a non-rechargeable battery. It will not work and they can explode. ALWAYS use the charger that is designed for your battery. A rechargeable battery can also explode if it is not designed to handle the charging current. Storing non-rechargeable batteries in a cool or cold environment will help them maintain their charge.

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Batteries NOT Included...

OK, the tree is packed away, the lights have been taken down from the housetop and Mr. Rumpke has disposed of the wrapping paper and boxes. All is right with the world. But wait, it is now time to replace or recharge those batteries powering the plethora of electronic gizmos that wound up under the Christmas tree this year. Devices of all sizes and shapes rely on batteries to keep them, playing, ringing, talking, moving, navigating and sometimes irritating. I thought that this would be a good time to review some basics about batteries.

The “Holy Grail” for many designers and manufacturers of everything from cell phones to automobiles is to produce a light-weight, long-lasting, powerful battery. Unfortunately as the saying goes, “pick one of the three.” You can’t have all those features. At least not right now. This is a much more critical issue with large batteries used in hybrid cars than it is for the Wii Remote or Zapper. In reality, battery technology has improved radically, especially for small batteries used in portable electronic devices like mobile phones and iPods.

There are two basic types of batteries that you might use in your home or office. One category is designed to be used once and discarded and the other recharged many times. Both have pros and cons. For example, for devices that will be used seldom, like flashlights in the car, your best bet is to use non-rechargeable batteries as they have longer shelf life than most rechargeables. Of course you need to remember to check them periodically so you don’t get caught with a dim light on a dark and stormy night.

Most new portable devices now use rechargeable cells and their life between charges has gotten much better over the past decade. The lap top I am writing on right now and my cell phone both use Lithium Ion cells. These, and their cousin, Nickel-Metal Hydride, are very common in consumer applications. They are small, light weight and maintain their charge for longer periods of time than the old nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries of years gone by. Those cells were prone to “memory” problems. That means that if the battery was not completely discharged when you recharged it, it would only recharge to about 50% of capacity. Lithium and Nickel Metal Hydride cells do not have memories so they can be recharged anytime. Even newly designed NiCads have less of a memory problem.

All rechargeable batteries have a finite number of charging cycles. For example, my laptop battery is about three years old and will only run for about 25% of the time than it did when it was new. But I am cheap and am usually near an electrical outlet. Also most rechargeable cells will loose their charge faster than non-rechargeables when left on the shelf. So remember to recharge those camera batteries before going over the river to grandma’s house next year.

A few things to keep in mind. NEVER try to recharge a non-rechargeable battery. It will not work and they can explode. ALWAYS use the charger that is designed for your battery. A rechargeable battery can also explode if it is not designed to handle the charging current. Storing non-rechargeable batteries in a cool or cold environment will help them maintain their charge.

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Monday, January 05, 2009

Looking to 2009

Last time I reported on the predictions I made about a year ago concerning electronic products and services that would be developed during 2008. As we begin another year I am going to go out on a limb again and put in writing my 2009 predictions. Perhaps with some fresh batteries installed in my LED powered crystal ball, I’ll get more right than wrong.

Much to my consternation as a manager of a broadcast TV station, I don’t see the upcoming analog TV broadcasting shut down as going smoothly. For sure, the majority who are using cable or satellite services on February 17th will find that the event will be a non-event. Nevertheless, there are still many people who receive TV over-the-air using an antenna who are looking at this change as a sort of Y2K non-event. In other words they don’t need to worry about it. When they wake up on Wednesday morning, February 18th, and “Today Show” is not there they may feel differently. Look for the days and weeks following the cut off to be a great time to be in the antenna and digital set top TV converter business. Seriously, if you know someone who may be unaware of what they need to do - perhaps the elderly lady at church or the nice old man down the street - ask if they need help getting a converter.

Big is not always better. Look for electronic products to continue to shrink in size. Nanotechnology will be a hot area during 2009. The ability of engineers and designers to pack into very small packages a host of applications and machines is nothing short of awesome. Especially in medicine, there will be introduced a whole generation of small machines designed to be implanted in the body to perform some task of diagnosis. This miniaturization will also allow mobile phones and mp3 audio devices to get smaller with storage capacities ballooning.

Speaking of storage. Look for the cost of all digital storage to continue to go down. Once only the province of data centers at P&G or GE, disk drives measured in terabytes will be available in stores in the $100 price range.

