It may not be “magic” since you do need to use the phone ”jack.” Nevertheless for some the “magicJack” could be something that can save you money on your monthly phone service and long distance calling. Perhaps you have seen the advertisements about this product which has been around for about three years. It is a small device that plugs into your home computer and allows you to make virtually free phone calls to and from anywhere in the US and Canada.
magicJack is one of several products that use VOIP technology. (Voice Over Internet Protocol) The first year will cost you about $40 and each year thereafter about $20. So it can be a great deal. There are a few things that you need to understand however.
First of all the low cost is somewhat overstated since you do need to have high speed Internet access in your home. So to really compare your savings over a traditional telephone line from Cincinnati Bell you need to factor in the monthly charge you are paying for Road Runner or Cincinnati Bell’s DSL service.
Another potential downside, especially in our area that has way more than our share of power outages, is that if you loose power, your phone will not work. In the dark ages before mobile phones, this could have been a real issue. Now, since many of us have one or more cell phones, losing the landline is much less of an issue.
While they promise that you will be able to use your current telephone number with magicJack service, it is still not possible so you will get an new 10 digit number. Anyone calling you will need to use this new number; some friends may be confused as it looks like a long distance number even though they are next door. I don’t see this as a big issue since we seem to be getting used to the fact that the area code, once an indicator of your geographic location, is no longer a telltale place marker with the proliferation of mobile phones.
Like many VOIP services, you will need to register your address and phone number with the 911 service. This is very important and the user’s guide will take you through this process.
The package comes with free directory assistance, free call waiting and free voice mail. While I have not installed the software myself, others indicate that it was mostly painless. You can plug in multiple phones as well as the base station for your cordless phones.
One major downside I see is that you must have your computer on 24/7. This seems to fly in the face of our need to conserve energy.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Who Wouldathunk?
A week or so ago, Frank Batten, a media icon died.. You may not have seen the obituary but for sure you have seen his progeny. The network he launched is seen in most every home in the nation and has become a staple of our everyday lives. No, it isn’t one of the “big four” broadcast networks. Not PBS nor any of the all news channels. HBO or Showtime it is not. Mr. Batten launched The Weather Channel.
The Weather Channel, now taken for granted as a respected and vital source of information, was the source of ridicule and jokes in the early 1980s when it signed on from modest digs in Atlanta. Late night commedians joked that his next channel would be the “Time” channel.
The early years of the operation proved less than profitable and there were several times that cash flow almost made the service go dark. The problem was that the cable systems needed to provide carriage of this and other niche services were just getting off the ground so viewers and sponsors were as scarce as a Typhoon on the Ohio river.
Today The Weather Channel is seen by millions every day and is the second most viewed cable service right behind TBS. In fact, before his death Batten sold the company for more than $1 billion and most recently the channel changed hands again for the tidy sum of $3.5 billion paid by General Electric, owner of NBC. Now you know why they want you to “Wake up with Al.”
Many of us start our day looking at the channel on TV or online. Should I start the grill or is that yellow blip on the radar going to wash out our party? I bet I can get nine holes in, the rain is still near Indianapolis. Either of these sound familiar?
The growth of the Weather Channel is indicative of the sweeping changes in television and other electronic media. It gave rise to a plethora of other targeted services like DIY, The Food Channel, HGTV and any of a dozen “history” channels. It led the way for TV channels to move from targeting general audiences to offering content to an audience with a specific need and interest.
So perhaps Bob Dylan was wrong when he sang, “You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows.”
The Weather Channel, now taken for granted as a respected and vital source of information, was the source of ridicule and jokes in the early 1980s when it signed on from modest digs in Atlanta. Late night commedians joked that his next channel would be the “Time” channel.
The early years of the operation proved less than profitable and there were several times that cash flow almost made the service go dark. The problem was that the cable systems needed to provide carriage of this and other niche services were just getting off the ground so viewers and sponsors were as scarce as a Typhoon on the Ohio river.
Today The Weather Channel is seen by millions every day and is the second most viewed cable service right behind TBS. In fact, before his death Batten sold the company for more than $1 billion and most recently the channel changed hands again for the tidy sum of $3.5 billion paid by General Electric, owner of NBC. Now you know why they want you to “Wake up with Al.”
