Tech Musings

TiVo Monthly Service Fee is a Scam?

cckid — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:25:13 +0000

I’ll admit it, I went to tivo.com today and looked at their new highly-anticipated device named the “Premiere”. I think the design is beautiful and having seen TiVo’s in the past, I can imagine that the interface and the actual device is going to blow away any DVR currently offered by cable or satellite companies. I know I’m very disappointed with my DVR from DirecTV. It’s sluggish, the search feature is almost laughable, is slow (did I say that already? oops…), the fast forward feature is awkward, I get artifacts in my recordings, and sometimes a whole recording is rendered useless because of some malfunction or another. Most of the time it works ok, but it is not a fun device to operate.

Maybe this post is coming from a little jealousy. If the TiVo worked with DirecTV I would probably want one. But there’s no way that I would ever pay $500 for the device and then pay $399 for their lifetime (of the device!) subscription or opt for the $12.99 monthly fee. That’s basically $900 for something that should “only” cost $500. I mean, the device will do all the work. The most that would have to be provided by TiVo are the TV listings. Like I tweeted today, it’s like me selling you a cake and then charging you for every bite. Maybe more appropriate would be like selling you a car and then charging you every time you got behind the wheel. Doesn’t that sound ludicrous? Why should you have to pay for something you’ve already paid?! It’s not like the cable or satellite companies charge you a use fee on top of the rental fee…right?

I get it, TiVo was an innovation when it first came out in 1999/2000 and now DVR is a necessity in most homes. Still, I think that this double-billing should be examined. If I were a TiVo user, I’d be furious and outraged.

Google doesn’t have to remember your search history

cckid — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:45:08 +0000

Let’s face it, you Google. I Google. My wife Googles. My parents Google. Everyone I know Googles. Most people Google a LOT. My wife is a pseudo Google-holic. If you have a Google account (i.e. Gmail, Blogger, Youtube, Picasa, Orkut, IGoogle, Google Anaytics, etc), Google keeps your search history. Everything you search for, including image and video searches is kept.
Click here to see your Google search trends.
From there, you can see your search graph detailing when you search. If you click on the “web” link of the dashboard, you’ll also see WHAT you search for.
I’m not sure what happens to all that information. I’m sure Google bundles it up and keeps some kind of statistic about what people are looking for. Maybe they even use it to help them create their year end Zeitgeist.
Regardless, if you want to keep your Google Footprint (Did I just coin that?) small, I suggest going through your Google Dashboard, removing any services you don’t use anymore, and certainly clearing your search history.
Not only should you clear your history, you should make it so your history is no longer remembered. You can do that by going to your History manager and pausing it. This will keep your history from being collected.
Good luck and let me know what you think of this post by commenting.

Google and Verizon, Together at Last!

cckid — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:42:15 +0000

Google and Verizon announced today that they will soon be offering Android powered mobile devices through the mobile giant’s retail stores and online marketplace.

While this news is mildly exciting (Android phones ARE a lot cooler than any in Verizon’s current lineup), it brings with it a lot of speculation regarding the ever-elussive Verizon iPhone deal.

The Android phones are very powerful devices with many of the features adorned by the iPhone like touch screen, its own App store, wi-fi, and many more. Additionally, the Android phones afford the customers with features not available on the iPhone. The fact that it’s an open source platform allows for a lot of freedom in application development and how people actually use these devices.

Verizon is now on the offensive and AT&T is the underdog in the fight. Verizon is still seemlingly after the iPhone, though. It recently took off it’s gloves in an add campaign dubbed “There’s a Map for That” where they claim to offer customers 5x more coverage than AT&T.

Verizon’s deal with Google is a great move forward for the mobile giant. While it puts questions in the minds of those waiting for better to arrive on Verizon, it should be noted that Verizon is a company that stands to benefit a great deal from having the best phones around – something that Android could help them achieve.

Black Friday Lowdown

cckid — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:02:56 +0000

Best Buy Black Friday Deals

Components

Western Digital 160GB 2.5″ Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive $69.99
Seagate 320GB 3.5″ Internal SATA Hard Drive $59.99
Dynex 100-Pack DVD-R Discs $6.99
Spanish, French, German, English Deluxe (PC) $9.99
Western Digital 500GB 3.5″ External Hard Drive $99.99
Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements (PC) $89.99
SimpleTech 250GB 2.5″ Portable Hard Drive $129.99
1GB PC5300 DDR2 Desktop Memory $27.99
Envision 22″ LCD Widescreen Monitor $149.99
Roxio Easy CD & DVD $9.99
Microsoft Wireless Optical Notebook Mouse 4000 $17.99
LG 20X Internal DVD / CD Burner $34.99
PNY 2GB PC5300 DDR2 Laptop Memory Kit $54.99
RocketFish Bluetooth Keyboard and Laser Mouse $39.99
Logitech MX Revolution Wireless Laser Mouse $49.99
Norton Software Bundle $29.99
Netgear RangeMax Wireless MIMO Router $49.99
Netgear Wireless Laptop Card, USB Adapter or Desktop Card $49.99
Linksys Wireless G Router (WRT54G) $49.99
Linksys Wireless G Router with SpeedBooster (WRT54GS) $69.99

