Apple TV too little for too much

Steve Jobs unveiled the final version of Apple TV a couple days ago at Macworld and I’m not really impressed. The sleek $300 device syncs to your iTunes library and allows for streaming video to your TV. The concept is awesome but the problem comes down to price and features – a $400 XBox 360 does the same thing and also plays video games and Slingbox has a new unit coming out for $200. Also, the Apple TV only outputs in high definition, which will reduce the market of the product. On the plus side, the device does include a 40GB harddrive, looks sexy, and will undoubtedly have a slick Apple interface. I have no idea if the device supports DIVX or if you’ll need to install some custom programs ala the 360 in order to stream your backup movies.

It’s clear that Apple has goals at getting into your living room via video content delivery on iTunes and now the Apple TV. Microsoft’s already in my living room via the XBox and I already have all the media connections plus next gen gaming. At CES, Billy Gates announced the 360 will soon be capable of streaming TV over IP. So I’m going to say that this is one case where Microsoft is doing a much better job than Apple at their goal. Why would I pay $300 for a slightly slicker device when I can pay a little more for great gaming and better accessibility or a little less to get the same thing? Apple needs to do something to make this product stand out in the crowd.

Happy Wednesday!

-Bob

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope you’re all having a great time with family and friends.  Kate and I are spending time in Iowa City seeing both of our families and friends.  Lots of fun!

-Bob

I Want a Wii! Or, How I Lost my Patience and Bought an XBox 360

Title pretty much explains it all!

I’ve been super-pumped for the Wii but it has been nigh impossible to find one in the greater Boston area without tracking shipments and waiting in line for four hours before a store opens. I’ve tried to get a Wii a bunch of times now, but without any luck. My latest attempt was a couple weeks ago when I went to Circuit City three hours before the store was to open on a cold Sunday morning. A website that is supposedly accurate with shipments said that there would be 60 consoles available. I was 54 or 55th in line. Turns out they only had 43 consoles and I missed by about 8 spots (some people were in line with friends who didn’t buy a Wii) and I was out of luck. I went so far as to contact some Craig’s List sellers selling bundles (hoping to return the games) but didn’t get a response from most of them or got treated like dirt. Nice salesmanship, jerkfaces (notice the toned down insult). I didn’t get a Wii.

It has been funny that I’ve had the option to buy both the 60GB and 20GB PS3s but have passed every time I have had the opportunity. That console is really not doing much for me right now. Even eBay prices have gone way down from the astronomical 4-figure prices realized just after launch to some consoles actually selling for less than retail. Hot system you have there Sony!

So amid all the Wii frustration, I came to the realization that I’m not all that excited to play Zelda: Twilight Princess, the one must have game for Nintendo’s baby. Some of the mini-game collections, like Rayman: Raving Rabbids, look like tons of fun to play but I don’t know if it’s worth $50 let alone all the bloody stress or extra cash needed to get the console. All the while, in the background, I keep hearing talk of Gears of War, the must have shooter for the 360. The more I hear about it, the more I want to play. And then comes the bombshell – Microcenter is offering a $100 rebate on new XBox 360 systems. And then I find a coupon for free XBox Live Arcade games and then I hear KMart is putting some XBox Live subscriptions on clearance for about half off.

So I broke and gave in to the Microsoft. I’m now a proud owner of an XBox 360. I’m still super pumped about the Wii but only have so many gaming dollars and gaming hours so I’ll be putting off my purchase until the system is readily available after a price drop. Maybe next Christmas time!

-Bob

Studio 60 – Yeah!Boo!Meh…

I finally caught last week’s Studio 60 episode over the weekend it was probably my favorite episode of the show so far.  I really don’t know what to think of this show.  Some episodes like this past one, the pilot, and “The West Coast Delay” work extremely well do to quick pacing, witty banter, and clever plot development.  Other episodes fail miserably because of horribly heavyhanded storytelling.  I never realized there was such a bad reaction to “Christians” and Sorkin shoving it down my throat doesn’t make me believe it.  “Nevada Day” Parts 1 and 2 were probably the worst episodes of the series because of incredibly stupid plotting and cookiecutter characters.  Does everyone in this world have to have a heart of gold or be pure evil?  How about some shades of grey?  How about some more witty banter and less father being mad at his son in comedy?

