I recently found Formula E racing and am excited for the series. This electric car racing series has the potential to bring in a whole new group of fans that haven't found their niche in racing. I think the FanBoost is a big part of that.
I grew up in Indiana. In Indiana there isn't a town you can go in during the month of May where you don't see something about the Indy 500 race. It is the oldest spectacle in motorsports. It captures the attention and imagination of the entire state. I remember that the big field trip during the 5th grade year in all the schools in our district was a trip to time trials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When I went I got autographs from some of my favorite drivers, like Rick Meyers.
Somehow as I got older and left the state, racing faded into the background. I can appreciate what goes into a race. I haven't latched onto anything specific in the world of racing. As I've learned more about alternative fuel vehicles, sustainable engineering, and electric cars, racing got further away from me with its high octane power and seemingly ravenous appetite for fossil fuels.
What I'm saying is there is a whole group of technology savvy individuals who are turning away from traditional motorsports and spending time to learn about Tesla, the Nissan Leaf, and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). Major sports networks have neglected these individuals and they have turned to the Internet to stay informed on the things they are excited about. They are using Social Media and wanting to become part of the activity.
Here is where FanBoost comes in for Formula E racing. FanBoost is where fans of Formula E racing can vote for their favorite driver. Prior to the start of the race, the three drivers with the most votes earn a FanBoost during the race. The cars are configured with a top end energy output during the race. The drivers who earned the FanBoost can use a paddle on their steering wheel to activate a short burst of additional energy. This has the potential for giving a drive the ability to pass another driver on a short straightaway. This will earn them extra points in the final race standings.
I like the FanBoost. I like the concept of it. I think Formula E racing is the perfect place to bring it in. The host of the Short Circuit podcast doesn't like it. He said that real racing fans see it as a gimmick and just want the drivers to be able to go out and race without this extra wrinkle getting in the way. I understand that position. I simply disagree. The nice thing about having a blog or a podcast is that you get to share your opinion and difference of opinion to your audience and they get to decide what they think.
There is room for fans who want to see pure driver skill with no gimmicks. It is in other racing series. It isn't in Formula E. Formula E should continue to use FanBoost and allow the other fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite drivers. I believe that all racing has its gimmicks through the rule making, the course design, and sponsorship. I think all racing has things that are out of the driver's control that provides an edge or an advantage during a race, not the least of which is car setup by the crew or car capability by the designers.
I like the FanBoost because it brings the fans in as part of the race outcome. Racing today is like going to a zoo. The audience is held behind glass or fences. They passively watch as the animals do whatever the animals will do. There is a real division or isolation between the fans and the race teams. Fans can buy merchandise and that may or may not bring in sponsorships. At the end of the day there is nothing that fans can do to participate in the outcome of the race.
FanBoost changes that because fans get to vote for their favorite drivers. Like any voting system, sometimes you vote for the loser. You still got to vote. The three drivers with the most votes get the boost, which means that the three most popular drivers have a slight edge and could change the outcome of a race or the points standings. However slight an advantage this is, the fans got to participate.
I believe this will discourage drivers from being jerks. I've been around racing enough to see some real egotistical jerks behind the wheel of racing cars. They are in it for themselves and they could care less what the fans think. (Okay, as I write this I realize that most of the characters I would put in this category are from the movies. Still I think there is some reality to self-centered, egotistical attitudes of real racing drivers.) FanBoost encourages sportsmanship and fair play by rewarding those drivers who perform respectful on the course and off the course. In some of the video clips I've watched over the past couple weeks from Formula E, the drivers are even talking about how they are considering their standing with the fans more than they did in other racing series.
There is still room for egotistical jerks in racing. It is in other racing series where the fans have less say in the race. Drivers like that can race in those other series and stay out of Formula E.
I like the FanBoost because it is a very real way of engaging new and younger race fans through Social Media. All of the racing series that I'm familiar with have long heritages. They have their traditions and histories which give them identity. The Indianapolis 500 started over 100 years ago. NASCAR draws its roots from the 1930s and prohibition. Formula 1 racing has about as long a history as Indianapolis. (Sorry, I really don't follow Formula 1. I know it is the cat's meow in Europe. As you know I'm not in Europe.) Even the National Championship Air Races have been going on for over 50 years.
All of these racing series have long standing rules and traditions. They've tried in some way to adapt to the new world order which involves the Internet, instant communication around the world, On-Demand entertainment, and participation in the communities that grow up around social media. At this point the Social Media and Internet connectivity has been about adding it to the existing community. Nothing in the world of racing has changed because of Social Media. There are new sponsors because the Internet has created new corporations. Still the racing and the outcomes of the racing and the rules related to the racing haven't changed while the world around them has significantly changed with the Internet.
Formula E is a brand new series. It has new technology. It has new rules. It is looking for a whole new set of race fans. Formula E gets to integrate the Internet and Social Media into the core structure of the racing. When the President of the United States and CNN have a presence on Social Media, it is a sign that Social Media has influence on world events. Any enterprise really wanting to become part of this new world community needs to bring together Social Media as part of the execution of their operation.
The $64,000 question (adjusted to inflation as being work billions today) is how to go about this integration. There have been so few organizations really succeed with this new technology that there are few examples or recipes for success. I applaud Formula E for setting up FanBoost in a way that engages fans, is influential to the outcome of the race, and tries something new. While other racing series and sports organizations are ignoring the power of the Internet, Formula E is embracing it and trying something to see how it goes.
I believe we'll se FanBoost evolve over the season and over the years of Formula E racing. We'll see rule changes, car changes, points changes, course changes, sponsorship changes, team changes, and more in the coming years of Formula E. I look forward to all of them. I think FanBoost is a great leap forward into the future of all racing and sporting events.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Electric Car Racing
As you know from reading earlier posts, I'm a huge proponent of electric cars. I recently found Formula E racing. You can learn more at http://fiaformulae.com.
They've been preparing for a couple years now and in September 2014 had their first race. Yesterday was the third race of the series, so if you're just learning about it, you haven't missed much. What you have missed you can catch up on quickly from the Video Gallery.
The racing series is primarily based on Formula 1 racing. American racing fans will find it significantly different from NASCAR and Indy Car racing. Additionally it is brand new. As I post more about Formula E, many of my complaints or criticisms need to be balanced with the fact that the drivers, race organizers, racing teams, and sponsors are all learning this right now. It will take a few seasons to iron out the early kinks.
With that the racing series is off to a great start from a strong foundation. Formula 1 racing has been going for many decades and has a lot of experience. Like Formula 1, Formula E travels to different cities around the world. The hosting city sets up a street course. There will be no ovals here.
Like Formula 1, Formula E uses a points system to establish driver rankings and team rankings. (I'm not real familiar with Formula 1, so I'm just learning how the points system works.) In each race there are two drivers from each team. Drivers earn points for their position in the race finish. There are also points awarded for fastest lap. Race drivers are going to be race drivers. It seems with the team points there is more cooperation between drivers in this series than I'm used to in teammates of Indy Car racing.
