Cutting the Cord – Step One: Over the Air HDTV in Grand Rapids, MI

To promote the GRTP’s goals of providing technology education and promoting technology use in the region, GRTP Partner Will Hartwell is writing the “Cutting the Cord” series.  In this series, Will discusses how he has replaced traditional paid television service with free alternatives through the use of an Over-The-Air antenna and a Home Theater PC.

First things first.

To justify cancelling pay TV, I would first need to determine which TV networks I could receive, for free, with an Over The Air (OTA) antenna.  Ideally, a solid antenna would provide me free access to the four major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC) as well as a number of other minor offerings (The CW, PBS, etc.).

Before I get into things I should note that there is no such thing as an “HD” antenna.  All TV antennas are capable of picking up HD broadcasts as long as they are connected to a digital tuner.  Although most HD Television sets have these tuners built-in, TV’s without digital tuners (i.e. older TV’s) can pick up digital broadcasts by using a converter box.  So when you see an antenna advertised as being “HD Compatible,” it doesn’t mean anything special.

So anyway, I began my search by heading to AntennaWeb, a wonderful online resource designed to tell users – based on their address and other location data – which TV stations will be able to be received by which types of antennas.

From the beginning I knew that I would be limited.  I live in a condo and, as such, I would not be able to place an antenna outdoors.  With this in mind, I had to take my AntennaWeb results with a grain of salt, as their rating system is specifically designed for outdoor antennas.  Nonetheless, the results were still helpful, especially in their ability to map my proximity to area TV towers.

Antenna Number 1: RadioShack DA-5200

The next step was picking out my antenna.  According to my AntennaWeb results, I would need a Medium Directional Antenna (i.e. Red Zone) to pick up the four major networks.   Now, these antennas can be a little pricey, so I first tried my luck with a smaller, more modestly priced indoor/outdoor antenna, the RadioShack DA-5200 ($59.99 at RadioShack).

I placed the antenna near the window in my upstairs bedroom and pointed it toward the southern sky – the direction recommended by AntennaWeb based on my location in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids.  I turned on my HDTV and set the built-in digital tuner to scan for channels.

To my dismay, I found that only Fox 17 (Digital Channel 17.1) came in clear.  Although I was treated to Saturday Afternoon Baseball in its full HD glory, I was unable to get my tuner to even recognize the other network channels – even after moving the antenna throughout the entire second floor of the condo.

But to be honest, I kind of expected this.  I purchased an underpowered antenna to see how it would do, and expected better than sub-par results?

Antenna Number 2: Antennas Direct ClearStream 2

For the next antenna I decided to head to the opposite end of the spectrum.  I walked into a local BestBuy and asked an associate for the best (in-store) antenna they had.  He handed me the Antennas Direct ClearStream 2 Long-Range Antenna ($105.99).

The ClearStream 2 was significantly larger than the DA-5200, but ultimately I didn’t mind as long as it did its job.  After some minor assembly I aimed the antenna to again point out the window toward the southern sky.  After scanning the digital spectrum, my tuner picked up a number of additional channels.  Unfortunately, these were mostly PBS, public-access, and religion-based networks – networks that, although nice to have, were not enough to justify the drop from pay-TV.  The ClearStream 2 did pick up two ABC stations – WZZM (Channel 13.1) in Grand Rapids and WOTV (Channel 41.1) in Battle Creek, but overall still left me with much to be desired.

[I should note here that the ClearStream 2 is listed as an outdoor antenna, and therefore will not produce ideal results when placed indoors.  So I did my due diligence and tested it outdoors on the awning outside my bedroom window.  Unfortunately, I was still unable to receive either WWMT (CBS, Digital Channel 3.1) or WOODTV (NBC, Digital Channel 8.1).]

More Research Needed

I was beginning to get a little frustrated.  You would think that someone living in a relatively large metro area like Grand Rapids would live close enough to the local TV transmitters to receive a full signal, right?

So I began to do some research.  It didn’t take long before I came across a blog entry on WOODTV’s website entitled “Digital TV and Indoor Antennas,” written by Dave DeJonge, WOODTV’s Internet Director.  In the article, Mr. DeJonge explains that WOODTV (NBC),  WXMI TV (FOX), WOTV (ABC), and WWMT (CBS) are all located in the geographic center of the intended coverage area.  Basically, the fact that Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Holland are so close to each other means that instead of each city getting its own stations, all four cities have to share the same stations, forcing the antennas away from metro Grand Rapids and closer to a point between all four cities.  So as opposed to cities like Lansing and Detroit, where TV towers are a lot closer to their respective metro areas, places like Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo are left in the dark.

