polls

Poll: What makes bad sounding recordings sound bad?

Imagine what movies would look like if producers thought everybody was watching their films on iPhones, and never in theaters or big screen TVs. That may be the perfect analogy to how the music business thinks the audience is listening to music.

The root source of the problem is that good-enough sound quality is all most people need, so the record companies and recording engineers don't have any incentive to make great-sounding recordings anymore. Other than a few audiophiles, who would hear them? The engineers have to "dumb down" the recordings to sound passably good on ear … Read more

Friday Poll: Your take on virtual girlfriends?

As we've noted before, some people in Japan have rather wacky ideas when it comes to the intersection of technology and culture.

Take, for example, the Nintendo DS dating sim Love Plus. Men must keep their virtual dates happy by engaging with them in real time--buying them gifts, taking them on dates, and generally doing whatever it takes to keep them happy.

The latest craze with the Konami game, however, takes this relationship nurturing to a whole new level. This summer, guys brought their virtual gals on vacation to the Japan beach town of Atami as part of … Read more

Which Apple announcement was best? (poll)

On Monday I asked you to vote for the item you most wanted to see during Apple's special event today. Nearly 30 percent of you chose "an updated iPod Touch"--and your wish was granted.

Others beat the drum (and clicked the mouse) for a new Apple TV and iOS 4 for iPad--both of which Apple also announced. In fact, the rumor mill got just about everything right; the only poll item that didn't become reality was a smaller iPad.

All this begs the question: which of today's announcements did you like best? Are … Read more

Friday Poll: How will Apple music event play out?

Apple's big September music event, coming on the first day of next month, is less than a week away. But that still gives us plenty of time to wax philosophical on the whats and wherefores of the company's plans, as many techophiles are already doing.

This year, it's widely expected that Apple will add the "Retina" display and front-facing camera of the iPhone 4 to the iPod Touch. There's also been talk of changes afoot for Apple TV, including a scaled-down device, a much lower price tag of $99, and access to the App … Read more

Friday Poll: Who can best challenge the iPad?

So Apple's iPad is in the news again this week, with more rumors of a smaller, perhaps 7-inch, version due in time for the holiday-shopping season.

The iPad has arguably created a new market, which Apple is clearly dominating. But non-Apple tablets are on their way.

Research In Motion, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, and even Google are gunning for the Cupertino company's market share.

Until we get our hands on the devices themselves, we can't make any predictions of the iPad's demise.

But you're not like us. You're Crave readers and you love to prognosticate. So...… Read more

Friday Poll: What gadget should Amazon try next?

This week we reported that Amazon may be broadening its hardware efforts beyond the e-reader.

A Tuesday piece on the New York Times Bits Blog said the online retailer is looking to build gadgets beyond the Kindle in a bid to retain and expand its niche in the digital marketplace.

CNET's David Carnoy, for one, posits that it would make sense for Amazon to build and sell a small Android-powered tablet that manages to undercut the pricing of Apple's competing iPad products. We've also heard recent rumblings that the e-retailer could be building a phone.

So, if … Read more

Friday Poll: What would have saved Google Wave?

This week, Google surprised absolutely nobody everyone when it announced that it was pulling the plug on Google Wave, its collaboration tool that was billed "as if e-mail were invented today."

The tool, which debuted in June 2009, was ambitious, to be sure, and many--myself included--liked where Wave seemed to be headed. It just never got there. Or even close. Or anywhere really.

Google says it's going to keep Wave around, but stop supporting it (kind of like the kid I had with my first ex--JK, JK). Some think Wave failed because it wasn't tied to … Read more

Friday Poll: Is the mouse, indeed, dead?

Apple's new Magic Trackpad is a clear sign the company is serious about multitouch and gesture as the future of personal-computer navigation. And it might be right.

Almost all modern smartphones incorporate a series of swipes and taps as their interface. MacBook users have been using multitouch on their trackpads for a few years, and the Magic Trackpad is clearly an extension of that experience.

But a lot of people are making noise that the Magic Trackpad--and it's sure-to-follow imitators--heralds a mouse-free future. This being the Internet, there's an opposing camp calling them all idiots.

So … Read more

Do receivers have too many features?

Do you remember when you bought stereo receivers based on their power and connectivity? The entry-level models were low in power and had just a few inputs. As you moved up in the line, they got more power, more ports, and an extra feature or two. The top models looked cooler than the entry-level ones, with a more high-end design flair and they hid their lesser-used controls under a flip-down panel. If someone bought a more expensive model, it's because they wanted better sound quality.

Home-theater receivers followed the same course, except the higher end models had more speaker … Read more

U.S. wind energy popular, but lacks investment

Despite public approval, U.S. wind energy investment is slowing down instead of growing, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

An overwhelming majority of Americans support a renewable electricity standard, and wind energy investment in particular, according to a poll of 600 likely voters conducted in March by Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies and Bennett, Petts & Normington.

Specifically, 89 percent of Americans said increasing the amount of energy the U.S. gets from wind is a good idea. Broken down by ideology, 84 percent of Republicans, 93 percent of Democrats, and 88 percent of independents support increasing the … Read more