AV, transition writing and the other things...

This site was always intended to document my transition in a small business, and give my take on what’s new and exciting in AV (at least to me). It’s only been a month now and I’m having a lot of fun with it.

Since I’ve started this, I’ve been on a self improvement binge too. If you’re gonna change you might as well make a bunch of good changes at the same time. I really want to get things in order, clean up loose ends, and generally make life easier and better.

How I did work the past four years, and subsequently, how I did my life as a whole the past four years is just wrong.

Sure, in the process I took a fair number of people down with me, but I’m looking to change that. Misery does love company. Little steps, big steps, whatever I can do to get to a better place and do work the right way. I do know I violated the Geneva Convention a couple of times, but I’m going to let the UN figure that out and start over. Until then, I’ll try to throw them off the trail and make life a little easier.

Today’s project was email as a boat anchor. Stuff sitting in inboxes just laying there, waiting to overwhelm me like a Komodo Dragon waiting for the wildebeest (sorry, I couldn’t resist the LIFE reference) At the office, I realized that

1. the projects I finished four years ago, three years ago, etc… were not going to bite me in the ass any more
2. That I was no longer in that position and it didn’t really matter

Needless to say, I deleted 2-3000 old emails today. My inbox went from 4-500 supposedly relevant emails to 102 as of this writing, and I have more to cut. Tonight, I’m going to organize and cut the fat in my personal email.

By the way, this was helped by a great article on ZenHabits- I strongly recommend you look at not just this article, but the site as a whole. I’m sure you’ll see plenty more from them on here.

http://zenhabits.net/2010/02/email-sanity/

Once I’ve done that, I’ll reward myself with some tunes again tonight. Any suggestions for the K-Scape playlist of the day?

CD's and the death spiral

Most people would rightly assume that i'm a music junkie, and those people would be correct. Recently, i've realized I don't buy as much music as I used to, and today I was reminded of a reason why.

I went to a Barnes and Noble for some reading material, and I figured i'd pickup some music too. I went to their music department and found the CD I had my eye on... for TWENTY DOLLARS. Needless to say, it didn't come home with me. It totally killed the impulse to buy a CD. Everyone knows that 'gotta have it now' impulse. Now, I have to go buy it on Amazon or some other place online and get it by the end of the week.

You might be asking yourself, why didn't I buy it on iTunes if I wanted instant gratification? Well, the fact is iTunes music sounds terrible for the most part. I'm not that big a snob that I don't buy it, but if I want to listen at home, my personal stereo has enough resolution to make iTunes sound like what it is, a compressed, strident, flat and generally poor recording. On a car stereo it's not that bad, but at home, for me it can't happen.

Now, with all this, i'm not saying that I miss CD or long for the 'old days' (which I sort of do, perusing isles and isles of discs was a favorite activity of mine) I just wish that downloadable music was higher res.

Bandwidth of your internet provider isn't much of a problem for music. Storage isn't much of a problem for most of us either, and we all know the people who make the music have the masters that have way more resolution than iTunes files, so what gives?

The answer is I don't know for sure, but i'm pretty sure most people don't know what really great, well recorded music sounds like, and these same people don't care at all about bitrates, they just want convenience. Instant gratification. More instant than ever before.

My real question is, what happens to those of us that do care? That's the answer i'm still waiting for. Until then, i'll keep buying records and CD's- online and wherever I can that isn't highway robbery. Sadly, I won't have as much instant gratification as I used to, but at least i'll enjoy it when it eventually comes.

Let me know your thoughts. Have you ever heard a really good stereo? Can you tell the difference? Do you even care about high end music reproduction. Sound off in the comments below.

Happy listening

The power of the playlist

I'm going out in a bit, but have some things to take care of before I head out. I fired up my media server, in this case a Kaleidescape because I was really jonsing for some music.

Using the RemoteScape software for my iPhone, i've been loading up on some great tunes.

DjKool (high school memories) Ben Harper (just general awesomeness) The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepp (for my classic rock fix).. you get the idea.

The point is, Kaleidescape gives me this flexibility and the music is totally uncompressed. No MP3, no FLAC, no AAC, none of the compression algorithms everyone knows to say but not what they do. Just straight CD, but more convenient than pulling the discs. Its a win win for someone with a large collection, like me, especially when my brain is pulling me in ten different musical directions.

Granted, the neighbors might hate me right now, but it makes me pretty happy.

Happy listening everyone

Cellular Repeaters for your home... Really.

One of the more obscure aspects of my business is a product called a cellular repeater. Cellular repeaters come in a couple of different shapes and sizes, and can be pretty inexpensive to quite daunting in price. It all really depends on the useage, and how much you really love your cell phone.

Cellular repeaters take or create a cellular phone signal where little or no signal existed before

The first, and original type is the standard cellular repeater. Or what I call MacroCell. These are setup by placing an antenna at a point predetermined by testing for the best cellular signal around your property. Once peak performance is found, a reciever is setup so that this signal is picked up and transmitted into the home. From there, in a manner similar to your WiFi network, the more powerful cellular signal is distributed throughout the house.

The beauty of this is that signal is improved and short of a cell tower failing or you losing all power, you have full cellular signal anywhere in your home.

The negatives are that the price for a full cellular repeater system can quickly run into the five figure range and if the cellular repeater installer doesn't know what he is doing you might get a car full of feds at your house looking to shut you down.....

No, i'm not kidding.

