Wednesday, June 30
Convergence on the horizon for AV
Finally a ray of hope for simplifying the AV mess we suffer with. The DLNA (digital living network alliance which consists of the big guys like microsoft, nokia, sony, HP, Phillips, etc.) just announced the release of their first set of guidelines for networked device interoperability. Hopefully this will help drive the convergence of phones, AV systems, home computer networks, and other appliances. As this process evolves, new products will appear that can communicate with each other and self-configure. I look forward to the day when I don't need to set up macros on my remote control to watch a DVD. Maybe we can expect some measureable improvement in the next five years or so....
Tuesday, June 29
Case Study
I was talking with a friend and his wife this past weekend and the subject got around to his elderly mother. Alice’s (not her real name) husband died a couple years ago and she is not doing too well living on her own; doesn’t go out much, has very few friends, doesn’t eat well because she doesn’t want to cook, lets things go around the house. She seems to be suffering from loneliness and a mild form of depression and has sort of withdrawn from the world. Her two kids live fairly close by and visit regularly and call her several times per week, but they are both worried about their mom living such a solitary life. The thing is, Alice is very healthy and able to do most things by herself and is adamant about remaining in her own home where she feels comfortable.
Old age can be a pretty depressing time if you don’t have any engaging activities to take your mind off the daily problems. What this woman needs is someone around to interact with and look out for her and basically motivate her to enjoy her life. She was left with a comfortable retirement income so she could afford to move into a senior facility for people who only need companionship and someone to cook their meals, help with the shopping, etc. My friend thinks that Alice would learn to enjoy it but is not prepared to force her into making the move. An alternative to moving her into one of these places might be for someone to visit daily, maybe just for 30 minutes or an hour – sort of like a friend who lives across the street. It would be nice if she lived in one of these enclosed condominiums where she would see people every day and make friends – more of a community atmosphere than what she has now living in a separate house on an urban street where neighbors don’t talk much.
Regarding the main subject of this Blog, there may be a couple of technology approaches that could improve the situation if Alice is willing to give them a try. One is a simple videophone. The children and even the grandchildren could schedule calls at different times in the week outside of their normal visits and give her a boost in this way. You can also tell a lot more about how a person is by seeing their facial expressions rather than just hearing their voice. Another might be to put in a computer that Alice could use to explore the world from her own home and even get involved in some forums, etc. She might be reminded of how much is really going on in the world versus just watching TV and worrying about imaginary problems. Of course, if she doesn’t want to bother with these pesky devices, that would obviously not be the solution.
I’m thinking that the best solution in this case is probably not technology but real time face-to-face human interaction. That is probably the only thing that is going to pull Alice out of her withdrawal and give her something to look forward to in her day. She will also feel a sort of accountability to these friends that will motivate her to attend to her appearance and her diet and get involved with things with her friends even if she is initially ambivalent towards them. This could improve Alice’s life dramatically. My recommendation in this case would be to find a senior residence facility where Alice can have her own comfortable apartment with a patio that opens up onto a communal area where she can make friends. A place where she can choose to make her own meals or go to the dining room if she wants. A place where there is a nurse on staff and dieticians and activity planners, etc. A place where Alice can embrace a new life.
Old age can be a pretty depressing time if you don’t have any engaging activities to take your mind off the daily problems. What this woman needs is someone around to interact with and look out for her and basically motivate her to enjoy her life. She was left with a comfortable retirement income so she could afford to move into a senior facility for people who only need companionship and someone to cook their meals, help with the shopping, etc. My friend thinks that Alice would learn to enjoy it but is not prepared to force her into making the move. An alternative to moving her into one of these places might be for someone to visit daily, maybe just for 30 minutes or an hour – sort of like a friend who lives across the street. It would be nice if she lived in one of these enclosed condominiums where she would see people every day and make friends – more of a community atmosphere than what she has now living in a separate house on an urban street where neighbors don’t talk much.
Regarding the main subject of this Blog, there may be a couple of technology approaches that could improve the situation if Alice is willing to give them a try. One is a simple videophone. The children and even the grandchildren could schedule calls at different times in the week outside of their normal visits and give her a boost in this way. You can also tell a lot more about how a person is by seeing their facial expressions rather than just hearing their voice. Another might be to put in a computer that Alice could use to explore the world from her own home and even get involved in some forums, etc. She might be reminded of how much is really going on in the world versus just watching TV and worrying about imaginary problems. Of course, if she doesn’t want to bother with these pesky devices, that would obviously not be the solution.
I’m thinking that the best solution in this case is probably not technology but real time face-to-face human interaction. That is probably the only thing that is going to pull Alice out of her withdrawal and give her something to look forward to in her day. She will also feel a sort of accountability to these friends that will motivate her to attend to her appearance and her diet and get involved with things with her friends even if she is initially ambivalent towards them. This could improve Alice’s life dramatically. My recommendation in this case would be to find a senior residence facility where Alice can have her own comfortable apartment with a patio that opens up onto a communal area where she can make friends. A place where she can choose to make her own meals or go to the dining room if she wants. A place where there is a nurse on staff and dieticians and activity planners, etc. A place where Alice can embrace a new life.
Sunday, June 20
Timeline
I’ve always been interested in astronomy, so occasionally something happens to make me think about how vast the universe is, and wonder what some other highly advanced civilization would think of our simple technology. When you sit in your backyard in the evening and look up at the stars realizing that the light from that star over there to the left has been traveling toward earth for several million years, it provides you with a frame of reference.
Then the phone rings and you go inside and discover that your daughter has left the cordless phone upstairs again and you have to run to another room to answer it. It makes me smile to think what a short time these "gadgets" have been in existence here on earth and how much we have to look forward to.
