Editorial: Cutting the cable cord is a young trend going in the right direction
This week I bought a Roku. Late to the party? Yes, but not as late as you might suppose. Roku has sold about 2.5 million streaming media boxes since the product launched in 2008. Approximately 1.5 million of those units moved in 2011, indicating an acceleration of demand. Coincidentally, those numbers roughly represent the cord-cutting movement: Reportedly, 2.65 million cable subscribers ditched their service between 2008 and 2011, with about 1.5 million of those defections happening in 2011.
While cable cord-cutting is a trend, the movement is occurring in the context of customer inertia. About 100 million customers subscribe to cable, satellite, and other pay-TV providers (e.g. AT&T’s U-Verse). The problematic value proposition of cutting the cord will probably keep massive inaction in place for the short term, but cannot, I believe, withstand long-term marketplace demands.
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Filed under: Home Entertainment
Editorial: Cutting the cable cord is a young trend going in the right direction originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Editorial: Engadget on Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo’s E3 Keynotes
It’s early June and we’re in Los Angeles, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to get our game on at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The show is now in full force, the floor having opened up yesterday at noon Pacific Daylight Time. But even though the convention just kicked off, much of the big news is already out of the way. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have each had their time to shine with pre-show press conferences. So, how did the big console makers perform? Is this an E3 for the record books or just a year of lackluster demos? Our editors sound off after the break.
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Editorial: Engadget on Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo’s E3 Keynotes originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jun 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Editorial: How FAA-certified gadgets could improve air travel and eliminate the Terrible 10,000 Feet
If you’re reading this now and have experienced the wonders of modern air travel then you have surely suffered through what I call the “Terrible 10,000 Feet.” This is the period between the clunk of the cabin door closing and the bong of the cabin indicator, the chime signifying arrival of the magic altitude where “approved electronic devices” can then be used again. The first half of the worst part of the flight is then over — the latter half to commence as soon as the plane dips again below that gadget ceiling.
This is the loudest part of the flight — engines throttled up, flaps and gear hanging in the breeze and scared kids doing their best to drown all that out with screams and shouts. It’s exactly when you most want to use your portable music player, and exactly when you aren’t allowed. We’ve been told that this is for safety reasons, to prevent interference from the myriad devices carried by a cabin full of passengers, but that’s never quite felt satisfactory to me. (Why is it okay to use those very same devices over 10,000 feet? Why can pilots use iPads but I can’t?)
So many questions, but I’m not here to second-guess the people whose jobs it is to keep me safe as I schlep myself, my roller bag and my personal item across the country yet again. I’m here to propose a very simple solution: a certification program in which manufacturers submit devices for testing and the FAA charges a (possibly hefty) fee for their approval. It could not only improve the lives of frequent travellers like myself, but could also stand to provide millions in funding to the FAA, funds that could be put toward its unfortunately named NextGen air traffic control system. Win win? Read on and decide for yourself.
Editorial: How FAA-certified gadgets could improve air travel and eliminate the Terrible 10,000 Feet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Editorial: I’m ready for my car of the future, and it doesn’t even have to fly
Face it: you’re never going to have a flying car. Even if the Moler Skycar were cheap and common enough for everyone to be able to afford, the first time some bleary-eyed morning commuter spilled coffee on their lap and made a spiraling dive into a kindergarten they’d all be grounded. Permanently. We might get there some day, but the next few generations of tomorrow’s cars are going to stay firmly planted on the ground. I’m okay with that. In fact, I like that. After all, it’s pretty fun to drive on the ground — or a lake, if the ice is thick enough.
If we’re stuck with such pedestrian things as wheels and tires and fenders, what’s the next-generation of cars going to look like? Are hybrids really a hot thing or are they the automotive equivalent of a transition medium? Will tomorrow’s cars continue today’s horsepower wars or are a nation’s dyno graphs on the verge of a beige econo-precipice the likes of which we haven’t seen since the ’70s fuel crisis? Damned if I know, but I do at least have an idea of what I believe the next generation of cars should be, something that could be produced in five years or less and would totally rock my world. Maybe it will rock yours too.
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Editorial: I’m ready for my car of the future, and it doesn’t even have to fly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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