These systems work so well that if the system isn't properly tuned, it will create feedback and send that feedback to a cell tower causing, worst case, major cellular issues for that tower and probably a pretty unhappy agent of the government to arrive at your door. Needless to say this is not what I would really call do-it-yourself territory.

The other type of cellular repeater is brand new to the market and is called Femtocell technology. Femtocells are much smaller cellular repeaters that do not require cell tower feedback to operate. They plug into your network and use your computer network to boost the cell service locally. The advantages of these are numerous. First is they are fantastically cheap, AT&T's latest is $150. The second big plus is that they have some controls so you don't kill your bandwidth. You can program the "cell" to boost only particular phone numbers and ignore the rest.

The problems with femtocells are that they use your home computer network. Why is this a problem you ask? Well, think about emergency scenarios for example. You're buying this to improve cell signal, so if a tree comes down and takes out your phone and cable service, you also lose your cellular service, again. This is more common than you think. In the last set of major storms to hit the NYC metro area, plenty of people had power but are STILL without phone and cable!

The other big issue I and other industry writers have is you are paying companies like AT&T every month for the privledge of improving their network!

The other flaw (depending on how you look at it) with Femtocell, is it's usually specialized to your carriers particular network, where a MacroCell (the MyAVLife term for full scale cell repeaters) can repeat all cell signals (except Nextel) and all data that goes along with it.

Granted, for those of you who really need better service, this is a small price to pay, but the fact is that's a pretty galling request. Pay us to get better cell service in your house. Not what most people have in mind when they sign up for a network. I'm all for cell network improvments, but I don't want to be one of the people behind the Verizon guy, especially if i'm paying to be there!!!!

Which of these is right for you? It really depends on what you need out of your cell phone. If cell phone data is important or mission critical, if covering multiple networks is not that big a deal or life or death, and of course the cost to install.

Your best bet, as always, is speak to a professional you can trust to evaluate your needs. I know many people in the industry that do this sort of thing, and it can be had at all price points, but you do get what you pay for. This is one time that finding the best contractor possible is the smartest thing you can do. Nobody I know wants the FCC knocking at the door.

Tonight's movie

I wanted to write a longer article tonight but classic cinema called my name. Rather than go for one of the special effects driven flicks, I chose a classic.

One of those foundational films that no one realizes is so influential until they really watch it with one of the movies it helped inspire. Tonights movie is the classic Kurosawa movie- "The Hidden Fortress".

Yes "Seven Samurai" is the one everyone knows, but that doesn't mean his body of work begins and ends there. "Hidden Fortress" is a must watch for any film buff, and if you are wondering what movies it helped inspire, look at famous SciFi trilogies. That's the only hint i'm going to give you.

Send me a comment if you figure it out. Until you do, buy or rent "Hidden Fortress" and enjoy master Kurosawa.

The HDMI God's have been listening

And have decided to throw us a bone! HDMI over IP should make a TON of integrators VERY HAPPY. I hope they make a fortune on this. It's about time! 8 years of revision after revision. Check them out

Just Add Power

This afternoon's listening

As if the weekend isn't nice enough, to get me in a great mood, i've got Tom Waits- "Orphans" box set setup to play on continuous. Three discs of the odds and ends from the master himself. Gotta love a guy who uses a dumpster as a percussive instrument!

Buying a TV

Yes, everyone has written one of these before. Yes, i'm unoriginal this time. I get it. However, i'm making you work for it

I'm doing this for a friend who asked about TV's, so there.

I think everyone short of people who are really, really into Audio Video gear get excited and sort of dread buying something like a TV. It's a pretty big purchase for everyone and no one really has a clue what to buy, let alone how to get the right one. The answer is pretty easy if not time intensive.

Study.

In fact, going to a store and looking at a wall of TV's with the same thing on is the last thing you should do. They all look terrible, there's a ton of pressure, and you have no clue how the set is hooked up. In fact, some sets might be hooked up in a better way and some in a worse way to sway your decision without even knowing.

Getting back to studying. I'm here to help. No, i'm not going to tell you what I think you should buy. I have my opinions and everyone is welcome to ask. I'm going to give you some great places to start your research.

HD Guru

Frankly, most people can get away with just this one site. Gary Merson has forgotten more about HD and video in general than I might ever know. If he likes it, it's a good set.

Ultimate AV

I love their writing too. My only problem with them is they still seem to subscribe (no pun intended) to a more print friendly posting schedule. I trust them as well.

If you still have questions after checking these sites out, send me an email or post a comment. My purpose is to consult, and help educate; I don't want people being spoon fed that this is the best, buy it. That's a salesman's job. I'm here to consult, and to educate. Education requires work.

Let me know how I can help.

Morning Listening

After a great night and some great conversations about all the things going on in my life, I figured a great way to start my day was with some music.

Breakfast tunes provided by Bon Iver. Not a bad start to the day.

iPad and the coming integrator change

As almost anyone with a computer knows, the Apple iPad is coming very soon. What a lot of people aren't realizing is how this radically changes some businesses that not many people think about. One of those happens to be my business, AV integration.

Our business model is based on selling electronics and integrating through these other products via software. Our main form of control of all these "black boxes" are remote controls or touch panels that are pretty specialized and therefore, expensive. Touch panels range in size from a couple of inches, up to 17"-20" and can range from a few hundred dollars on the low end, to five figures for one panel on the high. These panels are complicated, must be programmed in a fairly obscure programming language, and are basically NOT user modifiable in any way. You have to spend quite a bit of time and effort to learn the language, even if you're a computer programmer.