I also discovered the importance of determining whether an antenna is capable of receiving VHF (Very High Frequency) and/or UHF (Ultra High Frequency) transmissions.  VHF antennas can pick up channels 2-13, while UHF antennas pick up channels 14 and on.  Although most antennas today are both UHF and VHF, some may work a lot better with one type of frequency than the other.  For example, although the ClearStream 2 could pick up UHF channels from 50 miles away, it struggled with VHF stations a mere 20 miles away – which explains why it wasn’t able to pick up channels 3.1 (CBS) and 8.1 (NBC).

Antenna Number 3: Antennacraft HDX1000 – We Have A Winner!

So, armed with my new knowledge, I once again headed over to RadioShack (the Alpine location, which is apparently the regional HQ, has a pretty solid selection).  I explained my situation to the associate, and he directed me to the Antennacraft HDX1000 ($79.99).  With a UHF range of 50 miles and a VHF range of 40 miles (and with a Red sticker indicating that it is a Medium Directional Antenna), this appeared to be the answer to my problems.  I hastily ran home to test it out.

It did not disappoint (for the most part, at least).  Digital Channels 8.1 (NBC), 13.1 (ABC), and 17.1 (FOX) all came in crystal clear, as did pretty much all of the secondary channels (including the CW, a couple of weather channels, and three PBS channels).  The only desired channel that I couldn’t get was channel 3.1 (CBS), which, according to the super-helpful AVS Forum for Grand Rapids HDTV, is nearly impossible to get if you live anywhere near the city, especially if you are limited to an indoor antenna.

So in the end, I found an antenna that was able to receive MOST of the channels I wanted.  And honestly, of all the networks we watch, CBS is probably the one we watch the least, and most of its content is available online (we particularly enjoy “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory.”)  The only major thing we are missing out on is CBS’s NFL coverage in the fall.  However, given the fact that both my wife and I support out-of-state teams (I the Browns, my wife the Colts), we can rarely get our games over-the-air anyway.

But I digress.  For some more antenna-related resources, check out: HDTV Antenna Labs and TV Antenna Source.  And as always, if you have any questions about OTA Antennas or anything related to “Cutting the Cord,” feel free to leave them in the comments.

Up Next: how to choose a Home Theater PC.

Stay Tuned.

About Will:  Will is a Partner in the Grand Rapids Technology Partnership and an Associate Attorney at Paparella & Associates, an Intellectual Property Law Firm here in Grand Rapids, MI.  Will lives with his wife, Becky, in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids.  He can be reached at will@grtp.org

Cutting the Cord – Why I’m Cancelling my TV Subscription

By Will Hartwell

I love TV.

I’ll be honest, as much as I enjoy spending my free summer hours outdoors, my ideal day is one spent revisiting Season 1 of Arrested Development or trucking through any one of Filmspotting’s many film marathons.  That’s just how I am.   So it made sense when I subscribed to U-Verse – AT&T’s wonderful new(ish) IPTV service.  With U-Verse, I get quality television delivered to my home through state-of-the-art technology.  It’s awesome.

However, as of late I find myself with less and less time to actually sit down and watch TV.  Recordings quickly pile up on the DVR and I continuously find myself having to choose between Timothy Olyphant’s crime-fighting adventures in Eastern Kentucky and Captain Picard’s bold journey through the 24th century.

There’s also that hefty monthly bill.  I am of the opinion that if I’m gonna do it, I better do it right.  With TV, this means HD programming, the all-important DVR, and at least the second-tier channel subscription (what would I do without NFL Network?).  When it all adds up, I end up forking over about $85 a month for my TV programming.

I’ve had enough of it.

It’s not that I’m unsatisfied with my service; in fact, I have nothing but great things to say about AT&T U-Verse.  It’s that bill – and the fact that I don’t have the time to get my money’s worth – that make U-Verse no longer worth it.

So I’m cutting the cord.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will write about my transition from paid TV service to free over-the-air (OTA) and online TV.  In the process, I will cover topics ranging from selecting the appropriate antenna for OTA service to building a capable yet inexpensive Home Theater PC (HTPC).

But now, its time for me to go catch up on Season 9 of The Biggest Loser before I turn in the DVR and forever lose the opportunity to see who gets sent home in Week 3.

Stay Tuned.

