If it's five o'clock in the morning and you have to spend your time with far more people than you're used to, pushing, pulling and writhing your way to satisfaction, then perhaps a shopping mall is not the ideal location.
The tradition of Black Friday as the day when one attains negotiation nirvana seems a peculiar one. And one has to wonder whether people have learned that some of the deals really aren't deals at all.
As CNET's Rick Broida has already pointed out, many of the alleged deals aren't terribly enticing, as stores have been forced to reduce their prices all year in a desperate attempt to attract the cash-strapped.
However, CNNMoney.com has also written of some slightly tired tactics being promulgated by Black Friday peddlers.
It seems that some are using the rather more saliva-inducing tech items to snap people's sleeping patterns. However, the tinier print of the inducement reveals that there may not be many of these items in stock.
If this reminds you of car dealers, well, then it's perhaps not a good thing.
CNNMoney.com tells the story of Sears' trumpeting of a Samsung 40-inch 1080p LCD HDTV for $599.99. Would this make you slip you fur coat over your PJs, leap into your sedan, and rush to your local mall while it's still dark outside?
The tinier print might give you pause for thought. It reads "Only while quantities last, minimum three per store, no rainchecks."
This is not to suggest that Sears is the only retailer succumbing to these slightly tired mechanisms. But why does this remind one of Vegas casinos, who, when realizing that the gambler with a fine memory was in a relatively favorable position in two-deck blackjack, introduced multiple decks, just to increase the fun?
CNNMoney.com also revealed that some products on sale might be so-called "derivatives." For the less initiated, this might be translated as "inferior models." It might be an HDTV that enjoys a lower image contrast ratio. Or an iPhone that can't download apps. (Yes, the latter is an exaggeration.)
Edgar Dworsky, editor of Consumer World, was even quoted by CNNMoney.com as dampening the hopes that might dwell in a raincheck: "A raincheck doesn't guarantee that you will eventually get that elusive Black Friday deal. Consumers can go weeks waiting and hoping, and the retailer may never get more of the product shipped to its stores."
Might I make a suggestion as I watch the fast-moving train that is the desperate need for deals rushing headlong at the train that is the equally desperate need for profits?
Why don't stores offer a couple of truthful ads? Something like this: "Look, we've got three Samsung 40-inchers for $599.99. We won't make any money on them. But we're advertising them so that you can get excited. We promise there will be three of them and we'll sell them to the first person who comes in and guesses the middle name of our handsome salesman, Brad. We think that's fairer than having y'all fight, bite and claw outside our front door. Life is random. So are our deals."
This is a new era in the relationship between retailers and their customers. Social networking is forcing companies to be far more authentic with their customers than they have ever felt comfortable being before.
Why can't some of them use Black Friday as the first day of their new authenticity? It just might engender a little loyalty and a little trust. You know, for those other 364 days of the year.
The Moxi DVR and its new extender (right), the Moxi Mate.
(Credit: Digeo)When we last heard from Digeo in April, the company was adding several digital media extras to its flagship Moxi DVR. Flash forward to August, and the company is back with more updates, the biggest of which is a new hardware announcement. The Moxi Mate is an "extender" that adds multiroom capability to any household with a Moxi DVR. The box is basically a thin client (no hard drive) that can access recorded content from the main Moxi, as well as all of the system's online and home networking digital extensions (Rhapsody, PC-based media streaming, PlayOn content such as Netflix and Hulu, and so forth).
Sounds great, but there are some caveats that prospective buyers should know. Most importantly: the Moxi Mate can't currently support the streaming of live TV--only programs that you've previously recorded on the main Moxi DVR. And while you could theoretically have several Moxi Mates in a household, Digeo currently supports only one of them streaming from the main Moxi at a time. (Of course, all of these issues could possibly be addressed in future firmware updates--but those are the product's initial notable limitations.) The other big deal: the Mate doesn't have a built-in Wi-Fi connection, so you'll need to supply an Ethernet network connection.
On the plus side: the video streaming is said to be nearly instantaneous, unlike TiVo's multiroom solution, which requires the video files to be copied to the hard drive in another room first prior to viewing. Also, the Moxi Mate will automatically resume paused programs. So, if you watch half of a movie on the main Moxi, you can retire to the bedroom and easily pick up where you left off on the Moxi Mate.
