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Posts Tagged ‘Television’

COULD APPLE’S i-TV SAVE THE DAILY ANNOYANCES OF THE TELEVISION ROOM?

Friday, April 19th, 2013
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 19th, 2013
Last night was another one of those nights where trying to turn on the television was the usual annoyance. The salesperson at BOSE had told me the system was SUPER-SIMPLE……even an idiot could use it. Well, I must be a thorough idiot, because its still not easy. Calling BOSE is a joke: their tech support may be good for tech-savvy guys, but not me.
Now I hear that Apple wants to get into the living room by making its own TV set, and there have been plenty of rumors and reports about how and when it’s going to happen. An analyst says he’s learned that the set will go on sale late this year, for $1,500 to $2,500. If APPLE can do to the TV what it did to the computer and music, I am in! Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets says the “iTV” will be 60 inches on the diagonal, but could also come in 50- and 55-inch versions. Apple will also release a small “iRing” that fits on the viewer’s finger, allowing the user to control the screen by pointing, White says. The death of the antiquated, impossible-to-read-without-a-magnifying-glass remote? That could signal a revolution!
In addition, the set will come with tablet-like “mini iTVs” with 9.7-inch screens, the same as the full-size iPad, White said. The “iTV” will be able to send video to the smaller screens wirelessly around the house. The concept is similar to the way in which cable and satellite TV companies are starting to let their set-top boxes send video to iPads and other tablets. White says his report is based on gleanings from visits with unnamed Chinese and Taiwanese companies that supply Apple with components.
Apple doesn’t comment on future products before its launch events, but late company co-founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he wanted to remake the TV and had figured out a way to do it. Last year, there were numerous analyst reports that said Apple would launch a TV set in 2012. Apple does sell an “Apple TV,” but it’s small box that connects to a TV to display movies and shows from iTunes. The i-TV may come in time to set Apple stock back on track after its painful plunge over the past 6 months. Simplifying the television experience could indeed be as big a revolution to the home as the i-pod was to music…….and I imagine owners of luxury New York real estate will clamber for this product.

 

DOES TELEVISION AND THE WEB MAKE REALITY OUT OF LIES?

Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 15th, 2012

We are witnessing the very worst of THE BIG LIE, whereby just because something is displayed or said on television and online, it automatically becomes reality: This election cycle is amplifying this horrible phenomenon. The Obama campaign runs an ad. that blames Mitt Romney for the death of a steel worker’s wife because of Mitt’s doing. An outrageous lie, but viewed almost 1 million times online and run on talk shows and news channels, and all of a sudden tens of millions are exposed to what some may be perceived as the truth. Not to be outdone, Romney’s campaign runs an ad  falsely stating that the president dropped work requirements from welfare. And on it goes in the most negative of presidential campaigns ever, surely a distraction from the fact that both campaigns have few, if any, sensible, non-partisan solutions for our country’s huge challenges.

Barbara Corcoran, along with other great leaders and thinkers, always says perception is reality….looking bigger than you are is easy: just say you are and look like you are. Great advice. Yet not reality. Just perceived reality. When a real estate broker goes on national TV claiming he sold $ 1 billion in real estate last year when we all know he sold about 10% of that, one has to wonder. Even Pinnochio would frown at the extent of this lie! When Jessica Simpson appears on TV as a great Fashion critic, or Snookie starts giving advice on becoming a mother, surely we have hit rock bottom? Real estate people claim they have 40% of a building in contract when in fact its closer to 25%. Brokers claim they have many offers on an apartment when they only have one. What is worse: the fact that these liars lie and make fact out of lies, or the audience that supports this garbage or at the very least does not denounce it publicly and loudly?

Looking back in history at some of the world’s greatest atrocities, most of them happened not only because of the perpetrators, but largely it was a result of those who stood by in silence. Yes, the web has democratized out ability to be heard, but the current extent and depth of lying has reached a new level, and I hope the tipping point has arrived where somehow this trend can be reversed. In a culture driven deeper into sound-bite thinking it seems doubtful that there are enough people willing to explore the truth just a bit more. Maybe its time for us all to demand some equally loud public humiliation with serious accountability for false claims?