Why I Can’t Quit My DIRECTV or Why Internet TV Is Useless

I so wanted to quit my DIRECTV.

I wanted to quit not because I disliked the service. In fact, I love it, and perhaps that’s why I’m finding it so hard to leave.

Here’s what I like:

Channel selection. It’s great. At the basic level, I get all the channels that I would ever want to watch including NESN, ESPN, BBC America, The Travel Channel, The Discovery Channel, The Food Network and The Cooking Channel.

Our current favorite shows: Downton Abbey, any of Anthony Bourdain’s shows, my wife watches anything on the Cooking Channel and Food Network.

The picture is clear and sharp. I had cable previous to my DIRECTV and it was crap. DIRECTV’s picture is ten times better.

Their customer service is top notch. No confusing mazes when you call their 800 number, bright, upbeat, and extremely helpful people when you call, the few issues I’ve ever had have been fixed almost immediately. Their Twitter support is useless, but otherwise it’s overall great customer service.

Their interface. It’s intuitive, bright and aesthetically pleasing. I’ve used cable interfaces, and I can’t figure it out. The channel order doesn’t make any sense and it’s ugly. Plus I can easily record shows from my iPhone.

So why would I leave?

The one negative? The price. It costs me something like $95 a month.

So I bought a Roku hoping to save some cash and jump into the new hot thing. Perhaps given my love of my current service, it’s not surprising that I’m disappointed with the Roku.

Here was my original idea:

Buy a Roku box – initial investment of $65
Subscribe to: MLB, NFL, & NBA (Sorry NHL) – $125, $299, for a total of $593
I already have Netflix – $8.99
And I’m an Amazon Prime Member – $45 (student discount don’t ask me why?)

This would save me $300 in the first year and more thereafter especially given the Celtics season and hopes for the future.

Unfortunately, there were a few hitches in this pan. One is that local teams are blacked out on these season subscription packages. For MLB it’s 90 minutes after the end of the game. On nights that Josh Beckett’s pitching, that literally means tomorrow. *Update* This is further proof that the west coast is the best place to live if you’re an east coast sports fan. Football starts at 10 a.m. and even when Beckett pitches, Sox games wrap up before 9 p.m. Plus, you have a couple of decent teams to root for as you ‘B’ teams in the 49er’s and the Giants.

The other issue is the content. Both the streaming on Netflix and the content available for free on Amazon Prime is, frankly, 97% crap. It just stinks. The same goes for all of the Internet TV channels on Roku. They are all crap. I’m all for choice and diversity, but when it’s all crap, then it’s not choice and it’s not diversity. It’s just crap.

The interface. While it looks nice, it’s impossible to find anything. There’s just too much garbage. I don’t want to have to go to 7 different services to get the content I want. I want to go to one. I also don’t want to wade through piles of garbage shows to find something that’s barely worth watching.

The service. Ten or fifteen minutes into streaming something, the audio gets all screwed up turning Dora into a Syth Lord. *Update* Upon further reflection, the distortion sounds more like the demon from the Exorcist I’ve googled it, and every message board talks about the lousy customer service Roku has, and I’m still looking for an answer.

So now I’ve got a Roku currently designated to streaming Dora the Explorer. And that’s about as useful as I find this thing right now.

Live Streaming Revisited and Improved

You’ll remember (or perhaps not) that I had some surprising success last year live streaming an event here know as Lessons and Carols. Last year, it was a simple one camera in the back of the Chapel hooked into my MacBook Pro. I had a wireless network that I patched into and streamed the event using Ustream.tv.

I was shocked when hundreds tuned in to watch the event live and another 1,600 or so have watched the video. In the spring I increased the degree of difficulty by adding a second camera, and basically jerry-rigging a way to combine the two streams using two MacBook Pros and Skype.

I didn’t want to go through that again, so I consulted with my now real world (formerly just Twitter) friend Hans Mundahl at New Hampton School. Here’s the set-up I came up with. Of course, I did this all the week before the event. Why do things in August when you can do them under the gun.

Materials:

2 cameras (one decent, one not)

1 Digital Recorder (I use this as an external Mic. You could just use the camera mic)

2 8-pin to 4-pin FireWire cables

2 8-pin FireWire cables

2 100 ft Cat 5 (ethernet) cables

4 Cat 5 to 8-pin FireWire converter boxes

1 iMac connected to the Intertubes

3 extension cords

3 power strips

The Boxes

These little babies were the key to having two cameras (that and the iMac with two FireWire inputs). I’m not going to mention that it took me an entire day to figure out why they weren’t working only to realize that the iMac’s software hadn’t been updated since the Bush administration.

