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Category: Tech in the News

April 17, 2016

Is It Finally Time to Cut the Cable TV Cord?

If you can stream more and more cable channels on your Apple TV or Roku, do you still need a cable subscription?

Since you can stream more and more cable channels on your Apple TV or Roku, do you still need a cable subscription?

I’ve been sharpening my scissors next to my cable cord for quite some time, but every time I’ve picked them up, I’ve back off at the last minute. But not yesterday…
(And this has nothing to do with the President’s recent support to open up the market for other technology companies to sell cable boxes.)

It’s not like I have something against cable television. I like cable TV. And those of you who know me from back when will understand when I say I have a strong connection to the cable world.

I don’t mind paying for my cable service… as long as I’m using it.

My Screens are Dark
But my viewing habits have been changing. I no longer spend significant time in front of my shrine-like media center I built over a decade ago in our family room. I think that’s partly due to being Dada to my little boy now in kindergarten.
(How did that happen so fast?)

And it’s also because technology has allowed me to watch my favorite shows remotely on my iPad and iPhone, and on the go and on Metro North during my commute to New York City. And I’m streaming a lot of my content on apps like Netflix and Amazon Video.

My home office iMac has longed replaced my old Panasonic Plasma TV in the family room as my daily viewing portal. And I’ve found that my secondary TV and cable box in my home office have largely sat dark over the past few months. The exception has been to serve up some of this year’s overwhelming political landscape… usually through CNN.

Who Needs Cable When You Can Stream?
So I woke up yesterday and suddenly felt compelled to cut the cord. And I said to myself… maybe I can simply stream CNN on my new Apple TV.

I ran over and took a look and found that in fact CNN does have an app that streams the live feed.
(CNNgo)

I immediately downloaded the app and activated it by confirming I had a cable subscription.
(I needed to type in a code on a companion CNN activation page on my iMac.)

BAM!
I was suddenly streaming CNN on my Apple TV!
(for no cost!!)

Then I picked up the phone and then almost dropped it, because I was so excited.

I dialed my cable company to downgrade my service to a sub CNN package level. I figured as long as I had a basic tier of cable TV service, the CNN app would still let me stream away. Right?

Wrong.

I told the cable customer service rep my nefarious plan, and she told me it wouldn’t work. If I wanted to stream CNN via my Apple TV, I would still have to subscribe to it through my cable package.

Huh.

So I hung up the phone, feeling rather deflated and thought a bit more about my half-baked strategy. Of course, what I attempted would be forbidden. Otherwise, the entire cable business model would come crashing down.

So where’s the value of a CNN live streaming app on a home Apple TV or Roku if you still need to subscribe and pay for the cable channel as well? Sure, it makes sense to stream cable content to a second screen if that screen is mobile or outside the house. You can see the added value in that scenario.

But if your Apple TV is sitting right next to your cable box, and they’re both connected to the same HDTV… I’m just not seeing the point of being able to stream a cable channel, when it also needs to be active on the cable box.

Wait… did I say, “cable box?”

I had an idea…

The Big Switch
I walked over to my dark home-office HDTV and cable box team. There they both were… gathering dust, except for occasionally serving up CNN.

I ran back to my aging media center in the family room. Actually, it really should be called my “Franken-center,” because it now had all of these disparate technologies bolted on…

Hmmm…

The truth is my Roku had been gathering dust too, ever since my new Apple TV showed up.

I stood there. And yes, a light bulb illuminated above my head.
(Ding!)

I disconnected the Roku and ran it over to my home office. And then the moment of truth…

I reached behind the cable box and unscrewed the coax cable. The old-school cable fell to the floor, and I think I felt a slight rumble caused by the magnitude of my moment.

I pulled out the cable box… and connected the Roku.

I then signed up for CNN on my Roku, just like I had done on my Apple TV.

And voila!
I was watching CNN live on my home office TV without the cable box.

Temporary Insanity
Then I jumped in my car and sped down to my local Cablevision office to return the cable box.

I gleefully handed over my box and companion remote control and was told I would receive a monthly credit… of just under $9 a month.

I ran back to my car and drove home. I walked up my basement stairs and back to my home office. I sat down at my desk.

What had I done?!

Still Married to Cable
Well, I had denied myself all of my cable TV programming on my home office TV except for CNN.
(And any other streaming app I could activate on my Roku that I already had a cable subscription to)

And I’d saved myself nine bucks a month, which you’ve got to admit is not really a game changer.

Did I cut the cable cord?
No, not at all… I just trimmed it ever so slightly.

You might be asking… what’s the point?

Overwhelmed with Options
I think the point is I’m a little frustrated and kind of cranky.

We’ve all got so many ways now to consume media.
And so many opportunities to pay for it…

The list goes on and on…

I simply want to use what I’m paying for.
And pay for what I really consume vs. what I’ve historically spent.

And that equation clearly takes some fine-tuning along the way.