Many of us start our day looking at the channel on TV or online. Should I start the grill or is that yellow blip on the radar going to wash out our party? I bet I can get nine holes in, the rain is still near Indianapolis. Either of these sound familiar?
The growth of the Weather Channel is indicative of the sweeping changes in television and other electronic media. It gave rise to a plethora of other targeted services like DIY, The Food Channel, HGTV and any of a dozen “history” channels. It led the way for TV channels to move from targeting general audiences to offering content to an audience with a specific need and interest.
So perhaps Bob Dylan was wrong when he sang, “You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows.”
Monday, September 14, 2009
Any Movie, Any TV Program, Anytime!
How quickly consumer electronics technologies and devices change and become obsolete. Look at Compact Discs (CD audio discs.) When introduced, they were heralded as the perfect way to store and play music. They were small, easy to manufacture, and the players inexpensive. CD sales ballooned and they quickly made vinyl records a curiosity found now mostly in museums and attics around the world. That was the in 1980s. Over the past few years the sale of music on CD’s has plummeted. The new “kid on the block” of course is the ability to get music online in the form of streaming or the downloading of actual computer files containing the music. Why have a library of CDs gathering dust on a shelf when you can have your entire library in your pocket in your iPod or any one of a myriad other digital devices?
In the video arena the same is happening, perhaps at a somewhat slower pace, but nevertheless it is moving in the same direction as the Compact Disc. Going back to the dark ages of VHS and Beta VCRs, the digital replacement was the DVD. Just like its cousin, the Compact Disc, these small discs were cheap and the players soon became as available as calculators at the check out counter. More recently they were improved to embrace the High Definition TV landscape. How long will DVDs be around? Perhaps they will have a shorter life than Compact Discs.
As more and more of us get better connections to the Internet and the Internet “pipes” get more robust, the concept of actually having a movie or TV program on a tape or disc will seem quaint. A look at what is available on line now gives us a good idea of what is to come.
NetFlix (http://www.netflix.com/) is a great example. The company built a multi-billion dollar industry by offering DVDs of movies without the hassle of going to a video store. You go on line and set up a list of movie titles that you would like to have. Those titles are sent to you via US Mail. You keep them for as long as you wish and when you return a movie another from your list is sent. No late fees. Of course there is a monthly charge depending on how many movies or programs you receive during that month. It is a simple, successful strategy that millions of people use every day.
Netflix is not sitting back and counting their money; they understand that this DVD based system may have a very short life span and they are quickly changing their business to offer movies and programs on line. While the list of titles available on line to be downloaded is much smaller than the DVD based library, it is expanding quickly. In most cases the negotiation for digital rights is the stumbling block.
For sure, just like most technologies, this ability to watch anything at any time will not totally make obsolete preceding technologies or services. The shared experience of watching a movie in a movie theater will continue to be viable. Collectors will still want to have a CD or DVD that they can touch and put on a shelf. Increasingly so, most of our viewing will be on line via the Internet.
In the video arena the same is happening, perhaps at a somewhat slower pace, but nevertheless it is moving in the same direction as the Compact Disc. Going back to the dark ages of VHS and Beta VCRs, the digital replacement was the DVD. Just like its cousin, the Compact Disc, these small discs were cheap and the players soon became as available as calculators at the check out counter. More recently they were improved to embrace the High Definition TV landscape. How long will DVDs be around? Perhaps they will have a shorter life than Compact Discs.
As more and more of us get better connections to the Internet and the Internet “pipes” get more robust, the concept of actually having a movie or TV program on a tape or disc will seem quaint. A look at what is available on line now gives us a good idea of what is to come.
NetFlix (http://www.netflix.com/) is a great example. The company built a multi-billion dollar industry by offering DVDs of movies without the hassle of going to a video store. You go on line and set up a list of movie titles that you would like to have. Those titles are sent to you via US Mail. You keep them for as long as you wish and when you return a movie another from your list is sent. No late fees. Of course there is a monthly charge depending on how many movies or programs you receive during that month. It is a simple, successful strategy that millions of people use every day.
Netflix is not sitting back and counting their money; they understand that this DVD based system may have a very short life span and they are quickly changing their business to offer movies and programs on line. While the list of titles available on line to be downloaded is much smaller than the DVD based library, it is expanding quickly. In most cases the negotiation for digital rights is the stumbling block.