Because of all that, its a pretty closed system. You want to control everything at the touch of a button? You need control systems like AMX and Crestron to make it all come together. Newer systems like Savant change this quite a bit, but i'm not focused on them right now, as they are an up and coming, but still small player. I'll touch on them in a bit. Because they are closed systems, and there isn't too much competition, prices haven't really dropped.

Then a small company called Apple created the iPhone. AV took a look, and decided it wasn't a bad idea to create the add-on sale, and make programs available to do basic control of these systems. Not the incredibly detailed and beautiful looking panels they have in their houses, but simple, rudimentary programs. They saw it as a novelty, albeit one with profit potential. Apple made a ton of money, Crestron and AMX made some money, and their dealers were pleased. A nice add on to an already profitable system. The trick is, not everyone saw the next step in Apples plan, and they certainly didn't think of what is about to happen. Hopefully they will.

Apple earlier this year created the iPad. A beautiful screen, fast, pretty closed system; a really well designed, streamlined product at a surprisingly great price. What most manufacturers and dealers haven't realized is the touch panels they sell all the time are about to be wiped out. All that profit- or at least a LARGE chunk is about to disappear. Why would I spend literally thousands on an AMX panel or Crestron panel when I can get a nicer, cleaner, newer display technology for LESS THAN A THOUSAND DOLLARS?!

The buying public is not as stupid as a lot of people think. Especially at the level I deal with. People are going to realize that WiFI plus iPad plus some sort of control backbone will equal saving a ton of money on touch panels. Yes, maybe you'll have a panel here and a panel there for the rooms you don't want to take your "iDevice", but the days of a panel per room are coming to an end.

What does this mean to integrators? It means a few things:

First, it means profit will be made on programming and software- more like the computer industry. Integrators and independent programmers will have to have a level of polish probably not seen that often. These GUI's will have to be clean, beautiful and ever more enticing to differentiate.

Second, service will become king. I know there are plenty of integration firms around the country that treat the after the sale experience like it and the client are some second class citizen. They care about the builder, the architect- the people who bring the work in. I'm fortunate not to work at a place like that, but for those of you who do, you might want to change- FAST. Servicing these clients will become ever more demanding and if done well, it can become a new profit center. As hardware and software get into more and more places, people need a firm who can diagnose and fix problems quickly not to mention keeping their connected lifestyle up. The organizations structured to live the 24 hour lifestyle with their clients will be there at the dawn of the new integration era. Those who treat them like a nicer form of the DMV will be looking for other work.

Last is the new opportunity that is created for anyone in the industry who believes in the new model of business-

People still want to buy toys, so find new ways to sell toys.

Take that touch panel budget and put it other places. Nicer speakers might make audiophiles of some people who might have spent the money on an in-wall panel. A better media server like Kaleidescape or Sooloos may get someone engaged in music and their collections. This might be the same client who would've bought a TPS-17 before and an iPod dock. Take their money and put it in an automated under bed lift, really wow the clients. They are still going to want to impress their friends and you have the ability to innovate and make the money you've always made. Give them an energy efficient system with digital amplification and lighting control that saves them money on their energy bills; give them a home theater run exclusively on solar. Innovate!

We all need to see this an opportunity, it needs to become the win- win it. Clients get cooler toys and bragging rights, integrators get to stay profitable. We should be thanking Apple, not dismissing them or ignoring them.

I for one, welcome our new fruit based computing overlords. You should too.

The difficulties of transition in small biz

I think the title pretty well sums things up.

Today was one of those days- Not great, not horrible but one of those days I need to be on guard for. One of the toughest things to do in a small business, especially if you are far up the food chain, is transition from one role to something different.

The reasoning is pretty simple, if you were up the ladder, you probably have a good handle on things if you've been there awhile. If you have a good handle on things, people will want you to help or do what you used to. It's just "easier" or "quicker" or any number of other terms for, 'we don't know the in's and outs yet HELP!!!'

Now, i'm all for helping, and I will because everyone wears different hats, but the problem is that if you get into this mode at work and don't remain vigilant, you may never get out.

You might wind up doing your old job and trying to figure out how to fit your new job in when you can. That is not the point of your new job. Most people take a new job because they want a new challenge, or some other reason to move from their comfort zone. If you can't give up your old position because you're nervous, or because people just think it's "easier" for you to just do it you are doing yourself a disservice and your company. If you fit the new job in, you wind up doing it poorly and your old job poorly and it just winds up reflecting on you.

Back to what I had to deal with:

People in my office tried to drag me into my old job today, into the minutia that is no longer something i'm in a position to do or frankly, want to do. I'm not as in touch with the jobs since i've been sick, and a lot can happen in a day, let alone a month with all of these projects. I don't have answers to the questions but people still want my approval, want to use me as the fall guy if what I approve doesn't work.

Today some of the staff taking the responsibility of my old position tried to blame me for orders that didn't get placed; the problem was, they were ordered while I was out recovering and unreachable. I had nothing to do with this part of the process, and because they slipped up, they tried to get me to take responsibility. Leading the witness as they call it in legal circles. I'm not great at being a witness, especially one that's being lead. Thankfully, I was able to deflect and avoid the time suck this time of defending myself and working through the process to expose the flaw and work to correct it. This was a pretty easy instance. While i'm in this transitional period, I expect these to get harder.

When you leave a company, and I know this has happened almost every time someone has left where I work currently, everything seems to be their fault. Lightbulb blows out? Last guy to leave broke it. Got into an accident on the way home? Last guy to leave did something to your car. Forgot to place an order? Last guy had the order and threw it out. The interesting thing about my role, is i'm still there to defend myself. It's sort of funny that people see the role as such a huge change and forget. In a lot of ways it is a radical departure, but i'm still the same guy, with the same knowledge, just doing different things at a different desk. That part of me didn't die. I don't have amnesia.