The biggest difference in Formula E (and I may write it as Formula e from time to time since a lower case e is the series logo) is that the cars are all electric. This is the first ever Electric Vehicle racing series. I think there are a bunch of people like me who are not big racing fans and are big electric car fans and this series will draw a whole new crowd in as racing fans.
The cars are designed by Renault and every team has the same car design. This means that the cars are very evenly matched and racing comes primarily down to driver skill. This makes for very tight races and one slight mistake could cost two or three positions on the track. The car design looks very much like a Formula 1 car. There are some differences to accommodate the electric motor and battery system. It will be interesting to see how the differences in electric vehicles drive the design away from the existing Formula 1 design.
The electric cars don't produce the same level of sound that gasoline cars produce. (I was about to say level or noise, but I know that true racing fans consider that sound music, as I love the sound of a P-51 Mustang or an F-16 Viper. Loud engines don't generate noise.) The fact that the sound levels are around 80 db, instead of the 130 db of Formula 1, the race courses can be closer to downtown or population centers. This offers new opportunities for course design. I'm hoping that different host cities find ways to highlight their towns and bring in new fans while keeping it safe for drivers.
One completely new feature of Formula E racing is the FanBoost. This allows fans to vote for their favorite driver before the race. Each fan gets one vote. The three drivers with the most votes earn a FanBoost for the race. They find out who won this after Qualifying on race day. There is a paddle on the steering wheel. When the driver with a FanBoost taps this paddle, they get a surge of additional energy from the battery for a few seconds. I'll do a separate opinion piece on FanBoost. This brings the fans into the race and gives them the ability to influence the outcome. This has opened up a whole new Social Media angle to the racing.
The electric cars provide a challenge to race designers because it isn't as easy as dumping gallons of fuel in during a pit stop to refuel. Even with the innovative, self-contained, zero emissions recharging system, it takes hours to recharge the Formula E battery. The team in Formula E solved this by having each driver get two cars. At the start of the race both cars are fully charged. The driver starts with one car. Then some time during the race, they will make a pit stop where they have to get out of one car and into their second car. The battery capacity and race design is such that there is a window of 5-8 laps in the middle of the race where the driver can pit and still finish. Like with fuel strategies in other racing series, when to pit and exchange cars will become a key driver and team strategy. At this point drivers and crews (and fans) are still learning how the batteries perform and how to leverage this for victories and points.
There is a minimum time for a pit stop. This prevents radical or dangerous behavior during the pit stop. You don't want drivers tripping over things or rushing to get out of the pits and not have all of their safety devices connected before getting back on the track. Race drivers have always been athletic and in good shape to handle the rigors of race driving. Holding up in a race car for a few hours is one thing. I'm interested in seeing how drivers will respond to having to switch between driving position to hoping out of the car and hoping back in will go. So far it hasn't been an issue for any of the teams. I may be making more of it than it really is. During the pit stop, the driver is allowed to have two of the crew members in the pit with them to help with getting the car strapped to them.
The second car also means that an early crash into the wall doesn't have to be the end of the driver's day. They have a new car ready to race in the pits waiting for them. Depending on when the accident is, they may not have enough power in the second car to finish. They can still get out on the track and go for some points for fastest lap. I think in the first race in Beijing one of the drivers had this very thing happen to them.
I'm excited about this new racing series as an electric car driver and aficionado. I plan on posting more articles about it here. There are some ideas floating around about starting up a podcast to cover Formula E racing.
They've been preparing for a couple years now and in September 2014 had their first race. Yesterday was the third race of the series, so if you're just learning about it, you haven't missed much. What you have missed you can catch up on quickly from the Video Gallery.
The racing series is primarily based on Formula 1 racing. American racing fans will find it significantly different from NASCAR and Indy Car racing. Additionally it is brand new. As I post more about Formula E, many of my complaints or criticisms need to be balanced with the fact that the drivers, race organizers, racing teams, and sponsors are all learning this right now. It will take a few seasons to iron out the early kinks.
With that the racing series is off to a great start from a strong foundation. Formula 1 racing has been going for many decades and has a lot of experience. Like Formula 1, Formula E travels to different cities around the world. The hosting city sets up a street course. There will be no ovals here.
Like Formula 1, Formula E uses a points system to establish driver rankings and team rankings. (I'm not real familiar with Formula 1, so I'm just learning how the points system works.) In each race there are two drivers from each team. Drivers earn points for their position in the race finish. There are also points awarded for fastest lap. Race drivers are going to be race drivers. It seems with the team points there is more cooperation between drivers in this series than I'm used to in teammates of Indy Car racing.
The biggest difference in Formula E (and I may write it as Formula e from time to time since a lower case e is the series logo) is that the cars are all electric. This is the first ever Electric Vehicle racing series. I think there are a bunch of people like me who are not big racing fans and are big electric car fans and this series will draw a whole new crowd in as racing fans.
The cars are designed by Renault and every team has the same car design. This means that the cars are very evenly matched and racing comes primarily down to driver skill. This makes for very tight races and one slight mistake could cost two or three positions on the track. The car design looks very much like a Formula 1 car. There are some differences to accommodate the electric motor and battery system. It will be interesting to see how the differences in electric vehicles drive the design away from the existing Formula 1 design.
The electric cars don't produce the same level of sound that gasoline cars produce. (I was about to say level or noise, but I know that true racing fans consider that sound music, as I love the sound of a P-51 Mustang or an F-16 Viper. Loud engines don't generate noise.) The fact that the sound levels are around 80 db, instead of the 130 db of Formula 1, the race courses can be closer to downtown or population centers. This offers new opportunities for course design. I'm hoping that different host cities find ways to highlight their towns and bring in new fans while keeping it safe for drivers.
One completely new feature of Formula E racing is the FanBoost. This allows fans to vote for their favorite driver before the race. Each fan gets one vote. The three drivers with the most votes earn a FanBoost for the race. They find out who won this after Qualifying on race day. There is a paddle on the steering wheel. When the driver with a FanBoost taps this paddle, they get a surge of additional energy from the battery for a few seconds. I'll do a separate opinion piece on FanBoost. This brings the fans into the race and gives them the ability to influence the outcome. This has opened up a whole new Social Media angle to the racing.
The electric cars provide a challenge to race designers because it isn't as easy as dumping gallons of fuel in during a pit stop to refuel. Even with the innovative, self-contained, zero emissions recharging system, it takes hours to recharge the Formula E battery. The team in Formula E solved this by having each driver get two cars. At the start of the race both cars are fully charged. The driver starts with one car. Then some time during the race, they will make a pit stop where they have to get out of one car and into their second car. The battery capacity and race design is such that there is a window of 5-8 laps in the middle of the race where the driver can pit and still finish. Like with fuel strategies in other racing series, when to pit and exchange cars will become a key driver and team strategy. At this point drivers and crews (and fans) are still learning how the batteries perform and how to leverage this for victories and points.