Then the phone rings and you go inside and discover that your daughter has left the cordless phone upstairs again and you have to run to another room to answer it. It makes me smile to think what a short time these "gadgets" have been in existence here on earth and how much we have to look forward to.
Saturday, June 19
The integration of AV components
Why is it taking so long for AV components to be integrated more? Although we see examples in many places of convergence and standards adoption and simplification and integration, it sure does not seem to be happening in home audio/video. Isn't anyone taking a leadership postion on this subject? Maybe there is stuff going on behind the scenes but it sure doesn't seem to be evident in the marketplace. With the proliferation of satellite and cable set-top boxes and the introduction of DVRs (or PVRs) it only seems to be getting worse.
There no reason you shouldn't be able to buy the following system today: one AV "controller" that includes all the features of your current receiver, DVD player, CD player, TIVO, and broadband receiver (cable or satellite). Your cable company or satellite company would provide you with a smart card that configured your "controller" to work with their service. You would then plug in your TV "monitor" and speakers. Since everything would be in one box, you would finally be rid of all the configuration problems you have now (TV set to channel 3? mode set to video?) and you would finally be rid of the rats nest of wires. Pull up a menu on the screen and the controller would take care of everything.
Finally a "smart" system that would suit people who have no tolerance for the mess that the industry has put upon us. And finally a product that people with cognitive impairments could use with ease and without having to hire a specialist to set up and troubleshoot.
And finally a system that would be safe to connect to your home network to play your downloaded music library, edit and play your home movies, present a slide show of your digital photographs, etc. Finally a system that delivers on the promise. Whether it happens in my lifetime is anyone's guess.
There no reason you shouldn't be able to buy the following system today: one AV "controller" that includes all the features of your current receiver, DVD player, CD player, TIVO, and broadband receiver (cable or satellite). Your cable company or satellite company would provide you with a smart card that configured your "controller" to work with their service. You would then plug in your TV "monitor" and speakers. Since everything would be in one box, you would finally be rid of all the configuration problems you have now (TV set to channel 3? mode set to video?) and you would finally be rid of the rats nest of wires. Pull up a menu on the screen and the controller would take care of everything.
Finally a "smart" system that would suit people who have no tolerance for the mess that the industry has put upon us. And finally a product that people with cognitive impairments could use with ease and without having to hire a specialist to set up and troubleshoot.
And finally a system that would be safe to connect to your home network to play your downloaded music library, edit and play your home movies, present a slide show of your digital photographs, etc. Finally a system that delivers on the promise. Whether it happens in my lifetime is anyone's guess.
Thursday, June 10
Un-structured wiring
I read several newsletters about the latest in home automation. The articles that interest me are not so much those that go into great depth about some new wireless protocol or a new digital format that DVD players can now support, but rather I look for articles that discuss trends and how new technologies will affect consumers. The latest issue from Home Toys > http://www.hometoys.com/htinews.htm < has yet another article about structured wiring. I guess my house has structured wiring, although much more eclectic than the fancy cabinets and expensive cabling that you see in new homes today. I've got distributed audio/video/phone/ethernet/and sprinkler wires going to a closet downstairs where I have my DSL modem and routers. Not pretty but fine for me.
The problem I have with spending $30k -$40k on all this stuff in a new home today is that the stuff that plugs into it in the family room and the office and the kitchen is all going to change before you know it. Who knows what kind of wiring you will need in ten years? Ten years is not that long if you are burying all this stuff in your walls. With the rate of change in the electronics industry, your ethernet cables may be totally inadequate to carry the bandwidth needed in the near future, and the way they typically install this wiring is just to route it through the walls either loose or in pre-packaged cables(e.g. 2 ethernet, 2 control, 1 coax, 2 speaker). The problem is that the guys who put these in, do it in such a way that you would have to rip off the drywall to replace it. If it was my home and I was standing there looking at the framing before any drywall was put in, I would insist on them installing conduit so I could pull it all out and replace it, maybe room by room, but at least with that capability.
There is so much hype about structured wiring but no one seems to know what is coming in 5-10 years. It's entirely possible that you might want to replace all of this wiring with just one fiberoptic cable going to each location. It would have enough bandwidth to carry virtually everything at the same time including HDTV, internet, lighting controls, phone, everything. And it would be easy to replace the module at the end to add features without changing any "wiring." I wonder what the incremental cost would be to add one fiberoptic cable to each run in that new house today even if you have nothing to hook it to yet?
The problem I have with spending $30k -$40k on all this stuff in a new home today is that the stuff that plugs into it in the family room and the office and the kitchen is all going to change before you know it. Who knows what kind of wiring you will need in ten years? Ten years is not that long if you are burying all this stuff in your walls. With the rate of change in the electronics industry, your ethernet cables may be totally inadequate to carry the bandwidth needed in the near future, and the way they typically install this wiring is just to route it through the walls either loose or in pre-packaged cables(e.g. 2 ethernet, 2 control, 1 coax, 2 speaker). The problem is that the guys who put these in, do it in such a way that you would have to rip off the drywall to replace it. If it was my home and I was standing there looking at the framing before any drywall was put in, I would insist on them installing conduit so I could pull it all out and replace it, maybe room by room, but at least with that capability.
There is so much hype about structured wiring but no one seems to know what is coming in 5-10 years. It's entirely possible that you might want to replace all of this wiring with just one fiberoptic cable going to each location. It would have enough bandwidth to carry virtually everything at the same time including HDTV, internet, lighting controls, phone, everything. And it would be easy to replace the module at the end to add features without changing any "wiring." I wonder what the incremental cost would be to add one fiberoptic cable to each run in that new house today even if you have nothing to hook it to yet?
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