Will Hartwell is a Partner in the Grand Rapids Technology Partnership and an Associate Attorney at Paparella & Associates, an Intellectual Property Law Firm here in Grand Rapids, MI.  Will lives with his wife, Becky, in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids.  He can be reached at will@grtp.org

A letter of explanation

Not that I’m obligated to share any of my personal life with the public but there is a sense of fair play as to why I’m writing this post.  When I started the GRTP back in February I had the knowledge that this spring would be a stressful time for the Lang house.

You see – our yet to be born daughter, at the time, was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart defect called Hypo-Plastic Left Heart Syndrome or HLHS.  Here’s a really good link about what it is if you’re part medical geek - https://health.google.com/health/ref/Hypoplastic+left+heart+syndrome

Her due date was in early April and we expected to have our daughter home by the end of May.  I thought I was doing pretty well: just brought on Will Hartwell as a partner, High Tech walking tour was on track, we launched NOW…GR Tech Calendar and all while I spent 6 out of 7 days at University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.  Our daughter was to have the first of three open heart operations within a week of her birth – which she did.

Unfortunately being at the center of the HLHS universe with the best doctors and nurses around – it wasn’t enough.  Our precious little daughter Arawynn died after 43 days of fighting for her life.  It’s still raw for me.  I sometimes sit in her room and cry with my wife.

On reflection – we go through life in this AMAZING technological world we’ve built.  We live with the greatest and most advanced technology EVER!  Information Tech, Medical Tech, Computing Tech, etc…  We create more data daily than was ever created prior to the millennium.  We think of ourselves as the smartest, savviest population to ever walk the earth.

The fact is with as much as we think we know – we don’t know much at all.

Now why write this on Computing the Rapid Cloud?

I’m the Founder and I wanted to be transparent as to why things were gaining momentum for GRTP and then suddenly stopped. Plus I wanted to have a say about how cloud based computer technology helps up though this time.

You gotta know the cloud is where it’s at.  I mean Google, FaceBook, Twitter, FourSquare, ect… wouldn’t exist the way we enjoy them without this type of technology platform.  Going through this hard time I am totally grateful for them.

I mean can you imagine standing in the intensive care cardiac unit, where a fraction of 1% of Michigan’s sickest kid are, and making 100 phone calls to whom ever asking them to start praying because your daughter just went into a progressive cardiac arrhythmia?  No that would suck and drain me away from being present in that situation.

What am I doing in that situation to help…..well nothing since I’m not a doctor but being present is all you have when you’re in the situation of only watching someone else be your daughter’s hero.  With that my family were and still are people with a big faith in God.  So being able to communicate to around 100 people on FaceBook, Twitter and my Gmail in a matter of seconds that we need some prayer – is a powerful testament to the technology.

With services like Picasa, and yes I do drink a lot of Google Kool-Aid, I can take a picture with my smartphone and can instantly upload it for our friends and family to see.  By the way I do have a Android device – Moto Droid.  So I’m assuming that a great many of you that may be reading this already know the tech geek side of what I’m saying.  But let me be clear; being able to rely on this technology was something that allowed us to concentrate on “quality of life” matters vs. having to communicate to an extended number of family and friends that were genuinely interested in what was going on with us.

It allowed us to be present and others to be present as well.  I read some drivel on the web recently about keeping your drama and problems off your FaceBook and other social media.  What those authors fail to realize is the “Social” part of social networks.  It’s not just for “Hey I’m here drinking this and having a good time with them”.  Social is about being able to communicate what you want / need to when you need to.

It allows others to participate in your life and isn’t that what we all here to do?  Isn’t that what this great new social technology is here to help facilitate? Participation in each others lives in a healthy way?

Because of this technology I was able to give the gift of allowing others to be involved in our lives in a very intimate way.  Most importantly it allowed me to be present for my daughter and that presence is the most valuable thing I could have.

C’ya in the Cloud

About Doug Lang:  Doug is the Founder of the Grand Rapids Technology Partnership (GRTP).  He is 34, married for almost 11 years to Molly.  Doug has lived in the area for 9 of the last 12 years – the last 2 in Grand Rapids’ Garfield Park Neighborhood.

Digital Crops Harvested in Michigan

I (Doug) spent a couple of hours last Thursday (20-May-10) with Loren Koeman at his office and consulting business of the same name: The Koeman Group – http://www.koemangroup.com/

Now to be transparent I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to get out of our meet.  I’m a city boy – born and breed.  Detroit, Denver, Phoenix, Houston so knowing anything about how a farm works is what I learned from Sesame Street and investigative reports on how American Farmers are starving.