There is a minimum time for a pit stop. This prevents radical or dangerous behavior during the pit stop. You don't want drivers tripping over things or rushing to get out of the pits and not have all of their safety devices connected before getting back on the track. Race drivers have always been athletic and in good shape to handle the rigors of race driving. Holding up in a race car for a few hours is one thing. I'm interested in seeing how drivers will respond to having to switch between driving position to hoping out of the car and hoping back in will go. So far it hasn't been an issue for any of the teams. I may be making more of it than it really is. During the pit stop, the driver is allowed to have two of the crew members in the pit with them to help with getting the car strapped to them.
The second car also means that an early crash into the wall doesn't have to be the end of the driver's day. They have a new car ready to race in the pits waiting for them. Depending on when the accident is, they may not have enough power in the second car to finish. They can still get out on the track and go for some points for fastest lap. I think in the first race in Beijing one of the drivers had this very thing happen to them.
I'm excited about this new racing series as an electric car driver and aficionado. I plan on posting more articles about it here. There are some ideas floating around about starting up a podcast to cover Formula E racing.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Avoid Hulu Plus
As you probably know already, I'm not a fan of Hulu Plus. I thought I would share with you my reasons for this. Then you can make up your mind on their service.
Let's start with the difference between Hulu.com and Hulu Plus. They are both Hulu services. Hulu.com is their free video streaming service. Hulu Plus is a subscription based service that competes directly with Netflix and Amazon Instant Prime. In both Hulu services you watch ads to supplement the income to Hulu.
We'll start with this ad supported television model. Hulu is owned by Universal who also own NBC and other stations. They are running with a business model very similar to the cable companies. Customers pay Hulu to access their content. Then advertisers pay Hulu to show ads to their customers. Hulu is getting money from both ends of the service. To me it seems a lot like selling a mailing list. How do you feel when you subscribe to a magazine and then the publisher sells your mailing address to another company who uses that to fill your mailbox with direct mailing advertisements? Hulu is selling their viewership to advertisers to fill your TV and your time with direct advertisements. It doesn't feel fair and it isn't what Netflix or Amazon Instant Prime do. Those services offer commercial free television programs to their subscribers.
The other major reason I don't like Hulu Plus is the way the company has treated partners. When I first cut the cable around 2006, I was one of the first members of Hulu.com. The first thing I watched was Master and Commander. It was ad supported, which I didn't mind because Hulu.com is free to users. The ads help them gain the revenue they need to purchase rights to the content they were providing. It seemed like the same business model that local over the air television stations use.
At the time Hulu had the content and were getting the name recognition. They were struggling with the user interface, particularly making the bridge from the computer to the living room. This has been the ongoing struggle for mainstream adoption of Internet television. Along come a handful of programmers working on a Free and Open Source platform known as boxee. They were developing software that could run on Macs, Apple TVs, and Linux to help users build their own Home Theater PCs (HTPCs).
boxee had figured out the user experience and had one of the most popular HTPC media centers available. Hulu was gaining popularity and so some of the open source developers built a bridge between Hulu and boxee. Hulu was still getting to run their ads on their content and finally users were able to watch Hulu in the living room. It seemed like a partnership that could have real power over Netflix. Netflix had a large subscriber base with their DVD by Mail service and Netflix was building apps for every piece of hardware available, like game consoles and set top boxes. The boxee team even talked with the Hulu folks. Hulu told them that Hulu wasn't interested in building a lean back interface to their website. They were focusing on getting content. They were happy that boxee could add that functionality.
About six months after that arrangement things started to change. Hulu started blocking access to the boxee app. The boxee team updated their app and Hulu blocked it again. This continued a few more times. Then Hulu added a button on the website that would dim the background while you were watching a show. This was clearly intended to enhance the viewing experience away from the computer. About six months later Hulu announced Hulu Plus. They would continue to provide Hulu.com content for free. Now you could get a premium subscription to Hulu Plus which would increase the content available to subscribers. With the announcement of Hulu Plus access to Hulu.com was cut to only computers. Media centers like boxee and web browsers designed for a HTPC environment like Kylo were blocked from accessing Hulu.com. This included standard browsers like Safari if they were running on a mobile platform. Hulu decided overnight that long time members could not access Hulu content from a mobile device or HTPC unless they paid for a subscription to Hulu Plus and watched ads in the programming.
In my opinion this collapsed the Open Source home theater. It left the doors to Internet television wide open to companies like Netflix and Apple. boxee continued to develop their set top box, the Boxee Box. At twice the cost of the Apple TV, it really hasn't caught the attention of the mainstream public. It is a shame too because they had all of the great ideas in the area of set top boxes. They offer more content than anyone else and have one of the easiest user interfaces. Unfortunately their focus was drawn to the set top box environment and they've allowed their HTPC software to languish. It stopped keeping pace with changes to video websites, particularly the television network sites. This left many of them unwatchable from an HTPC.
Hulu.com has all but disappeared since you can only watch it on a computer and with all of the other choices, no one is doing that. Everyone is moving Internet television to the living room.
Hulu Plus will continue for many years, even though it is the worst option available. It will continue because Universal will pump huge amounts of money into advertising on traditional broadcast services. Everyone still watching cable TV and satellite TV will only know about Hulu Plus. No one else is advertising there. Netflix has some name recognition because they killed off Blockbuster and because they have an App on every device that connects to a television set: game consoles, DVD players, Blu-ray players, set top boxes, and smart TVs. The Boxee Box is priced too high for someone making the transition.
People new to Internet television have never watched TV without commercials. It is normal to them. It is also normal for them to pay for access to television. I dare say that a Hulu Plus subscription is far less per month than a cable subscription, and the user experience relative to commercials is the same. These people don't realize that they can have their cake and eat it too with services like Netflix and Amazon Instant Prime. These subscription services offer the TV shows in high definition without the commercials.
Universal and Hulu will bombard the cable and satellite system with advertisements about Hulu Plus to keep people from realizing that they can get commercial free, high quality TV programs and more for the same price. With that they will continue to draw people across to Internet television. I think that over time these people will realize they are getting less for their money and will eventually transition to other services. Universal will need to continue to draw in new subscribers because they will always be losing subscribers to the other subscription services.
If you do have a HTPC, make sure there is a standard browser on it. It is a bit more difficult to navigate from the couch. With a standard computer browser, you will still be able to watch Hulu.com content for free. It has the ads, but at least you're not paying for the privilege to watch Hulu ads.
Let's start with the difference between Hulu.com and Hulu Plus. They are both Hulu services. Hulu.com is their free video streaming service. Hulu Plus is a subscription based service that competes directly with Netflix and Amazon Instant Prime. In both Hulu services you watch ads to supplement the income to Hulu.
We'll start with this ad supported television model. Hulu is owned by Universal who also own NBC and other stations. They are running with a business model very similar to the cable companies. Customers pay Hulu to access their content. Then advertisers pay Hulu to show ads to their customers. Hulu is getting money from both ends of the service. To me it seems a lot like selling a mailing list. How do you feel when you subscribe to a magazine and then the publisher sells your mailing address to another company who uses that to fill your mailbox with direct mailing advertisements? Hulu is selling their viewership to advertisers to fill your TV and your time with direct advertisements. It doesn't feel fair and it isn't what Netflix or Amazon Instant Prime do. Those services offer commercial free television programs to their subscribers.