I'm sure you're asking, how do I overcome this, or what steps do I take to avoid this? My answer is; I don't know and i'm going to figure it out and you're along for the ride.

I've got some pretty smart people in my life and I have some VERY clear ideas and some not so clear on what I want to be doing and how I want to do it. We will see the process through with me throughout and i'm pretty excited about it; good times and bad, so comment, ask questions and give your opinions. I want to know what everyone thinks because I don't have the all the answers, I just want to give my account and my opinions and leave the rest up to you, the readers.

First sales call next week

So I found out my first sales call is going to be next week.

It's with a designer and an architect i've worked with before, and happen to have a great relationship with. I'm really looking forward to it, and the client seems like an ideal choice for me as of this writing. I'll be talking with the sales staff to see what our typical pitch entails and then swinging for the fences on my own.

I. Can't. Wait!!!

Bring it on!

Entering a crowded market- Why?

I was reading about the new Sherbourn PRE/PRO that seems to be in the press today and my first thought was- Do we really need another?

I am not saying the product won't be great, and i'm not saying it's going to be horrible, but after all the products that have faded in and out or are shells of former glory the past decade (Adcom, Sunfire come immediately to mind) why do we need another? What makes the product unique? Low power requirements? E.U. Power conservation requirements? Other than that, it seems like any other piece i've seen recently. Great, it has balanced audio at a fairly competitive price point (i'm assuming) but what else?

More and more of these boxes look, feel, and act the same and it dilutes the industry as a whole. It wasn't bad enough Lexicon took an Oppo player and put it in a bigger chassis and charged a fortune? My point is this, we need to separate the wheat from the chaff; make a product that REALLY differentiates between your competitors or make room for the innovators. All we are doing is weakening the industry as a whole. Consumers have a tough enough time differentiating when there are compelling products out there, let alone when things look, act and feel the same.

Yes, i'm repeating myself, and i'll keep repeating myself till we rally around a change- The industry needs more policing. No one needs more black boxes. I love this stuff, and i'm tired of them! I can only imagine the average person.

Movies vs. Home Theater

This is not my best writing, but it is me at my most passionate...

Let me start off by saying I love going to the movies- I go to almost any movie I have any interest in. With that being said, I get more and more by the day why people don't go as much as they used to. I went to see Green Zone today in a local theater. I'll spare you a movie review or any politics like i've read in some of the press because this isn't the forum. What I do want to talk about was how much they charge for a bad experience.

The theater is one of the newer ones in Westchester county, overall not a horrible place to see a film. It's not the Ziegfeld in NYC, but not many places are. It's about as good as you would expect from a current multiplex.

Anyway, the pre-movie commercial played fine, the problems started when they transitioned from the projector for the commercials and the one for the trailers and movie. Once they turned off the first projector.... nothing happened. I expect that. Maybe the film projector wasn't properly warmed up, maybe they needed to change screen aspects and didn't want the people to see the distortion while changing lenses and screen size, who knows other than the panoply of reasons it might not come 'right' on. I expected a minute or two.... then three, four, five, up to ten! Ten minutes! No announcement! As the movie goers were getting restless, and I was getting up to go complain the movie came on... with no sound! The first trailer came by with no sound whatsoever and they finally managed to rectify it. Because of all of this, I was now in full- on AV critic mode.

The bulb was dim, there was overscanning onto the black surrounding the screen, some of the speakers in the sides and rears weren't working or were miscalibrated. Listening to levels jump from speaker to speaker as things panned around the space. Overall, it was a poor experience and this is the problem; I paid $25 for two tickets to a poor movie. I went out on a cold, wet day and fought for parking to spend $25 plus food, which we all know is exorbitant, for something that left me totally unimpressed and frankly, disappointed.

My point is movies should be an experience; like going to a sporting event, or seeing live music. Throughout NYC there are old movie palaces that have been repurposed for music and other live events. If you get a moment, go check them out. Look at the Palace theater in Washington Heights; you can't see a movie there but buy a ticket to a concert and get there early. The detail everywhere in this venue is spectacular!!!! You couldn't afford to build anything like this today. Go to the Zeigfeld theater in Midtown or Grauman's Chinese theater in LA to experience a movie. You owe it to yourself; this is what it was like 30+ years ago when it was an event! It was memorable! Places like these made going to the movies worth blocking out time in your calendar. Now? You're probably fitting your movies in between clothes shopping or going to the grocery store, and you have all the reason to, it means next to nothing. I did today and frankly I got what I paid for; inflation adjusted based mediocrity and one size fits most generics.

Why would you do this when you can spend your tax refund, or your bonus, or your raise to equip your home with something that can easily best a theater of poor pedigree? I don't have a good answer for this anymore. At home you can pause for a bathroom break or food, you can control the crowd (or lack thereof), its probably more comfortable than the theater you go to, AND you don't have to fight the traffic street closures and flooded roads, not to mention pajamas on a cold, wet, rainy mess of a day are way easier!

The last thing I will say is this. If you can experience a movie at a true movie palace, I implore you to do so. If you want, i'll come with you! There is nothing like seeing movies in a temple of cinema. Nothing! and if you love watching, you owe it to yourself to seek it out. I'm happy to help.