GPS technology will continue to be integrated into all sorts of mobile devices. Keeping taps on the toddler in the park, the teen at the mall or Fido in the back yard will continue to be easier with small homing devices. Look for more mobile phone networks to adopt a clone of the iPhone tracking software that allows iPhone users to see where friends and colleagues are located at any given time. Yes, you can turn it off.

Mobile video will also get a push this year. As broadcasters finish the conversion to all digital transmission, some will begin to use a portion of the signal to send video programming to mobile and hand held devices. The technology has been in test mode for about a year and will be rolled out in some 20 markets nationwide during 2009. The adoption by consumers of this technology will be based on how well broadcasters can fashion programming that is appropriate for the small hand held screen. Also, I see the adoption of this technology as geographically dependant. For example, in New York or other cities that have the majority of commuters using public transportation, the ability to watch a news program while sitting on a bus or train en route to or from work would most likely be a viable service. I think the jury is still out for other applications and the willingness of consumers to pay or advertisers to embrace.

One of the outside influences that may slow down the distribution of these and other products and services during the coming year is the flagging world economy. Already we have the major manufacturers like Sony, Samsung and LG announcing cuts in exports to the US and other major markets. The “gee whiz” products will most likely not get the attention of a consumer base concerned about mortgage and car payments.

In 12 months we’ll see how I did. Happy New Year!

Labels: , ,

Looking to 2009

Last time I reported on the predictions I made about a year ago concerning electronic products and services that would be developed during 2008. As we begin another year I am going to go out on a limb again and put in writing my 2009 predictions. Perhaps with some fresh batteries installed in my LED powered crystal ball, I’ll get more right than wrong.

Much to my consternation as a manager of a broadcast TV station, I don’t see the upcoming analog TV broadcasting shut down as going smoothly. For sure, the majority who are using cable or satellite services on February 17th will find that the event will be a non-event. Nevertheless, there are still many people who receive TV over-the-air using an antenna who are looking at this change as a sort of Y2K non-event. In other words they don’t need to worry about it. When they wake up on Wednesday morning, February 18th, and “Today Show” is not there they may feel differently. Look for the days and weeks following the cut off to be a great time to be in the antenna and digital set top TV converter business. Seriously, if you know someone who may be unaware of what they need to do - perhaps the elderly lady at church or the nice old man down the street - ask if they need help getting a converter.

Big is not always better. Look for electronic products to continue to shrink in size. Nanotechnology will be a hot area during 2009. The ability of engineers and designers to pack into very small packages a host of applications and machines is nothing short of awesome. Especially in medicine, there will be introduced a whole generation of small machines designed to be implanted in the body to perform some task of diagnosis. This miniaturization will also allow mobile phones and mp3 audio devices to get smaller with storage capacities ballooning.

Speaking of storage. Look for the cost of all digital storage to continue to go down. Once only the province of data centers at P&G or GE, disk drives measured in terabytes will be available in stores in the $100 price range.

GPS technology will continue to be integrated into all sorts of mobile devices. Keeping taps on the toddler in the park, the teen at the mall or Fido in the back yard will continue to be easier with small homing devices. Look for more mobile phone networks to adopt a clone of the iPhone tracking software that allows iPhone users to see where friends and colleagues are located at any given time. Yes, you can turn it off.

Mobile video will also get a push this year. As broadcasters finish the conversion to all digital transmission, some will begin to use a portion of the signal to send video programming to mobile and hand held devices. The technology has been in test mode for about a year and will be rolled out in some 20 markets nationwide during 2009. The adoption by consumers of this technology will be based on how well broadcasters can fashion programming that is appropriate for the small hand held screen. Also, I see the adoption of this technology as geographically dependant. For example, in New York or other cities that have the majority of commuters using public transportation, the ability to watch a news program while sitting on a bus or train en route to or from work would most likely be a viable service. I think the jury is still out for other applications and the willingness of consumers to pay or advertisers to embrace.

One of the outside influences that may slow down the distribution of these and other products and services during the coming year is the flagging world economy. Already we have the major manufacturers like Sony, Samsung and LG announcing cuts in exports to the US and other major markets. The “gee whiz” products will most likely not get the attention of a consumer base concerned about mortgage and car payments.

In 12 months we’ll see how I did. Happy New Year!

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