The other major reason I don't like Hulu Plus is the way the company has treated partners. When I first cut the cable around 2006, I was one of the first members of Hulu.com. The first thing I watched was Master and Commander. It was ad supported, which I didn't mind because Hulu.com is free to users. The ads help them gain the revenue they need to purchase rights to the content they were providing. It seemed like the same business model that local over the air television stations use.
At the time Hulu had the content and were getting the name recognition. They were struggling with the user interface, particularly making the bridge from the computer to the living room. This has been the ongoing struggle for mainstream adoption of Internet television. Along come a handful of programmers working on a Free and Open Source platform known as boxee. They were developing software that could run on Macs, Apple TVs, and Linux to help users build their own Home Theater PCs (HTPCs).
boxee had figured out the user experience and had one of the most popular HTPC media centers available. Hulu was gaining popularity and so some of the open source developers built a bridge between Hulu and boxee. Hulu was still getting to run their ads on their content and finally users were able to watch Hulu in the living room. It seemed like a partnership that could have real power over Netflix. Netflix had a large subscriber base with their DVD by Mail service and Netflix was building apps for every piece of hardware available, like game consoles and set top boxes. The boxee team even talked with the Hulu folks. Hulu told them that Hulu wasn't interested in building a lean back interface to their website. They were focusing on getting content. They were happy that boxee could add that functionality.
About six months after that arrangement things started to change. Hulu started blocking access to the boxee app. The boxee team updated their app and Hulu blocked it again. This continued a few more times. Then Hulu added a button on the website that would dim the background while you were watching a show. This was clearly intended to enhance the viewing experience away from the computer. About six months later Hulu announced Hulu Plus. They would continue to provide Hulu.com content for free. Now you could get a premium subscription to Hulu Plus which would increase the content available to subscribers. With the announcement of Hulu Plus access to Hulu.com was cut to only computers. Media centers like boxee and web browsers designed for a HTPC environment like Kylo were blocked from accessing Hulu.com. This included standard browsers like Safari if they were running on a mobile platform. Hulu decided overnight that long time members could not access Hulu content from a mobile device or HTPC unless they paid for a subscription to Hulu Plus and watched ads in the programming.
In my opinion this collapsed the Open Source home theater. It left the doors to Internet television wide open to companies like Netflix and Apple. boxee continued to develop their set top box, the Boxee Box. At twice the cost of the Apple TV, it really hasn't caught the attention of the mainstream public. It is a shame too because they had all of the great ideas in the area of set top boxes. They offer more content than anyone else and have one of the easiest user interfaces. Unfortunately their focus was drawn to the set top box environment and they've allowed their HTPC software to languish. It stopped keeping pace with changes to video websites, particularly the television network sites. This left many of them unwatchable from an HTPC.
Hulu.com has all but disappeared since you can only watch it on a computer and with all of the other choices, no one is doing that. Everyone is moving Internet television to the living room.
Hulu Plus will continue for many years, even though it is the worst option available. It will continue because Universal will pump huge amounts of money into advertising on traditional broadcast services. Everyone still watching cable TV and satellite TV will only know about Hulu Plus. No one else is advertising there. Netflix has some name recognition because they killed off Blockbuster and because they have an App on every device that connects to a television set: game consoles, DVD players, Blu-ray players, set top boxes, and smart TVs. The Boxee Box is priced too high for someone making the transition.
People new to Internet television have never watched TV without commercials. It is normal to them. It is also normal for them to pay for access to television. I dare say that a Hulu Plus subscription is far less per month than a cable subscription, and the user experience relative to commercials is the same. These people don't realize that they can have their cake and eat it too with services like Netflix and Amazon Instant Prime. These subscription services offer the TV shows in high definition without the commercials.
Universal and Hulu will bombard the cable and satellite system with advertisements about Hulu Plus to keep people from realizing that they can get commercial free, high quality TV programs and more for the same price. With that they will continue to draw people across to Internet television. I think that over time these people will realize they are getting less for their money and will eventually transition to other services. Universal will need to continue to draw in new subscribers because they will always be losing subscribers to the other subscription services.
If you do have a HTPC, make sure there is a standard browser on it. It is a bit more difficult to navigate from the couch. With a standard computer browser, you will still be able to watch Hulu.com content for free. It has the ads, but at least you're not paying for the privilege to watch Hulu ads.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Amazon Instant Prime Keeps Getting Better
In the world of cord cutting there are three big names: Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Prime. Most people know them in that order. Netflix was first. Hulu Plus bought Super Bowl ads. Amazon is for books and gifts that can be sent to your mother-in-law so you don't have to visit.
I've got to say that I love Amazon Instant Prime and it keeps getting better. There is a lot to be said about the others, and I'll leave that for another rant. I do want to be up front in that I don't have a lot of time with Netflix. I have briefly used it at other people's houses and played around a little on the mobile apps, but that is it. There is a very simple reason for this. I'm too cheap to pay for two competing television services that have roughly the same content.
I started with Amazon Instant Prime when they ran a deal with Revision3 and HD Nation. With a special HD Nation coupon code, I was able to rent Avatar for $1. To explain how cheap I really am, it took me the better part of half a day to decided to spend that dollar. I still wasn't sure after the movie started and it was too late to go back. I even watched the movie twice during the rental period just to make sure I got my money's worth.
I enjoyed the movie and I enjoyed the Amazon Instant Video experience. It was simple to use. It integrated with my Amazon.com account for all my information, including payment preferences. The video played well in full screen mode. It was great.
Even with that it did take a while for me to get back. At the time I didn't have an Amazon.com Prime account. It was a few years later when I realized the at least half of my retail purchases for the year were done through Amazon.com and all of my gift purchases were through Amazon.com. That was when I decided to get a Prime account. I made the decision wholly for the free two-day shipping. I think it was another six months before I learned that with my Prime membership, I could also get streaming videos. For me that was videos for free. Even with the recent cost increase, an Amazon Prime membership is less than Netflix or Hulu Plus, so you can get the membership for the instant videos alone.
Ever since that first experience, the folks at Amazon have continued to improve the user experience for streaming video. They need to because they have very good competition and the cable cutting world is about to explode.
Probably the coolest and most useful thing that Amazon has done is the Next Episode button. On my Home Theater PC (HTPC), I watch Amazon Instant Video through my web browser. A while back they added a button on the playback controls for when you're watching a TV Series. As one episode ends you wiggle the mouse and the controls appear. Then you see in the lower right a button for Up Next. When you click this as the credits are rolling for the last show, it immediately goes to the next episode and starts playing it. It even works across seasons. When you're on the last episode of Season 4, this button will take you to the first episode of Season 5. One click and you're continuing. You never leave fullscreen mode.
The Amazon Instant Video website also keeps track of which TV episodes you've watched. When you open a season page, the episodes you've seen have a light grey background. It is a little hard to make out from the couch. The good news is that I don't have to. As the season opens, Amazon opens to the next unwatched episode. I don't have to worry about it. I can hit the big green button and know that I'm not going to watch something I've seen before and I'm not going to miss an episode in the season.