For those of you who don't have a movie theater nearby where someone cares about the experience, I want to apologize on behalf of everyone in AV and I want to strongly recommend you save your money and invest in a home theater. Not a home theater in a box but something thoughtfully created by a professional with your budget in mind. It WILL change how you view movies (literally and metaphorically speaking).

Movies are intended to be viewed a certain way by their creators, and when they are, motion pictures become a visceral experience that lead you on an emotional roller coaster they keep you glued to your seat, they create an emotional attachment to the characters on the screen. If your local theater is not doing this you're missing out on one of life's great simple pleasures.

You owe it to yourself to experience it- One way or another. Vote how with your money.

Thoughts on the second week

The second week was similar to the first in a good way.

I felt pretty good, my stress level is staying low and I feel better about work in general. The second week was better than the first in that I seem to have started well with our blog scoring a great, and well regarded, AV writer to help get the content off the ground. Also, we have our meeting setup with the web designer and IT pros to give our monthly emailer a 'freshen up' more in-line with the website aesthetic. The marketing seems to be headed in the right direction for me and i'm pleased.

I'm still pleasantly surprised at how a job change in the same small company can do so much for my state of mind and general well being. Its been a really pleasant change and i'm happy to go to work again. This benefits me and my employer, a happy worker is a productive worker, and I feel more productive than I have in quite sometime.

I will say, i'm starting to feel really bad for the person in my old position. Seeing the difficulties of the position from the 'outside' looking in makes me wonder how I did it for so long. I'm trying to do as much as I can to give him a hand. He and I are the only two in the company who know the pain of doing the old job so it means a lot to me to help him succeed. If we can't both do it, it's just not doable. I'll keep everyone abreast of how this goes in the future.

Until then, stay dry if you live in the eastern part of the US- I may put up a some more posts today but it's a bit hectic this weekend. Thanks for reading so far. This is fun.

Wire- Who needs wire? You do

More and more people are jumping on the wireless bandwagon. Video games, web browsing and cordless phones are some of the 'traditional' wireless technologies but now AV is starting to really get into wireless tech. TV's are going wireless eschewing the normal method of hookup for a wireless connection to a media-box of some kind, allowing your TV to go anywhere you can find power and leaving the wires somewhere out of site. A few manufacturers have recently hopped on the wireless HDMI bandwagon as well and more and more companies are sending audio through the air or controlling systems without copper. Not to mention cellular and cordless phones...

This is all fine and good, and I think the innovation is sorely needed, but if someone asks me if they should wire their new home, I say the same thing every time- Absolutely!

Now, you're probably asking yourself, why I seem to be on the road to contradiction and i'll tell you it's all because of what I see in New York City on a day to day basis.

Failing network connections, losing calls, wireless access points that fall off the network never to be seen again. You see, a lot of what's being sold and installed works on similar frequencies and these frequencies are somewhat limited.

Click on the link, i'll wait.... still waiting.... ok I can't wait anymore, it's pretty amazing, isn't it?

I know a bit about wireless and not nearly as much as I could, and I see some pretty crazy things in my day to day, but when I saw that document I was shocked at how much is really out there. Anyway, the point is, all of that is being sent and received constantly and more gets added by the day and from time to time, signals get mixed, or signals disappear.

If you really want to rely on more and more technology (which I think you should as a member of the technology industry) you should always have a backup plan when the newest and coolest doesn't work as planned and that backup is wire. Granted, there are all different kinds for different applications and in that case your best bet when doing a renovation, or buying a new home, or just adding a new, cool piece of technology is to speak to a professional.

I'm not suggesting when you buy a new printer that you call a CEDIA member just to run a network cable around the room; but when you want to make a serious investment in your home and upgrade the technology take the time to at least talk to someone. It might save you a lot of wireless headaches in the future.

Think of it this way- If you are building a home or renovating, you're already doing most of the work. Copper is cheap in it's many forms. If the walls are open, run as much as you can to wherever you could think of that you would want something in the future- TV locations, printer locations, video games, phone jacks, etc....

I want to leave you with one last thought on wireless and how it can go wrong. Just think of the old cordless phone you got rid of because you got static on a call one time and it never went away... I rest my case

Panasonic gives 3D exclusive to Magnolia

http://bit.ly/dsbIPf

For those of you wanting to read the original article, i've posted it above. I want to cut to the chase...The idea that in 3D's infancy in consumer electronics, Panasonic would give an exclusive to a 3d technology to ANY vendor is absurd, in my opinion. I'm fairly certain this is going to turn out badly for Panasonic in the long run.

The PR train is starting to roll on 3D. As I tweeted before CBS is doing the final four in theaters in 3D, ESPN is planning a channel, there are plenty of cool things happening in this portion of the industry but the sets are barely out in the marketplace. Granting an exclusive to one vendor is not going to make sales take off. This isn't the iPad or the elusive Christmas gift kids need to have this year, this is an emerging technology and we want in the industry want it in as many hands as possible, not a select few. I would understand if Panasonic allowed Magnolia to have their reference line or a specific line, but their entire 3D system.

I don't see the logic. Do you?

Didn't get a chance

I didn't forget about everyone yesterday, I had a hectic schedule. Wednesdays tend to be tough for me in general. I should have something up here later today for your reading pleasure.

Mac in AV

As we have all seen, Apple computers- Macbooks, iMacs, etc... have become the computer to have. Surprisingly, this seemingly new found ubiquity has been lost on most of our manufacturers. Name a vendor who allows you to program their systems from a Mac without virtualization? Savant doesn't count, as they are totally Mac based. Harmony doesn't either, as its primarily web based. I bet most of you are struggling to answer that and virtualization doesnt always work. I don't know of many either.