In addition to the Moxi Mate announcement, Digeo also rolled out new software to existing Moxi DVR owners that adds a variety of small upgrades. Among them:
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(Credit:
Vudu)
Most video-on-demand set-top boxes let users rent or buy downloadable movies. But high-definition movies have been rental-only, thanks to limitations from the movie studios that own the content. But owners of Vudu's on-demand box will now be able to buy a limited selection of HD movies from independent studios Firstlook, Magnolia, and Kino.
The initial roster of 50 high-def movies includes such titles as "Transsiberian" and the Oscar-winning "Man on Wire," and they'll be offered simultaneously with the DVD releases. (Viewers can opt to buy either the "instant HD" or the much more impressive HDX version of the movie, and rentals will still be available.)
Vudu is hoping that these niche offerings will pave the way for the major studios to flip the switch on HD purchases of their more mainstream fare at some point in the future.
What does it mean? The HD movie purchases offers Vudu another nice bragging right in its competition with Apple TV, but little more.
On a personal note, after building up significant VHS and then DVD movie libraries, I've moved to an almost entirely all-rental model in my viewing habits, so buying downloadable movies doesn't appeal to me--even if Vudu can get the bigger studios to sign onto this plan. And if I did want to invest in a keeper, I'm still going to feel more comfortable with Blu-ray Discs than with having movies locked into a proprietary hard-drive format.
But that's just my opinion. I'm still a Vudu fan, thanks to the excellent video quality of its HDX movies and the breadth of its 1,400-strong HD movie library. I'm just happy sticking with rentals.
What do you guys think?
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Just last week, President Obama signed the DTV Delay Act into law. But despite appearances, the delay isn't mandatory: about one-third (650-plus) of the nation's TV stations will be pulling the plug on their analog towers by the end of Tuesday. The remaining stations will be taking advantage of the new legislation, transitioning to digital between March 14 and June 12.
Which stations are switching early? An updated document at the FCC's DTV Web site will let you know which (if any) stations are in your area (PDF). Here in New York--as in most large metro areas--no stations are transitioning early. But those of you with antennas in smaller or rural markets may begin to see stations blink out in the next 24 hours, if they haven't already.
Remember: anyone with cable, fiber, or satellite TV service shouldn't see any disruption in service. Likewise, anyone with an antenna attached to their DTV or DTV converter box should be up and running on the digital versions of their local stations. (See a side-by-side comparison of analog and digital broadcasts during New York City's October 2008 analog shut-off test, for example.)
Meanwhile, some analog stations will be running a "night light" service for the next few weeks--basically a public-service announcement confirming that antenna viewers need to get a DTV converter box if they wish to continue receiving the channel. (My take: if the FCC had mandated a more aggressive version of this sort of on-screen reminder months ago, people would've been better informed, and no delay would've been necessary.)
Anyone who still has questions can read the in-depth CNET Guide to the DTV Transition.
Frustrated or confused by the nondelay delay of the DTV switch? Sound off below.
(Credit:
CNET)
Netflix streaming will be coming to TiVo DVRs by the end of 2008.
The ability to stream Netflix movies and TV shows will begin beta testing for select TiVo owners immediately, with an official roll-out scheduled for early December. It will be available on TiVo HD, HD XL, and Series3 DVRs (not Series2 or DirecTV models).
The service will effectively be identical to the Netflix feature available on the LG BD300, Samsung BD-P2500, and BD-P2550, Roku Player, and--as of mid-November--the Xbox 360. That means that existing Netflix subscribers can stream more than 12,000 movies and TV shows directly to their TV over a broadband Internet connection on an "all you can eat" basis, with no additional charges beyond the existing Netflix and TiVo service fees.
Interestingly, the TiVo/Netflix tie-up makes good on a deal originally announced in September 2004. At that time, the then-novel idea of streaming Netflix movies directly to TiVo set-tops generated a lot of industry buzz and consumer excitement, but nothing became of it. Both companies seemed to go their separate ways, with TiVo adding on-demand content from Amazon and (just last week) CinemaNow and Jaman, while Netflix's service rolled out on the above-mentioned devices from Roku, LG, Samsung, and Microsoft. More than four years later, however, TiVo owners will finally be getting their Netflix streaming.
Separately, CNET has confirmed that Netflix's nascent HD streaming capability will soon be coming to all Netflix-compatible devices, not just the Xbox 360. However, the Netflix HD library will be starting with a very small selection (just 300 titles), and will require significantly higher bandwidth than the standard-def streaming that's currently available.
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