Video over cat-5 has a range of 300m (330ft for us Americans). This allowed me to set up the cameras at opposite side of the Chapel, and run the cables underneath the floor, along the wall, and into the sacristy in the back of the Chapel where I was set up with my iMac. I simply set the camera up, plugged in the FireWire to the camera and then to the converter box, plugged the cat-5 into the box and turned on the power. That cat-5 ran into another converter box and from there I ran an 8-pin FireWire from the box directly into the iMac.

Feeding the stream directly into the iMac meant that I didn’t need to deal with a video mixer or any other equipment. I did end up having to purchase Ustream’s Producer Pro which I think was maybe $100 or $200, but way cheaper and easier than a mixer. Here’s what my screen looked like:

The one problem I ran into (which resulted in F bombs in the sacristy) was a bandwidth issue. The system kept freezing and crashing for the first 30 minutes until I turned down the quality of the stream. It turns out that we don’t have very fast upload speeds here and even though I was hardwired in, I was trying to push water from a fire hose through a soda straw. Once I turned it down to the lowest setting, everything started working just fine. We had 300 watch it live, and the recording has been seen over 1,000 times as well. The video is up on Vimeo. Pro Tip: With Ustream you can sign up to suppress ads for one month, and then cancel. If you download your video before you cancel, it doesn’t have ads. You can then upload it to Vimeo where you will have a video of your event without annoying David Hasselhoff ads.

The Bill

This year wasn’t cheap. I probably spent close to $1,500 to get everything set up and we did pay to suppress ads. $1,000 of that was a one-time cost though, and I should have to spend any more on the tech stuff unless I want to upgrade my cameras (which I do).

Thanks again to @hansmundahl for all of the help!

Stop it!

Dear U.S. Media,

Please stop comparing Usain Bolt to Michael Phelps. They are not the same.

Please stop saying that what Usain has done is more impressive than what Michael Phelps did. It’s not. It is impressive, but it’s not as impressive as what Michael Phelps accomplished.

Please don’t forget what Phelps did or diminish it by comparing it to 2 events in track and field.

Here’s why:

1. Usain Bolt raced in two races (not including qualifiers over) three days. He dominated both races, showboating through the finish of the 100m. He set two world records while doing so.

Michael Phelps raced in 8 finals (as many races as Bolt raced in total) over one week. He set world records in 7 of his 8 finals. He dominated in most. He did so with class and without showboating.

Advantage: Phelps

2. Bolt ran the 100m and the 200m.

Michael Phelps raced in the 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 free, 4×100 free relay, 4×200 free relay, and 4×100 medley relay.

This is the equivilent of running the 100m, the 100m hurdles, the 200m, the 200m hurdles, the 800m, the 1500m, the 4x100m relay and the 4×400 relay.

Advantage: Phelps

3. The 100-200 double.

Bolt became the first person since Carl Lewis to win both events in the same Olympics. Okay, that’s been a long time. I get it. But what they are telling you is that Bolt is the ninth person to acheive this feat. Here’s the list.

Phelps is the only person to ever have won 8 medals in one Olympics. He’s the only athlete ever to win 14 gold medals. Here’s the list: Michael Phelps.

4. Everybody runs. Not everybody does the butterfly.

I saw this argument in an article posted on somebody’s bulletin board. Really? That’s why Bolt’s accomplishment is more impressive? Because everybody can run? Seriously?

I ran in high school. I was slow.

I swam in college. I was slow.

What the hell do either of my athletic talents have to do with Bolt’s? Nothing. They’re both better.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, I’m a former swimmer and a college swim coach. I’m a fan of swimming and watched every race. I haven’t really watched anything since. (Okay, I admit it I watched the women’s beach volley ball, but I swear it was for the sport.)

I really don’t see how you can honestly compare the two accomplishments. What Bolt has done in his two races is incredible, but I bet we’ll see it again. Phelps? We may see that again too, but we’ll see another 100-200 before we see 8 golds in one Olympics and before we see anyone overtake Phelps’ career total.

#eduweb2008 New Media

Nicely done. Quick intro into what Datamark does, and then onto the presentation.

I’m liking this!

Rule #1 Ask for forgiveness after the fact!
I’m right on with this. Do it an deal with the consequences after the fact.

I continue to hate Blogger’s Italics issues in Firefox.

The admission staff should be on Facebook. I have mixed feelings about this and whether or not we should be totally on there. I think it depends on age. It would freak me out to see my director and/or my VP on there. I don’t think it’s worthwhile to have them on there. Just more work and no value. Young admission officers, yes. They definitely should be there.

I also feel strongly that people who are making marketing decisions regarding new media and Facebook should be on there and embedded into the culture. Otherwise they’re making decisions on a technology that they don’t understand. Blind leading the blind sort of situation. If you don’t have a Facebook profile, you don’t get a vote. There I go getting all worked up again.

I really need to blow up that useless Office of Admission Facebook page. I need to talk with ACP about creating a general page.

Yup! You can’t market on these things! I wonder how he recommends directing traffic to these things?