Controlling systems and integrating to Mac's is a challenge as well. Here are just a few examples: Audio ReQuest and their integration to iTunes on Mac is a labor intensive process that is NOT intuitive. At least they have something for the Apple lover. Kaleidescape has their conductor software to send your music from your K-Scape to a computer and it's PC only. Crestron JUST came out with Xpanel for Mac, years and years after you could control your system on a Windows box. Meridian's software configuration is Windows only, and programming a Niles system is a Windows affair as well. I can go on and on and on.

The point is, while everyone seems to jump on the iPhone bandwagon, most of our vendors in the industry seem to be recalcitrant in their support of the OSX platform on the actual computers like iMac and MacBook Pro. In the age of 'global' Intel hardware on both Mac and Windows boxes, why aren't more manufacturers and vendors at least starting to make the push? Everyone seems to be overhauling their software for the latest and greatest features and newest buzzwords, but why forget a growing part of the computer using population on both sides of the industry?

I do applaud Savant for taking the Mac approach, but then they are a Mac based system. With that being said, using their product on PC is equivalent to all the examples i've listed above, on the other side of the mirror.

The industry needs to get on board. These aren't the days of the Apple Lisa and the Apple Pippen; Apple has an ever increasing markets share, and more and more people have a comfort level with Mac that they have NEVER had with a PC. Its time to at least embrace everyone. If you're going to do a major software revision take the time to do it on a Mac, it can't hurt.

- JTM

Full disclosure- Written on a Mac

The first week- Thoughts

So the first week came and went, and I wanted to touch on what I thought of it all.

Overall, it was nice to be back, and everyone was glad to see me and I was glad to see them. It was nice to settle into a work routine of sorts and be out of the house after all this time recovering. Granted, we didn't sort out my position contract yet, but i'm confident we will at some point this week.

I'm starting to feel useful at work, for the first time in years. I feel like I can accomplish things, I don't feel like i'm the "obstacle". I enjoy contributing vs. battling. My boss hasn't changed but most of his frustration is no longer directed at me, because i'm no longer the department.

I've had some positive conversations thus far about new marketing ideas and new products that we should sell that are easy transitions for the company, at least for someone unencumbered by an existing sales position. Personally, I think this will be my toughest challenge, keeping enough of my time free to prospect all these markets that we don't even scratch. Small businesses are tough in that respect; everyone wears every hat at least some of the time, and if you don't take them off for a while you wind up never taking it off. I learned that in my old position. Don't take on too much, you might not be able to give it back.

Anyway, it's nice to enjoy work, and it's nice to being doing a little of everything right now. I hope we can hash out an agreement that keeps me on my toes in a good way. Once I know more, ill share my thoughts.

Realdvd and Kaleidescape or Death of Interim Solutions??

Realdvd has given up on their lawsuit with the six "major" hollywood studios this week.

http://bit.ly/bdUUkH

Most of the people in my industry have yet to be affected by this lawsuit, but the implications of this suit on another legal battle winding its way through the judicial system may impact some of our bottom lines. The other suit is Kaleidescape vs. DVD CCA.

Kaleidescape makes a really spectacular DVD server solution. Basically, you load all your DVD's and CD's onto their servers, place their players in any room in the house and you can, watch or listen instantly in as many rooms as you want to or can afford. The system copies the ENTIRE disc bit for bit, encryption and all, and sends it over network wire to its players. In a sense its a very closed system architecture, which is why it works so well (think Apple for closed system architecture)

The DVD CCA is a group responsible for the copy protection on all DVD's (which is known as CSS), they developed it and they go after anyone trying to make their copy protection be used in a way that they haven't drawn up or ways they couldn't imagine. Mind you, i didn't say in illegal ways, I said different ways. Also keep in mind that I said make (as in use) their copy protection, not circumvent or not use.

Now one more bit of interesting information for you to ponder before I get back to my article here. Aside from lawsuits and some other various things, Kaleidescape and the DVD CCA are joined by one common bond. THEY BOTH LEGALLY LICENSED CSS SOFTWARE. Further, quite a high number of companies DID NOT license the CSS software AND HAVE NOT BEEN SUED AT ALL BY DVD CCA.

With all that being said, because of how the DVD CCA is working this legal issue, they are going after a 'small' contractual matter vs. the larger 'fair use' matter that has been upheld by the Supreme Court quite a few times ( Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios being of the most famous cases) Because the RealDVD matter has been settled, i'm sure we will see the DVD CCA use this as precedent to help beat Kaleidescape in their appeal

I'm sure the few of you that have read this far are wondering when i'm actually going to get to my point of how this affects the AV industry bottom line, and I am, now.

If Kaleidescape loses their appeals they will likely be required to shut down their DVD server side of the business, which is the majority of the their business model. The sad thing, aside from loss of profit dollars for the AV industry is we lose the gateway to a really fantastic business for a few years. We lose the ability to sell products that allow the consumer (albeit at this point an extremely high end consumer) a product that fills a very cool transition point in our business, content management for legacy sources and current sources (once they decide to go down that path).