These are great and only part of the reason I decided that at this moment I would write a new post. That came from my iPad. I'm watching an episode of Top Gear and needed to get a refill on my drink. I knew I could tap anywhere on the screen to pause the playback, so I did and that is when I saw them. First all of the playback controls are large overlay buttons on the screen. Unlike other apps and even earlier versions of the Amazon Instant Video app, the controls are not little buttons at the bottom of the screen next to the scrub bar. They are huge and right on top of the playback, which is great. It makes it hard, if not impossible to hit the wrong button, which I'm prone to do in other players.
The other thing is that Amazon has created a 10-second back button and a 10-second forward button. I'm still trying to figure out why I would go 10-seconds in the future, instead of 30-seconds. I do often miss something is a program and want to jump back 10-seconds to hear it. Sadly I haven't found this on my HTPC. It is great on the iPad.
I also noticed that Amazon has added the Next Episode button to the iPad app. I'll be using that a lot.
Amazon Instant Video is not without its faults. Most people will talk about the content. They don't have as much as Netflix or Hulu Plus. That is fair, though I've easily been able to fill up my Watch List with days worth of content, so I don't feel like I'm going without. They do have Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which is great. It is a week delayed, but there are no commercials.
Amazon still down't have an Apple TV app. I have been waiting for at least two years on this one. This is going to hurt them as cable cutting becomes more mainstream. The Apple TV is the Internet TV device to buy, and I'll explain that better in another rant. Most mainstream users won't bother with Amazon's current work around, and I'll get to it. Most people will do with what they get and they get Netflix and Hulu Plus.
To work around Amazon Instant Prime not being on the Apple TV, you have to have another Apple device. If you have a Mac or MacBook, AirPlay a multiple monitor to your Apple TV. Then open Safari and you're into the world of an HTPC. If you have an iOS device, open the Instant Video app and AirPlay that to your Apple TV. It works well and now your iOS device becomes your Instant Video remote. (It does limit your ability to have IMDB running while you're watching a program.)
[Update: When I first wrote this post I said that Netflix doesn't have a Next Episode button. I found out later that they don't need one. When you let an episode play out, after the credits roll, Netflix on Apple TV and on iPad begin playing the next episode, even if it is the next season. This type of Continuous Play is something that I've enjoyed on Hulu.com. I can see the usefulness of both. A next episode button does require some interaction. A continuous play function can let episodes continue to play after you fall asleep or walk away from the television. Hopefully there are settings that allow you to opt in or opt out so you can get the functionality that you prefer.]
I've got to say that I love Amazon Instant Prime and it keeps getting better. There is a lot to be said about the others, and I'll leave that for another rant. I do want to be up front in that I don't have a lot of time with Netflix. I have briefly used it at other people's houses and played around a little on the mobile apps, but that is it. There is a very simple reason for this. I'm too cheap to pay for two competing television services that have roughly the same content.
I started with Amazon Instant Prime when they ran a deal with Revision3 and HD Nation. With a special HD Nation coupon code, I was able to rent Avatar for $1. To explain how cheap I really am, it took me the better part of half a day to decided to spend that dollar. I still wasn't sure after the movie started and it was too late to go back. I even watched the movie twice during the rental period just to make sure I got my money's worth.
I enjoyed the movie and I enjoyed the Amazon Instant Video experience. It was simple to use. It integrated with my Amazon.com account for all my information, including payment preferences. The video played well in full screen mode. It was great.
Even with that it did take a while for me to get back. At the time I didn't have an Amazon.com Prime account. It was a few years later when I realized the at least half of my retail purchases for the year were done through Amazon.com and all of my gift purchases were through Amazon.com. That was when I decided to get a Prime account. I made the decision wholly for the free two-day shipping. I think it was another six months before I learned that with my Prime membership, I could also get streaming videos. For me that was videos for free. Even with the recent cost increase, an Amazon Prime membership is less than Netflix or Hulu Plus, so you can get the membership for the instant videos alone.
Ever since that first experience, the folks at Amazon have continued to improve the user experience for streaming video. They need to because they have very good competition and the cable cutting world is about to explode.
Probably the coolest and most useful thing that Amazon has done is the Next Episode button. On my Home Theater PC (HTPC), I watch Amazon Instant Video through my web browser. A while back they added a button on the playback controls for when you're watching a TV Series. As one episode ends you wiggle the mouse and the controls appear. Then you see in the lower right a button for Up Next. When you click this as the credits are rolling for the last show, it immediately goes to the next episode and starts playing it. It even works across seasons. When you're on the last episode of Season 4, this button will take you to the first episode of Season 5. One click and you're continuing. You never leave fullscreen mode.
The Amazon Instant Video website also keeps track of which TV episodes you've watched. When you open a season page, the episodes you've seen have a light grey background. It is a little hard to make out from the couch. The good news is that I don't have to. As the season opens, Amazon opens to the next unwatched episode. I don't have to worry about it. I can hit the big green button and know that I'm not going to watch something I've seen before and I'm not going to miss an episode in the season.
These are great and only part of the reason I decided that at this moment I would write a new post. That came from my iPad. I'm watching an episode of Top Gear and needed to get a refill on my drink. I knew I could tap anywhere on the screen to pause the playback, so I did and that is when I saw them. First all of the playback controls are large overlay buttons on the screen. Unlike other apps and even earlier versions of the Amazon Instant Video app, the controls are not little buttons at the bottom of the screen next to the scrub bar. They are huge and right on top of the playback, which is great. It makes it hard, if not impossible to hit the wrong button, which I'm prone to do in other players.
The other thing is that Amazon has created a 10-second back button and a 10-second forward button. I'm still trying to figure out why I would go 10-seconds in the future, instead of 30-seconds. I do often miss something is a program and want to jump back 10-seconds to hear it. Sadly I haven't found this on my HTPC. It is great on the iPad.
I also noticed that Amazon has added the Next Episode button to the iPad app. I'll be using that a lot.
Amazon Instant Video is not without its faults. Most people will talk about the content. They don't have as much as Netflix or Hulu Plus. That is fair, though I've easily been able to fill up my Watch List with days worth of content, so I don't feel like I'm going without. They do have Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which is great. It is a week delayed, but there are no commercials.
Amazon still down't have an Apple TV app. I have been waiting for at least two years on this one. This is going to hurt them as cable cutting becomes more mainstream. The Apple TV is the Internet TV device to buy, and I'll explain that better in another rant. Most mainstream users won't bother with Amazon's current work around, and I'll get to it. Most people will do with what they get and they get Netflix and Hulu Plus.
To work around Amazon Instant Prime not being on the Apple TV, you have to have another Apple device. If you have a Mac or MacBook, AirPlay a multiple monitor to your Apple TV. Then open Safari and you're into the world of an HTPC. If you have an iOS device, open the Instant Video app and AirPlay that to your Apple TV. It works well and now your iOS device becomes your Instant Video remote. (It does limit your ability to have IMDB running while you're watching a program.)