#eduweb2008 Can’t please everyone!

No kidding.

Webpagesthatsuck.com I like it.

Usability testing is important. usability.gov

Another mobile reference. I really think we’re going to have to test this. I disagree with Brian in that I think this will be big

waybackmachine Here’s where SMC has been in since 1997. That’s me in the orange and blue shirt walking in front of our library in 2000.

Pannel discussion #eduweb2008

Good morning!

Well….This is a very we developer heavy. Might be over my head.

Holy Sh**! Eric just responded to a question about video, and I thin I passed out after the first 3 words. Waaaayyyyy over my head.

Section 508. Had no idea what it was. According to Mark G. There hasn’t bee a lot case law re: this issue. This might be something to keep an eye on…..

The commercialization of higher education and higher ed marketing. Good or bad? Both I think. Not all marketing is evil.

Aggregate and filter! There are a ton of tools out there but which ones are valuable?

Totally agree. In order to understand the tech, you have to be on it playing with it. I find this hard to do sometimes when people walk by my office and see me on Facebook and Twitter, etc. they don’t get that it’s part of the job.

#eduweb2008 Admission Life Cycle

Christopher Ferguson, Dir. of Admission at Wilmington University.

Interesting. He went to a real estate company for the virtual tour.

Ning, interesting that they have it open to anyone not only accepted students. I’m not sure about how I feel about this. Get a kid who applies and then is denied…

What is Blogger’s problem with Italics? It won’t shut them off. Starting to get annoyed by it.

It’s been a long day of live blogging. Clearly, this post has not been very enlightening. Sorry, I’m fried. (::DAMN ITALCS!!!::)

#eduweb2008 High School Students Tell All

Presented by Bill Royall and Pam Kiecker

The Wealth of Stealth: the stealth market place. Website and other internet resources (think first contact application) -from the Lawlor Group

A few of the top most important information resources for students:

Admission website
Virtual tour
Student blogs
Online chats
Instant messaging
Personalization of website

Insights:

College websites are used for information not entertainment
Functionality: must be easy to use
Two click rule – it’s even more important now that there

Most frequently used sources during colelge search:

Websites
Other students/peers
Letters from colleges
Email messages from specific colleges

.edu websites are used more than any other. They are the most trusted and are used by all h.s. ages

Heavy traffic time winter break of their Sophomore and Junior years!!!!

They are searching for:

Can I get in?
Major?
Can I afford it? (GD financial aid again)

Seniors use website for:

Make an informed decission on where to apply
Develop a strong application
Make the FINAL choice

Everyone is on Facebook, but I’m surprised that the high school numbers are low. I’m not surprised that they’re not using it to get information on colleges.

I’m also surprised to see such a high the numbers were for those accepting of colleges on Facebook. I wonder if the students really understood what they were being asked. I also wonder about what kids picture when they’re asked about colleges being on Facebook.

More insights:

Website is important.
Connect with current students
Despite what you may think, students want more information not less. Email sin’t as dead as you’ve heard. This makes sense especially when considering how much Royall uses email and the incredible response rates they get in direct mail.
Students are saying, let me have it all and then I’ll sort through it and get what I want

Bill just suggested a financial aid estimator and how it can help enroll students!!!!!!!! No more!!!! I can’t take it!!!!!!!!

#eduweb Brian Niles, "Recruiting 2.1"

Lot’s of talk about population trends and the economy. Scary stuff. He did mention wasteful travel.

Stay away from fads. i.e. Second life and crappy facebook applications

Where’s the big picture? Are we doing this just to do it or is there a plan in place?

Email: What we use to talk to old people

IM/SMS: What we use to talk to our friends

(YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

64% believe that advertising is dishonest or unrealistic. Taglines. The marketing speak.

>25% of first contacts are at the point of application. >13% start searching at the 8th grade.

How to reach these kids? Where are they getting there information?

In 2004 75% of students researched colleges online. Really old study. Must be way higher now.

Damn Financial Aid Estimators again. 90% of parents want one. We continue to get killed by that one.

Funny, I don’t see those IM #’s. I never get IM’s from kids.

Quality: Define it! How is your program different! Think of the question, ‘how is your english program?”

Graduate student blogs. The whole damn website needs to be blown up and focus on recruiting students.

Biola for parent programs. It’s a great page and hits on a lot of stuff we’ve been talking about in our communications meetings.

Transforming a College George Keller

I’ve got a lot of reading to do. http://linkbun.ch/hh0

WVU roommate assignments in February(!!!). The ability to connect with your future roommate can help make the sale!

Travel, where are we going and why? I don’t think we’ve cut it enough in our office…

Book list:
The Overacheivers
Beyond Disruption
X Saves the World
How to Drive your Competition Crazy
Fast Company ( I need to subscribe to this for the office)
Don’t Make Me Think

Presentation available at knowledgecenter.targetx.com