Kaleidescape makes an internet connected device that takes your current DVD's and CD's (and perhaps BluRay if they can get the player out and the ability to rip the data to the server) and puts them on a hard drive you can use anywhere in your home, we get that. It also has the ability, whether Kaleidescape wants to or not, to become a content manager for digital only content- iTunes music, existing mp3's, Netflix on demand, all of these features can currently be handled by a cable box or a TV set in some cases so why wouldn't Kaleidescape? They haven't gotten to it yet. This is what we lose, a really great transitional product and we lose the competition Kaleidescape would have if the cost of entry wasn't so steep (legal battle after legal battle and lawyer hourly rates). We all know, if this wasn't a legal minefield, we would see competitors like Kaleidescape at $2-3K vs the $9k starting price of a Kaleidescape mini-system, and we all know Kaleidescape would have freed their money and resources to keep Kaleidescape at the top of the field in other ways, be it in content management, or more advanced hardware.

Overall, this is a loss for the consumer at this point and the AV industry as a whole too. AV lost the ability to look out for the best interests of their clients (and make a profit as the expert) and consumers lost out on a product that when price wars did what they always do, would've allow people to take their CD's and DVD's, put them in the attic or closet and still have access to their existing physical media library, while continuing to buy the newest content online and have it all in one place that's easy to manage.

I know it doesn't sound like much of a loss, but it is a loss. It was one of the few times that the industry got it right. We gave people a transition vs. a cutoff, and for a change, its not even the fault of the consumer electronics industry that it didn't work. Let's all hope that Kaleidescape is successful in their latest appeal, and we get to see this small part of the AV industry bloom into what it should be, not die on the vine.

TGIF?

Hey everyone. Kind of a hectic day schedule wise, so i'm going to post tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend, see you here tomorrow

Sonos- A good start for the connected

As I mentioned in a tweet earlier, we've started carrying Sonos. Part of me loves the product (or it's potential) and part of me has some hesitancy (in what it's missing)

For those of you that clicked on the link or already knew about the product it's an interesting idea in quite a few ways. It has the potential to be a multi-room audio system that does room to room wirelessly. This is a big jump in some ways for multi-room and in other ways it falls just a bit short for some people.

The system consists of the controllers , what they call zone players and the other various widgets; Speakers and zone bridges and possibly a networked hard drive are the last of the components really need to get a system off the ground of any size more than a room or two. Place the zone players in each room, attach some speakers, make sure it all shows up on your network and you're off to a good start. Now, about the music. You have a couple of options:

1. Fill a hard drive full of your favorite tunes and connect it to the network

2. Setup the internet music functionality via the network- This could be pandora, Last.Fm, even Sirius internet radio. A fair selection of music

3. Some sort of 'older' source- CD player, iPod etc.... (no, I personally don't think iPod is an old source)

The challenges of a Sonos system are focused on standard source components (CD, FM tuners, xm tuners even iPods etc...). Sonos doesn't control these sorts of devices, and it doesn't even try. If you want to attach one to the system, you can, but you better be pretty close to your CD player or iPod when you want to do track forward or track back.

This is where Sonos falls short. Most of us use iPod's, still have CD's, and maybe have a tuner of some kind at home. To have so little control over these sources really makes the system a tough choice for a fair number of people.

I know you might be thinking that, how big a house could you live in that this is SUCH a heartache, but i'm not the client for this product right now.

Imagine having a two story house, plugging your iPod in down in the family room on the first floor, and walking upstairs to the bedroom and turning the system on. Now, imagine you want to change tracks on your iPod... that you left downstairs, plugged in. Once or twice this is going to happen and you're going to be annoyed, more than that, and you'll probably wind up using the system less and less because you see it as a hassle.

I do think that if the system is well planned and discussed with a professional or if you really give it some thought on how you really live in your home and where you spend your time , this system can be an AMAZING choice for quite a few people. I also think this is the next coming of multi-room audio and automation in nascent form. The idea of wireless communication from room to room amongst all devices in the system, content being primarily "cloud" based and control that follows you from room to room are going to be the tenets of what the industry is in the not so distant future and Sonos is definitely on that bleeding edge.

Once we have our first large scale (for Sonos) installation, which should happen in the next 30-60 days, ill give you my thoughts on how the system behaves and how the client likes this "cloud integration". Let me know what you think in the comments below.

- JTM

Busy today

I don't have a ton of time, but as soon as I saw this article I had to link to it.


http://everythingrandom.net/post/182101960/i-bought-a-cd-not-a-licensing-agreement


It sums this up pretty well, but who wants logic? Not the music labels!

More later, or tomorrow!

XM... I am a convert

A few months ago, I was in the market for a new car. The lease on my SUV was up and I needed something else. The car I wound up with seemed nicely loaded and came with XM amongst other cool features. Initially, I was pretty skeptical. I hated the idea of paying for radio, and really thought If I couldn't find anything on FM normally, why would XM be any better. I started playing around with the free trial though I had many a conversation against XM over the past few years and...

I cannot begin to tell you how wrong I was.

I love XM, and while I was home recovering recently, I found myself really missing my XM radio. The amount of music and entertainment is fantastic, the selection amazing, and the artists I keep discovering has gotten me back into music in a way thats been missing from my life for quite a few years. On top of all of this I can listen to Bob Dylan DJ!!!! Listening to him talk about music and spin his favorites has me totally transfixed. I find myself driving a little slower or taking the long way if I know his show is about to come on so I can catch a few minutes.

Consider me a convert XM. Now I need to find a nicely built, good sounding home tuner. Any suggestions?

- JTM


http://www.xmradio.com/

Awards? Yes please!

I can't say what publication or what awards just yet (they haven't been announced to the public), but a couple of the projects i've managed at my current job won a few 2010 industry awards! I've managed a few award winning projects since I started, but I have to say it feels really nice every time. It also feels pretty nice considering the transition i've made. Its nice to know my work has a lasting impact.

