Is good TV bad for basic cable?
For 50 years, TV drama was “episodic.” Sure things changed but you didn’t need to know what happened last week to enjoy this week. All of a sudden, in the wake of complex dramas like The Sopranos and 24 TV…
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Tech Addicts Anonymous (or is it Unanimous)
I was watching the local news the other day and a headline came on and said “Are we addicted to technology”. My first inclination was no, we weren’t. Tech is a tool — a tool…
What if they launched a channel and nobody came?
Today marks the launch of Sportsnet LA, also known as “The Dodgers Channel.” We told you about it a year ago when it was first announced and there has been precious little news to report since. The channel…
Broadcast radio is getting worse… and you like it
No one talks about broadcast radio anymore… yet it seems everyone still listens to it. It’s not the sensation it once was, and after 75 years of competition, radio is just one of your many entertainment…
Is it ok to use voice search in a public place?
Oh, the travails of life in the 21st century. We’re presented with peculiar perils of propriety that would have utterly befuddled our ancestors. Is it ok to take a phone call while on a date? What…
Blu-ray Disc is dead. Here’s why.
Take a moment if you will, to mourn the Blu-ray Disc. It died of a broken heart sometime in the last year, and although it is expected to shamble on as a shadow of its former…
Don’t ya just love caller ID?
Ah… I remember the days fondly. The phone would ring and we’d pick it up. You never knew who was on the other end. It could be the neighbor next door. It could be a…
EDITORIAL: The Olympics you deserve
It just doesn’t seem like such a big thing. Back in 2012, we gave low marks to NBC’s Olympics coverage. 2012 was the first Olympics to take place since most people started streaming video. Before then, average internet…
This web site just won’t work on my iPad!!
In prior posts, I’ve talked about how we’re slowly moving away from computers to mobile devices. It’s really evident in my house, as I’m sure it is at yours. More often than not the computer…
Someone, somewhere thinks chirpy phones are a good idea. This person is my sworn enemy.
Say it ain’t so, Joe. A recent article at MobileBurn claims that Sprint is expanding its DirectConnect Now service to several of its phones including the popular Samsung Galaxy S4. DirectConnect Now is the spiritual successor to Nextel, providing…
The web is where new music happens
Up until just last year, new songs were introduced almost exclusively via radio and sometimes TV. Last year was the first time that some major songs were introduced via the web and made their way…
EDITORIAL: I hate the word “trending”
It seems an odd thing for a blogger to say, doesn’t it? But really, the word “trending” really gets on my nerves now and again. It’s hard to say why, but it just really rubs me…
Five Rumors that might have started with Investor Day
DIRECTV’s Investor Day can be a mixed bag for techies. After all the point is to impress the financial types and anything we tend to get will just be table scraps. However, if you really look at…
BREAKING NEWS: Wilson Electronics buys zBoost
This is big. The top manufacturer of cellular boosters for the US market has agreed to buy its largest competitor. Wilson Electronics today notified us that it has recently acquired zBoost. What does this mean? Until…
EDITORIAL: Maybe I don’t want a Smart TV
Longtime readers of The Solid Signal Blog will see that over time, my thinking about Smart TVs has evolved. I was a big fan of the technology in 2011, even investing my own money to get a…