[Update: When I first wrote this post I said that Netflix doesn't have a Next Episode button. I found out later that they don't need one. When you let an episode play out, after the credits roll, Netflix on Apple TV and on iPad begin playing the next episode, even if it is the next season. This type of Continuous Play is something that I've enjoyed on Hulu.com. I can see the usefulness of both. A next episode button does require some interaction. A continuous play function can let episodes continue to play after you fall asleep or walk away from the television. Hopefully there are settings that allow you to opt in or opt out so you can get the functionality that you prefer.]
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
The Daily Show and Earth Rotation in Opening Credits
So, I've been thinking about this for a while and I wanted to weigh in on the debate about the opening credits to The Daily Show. If you're not familiar with this debate, just Google "Earth rotating wrong direction" and you'll see dozens of articles and video clips about it.
First, I think The Daily Show should keep their opening credits as is. Second, I'm a huge fan of Neil DeGrasse Tyson. If you're not a fan, you should follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/neiltyson because he's brilliant while being able to explain complex concepts in a way that everyone can understand.
So, with the raging debate about the direction the Earth rotates in the opening credits to The Daily Show, how can I reconcile the two statements above? It is actually pretty easy. Let me explain.
Let's start with how much attention this has gotten. Dr. Tyson has been on The Daily Show a few times. He has talked about the opening credits enough that Comedy Central did a special version of them with a video of someone manually turning a globe the correct direction the last time he was a guest. It was hilarious. If nothing else, this debate has brought attention and commentary on something we take for granted every single day. You can't beat the sort of interest that this has brought to get people to do the research on their own and think about Earth rotation based on scientific fact. It is great.
No consider that many, many animations of the Earth used on television programs spin the "wrong direction" as identified in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEarth's_rotation#TV_.22earths.22_often_rotate_the_wrong_way. Before Wikipedia, I had heard the story that CBS's Wide World of Sports actually had their Earth animation spinning the "wrong direction" and had to spend lots of money to get it corrected.
Now, I'm putting "wrong direction" in quotes because the Wikipedia article points out that the direction of the rotation is based on your Point of View. If you were able to sit at a point between the Earth and the Sun, say Lagrangian Point 1, you would see the continents moving from left to right, the way Dr. Tyson describes is the way the opening credits should roll. However, if you're aboard the International Space Station (ISS) or any other satellite orbiting in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), you would be completing an orbit in less than a day. Most satellites, like 85%, are launched towards the East, so the you would be moving across the ground very quickly. From that vantage point, the continents would appear to move from right to left, as the do in the current opening credits. Since both perspectives are equally valid, there is no "right" or "wrong" direction for the Earth to appear in the animation.
Now consider that NASA, who certainly knows which direction the Earth rotates, regularly produces videos with the Earth rotating the same direction as the opening credits because they are usually produced so you can see their latest satellite in the foreground with the Earth spinning below. The best place to get lots of NASA videos and do your own inventory of them is from the NASAcast video podcast available at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting. I was watching the March 14, 2014 episode which had one of these videos, which prompted me to finally write this post.
Without getting too serious about the "right" or "wrong" direction for Earth rotation, I want to remind everyone that we're talking about The Daily Show. This is not a news program. It is a comedy program. It is just as valid (and I'll say more entertaining) as Weekend Update in Saturday Night Live. Fans of The Daily Show know that most of the comedy in the program comes from Jon Stewart making fun of the cable news networks and other news programs. What better way to make fun of news programs, than to mock the problems these shows have had in getting people to accept their rotating Earth animations. One of the first to get public notariaty was a news program and they got so much public comment about it, they went back and had the animators change the rotation. I don't think it is because The Daily Show doesn't know which direction the Earth rotates. I think it is because they are making fun of all the public commentary these animations get. Keep an eye on all of the spinning Earths in animations during the show. When the show returns from commercial just before brining the guest out, the intro, transition video has a more realistic looking Earth (with clouds and the like) the is spinning the opposite direction as the opening credits.
I claim that the opening credits are more about the comedy and less about the science.
Does this mean that Dr. Tyson is wrong? Absolutely not. He is right, from a certain point of view. He's more right to create controversy over it because it makes the audience grab a book or search the Internet or apply the Scientific Method to determine on their own which direction the Earth rotates. He is in the business of teaching science, and making it a talking point of one of the most popular TV shows is a great way to teach science and Scientific Method.
One final word about my great respect for Dr. Tyson. I want to publicly thank him for demoting Pluto to a dwarf planet. He brought to light an issue that was covering up the many objects in the Kuiper Belt. As long as Pluto was a planet, none of the other objects in the Kuiper Belt would get the recognition they deserve. Pluto never really fit in as a planet because of the inclination of its orbit and the fact that it crosses inside the orbit of Neptune. I'm glad we have an objective definition of a planet and are not working from a subjective "Star Trek" test to know a planet from the many other objects traveling through deep space. If you feel bad that there are only 8 planets when you learned in grade school that there were 9 planets, relax. Thanks to astrophysicists like Neil DeGrasse Tyson and many people behind the Kepler mission, we now have over 400 confirmed planets. You can see all of them at http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/. With this many planets in the very small focus area of the Kepler telescope, there must be thousands, millions, and even billions of planets in the Universe. Some day we may actually be traveling between them as fantasized about in the show Star Trek.
First, I think The Daily Show should keep their opening credits as is. Second, I'm a huge fan of Neil DeGrasse Tyson. If you're not a fan, you should follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/neiltyson because he's brilliant while being able to explain complex concepts in a way that everyone can understand.
So, with the raging debate about the direction the Earth rotates in the opening credits to The Daily Show, how can I reconcile the two statements above? It is actually pretty easy. Let me explain.
Let's start with how much attention this has gotten. Dr. Tyson has been on The Daily Show a few times. He has talked about the opening credits enough that Comedy Central did a special version of them with a video of someone manually turning a globe the correct direction the last time he was a guest. It was hilarious. If nothing else, this debate has brought attention and commentary on something we take for granted every single day. You can't beat the sort of interest that this has brought to get people to do the research on their own and think about Earth rotation based on scientific fact. It is great.
No consider that many, many animations of the Earth used on television programs spin the "wrong direction" as identified in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEarth's_rotation#TV_.22earths.22_often_rotate_the_wrong_way. Before Wikipedia, I had heard the story that CBS's Wide World of Sports actually had their Earth animation spinning the "wrong direction" and had to spend lots of money to get it corrected.
Now, I'm putting "wrong direction" in quotes because the Wikipedia article points out that the direction of the rotation is based on your Point of View. If you were able to sit at a point between the Earth and the Sun, say Lagrangian Point 1, you would see the continents moving from left to right, the way Dr. Tyson describes is the way the opening credits should roll. However, if you're aboard the International Space Station (ISS) or any other satellite orbiting in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), you would be completing an orbit in less than a day. Most satellites, like 85%, are launched towards the East, so the you would be moving across the ground very quickly. From that vantage point, the continents would appear to move from right to left, as the do in the current opening credits. Since both perspectives are equally valid, there is no "right" or "wrong" direction for the Earth to appear in the animation.