I also have to say that it wouldn't be possible without the team of people that I work with and work(ed) for me. I really do believe I have the best people in the industry and the awards streak we've been on the past few years really proves that.

Once the announcement is made, i'll let everyone know but until then. A PRIVATE CELEBRATION!!!!

We have liftoff!!! Oh, no not yet.. sorry

Well, today was supposed to be the day I hashed out my new position with my boss and his wife. Turns out, that didn't happen. Not too worried though, I had a productive day. Doing some product research on some things that I want to be selling going forward and I started my twitter page. If you want to see whats going on or just cool things that I don't have time to post, check me out at:

http://twitter.com/MyAVLife

Later, i'm going to talk about some products that really are starting to impress me or have always had my eye.

First post on MY A/V Life

Today was the first day of my transition from one position to another in a small business.

Let me give you some background.

I used to be the production manager/ project manager for one of the larger custom Audio Video automation contractors in the country. My boss and I never saw eye to eye. In my opinion, I was seen as an obstacle. I saw it as the voice of reason. We can’t say yes to everyone every time. Needless to say, we butted heads quite a bit. He wanted what he wanted, and I didn’t always think what he wanted was possible. Anyway, a lot of what I did with my day to day was put out fires. This architect changes this, this client changes that, my boss changes something else. It was a grind. Every day, on guard, constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. When I was good, I caught them, most of them anyway. Four years of being the only one in charge of every project took its toll. The problem with putting out fires or catching shoes is if you aren’t on 24/7, 365 you get burnt, or hit with a shoe. I did, plenty of times.

Four years of this, plus long hours every day wears a person out. Calls in the evening, calls on holidays, calls on the weekends, you never realty get a chance to rest. You get dull, slow, miss a step, miss a detail here and there or worse. Walk into doors, forget what you were saying mid-sentence good times.

Then there are the layoffs. You start with a team, a team you trust. They might not be the best according to others, but they’re the team you trust and you get it done. As the economy gets worse, your team gets smaller and you take on more and more.

What you just read is a recipe for disaster.

A smaller team and working harder and harder leaves you scrambling on your good days and overwhelmed on your bad. My disaster came in the form of MRSA. Probably not what you thought I was going to say, I would imagine. I certainly didn’t see it coming.

The Thursday before the Super Bowl this year, I was scrambling, like usual, because the Super Bowl is a day that everyone who never uses their TV or theater decides “Time for an upgrade!” except they think this on the Wednesday before the Super Bowl. Not a ton of time, especially when everyone has the same thought. Anyway, I was in our warehouse and happened to catch my jeans on something. I never thought twice about it, except the next day I didn’t feel great and had “a pimple”. Saturday, a pretty quiet day, left me pretty tired and not feeling right. I was kind of achey, really tired and a low grade fever came over me, and that “pimple” got bigger. Something told me this wasn’t right. One of the guys that worked for me at the time had a very similar pimple and it turned out to be Staph. Nah, not me. I was just a little burnt out. This happened from time to time, minus the fever. “I’m just burnt out and it was catching up”, I told myself. Sunday “the pimple” was too big to ignore anymore and my fever was 101. I missed the Super Bowl unlike my clients who had their new TV’s and projectors. Something was rotten in the state of Denmark.

The next three weeks are pretty much a blur. Doctors visits, hospitalization, emergency surgery, visiting nurses at home, sleep and more sleep. My life got pretty turned around on what, I thought at that moment, was a pimple.

With all that being said, a lot of fires got some fuel they wouldn’t normally and a lot of shoes fell all over the ground that might have been caughtwhile I was gone. If I’m not there, no one is really looking, and it all came apart at the seams. The plus in all this, was that everyone realized how hard I was working. The negative was everyone realized, including me, that the pace wouldn’t last.

Coming back from all of this, there was a sitdown conversation with my boss and his wife. Probably the best conversation we’ve had since I started. He wasn’t happy. I was miserable. He didn’t like how things were going, neither did I. I thought about quitting and I told him. We ripped a bunch of band aids off and it felt pretty good. The out come was this. I got offered a new position in the company. “ Write your own position” they said. “We want you to be involved in sales”, which coincidentally was something I pondered while I was home recovering. I also got told that my old position wasn’t up for discussion. “We’ve farmed it out to a few people throughout the company”. As of this writing, four people do parts of my old job. “Rest and relax and think about what you want to do. Do you want to stay? Do you want to come up with a new position? Do you want to go someplace else and try something new? Take the rest of the week and come back to us and let us know what you think.” And I did. I talked to friends, close friends, I talked to family, I talked to my significant other, I talked to paid professionals who I trust implicitly, and I decided to make up my own new job.

Today was my first day back on the job. It didn’t start perfectly. My alarm code was changed while I was gone, so I had an interesting 5 minutes when I walked in. My boss and his wife forgot I was coming in, so the day was pretty quiet overall. Everyone was glad to see me, there was a lot of love in the office. Overall, there isn’t much else to say other than tomorrow I’ll sit down and hash out my position and what it is.

This blog is going to be about my experiences making a pretty serious transition in a pretty small business. The ups, the downs, and everything in the middle. If there isn’t much to report for whatever reason, you might find out what I think about some of the newest products in Home Entertainment or Audio Video. You may read about what music has been on at home with friends or in the car on the way to and from work. Basically, you’re going to come along with me on my A/V life. I hope you enjoy it, I’m going to sure as hell try to.