Radio Shack
I love Radio Shack.  I’ve been shopping there since I was a kid.  They have all of the stuff that techno-geeks crave.  Gear, toys, things you can build circuits with .–everything for the wirehead in all of us. That’s the good news.  Unfortunately, Radio Shack (like all retailers) has to compete for your hard-earned dollars Continue Reading →
Sirius XM
ACCORDING TO A LAWSUIT FILED by the record labels, XM Satellite Radio’s XM + MP3 service is causing “Massive Wholesale Infringement.”  Ooo… that sounds bad!  The suit, filed May 16, 2006, alleges that the service is an improperly licensed “download service.”  Ouch! Having come from the music business, I get a little insulted when businesspeople Continue Reading →
Broadband
I’M HERE AT THE NATIONAL Association of Broadcasters’ NAB 2006 show in Las Vegas, with 80,000 of my closest friends. On the tech side, it may look like business as usual–but if you know what you’re looking at, you can clearly see that versions of Moore’s Law and Metcalfe’s Law are actually starting to change Continue Reading →

Sirius Pirates

Howard Stern
TO LISTEN TO HOWARD STERN’S new radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio, you need a satellite radio receiver and a paid subscription to the service–or do you? The show is being rebroadcast (albeit slightly delayed) on a bunch of “pirate” radio stations. It’s all over the Internet in the form of podcasts and progressively downloadable Continue Reading →

Do You Really Want To Know?

Nielsen Ratings
LET’S PLAY PRETEND FOR A minute. On the count of three, you will know everything there is to know about the viewing habits of your most coveted television audience: what they watch, when they watch, who’s in the room, how long … everything. In fact, since we are pretending, in this fantasy we’re even going Continue Reading →
Talk Show in HD
We just shot the pilot episode of our new talk show, Advanced Media Today at Rainbow Media’s 11 Penn Studios in midtown Manhattan. The set was very simple, a golden cyclorama, lit with Emmy gobos and four chairs behind pedestal mounted laptop computers.   The pilot episode came out great!  Many thanks all around, but Continue Reading →
Sirius XM
On April 2, 2005 XM will increase their monthly subscription fee by 23%.  Their, very matter of fact, letter states that they have made “dramatic improvements” to their channel lineup.  These improvements include 50 new channels, like: ACC, PAC-10, and Big Ten college football and basketball and traffic and weather channels covering 21 markets.  Will Continue Reading →
Peer-to-Peer
Tim Halle, our Technology Subcommittee Chair, send me a .pdf copy of the Brief of the National Venture Capital Association as Amicus Curiae in support of Respondents in the very important, METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC., ET AL., Petitioners, v. GROKSTER, LTD., ET AL., Respondents. Download amicusbrief.pdf   Tim thought that I would be surprised that the Continue Reading →
Mel Karmazin
The 2005 Media Summit New York started off with a bang yesterday morning as keynote speaker, Mel Karmazin, CEO Sirius Satellite Radio was interviewed by BusinessWeek Media Editor, Tom Lowry.   Always entertaining, Mel started off by throwing down the gauntlet to terrestrial radio – calling it a mature business with growth limited to GDP increases.  Continue Reading →
Halo 2
This article by Seattle Times technology writer, Kim Peterson, tells you some of the facts about Halo 2 and Microsoft’s unusual plans to make it into a movie.  This is an interesting twist on the concept of line extension.  Most video games that have tried to cross over into linear story telling have enjoyed less Continue Reading →