Now consider that NASA, who certainly knows which direction the Earth rotates, regularly produces videos with the Earth rotating the same direction as the opening credits because they are usually produced so you can see their latest satellite in the foreground with the Earth spinning below. The best place to get lots of NASA videos and do your own inventory of them is from the NASAcast video podcast available at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting. I was watching the March 14, 2014 episode which had one of these videos, which prompted me to finally write this post.
Without getting too serious about the "right" or "wrong" direction for Earth rotation, I want to remind everyone that we're talking about The Daily Show. This is not a news program. It is a comedy program. It is just as valid (and I'll say more entertaining) as Weekend Update in Saturday Night Live. Fans of The Daily Show know that most of the comedy in the program comes from Jon Stewart making fun of the cable news networks and other news programs. What better way to make fun of news programs, than to mock the problems these shows have had in getting people to accept their rotating Earth animations. One of the first to get public notariaty was a news program and they got so much public comment about it, they went back and had the animators change the rotation. I don't think it is because The Daily Show doesn't know which direction the Earth rotates. I think it is because they are making fun of all the public commentary these animations get. Keep an eye on all of the spinning Earths in animations during the show. When the show returns from commercial just before brining the guest out, the intro, transition video has a more realistic looking Earth (with clouds and the like) the is spinning the opposite direction as the opening credits.
I claim that the opening credits are more about the comedy and less about the science.
Does this mean that Dr. Tyson is wrong? Absolutely not. He is right, from a certain point of view. He's more right to create controversy over it because it makes the audience grab a book or search the Internet or apply the Scientific Method to determine on their own which direction the Earth rotates. He is in the business of teaching science, and making it a talking point of one of the most popular TV shows is a great way to teach science and Scientific Method.
One final word about my great respect for Dr. Tyson. I want to publicly thank him for demoting Pluto to a dwarf planet. He brought to light an issue that was covering up the many objects in the Kuiper Belt. As long as Pluto was a planet, none of the other objects in the Kuiper Belt would get the recognition they deserve. Pluto never really fit in as a planet because of the inclination of its orbit and the fact that it crosses inside the orbit of Neptune. I'm glad we have an objective definition of a planet and are not working from a subjective "Star Trek" test to know a planet from the many other objects traveling through deep space. If you feel bad that there are only 8 planets when you learned in grade school that there were 9 planets, relax. Thanks to astrophysicists like Neil DeGrasse Tyson and many people behind the Kepler mission, we now have over 400 confirmed planets. You can see all of them at http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/. With this many planets in the very small focus area of the Kepler telescope, there must be thousands, millions, and even billions of planets in the Universe. Some day we may actually be traveling between them as fantasized about in the show Star Trek.
Farmed and Dangerous
I'm a big fan of Chipotle. They recently posted a series of four shows about industrial farming and sustainable farming. I enjoyed them. You can too at http://farmedanddangerous.com.
If you've seen Food, Inc. or A Place at the Table, you should check out this series as well. If you haven't seen them, please check them out as well. They are available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Prime, and I think Netflix. Do a search and learn more about where your food is coming from and who's eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
If you've seen Food, Inc. or A Place at the Table, you should check out this series as well. If you haven't seen them, please check them out as well. They are available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Prime, and I think Netflix. Do a search and learn more about where your food is coming from and who's eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Kohl's Is Electric Vehicle Friendly
I was recently visiting family and we stopped by a Kohl's store. As I've mentioned before I have a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) that I love. I noticed the charging stations in front of the store. The unit has symbols for credit cards, so I didn't park and charge. I believe that electricity in parking lots should be free. It is in Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin already.
Instead I went home and did some research on the company who built and installed the charging stations. They are an independent company trying to get many retailers and businesses to install their charging stations.
These networks of users makes me uneasy. It reminds me of the days when ATMs were based on specific networks. You could only use ATMs that worked on the same protocol as the one your bank used. Those networks still exist, but we finally standardized things enough that all of the ATMs I see work with all of the networks I know about. Maybe some day, electric charging stations will get there. It won'e happen as long as the companies making the charging stations are fighting for the tiny market share of electric vehicle owners and the smaller market share of businesses friendly to electric vehicle owners.
As I continued to do my research I found that the company that Kohl's is working with allows the retailer to set the price for the charge available. You can put money on account with the network and work that off at the different retailers. The charing station company even allows the retailers to offer their charging service for free, and you don't have to sign up and get an account with the charging station network.
With that I went to their online map of charging stations and found a number of different Kohl's stores. All of them have set their price for charging at FREE. Yes, Kohl's is doing the right thing. They are providing the option for charging while you're in their store, which is encouraging electric vehicle owners to spend more time in the store. Retailers like Kohl's are built on impulse buys. This is why Apple started opening retail stores because they could provide direct to consumer information about their products and encourage impulse buys because they knew once you tried one of their computers or mobile devices with the kind, guiding hand or a sale associate, you were likely to buy. If you spend more time in Kohl's because you want to get the greatest charge for your trip home, then you're more likely to find a couple extra things to buy that you don't realize you need until you see it on the shelf or the end cap.
So here is my hat off to Kohl's for doing the right thing for renewable energy. Thank you for the free charging stations. I'm telling all my friends, especially the ones with Electric Vehicles, including PHEVs, that they can get a free charge when they shop at Kohl's.
Instead I went home and did some research on the company who built and installed the charging stations. They are an independent company trying to get many retailers and businesses to install their charging stations.
These networks of users makes me uneasy. It reminds me of the days when ATMs were based on specific networks. You could only use ATMs that worked on the same protocol as the one your bank used. Those networks still exist, but we finally standardized things enough that all of the ATMs I see work with all of the networks I know about. Maybe some day, electric charging stations will get there. It won'e happen as long as the companies making the charging stations are fighting for the tiny market share of electric vehicle owners and the smaller market share of businesses friendly to electric vehicle owners.
As I continued to do my research I found that the company that Kohl's is working with allows the retailer to set the price for the charge available. You can put money on account with the network and work that off at the different retailers. The charing station company even allows the retailers to offer their charging service for free, and you don't have to sign up and get an account with the charging station network.
With that I went to their online map of charging stations and found a number of different Kohl's stores. All of them have set their price for charging at FREE. Yes, Kohl's is doing the right thing. They are providing the option for charging while you're in their store, which is encouraging electric vehicle owners to spend more time in the store. Retailers like Kohl's are built on impulse buys. This is why Apple started opening retail stores because they could provide direct to consumer information about their products and encourage impulse buys because they knew once you tried one of their computers or mobile devices with the kind, guiding hand or a sale associate, you were likely to buy. If you spend more time in Kohl's because you want to get the greatest charge for your trip home, then you're more likely to find a couple extra things to buy that you don't realize you need until you see it on the shelf or the end cap.
So here is my hat off to Kohl's for doing the right thing for renewable energy. Thank you for the free charging stations. I'm telling all my friends, especially the ones with Electric Vehicles, including PHEVs, that they can get a free charge when they shop at Kohl's.
Mavericks and Apple TV make every Mac an HTPC
After getting Apple TVs for all of my family I finally hooked one up in my own home. I realized that with Shared Screen updates in Mavericks, every Mac can be an effective Home Theater PC. If you've cut the cable and live with Macs, then there is no excuse for not having an Apple TV.