Victory?
So I ripped one of my cable boxes out of my house. This little act of defiance only reflects on my own process of understanding what I want… and need.

Yes, the scissors are always within reach. And it may feel empowering to talk about cutting the cord. But for now, I’ve only done a little spring pruning.

…And I’ve got nine dollars in my pocket.

Does anyone want to place any bets on how long it will take me to replace the box?

At the very least, either way… I’m ready for the next debate!

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April 3, 2016

How to Get More Sound Out of Your iPhone’s Speaker

This tiny speaker on my iPhone 6 Plus does a remarkable job projecting sound, but look how small it is! It can only go so far. Is there a way to give it more oomph? My solution came from a surprising source…

This tiny speaker on my iPhone 6 Plus does a remarkable job projecting sound, but look how small it is! It can only go so far. Is there a way to give it more oomph? My solution came from a surprising source…

Once upon a time, I was a king of swag. I collected giveaway T-shirts, hats, bouncy balls, pens, canvas bags, knapsacks, alarm clocks, cheap sunglasses, key chains, and well… you get the point. You name it… I accumulated it.

Then, one day I realized I didn’t need my swag anymore.
(How many T-shirts with random logos did I really want?)

Plus, I think my swag-free evolution may have had something to do with becoming a father. I needed extra space for all of that baby stuff! Do you know how much room a box of diapers can take up?!
(Oooh… diapers. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about them… I much prefer the swag.)

But I digress. The point is… I gave up swag. And I moved on with my life.

But much like a smoker, it can only take a touch of re-exposure to get you back in the game…

Unidentifiable Swag
Last week, my wife innocently came home with a couple pieces of swag. She plopped one of the items on my desk, because she didn’t know what it was.
(She assumed I would be able to offer some assistance.)

I picked it up…

I couldn’t figure it out either. It was a keychain with a two-inch tall rectangular ‘thing’ that looked like a hollow flashlight. It had a big hole on one end and a tiny hole jammed into a crevice at the other end.

It also sort of looked like a new, futuristic character from the next Lego movie…

Maybe it was a whistle?
I blew into it.
(Nothing.)

Here’s a photo:

Phone Amplifier Keychain 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think?

Here’s another angle…

Phone Amplifier Keychain 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last chance…

Phone Amplifier Keychain 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honestly, I really couldn’t figure it out either…. So I cheated and visited a swag dealer online and simply reviewed their inventory.

At the bottom of the list, I found it…

It’s a “GoodValue Phone Amplifier Keychain.” ($1.99)

A what?

It’s supposed to be a power-free speaker for your smartphone. You hook it over the little speaker on the bottom of your smartphone and the tiny cone boosts the sound without using batteries.
(Like an old gramophone operates)

Did it work?
Kind of…

The sound output was a tad louder, but the sound quality felt much thinner.
(Not that pleasing a compromise)

Is it worth $1.99?
(And only $1.49 if you by 5,000 or more!)

What do you expect?! It’s swag!!

The Search for Acoustic Amplification
But my embarrassing reentry into swag got me thinking… It might be nice to own the real deal… a more substantial passive speaker or acoustic amplifier that you could use when you need to boost the sound on your smartphone.

You know…. Sometimes, you’re on a phone call, and suddenly you want a few folks nearby to join in. So you hit the speaker button and everyone gathers about your iPhone like it’s some kind of Polycom SoundStation.

It would great if you could magically pull a tiny device out of your jacket pocket and attach it to your smartphone to give it a little more oomph.
(Right?)

So I started looking around. You’ve got to figure when a product line devolves into swag, there’s got to be the original, more expensive item still out there.

And there was… about four or five years ago. You can still find remnants of them online, but unfortunately I couldn’t find any to fit the larger form of newer iPhones.

There’s the SoundByte iPhone Stand Amplifier – $2.99
But except for its square physique, it seemed to be pretty much the same item as my rectangular swag.

The other analog options out there are bulky, expensive and mostly made out of wood… not something you can easily pop into your pocket.
(Granted… bigger sound ‘horns’ will get you better sound.)

The Koostik Original looks pretty cool. And it fits the larger iPhone 6 series. But it’s a whopping $99 and not at all portable.

The bottom line: I couldn’t find what I was looking for…
So what happened?

Time to Wash Your Mug
I think Bluetooth happened.

Tiny Bluetooth speakers can do the same trick, and their price points have been dropping to the point that one day soon, you may find them as swag too. I guess there’s simply no longer a need for an analog acoustic solution to boost the sound of your smartphone.

That said, with Bluetooth, you’ve always got to make sure your speaker is charged up. A powerless solution seems so effortless…

And don’t forget, if you really need one, you can just pop your smartphone into a wide glass or mug and let the laws of reflective sound take over.

Really.

But as clever as that may appear in the moment, you’re not always going to have access to a large mug when the spontaneous call for a ‘gather-round-the-iPhone’ conversation hits you.

