Category Archives: Technology

Give People What They Want?

September 12, 2011 – 10:42 am
Whatever, whenever...

Betamax - here to stay forever?

We’re all aware of the pace of technological change these days. It’s obviously a big issue in our world. We also know that not everything survives the Darwinism of the market. Here is a true story:

A good friend of mine decided, in the early eighties, that he would record and archive his favourite TV series – Dad’s Army, Bilko, Porridge, Monty Python etc. – which he diligently did. Being an audio/videophile he used the best technology available using the finest equipment. He thought he’d watch and enjoy them when he was fifty.

He’s fifty this year. The best technology back then was videotape. The finest equipment was a Sony C9 video recorder. But guess what? The C9 was a Betamax machine (far superior to VHS). And guess what else? You can’t get spares for a 1982 Betamax machine now. Or a replacement unit that plays those tapes. Oh dear.

Of course he can still watch his programmes, and he does. Using Apple TV and his LoveFilm account. Thank goodness. And the Internet.

So what of the technology available today nearly (gulp) thirty years later? I’ll give you a few examples.

3D Good or Bad?

If you can't make it GOOD, make it 3D?

3D has been heavily marketed. The kit isn’t particularly expensive. To make the most of it, however, you really need to make sure all links in the chain are fully 3D capable (which hasn’t been fully explained in the advertising) and everything needs to be installed and configured correctly. And you need the 3D glasses. The right glasses, because they’re all different.

The first big feature films were a success at the box office, and those, like Avatar or How to Train Your Dragon, that were originated in 3D looked impressive. Since then, however, attendances for the 3D screenings have done less well. Many people, especially young children, find it all a bit uncomfortable. This summer (supposed to be the ‘Summer of 3D’) has seen the proportion of 3D US cinema revenue for 3D movies fall to around 45%. The US movie trade paper Variety is talking about ‘the decline’ of 3D, even in the context of the key demographics of families and teenagers (horror is a 3D favourite, apparently – plus ca change …).

‘INTERNET TV’

BBC iPlayer

BBC iPlayer gaining in popularity and ways to be viewed..

The fact that modern TVs allow you to use iPlayer, Lovefilm, 4OD, ITV-on-demand and other on-demand services isn’t that well known, yet as a result many of our clients (and my household in particular!) hardly ever watch broadcast TV ‘when broadcast’. We watch TV, but not when it is first shown – rather we use it when we have time, or when our children are allowed to, or something that allows us to ‘time shift’ our viewing. Like Sky+, but without having to ‘remember’ to record stuff. The popularity of these services has skyrocketed – especially when you take into account people viewing on their smartphones, PCs, iPads etc. Over 20 million people use iPlayer regularly (well over 100 million programmes are viewed using iPlayer every month) and around 10 million people used the Radioplayer service in its first month of operation.

SONOS

You may have heard of Sonos. Or maybe you’ve used it. It lets you listen to and control your music, and Internet radio and streaming music services like Last FM, Napster and Spotify wherever you want in your home or business. Sonos just announced that there are over a million rooms with Sonos in worldwide.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY?

Back when my friend was recording his Betamax TV programmes it was a huge struggle just to send sound around a couple of rooms of someone’s home. Lots of people wanted to do it, but few could afford it, or stomach the work needed. Now, thanks to systems like Sonos, it’s easy. The same can be said of the on-demand TV services. And because it is simple to do something people want, they’re really successful, and we make sure our clients can take advantage of them.

But what of 3D? Well we can certainly help you get a great 3D experience. But I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to get the movies or much other content in 3D in a few years time. I can be sure, however, that our systems, and the wiring that supports them, will allow you to watch Internet TV. Because it’s easy, people like it. Because people like it the technology has matured and the services all work in a similar way. That means I can predict how it’ll work.

Betamax was better than VHS. But people liked VHS. Sometimes it’s better to be happy than to be right.

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Things Are Getting Easier

September 12, 2011 – 10:26 am
The old and new

One if definitely more compact...

If you’ve used an iPhone or iPad you’ll probably have remarked (to yourself, at least) about how easy it was to get started. Successful as these things have been, they don’t really do anything you couldn’t do before – you’ve been able to listen to music, watch video, browse the web, play games, reply to your email and yes, even make phone calls from mobile phones for many years. I think I could first get e-mail on the move sometime around 1995 – a dozen years before the iPhone was launched.

So why have they been so successful? I suspect you know the answer. All that stuff that you could do, maybe did do, was much easier to achieve. And better. I’ll give you a couple of examples: the multitouch interface made it easy for people to scoot around their photos, emails and especially websites, without wishing they’d filed their fingernails to a sharp point. You only have to look at how young children instinctively touch a computer display (and are disappointed if it doesn’t respond) to see what a success that has been. Another example is Apple’s ‘visual voicemail’ feature – you no longer have to grind through dozens of voicemails from people you don’t want to speak to, in order to discover the one you care about – great for time-poor users (that’s everyone, right?).

AN INTEGRATED SOLUTION

Apple have achieved this level of quality (and, in the process harvested most of the profit available in the smartphone business) because they make the hardware, design the software, own the download stores, train the sales and support staff and manage their timetable to deliver. They control the whole process, which means they can work on the detail to get it all right, and refuse to launch something until they think it’s great. However you regard the company (as I write, it is the world’s most valuable business in market-cap terms) and whatever you think of their projects, they provide an integrated solution that many people love.

BREW-YOUR-OWN

Of course you can do the same thing (and have been able to do for years) with many other phones or tablets. But you have to know where to look to find the right software, come up with a way to get your media on the device, work out a way to backup and upgrade when the need comes and generally rely on a lot of third party, here-today software. You’ll need first-rate geek skills and quite a lot of time. If you have that, it could all work out OK for you.

SMC CUSTOMERS

Our customers like integrated solutions. They want the technology in their life to work well, in a straightforward way, for ever. So we install reliable, best-practice, future-ready infrastructure using the best equipment for the budget. We create simple, reliable interfaces so they (and their families) can easily do what is needed – watch a movie, control the blinds, set the alarm, save energy – whatever they want to do. We never recommend fancy new gadgets just for the sake if it.

We’re certainly not Apple, but we get all our business from recommendation, and we’re working hard to do things as well as we possibly can. In an integrated way.

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