Laptops
Toshiba 17″ Centrino Duo Laptop – 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, DVDRW, HDDVD $799.99
Targus Laptop Case and Optical Mouse $19.99
Gateway 14.1″ Laptop – AMD Turion 64 X2, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, DVDRW $629.99
Sony Laptop – 1GB, DVDRW, 120GB $399.99
HP Laptop 160gb HD+ 1gb ram + DVD-RW + Targus Bag + Wireless Mouse + Epson All-In-One Printer $549.99
Sony Laptop – 1GB, DVDRW, 160GB, Bonus Items and Software $499.99

MP3 Players
SanDisk 4GB Sansa e260 MP3 Player $99.99
SanDisk 2GB MP3 Player $34.99
Insignia 2GB MP3 Player with Bluetooth Headphones $129.98
SanDisk 2GB Sansa e250 MP3 Player $69.99

Televisions
Dynex 37″ 720p LCD HDTV $629.99
Mitsubishi 65″ 1080p DLP Projection HDTV $1499.99
Panasonic 42″ 720p Plasma HDTV $899.99
Envision 19″ Widescreen LCD Monitor $99.99
HP 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV $996.99
Philips 32″ 720p LCD HDTV $599.99
Dynex 32″ LCD HDTV $449.99
Westinghouse 47″ 1080p LCD HDTV $1299.99

CompUSA

Components
500-Watt ATX Cooler Master eXtreme Power Supply       $16.99
Hauppauge HVR950 HDTV USB2.0 Tuner with PVR         FREE
Iomega 1 TB External Hard Drive            $179.99
LaCie 500GB External Hard Drive           $79.99
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007           $99.99
Norton 360 (Software)    FREE
7″ Digital Photo Frame $44.99
7″ Portable DVD Player $59.99
8-Port Cable/DSL Router           $29.99
8.4″ LCD Digital Photo Frame with 3-1 Card Reader        $69.99
Laptops
Apple 13.3″ MacBook $1299.99 before 5% savings         $1234.99
Apple 15″ MacBook Pro $1999.99 before 5% savings     $1899.99
HP 14.1″ Pavilion Notebook Computer   $499.99
HP 15.4″ Pavilion Notebook Computer   $1499.99
HP 20.1″ Pavilion Notebook Computer   $2599.99
HP Pavilion 17″ Laptop with AMD Athlon Dual-Core Mobile Processor     $449.99
Sony 13.3″ VAIO Notebook Computer    $1849.99
Sony 17″ VAIO Notebook Computer also available on the web    $1599.99
Sony VAIO Notebook Computer             $549.99
Toshiba 17″ Satelite Notebook Computer            $1149.99
Toshiba 17″ Satellite SLi1 Notebook Computer   $1899.99

Walmart

Dekstops

Compaq Presario SR5223WM-B Desktop Computer Bundle $398.00

Dell Inspiron 1531DTP-H003W computer bundle $598.00

Televisions

Emerson 19″ LCD HDTV            $198.00
Philips 50″ Plasma HDTV           $1397.00
Polaroid 26″ LCD/DVD Combo HDTV    $448.00
Polaroid 32″ LCD HDTV $448.00
Polaroid 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV   $798.00
RCA 46″ LCD HDTV      $1196.00
Samsung 32″ LCD HDTV           $796.00
Sanyo 37″ LCD HDTV    $847.00

Today’s Deals

cckid — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:49:28 +0000

Everex Desktop Computer – $199.99

This exceptional value is built around a Via Technologies processor designed for low power consumption. It runs on the gOS operating system and features the OpenOffice.org 2.2 software suite that gives users the ability to create word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. Additional highlights include a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, Ethernet port and stereo speakers.

Key Features & Benefits:

1.5 GHz Via Technologies C7-D processor delivers energy-saving performance
512 MB of DDR2 system memory offers good performance and is expandable to 2 GB
80 GB hard disk drive provides space for documents, games, photos and music
DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive lets you play DVDs and burn your own CDs for entertainment and data backup
10/100 Mbps Ethernet connects to a local area network or broadband Internet devices
gOS operating system enables you to use the supplied OpenOffice.org 2.2 software suite

Ridiculous Deals At Apple.com