But still, when this show works, it really works and lately it’s been working really well.  There’s a break for the holidays and then the show’s back.  As long as we keep the sentimentality to a minimum, I’ll keep tuning in.

-Bob

Welcome!

Welcome to Bob’s Wacky Thoughts version 1.2 with the new leaner and meaner (longer and geakier) title of Bob’s Pseudo-Random Meanderings! Though my dastardly absence says otherwise, I really appreciate all the comments wondering about my whereabouts these last four odd months. I’m just weird and selfish I guess. I get in phases where I’m all into something and then the next day I’m totally immersed in another project and then feel so ashamed about ditching the first one that I run away as to hide my lack of work on it from myself. Probably nothing a good bit of psycho-analysis and old fashioned Ridalin couldn’t take care of but I’ll probably continue with the old-old fashioned technique of just sucking it all up.

So what else is new? I’m as busy at work as ever and am currently tackling three projects. I’m really enjoying pieces of each of them so I’m at a normal level of chicken-ladyness. The Kate’s keeping a dreadful schedule with her full time teaching job in addition to taking graduate classes at Cambridge College for her teaching masters degree. Classes are winding down now but during October and November, she’d be teaching from 8:30-3:30 and then be a student until 10pm. AND she had to find a place to park in Cambridge when going to class which is about the worst thing I can think of. She also has been busy doing homework so the poor lady’s been quite tired.

And I’m looking to go back to grad school now. Woowee. I just about have all my applications finished and then it’s the long, nervewracking wait until April until I find out where I can go. I’m hoping to stay in the Boston area because Kate has to do a practicum in the fall of 2007 here to finish up her degree. I don’t think I could live with myself after dragging her out to the big city where she needs a masters degree to teach and watching her take all the classes just to leave a semester before all her work will actually pay off. Maybe credits could transfer somewhere else but she’d still have to do some more work so it may be better to just finish things off here. So my top program is still at the MIT Media Lab and I’m really hoping I get in but I have received a delayed admittance from last year to University of Connecticut, which has a very strong 3D display research group. I’m also looking at Boston University which has some research in the display arena and has a very strong optics center. Steve may appreciate this: Saleh & Teich, the authors of the electro-optics textbook, teach there.

Kate and I moved from our old apartment in Somerville (just north of Boston) to Watertown (just west) in August. We have a lot more space here and also have a lot fewer miscreants about. The commute is a lot better as well, being a consistent 20 minutes for me (as opposed to 30-90) and 30 for Kate (as opposed to 45-60). The consistency is the really nice thing for me. I couldn’t stand finding a random traffic jam and being stuck for over an hour. I think the longest its taken me from the new place is about 25 minutes and there was an accident.

Well, my mother recently got proficient enough with the internets to do a search and found this blog.  Needless to say, she was less than impressed with my, ahem, command of certain four letter words.  For the sake of posterity I won’t go back and edit my posts, but I’ll also be spending much less time developing colorful phrases to describe my thoughts about DVD re-releasing.  Yeah, I’ll probably still think these things up, so if you’re reading this Mr. Rumsfeld, there’s no need to do another investigation when a big grin appears seemingly randomly on my face.  You know what I’m thinking.

So there ya go. Welcome to the new Bob’s PSRM and count on me posting regularly… for at least this next week…

-Bob

Yea, so Lord of the Rings needs to die

I just read about this again last night and realized that Lord of the Rings needs to die. If you click on the link, you’ll see release information for the THIRD set of Lord of the Rings DVDs to be released on August 29. Each movie will be released in a separate two disc set with Disc One containing both the theatrical and extended versions of the movies and Disc Two containing a BRAND SPANKING NEW FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY!!!! Whoop-de-fucking-do-me-in-the-ass-do!

While it’s cool to package both the regular and extended versions on one disc, why the hell do you do it now? Both of the past sets have set sales records and HD-DVD versions of the films have already been announced. Compressing the Extended Versions down to one disc requires tons of compression that will result in the loss of all commentary and DTS sound tracks and a crappier picture. I imagine the only people who really want to see another 6 hours of behind the scenes LOTR footage are the fans who’ve already shelled out for the 20 hours of bonus footage already available on the Extended Editions and Regular editions. To throw further salt on the wound, each set has an MSRP of $28.98, and while you may be able to find each set for $20, this is hardly a bargain. Maybe New Line is releasing these films because Peter Jackson wouldn’t let them screw him out of $100mil.

