Music sales from Salon.com

According to the market-research firm the NPD Group, iTunes is now the second-largest music retailer in the world, after Wal-Mart.

iTunes, of course, sells only digital downloads, and Wal-Mart sells CDs, and that's the crux of the story: CD sales are plummeting while digital downloads are skyrocketing, so it's likely that soon, iTunes will be in the top spot.

NPD says that a million people "dropped out of the CD buyer market in 2007," a "flight led by younger consumers." Almost half of American teens did not buy a single CD in 2007, compared to 36 percent in 2006.

Last year, iTunes moved ahead of Amazon to become the third-place retailer; now it moves up on Best Buy, which lands at No. 3.

Rear projection TV RIP

Consider it triple confirmed:

From Engadjet:
"It's unconfirmed at the moment, but we're hearing that Sony is planning to discontinue sales of all rear-projection HDTVs, including its 3LCD and SXRD lines, after current inventories are exhausted to focus on the hot-selling Bravia LCD line. We've been tipped on it twice today and now This Week In Consumer Electronics is reporting that a Sony spokesperson has told them that "We are moving our resources more toward LCD TV, because that's what people really want." It looks like all backorders for the KDSZ70XBR5 are being canceled, as the unit will never be manufactured, and Sony's making a "no promises" effort to fill backorders for the KDF46E3000 and KDS60A3000. The move isn't exactly unprecedented or even all that surprising -- Toshiba, Philips and Hitachi have all stopped producing rear-projection sets, but Sony's SXRDs were still extremely popular and it's strange to see them get dropped just like that. "

3 hour install

Not untypical changeover from NTSC to HDTV





Assume CRT TV out to LCD TV in will be easy peesy 10 minute job.
Unplug old TV. Set on bed (TV is heavy & bed is empty and close). Spend 10 minutes cleaning dust bunnies that had accumulated below old TV.
Unpack new LCD HTDV.
Use included cables to make "good" connection to DVD/VHS player (formerly used "basic" connection - coax cable). Find power cord and learn that is a 3-prong plug. Look at walls - every outlet is 2 prong.
Search house for 3-prong adapter that I know I have somewhere. Fail to find it.
Go to Walgreen's. Buy 3-prong adapter - despite reading that the fact that I have "old wiring" means I probably shouldn't use it.
....
Discover cord for new TV does not reach outlet.
Find 3-prong extension cord (bought by mistake a couple months ago but never returned cause I knew I'd need it some day).
Plug in TV and DVD/VHS player.
Turn on TV. Juice!
Turn on DVD/VHS player. Juice!

Time spent: about 2 hrs.
Set TV to "airwave" - get blue screen and "no signal" message.
Be unhappy. Plugging in a TV should not be this much work.
Attempt to switch TV input to DVD/VHS unit - but fail at using buttons on TV.
Find remote for new TV. Put in batteries. Scroll TV through input options till DVD/VHS player is found (AV3).
Everyone is blue.
Change DVDs. Everyone is still blue.
Disconnect DVD-to-TV wires, 1 at a time in different combos. Either lose signal or make everyone red.
Reconnect everything - color is magically repaired.
Reattempt TV input from airwaves - still fail.
Connect crappy (and broken) rabbit ear antennae directly to TV (was running through player).
Use remote to make TV detect airwave channels.
Discover I now have about 4 times more channels than before!! Can't get some stations (ABC, ABC DT) but figure I'll work that out later (a non-broken antennae??).
Wonder why HD channels are in different aspect ratio. Don't care. Enjoy AMAZINGLY CLEAR signals and wonder JEEBUS, WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME HD RECEPTION WAS THIS MUCH BETTER - and adds so many channels?!?!
Start to cleanup disaster area created by last 3 hours of annoyance. Find TV user manual. Find out use for remote contol buttons labeled "S Mode" (sound options), "P Mode" (picture color options), and "P size" (normal, wide, zoom, cinema, and letterbox). Learn that "cinema" stretches HD channels to full screen.
Get happy. .....

http://leendadll.vox.com/library/post/how-to-take-3-hours-to-plug-in-a-tv.html?_c=feed-atom

HDTV woes

From engadjet:

"Verizon FIOS customers have been feeling left out of the great HD race lately. Sure they have access to some of the fastest Internet connections in the US, but at a time when other providers are adding HD goodness in record number, FIOS customers only got one new HD channel in the past six months. Well the big V has finally broken its silence and promises that starting in the spring it'll deliver more 60 new HD channels, -- on a market by market basis -- and will have more than 150 HD channels by the end of 2008. Of course this begs the question, why is it going to take so long? Seriously, it's not like they have to wait for a satellite to launch or something. It's almost as if there's a limitation in their current infrastructure."

Flat Panel Buyers

This year more than any other we see the emergence of the Flat Panel shopper- people who buy them - not because they Want To - but because they feel they Have To - to keep up with the Jones' their brother-in-law, the neighbor, their children's expectations, their OWN expectations.

They buy them without any accessories, no cables, no new speakers, no reciever, and no joy.

But today- I saw projector buyers, these people were happy, interested in buying a new system that was going to enhance their lives, a new toy, a new family experience.

I like buyer's excitement, interest, and happiness.

Black Friday

It's been moderately busy- 10k in Flat panels before 11 AM and 3 people interested in distributed audio systems and Home Theater design filled in the afternoon.

Intro to nanotheater

nanotheater is the natural reaction to a overblown and over-hyped Video and Audio, Home Theater equipment market. We seek to help you design small, quality, media rooms and home theaters.

Unless the rest of your home looks like an Egyptian Tomb, the Starship Enterprise, or a Opera House- we don't think your home theater or media room should. We think of your principal media room as a place of rest and solace after a hard day of work, a place where you can go to wind down, enjoy music, and socialize with your family.

We would like to think of nanotheater as an alternative design school that melds high tech components into your existing decor- rather than vice versa.

Think minimalist, with advice on good basic design elements, recommendations on media systems placement, systems configuration, operation and control that will work -even if you are building a Baroque Opera house.

Along the way we hope to give you equipment reviews, design tips, control and operational tips and bug reports that make your life a little easier and more centered.

Like Bauhaus, we'd like to think that less is more. Rather than the KFC biscuit, mashed potato and fried chicken bowl- think crushed walnut and endive Hors d'oeuvre. Lots of taste, surprising finish, but still good comfort and satisfaction.