Don’t Dismiss Your Swag
It feels somewhat odd to get to the final paragraph of one of my posts without a solution to the problem. And completely frustrating to realize I’m working on a dilemma, which was solved and then mostly abandoned half a decade ago…

There’s really nobody today who makes a nifty, little plastic expanding funnel for say, twenty bucks that you can pop onto your smartphone’s speaker to boost its sound?

If you’re out there, I’m all ears.

For now, my crummy keychain swag will have to do…

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March 27, 2016

Are You Wasting Money Buying Multipack Ink for Your Printer?

The secret weapon against the evil ink conspiracy is supposed to be ‘buying in bulk’ with ink-cartridge multipacks. But there’s a problem with this purchasing strategy…

The secret weapon against the evil ink conspiracy is supposed to be ‘buying in bulk’ with ink-cartridge multipacks. But there’s a problem with this purchasing strategy…

We all know the major cost to owning a home photo printer is the sickening price of those darned ink cartridges. And when you’ve got five different colors to keep track of and replace, (Cyan, Light Cyan, Magenta, Light Magenta and Yellow on my Epson Artisan) you’re almost always about to replace at least one them.
(Different colors deplete at different rates.)

One way you’re supposed to save money when replenishing your ink supplies is to buy the multipacks instead of getting each ink cartridge a la carte…

Here’s the pricing on Epson’s website:

  • The 5-cartridge color ‘high-capacity’ multi-pack costs $79.49 ($15.98 each)
  • The 6-cartridge color and black combo-pack costs $94.09 ($15.68 each)
  • The individual cost for one of these ink cartridges is $17.59
    ($18.49 for black)

So, in fact you do save a few bucks on each ink cartridge if you buy as part of the multipack. But the problem is using this strategy will inevitably cause you to build up a surplus of certain colors.

Ink Imbalance
I just took a look at my ink inventory, and after three years of using my Epson Artisan 837 printer, let’s review my existing cartridge supply:

  • Cyan – 3
  • Light Cyan – 1
  • Magenta – 4
  • Light Magenta – 0 (D’oh!)
  • Yellow – 2

Okay… so it looks like magenta is my color culprit.

One big question is will these extra ink cartridges stay ‘fresh?’
(It looks like I’m not going to get through all of them for some time to come.)

Eternal Expiration?
And what if they go past their expiration dates?
(Yes, they all have “Best Before” stamped on their boxes.)

I looked at one of my Epson ink cartridge boxes… “Best before 7/15.”
(Uhhh… that’s not good.)

Does the ink turn into pumpkin sludge on the anointed date? Or is it like powdered milk, where you can allegedly go years past the expiration date?
(Is that really true?)

Epson says its printers will still take ‘expired ink cartridges,’ but results may vary…

Online, I’ve found a wide range of opinions concerning how safe it is to use expired ink cartridges.

Some report these cartridges just won’t work. Others say old ink creates color abnormalities in your photo prints. And the commentary then continues…

  • Will the ink dry up?
  • Will it clog your print head?
  • Will that damage your printer?
  • I think the logical bottom line is you shouldn’t be hoarding expired ink cartridges. At some ‘undetermined’ point, they’ll become a liability to you…

So use at your own risk…

Future Trash
And even if these extra ink cartridges do successfully survive into your distant future, another question is will you ever even use all of them?

Eventually, you’ll have to replace your printer with a newer model.
(Perhaps due to a misplaced penny)

And remember, cartridge models are always morphing over the years along with their printer masters.
(How convenient)

So if you’re always following the multipack-purchasing rule, you’re inevitably going to be left with a stash of ink cartridges you’ll have no choice but to throw away.

The Painful Truth
This leads to the simple conclusion that you shouldn’t always buy the multipack. Sure, it may seem like a deal in the moment, but you’ve got to take the long view…

You’re immediately going to begin collecting an excess of at least one of your colors that you may never use. And the cartridges may not function if you finally get to them years later.

So after your first multipack purchase, buying future multipacks isn’t really such a deal, is it?

But then again who wants to buy ink cartridges a la carte as you need them?
That’s always an expensive choice.

It seems like a lose/lose proposition.

Exactly.

“Only now at the end do you understand…”

A Little of This… A Little of That
Taking pictures these days may be free, but printing them out with your printer is going to cost you…

So what are you supposed to do?

I say you need to intentionally sprinkle in some individual cartridge buying to maintain a level inventory. That will allow you to get to your older cartridges before it’s too late.

Sure, you can pick up a multipack every so often, but not as a standard practice.

And yes, this all means you’ve now got to pay attention to the little detail of your personal ink inventory.
(Marvelous)

You’ve got to fight the evil ink conspiracy as best you can. I didn’t say it was going to be fun.

Now, please excuse me…
Apparently, I need to pony up for some Light Magenta ink.

Joy.

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