You really need to see this. It’s Walt giving a presentation outlining trends in TV viewing on PCs vs home theater and the sorry state of the broadband reality in North America. I don’t always agree with Walt, but he has this completely nailed. He very lucid and well spoken on the matter. He also highlights AppleTV & Tivo as well as the pending (60 days) availability of a 3G iPhone.
My brother-in-law Fred is something of an audiophile. Not the ridiculous, “I-paid-a months-wages-for-that-rca-lead cantcha-just-feel-the-increased-sonic-emotion*” kind of guy, more pragmatic but with an open mind.
*see Pear Audio Cables vs James Randi for details
A few years ago Fred built a set of speakers from a kit. It was a pricey kit but they sound great so why quibble. They look great, too. He had fun making them and the reward of making something exceptional with your own two hands cannot be overstated.
A few weeks after the Behringer monitors had arrived I learned of the mating subwoofer, Behringer’s B2092A. This was also a comparable bargain, so I bought two. Yes, stereo subwoofers. Such decadence.
The B2092A is beautiful in a way that many people will not appreciate. It’s a device built to a task with little concern for superficial things like aesthetics. It’s a 4th order double-tuned bandpass enclosure housing two long throw 8” drivers, their amplifier and crossover electronics. The built-in amp provides 360 watts rms below 80Hz with a range of adjustments to compensate for level and placement in the room.
These arrived Friday last week. They were known to be refurbished as they were discontinued last year some time. Even so, they were shipped poorly packaged and one arrived significantly damaged so I’m going to try and get it replaced.
And don’t get me started about UPS. At least in Houston they suck.
This post has been swirling around in my head for many months. This morning my wife and I decided to have breakfast at a nearby French cafe. In the cafe there were all manner of people. Large people*, small people, rich people, not-so-rich-people**, singles and couples. It was a typical River Oaks Houston crowd.
And then there was one guy wearing a Bluetooth headset. Huh?! It’s 9:30am on a Sunday morning and you’re at breakfast with your wife/girlfriend/mistress. What’s with the Lt. Uhura fashion sense?
I mean, how terribly important a person he must be to be that much in demand. To need such immediate access to his cell phone. Sunday. Over breakfast.
When last year it was announced that Houston was to get municipal wifi network I had to applaude Mayor Bill White for his vision and drive. There are vast number of people in this city for whom the internet is not readily accessible.
Houston is a huge city with a more pronounced digital divide than many other places. It’s the kind of place where opportunity presented to low income neighborhoods can make a big difference in the lives of people.