For sure, just like most technologies, this ability to watch anything at any time will not totally make obsolete preceding technologies or services. The shared experience of watching a movie in a movie theater will continue to be viable. Collectors will still want to have a CD or DVD that they can touch and put on a shelf. Increasingly so, most of our viewing will be on line via the Internet.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
I Don't UsenThem & I Don't Want Them!
I Don’t Use Them and I Don’t Want Them
I know I have written about this before but it happened again. Just like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano or the proverbial bad penny, it is back. It was delivered to my front door again this week. I didn’t order it. I won’t use it. I don’t want it. Nevertheless, wrapped in a bright yellow plastic bag was another phone book. This one, according to the cover was the “County Edition.”
If you are like me, you most likely get several iterations of these phone directories every year. There are the White Pages, The Yellow Pages, The Yellow Book, The Pink Pages, the SEI Regional Directory (white and yellow what a concept.) And let’s not forget the Harrison, West Harrison and Bright telephone book. I am sure I forgot several others.
How many trees do we need to cut down? It is my understanding that the FCC still requires phone companies to publish “a” directory. Note that “directory” is singular. . Also it is my understanding that the phone company needs to “offer” the directory and we as consumers can decline the offer. So why do we have all these others books?
Well, I have been on the other side of the telemarketing calls and have heard the sales pitches for inclusion in the directories. I really feel bad for local merchants and service providers who feel forced to spend money to place a listing and ad in many, if not all, of these directories for fear that their competitor will be “in” and they will be “out.” When there was one Yellow Pages Directory, it may have been a monopoly, but at least it was not bordering on extortion.
With so many of us using computers and Google to find everything from a good pizza to a good haircut, it seems to me that these books are at best redundant and at worst a waste. I can not remember the last time I used the Yellow Pages. OK, I lied, I used it to level a step ladder leg. I do remember that the last time I used the White Pages, the number I was looking for was not there. I was able to find the listing on Whitepages.com.
So the next time I see someone passing out another directory I plan to ask them to keep it. Talk about reducing our carbon foot print … cut down to one optional directory and there is no need for the paper, or ink, or energy for printing and binding and no gasoline burned delivering the book. Sure, I feel sorry for the people who get paid to deliver the books. Perhaps the phone company can hire them to pick up and recycle all the old books.
I know I have written about this before but it happened again. Just like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano or the proverbial bad penny, it is back. It was delivered to my front door again this week. I didn’t order it. I won’t use it. I don’t want it. Nevertheless, wrapped in a bright yellow plastic bag was another phone book. This one, according to the cover was the “County Edition.”
If you are like me, you most likely get several iterations of these phone directories every year. There are the White Pages, The Yellow Pages, The Yellow Book, The Pink Pages, the SEI Regional Directory (white and yellow what a concept.) And let’s not forget the Harrison, West Harrison and Bright telephone book. I am sure I forgot several others.
How many trees do we need to cut down? It is my understanding that the FCC still requires phone companies to publish “a” directory. Note that “directory” is singular. . Also it is my understanding that the phone company needs to “offer” the directory and we as consumers can decline the offer. So why do we have all these others books?
Well, I have been on the other side of the telemarketing calls and have heard the sales pitches for inclusion in the directories. I really feel bad for local merchants and service providers who feel forced to spend money to place a listing and ad in many, if not all, of these directories for fear that their competitor will be “in” and they will be “out.” When there was one Yellow Pages Directory, it may have been a monopoly, but at least it was not bordering on extortion.
With so many of us using computers and Google to find everything from a good pizza to a good haircut, it seems to me that these books are at best redundant and at worst a waste. I can not remember the last time I used the Yellow Pages. OK, I lied, I used it to level a step ladder leg. I do remember that the last time I used the White Pages, the number I was looking for was not there. I was able to find the listing on Whitepages.com.
So the next time I see someone passing out another directory I plan to ask them to keep it. Talk about reducing our carbon foot print … cut down to one optional directory and there is no need for the paper, or ink, or energy for printing and binding and no gasoline burned delivering the book. Sure, I feel sorry for the people who get paid to deliver the books. Perhaps the phone company can hire them to pick up and recycle all the old books.
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