In 2009, as the result of an experiment with minimalism, I discovered I could live without TV service and a number of other things that clutter my attic. I also discovered that I cannot live without an Internet connection. I do love watching TV shows and video podcasts, so I bought a Mac mini. It is more expensive than set top boxes and home built HTPCs. It just works out of the box. Apple has really pushed the Mac mini into the role of HTPC by adding HDMI as a primary display output.
I selected the Mac mini after looking at a number of different options. Set top boxes were too limited. I've lived with Boxee on Linux and on Windows and on the Mac mini. It offers a lot, and it requires some fussing to make it work. Apple TV offers fewer options than Boxee. Finally Roku offers fewer options than Apple TV. I haven't used Chromecast yet. It sounds like Apple TV for Android and Google fans, though I have heard some complaints about bugs.
When I got the Mac mini, I was still watching Hulu.com, not to be confused with HuluPlus. I've been on Hulu.com since they first came out. I still remember watching Master and Commander on my laptop in the den through Hulu.com. After the market wars for mobile and TV viewers between Hulu and Boxee, I knew I still needed a full PC in order to enjoy the still available, rarely discussed free Hulu.com content.
The Mac mini offers a lot of variety in viewing online content. Start with the easy. Everything Apple is available on it through iTunes. Podcasts are also available through iTunes. Despite the craziness that was about three years of unusable Podcasts App on the iPhone, Smart Playlists still work great in iTunes. Netflix is available through Safari. Hulu.com is available through Safari. Boxee can run on the Mac mini, but I'm disappointed that the company has put all of their developer efforts to the Boxee Box leaving loyal early adopters to wonder if they will ever again be able to watch their favorite shows through the Boxee interface. CBS.com, A&E, Discovery Channel, and History Channel are all available through Safari, even if they haven't come out with Apps yet. Even Amazon Instant Prime is available through Safari and there is no indication that it will be available on the Apple TV.
For years as I was encouraging my family to get Apple TVs and finally when I bought the boxes for them, I still saw that my Mac mini had more capability than the Apple TV. My two hang ups were Amazon Instant Prime and Hulu.com.
This all ended with Mavericks. Sure I saw in July from WWDC that Apple created an AirPlay capability that allows you to extend your desktop to an Apple TV. It sounded incredible and my mind locked onto the great options that will open up for business conference rooms. (My company still has hard wired projectors with VGA cables routed through the walls and available on the conference room tables. The idea of wirelessly streaming what's on my desktop to what is being projected and allowing multiple people to share without having to toss the cable around the table seems like a dream come true.) I was so focused on the business advantage that I missed entirely the entertainment value.
This weekend while setting up an Apple TV for a friend, I got a chance to wring it out at my house. It wasn't long after I got it set up that I extended my MacBook Air's desktop over AirPlay, moved a new Safari window to the TV and started watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Opening a second Safari window and I was able to continue to edit a shared Pages document on iCloud. That's when I realized that I no longer need the Mac mini to provide HTPC capability at home. I can install the Apple TV. It does Apple entertainment better than the Mac, while still open to non-Apple content through Mavericks AirPlay from any Mac.
When I have to return my friend's Apple TV, I'm going to get one for myself. I'll put the Mac mini in the office. It still needs to manage my iTunes Libraries and my iPhoto Albums. I'll be able to AirPlay from it or my MacBook when I need to. I can listen or watch podcasts in My Stations with just the Apple TV.
Mavericks was the final piece in the puzzle to make the Apple TV the only device I need attached to my TV and still get full HTPC capabilities. Thanks Apple!
In 2009, as the result of an experiment with minimalism, I discovered I could live without TV service and a number of other things that clutter my attic. I also discovered that I cannot live without an Internet connection. I do love watching TV shows and video podcasts, so I bought a Mac mini. It is more expensive than set top boxes and home built HTPCs. It just works out of the box. Apple has really pushed the Mac mini into the role of HTPC by adding HDMI as a primary display output.
I selected the Mac mini after looking at a number of different options. Set top boxes were too limited. I've lived with Boxee on Linux and on Windows and on the Mac mini. It offers a lot, and it requires some fussing to make it work. Apple TV offers fewer options than Boxee. Finally Roku offers fewer options than Apple TV. I haven't used Chromecast yet. It sounds like Apple TV for Android and Google fans, though I have heard some complaints about bugs.
When I got the Mac mini, I was still watching Hulu.com, not to be confused with HuluPlus. I've been on Hulu.com since they first came out. I still remember watching Master and Commander on my laptop in the den through Hulu.com. After the market wars for mobile and TV viewers between Hulu and Boxee, I knew I still needed a full PC in order to enjoy the still available, rarely discussed free Hulu.com content.
The Mac mini offers a lot of variety in viewing online content. Start with the easy. Everything Apple is available on it through iTunes. Podcasts are also available through iTunes. Despite the craziness that was about three years of unusable Podcasts App on the iPhone, Smart Playlists still work great in iTunes. Netflix is available through Safari. Hulu.com is available through Safari. Boxee can run on the Mac mini, but I'm disappointed that the company has put all of their developer efforts to the Boxee Box leaving loyal early adopters to wonder if they will ever again be able to watch their favorite shows through the Boxee interface. CBS.com, A&E, Discovery Channel, and History Channel are all available through Safari, even if they haven't come out with Apps yet. Even Amazon Instant Prime is available through Safari and there is no indication that it will be available on the Apple TV.
For years as I was encouraging my family to get Apple TVs and finally when I bought the boxes for them, I still saw that my Mac mini had more capability than the Apple TV. My two hang ups were Amazon Instant Prime and Hulu.com.
This all ended with Mavericks. Sure I saw in July from WWDC that Apple created an AirPlay capability that allows you to extend your desktop to an Apple TV. It sounded incredible and my mind locked onto the great options that will open up for business conference rooms. (My company still has hard wired projectors with VGA cables routed through the walls and available on the conference room tables. The idea of wirelessly streaming what's on my desktop to what is being projected and allowing multiple people to share without having to toss the cable around the table seems like a dream come true.) I was so focused on the business advantage that I missed entirely the entertainment value.
This weekend while setting up an Apple TV for a friend, I got a chance to wring it out at my house. It wasn't long after I got it set up that I extended my MacBook Air's desktop over AirPlay, moved a new Safari window to the TV and started watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Opening a second Safari window and I was able to continue to edit a shared Pages document on iCloud. That's when I realized that I no longer need the Mac mini to provide HTPC capability at home. I can install the Apple TV. It does Apple entertainment better than the Mac, while still open to non-Apple content through Mavericks AirPlay from any Mac.
When I have to return my friend's Apple TV, I'm going to get one for myself. I'll put the Mac mini in the office. It still needs to manage my iTunes Libraries and my iPhoto Albums. I'll be able to AirPlay from it or my MacBook when I need to. I can listen or watch podcasts in My Stations with just the Apple TV.
Mavericks was the final piece in the puzzle to make the Apple TV the only device I need attached to my TV and still get full HTPC capabilities. Thanks Apple!
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