In other “needs to die” news, I’m silently boycotting IGN.com’s DVD site because they are posting a crazy amount of Star Wars features to celebrate Lucasfilm’s release of the original films. You already know how I feel about these sets and to add insult to injury, the films will not even be presented in a widescreen TV friendly anamorphic transfer.

-Burned Bob

Read Fell #1 for free!

Fell is an Image Comics produced gritty crime story in the noir tradition. What’s really cool about it is that each issue tells a self contained story in 16 pages and only costs $1.99. Most comics these days run around $2.99 and have about 22 pages of comic. Most of these comics are also very padded out with stories being written for the future trade paperback collection. So you usually need to buy 6 comics at 3 bucks a pop to get a full story – not cool.

So if you ever had an interest in comics, noir, or well written stories, I highly suggest you check out Fell. Best of all, you can read the first issue absolutely free! Check it out here on Newsarama (a comics website) and let me know what you thought.
-Snowtown Bob

Thursday full o’ knowledge

I believe to be successful, one must constantly learn new things. Because I would one day like to be successful, I try to learn something new each and every day. Some days I don’t learn much of anything and other days I learn lots. In no particular order of importance, here’s what I learned today:

1) Rotten watermelon is very stinky.

2) It takes approximately 20 minutes to force said watermelon down the tiny holes in my sink drain.

3) Labview is really kind of stupid.

4) Fell #6, released yesterday, is a kickass comic book and is already really hard to find (You should buy a copy for the low, low price of $1.99 – it will be worth much more very soon ).

5) You can spend $2500 on a new wafer probe and get it really fast. When you need said wafer probe repaired for a measely $100, you must constantly bother your group leader to approve the purchase order or else the probe will never be repaired.

6) I miss my wife! She went home to Iowa yesterday and won’t be back until next Tuesday. Aahh!!

7) When you play volleyball in your work clothes at your group picnic and dive for a ball, you will get sand in your pants.

You will also get sand in your pants pockets.

9) When taking your pants off, sand will fall out of your pockets onto the floor.

10) Dirt Devils kick ass!

So what did you learn today?

-Learnd’ed Bob

Why I don’t care about 9/11 films

“It’s about Americans doing their jobs. It’s about Americans seeing each other only as Americans. It’s about the real promise of America, fulfilled.”
-Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger review of “World Trade Center.”

This quote is why I don’t care about the two fictional 9/11 films released so far and don’t expect to be interested in any future movies on the subject. Because of the tragic nature of the event, 9/11 storytelling possibilities are essentially limited to “creating a moving picture of how normal people rise to the level of heroes in the midst of horror.” *Yawn* There are many, many films that already show the glory of being Joe 6 Pack, and I really don’t feel like spending $9 to have Hollywood pick at my 9/11 feelings to give me the same old melodrama.

“For all its crude effectiveness as a true-life melodrama of survival, World Trade Center doesn’t do much with 9/11, except to sentimentalize it for popular consumption.”
-Dana Stevens, Slate review of Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center”

Because it’s been so soon, I guess we’re stuck with these melodramatic movies that the average movie goer may well enjoy. But I’d like to see something a little more innovative, something that generally makes me think. How about telling the story of a firefighter who was too afraid to go into the towers as they fell? How would a character grieve with that human failing and how would his future actions be different? I’m guessing will see such a movie in a few years and critics will rave at how refreshing it is to see something new done with 9/11. Look back at their reviews of the current 9/11 movies, and I bet they’ll be big praises of showcasing the human spirit and blah blah blah.

-Bob

Boston Heat Wave

Boston is in the middle of a smoking hot heat wave causing all the little boys and girls to run around screaming “It’s hot, it’s hot!” This morning for the first time in the 1+ years I’ve been here an announcement came on the intercomm at Lincoln. It said because of energy required to keep us cool in the heatwave we should turn off any unneccesary power consuming devices. All the lights in the hallways were promptly shut off… all of them except the stairways which happen to have a full wall of windows. Oh yeah, and the air conditioning was set down to what felt like 65. Gotta love your government funds at work!

-Governating Efficiency Bob