What I knew is that I really don’t know much.  Loren contacted me to give me a glimpse as to how big technology is being adapted to the farm.  Loren grew up on his family farm in West Michigan so he has real insight into farming needs.  But Loren isn’t some farm-boy from the sticks that picked up a computer one day and started hacking away.  Loren is highly educated and knows, from a multifaceted point of view, how this whole puzzle can be better optimized.

Now down to the technology.

The primary gist is that farming at the farm is quickly becoming a high tech business.  High tech automation is nothing new to farm equipment.  What is new is sophisticated data gathering and algorithms used to maximize crop yield and lower farmer cost.  The Koeman Group is able to drill down into data so efficiently they’re able to give the farmer the ability to manage their field down to a one meter resolution!

The field machinery is equipped with GPS and augmented GPS, seed and fertilizer computer management systems and some even have the ability to stream live telemetry data.  This equipment is crucial to the optimization and data gathering process.  Once the raw data is reaped (sorry bad farming joke) Loren is able to develop a management plan for that field.

I know what I’ve described in just a few paragraphs is not earth shattering (sorry I did it again) technology.  But what is unique is the application of sophisticated technology for data processing for the family farmer.  Loren’s clients are not mega-corporation farms.  They are mostly family owned with 3,000 to 30,000 acres.

Loren uses a multitude of data sources from USDA databases to actual recorded data from the equipment in the field.  Using broadband internet, where available, farmers upload raw data to Koeman Group servers.  From here information is layered into trending data, compared to pervious data groups and/or used to analyze goal performance.

Loren remarked a few times on how “What we’re doing for our clients is as significant as the barcode and scanner was for retailing”.  The Koeman Group plans to be on the forefront of the technification, <–my word, for family farmers.  If what is going on now is equivalent to the barcode; Loren is looking to move his industry to what Google did for search or iPhone did for smartphones.

This is where creating a technological hub city has a benefit.  Loren eluded to me that as his business and the data gathering at the farm grows his reliance on newer technology will grow exponentially.  This puts the Koeman Group into the power user category much like the Ada based currency trading firm Global Forex.  Technology is the backbone of how their business is operated not what it produces.  Developing technology out or necessity not for commoditization.

This is where the growing need is.  Loren is always looking for ways to improve how they manage and manipulate data.  This means software development.  Currently most of what The Koeman Group does is from vendor provided software with some custom developed modules.  As the technology develops The Koeman Group’s ability to offer increasingly relevant data will expand.

There is a recognized desire to push this type of farming data ecosystem onto a cloud platform.  That is where I see Grand Rapids based IT developers, still looking for a niche, to carve one out.  If what is currently available is likened to barcoding and scanner technology – that tells me there is a huge upside of development to be had.

I realize the value in meeting with power users like Loren.  It gave me a point of view that I had not spend much time thinking about – the raising group of tech power users.  Building Grand Rapids into a technological hub city, I feel more that ever, is an imperative step that hat we as a community have to take.

I want to thank Loren for taking the time to encourage me in my efforts with the Grand Rapids Technology Partnership.  With the education he gave me in how high technology is needed in other aspects of our lives, like farming, I’m convinced we only see the ice above the water.

To find out more about Loren and The Koeman Group please visit his website at: http://www.koemangroup.com/ or follow him at http://twitter.com/lorenkoeman

Cheers!

About Doug Lang:  Doug is the Founder of the Grand Rapids Technology Partnership (GRTP).  He is 34, married for almost 11 years to Molly and has a newborn daughter Arawynn.  Doug has lived in the area for 9 of the last 12 years – the last 2 in Grand Rapids’ Garfield Park Neighborhood.

What I think we (GRTP) should do w/ Twitter

I’d like to get better at a few things….okay a lot of things.

But what I’m talking about here is how we communicate and reach out to our community and be relevant. I’m not sure if I love social media or love the idea of it. I’ve read numerous blogs and “experts” in social media marketing talk about “whats possible” but sometimes you gotta be thinking…really!

Lets take my current mini-project…..Twitter. Now the marketer in me says Twitter is a valuable piece to take our message to the masses and create community. I like this thought process and I truly do see value in Twitter. I tend to think of it as a scrolling news banner of whats going on in the world we choose to “Follow”. RT (Re-Tweeting) is important, original content is important and so is due diligence when following back people or organizations.

SO why does it seem so hard to get people in twitter streams to answer you back?

This is something that admittedly has been driving me a little crazy. I want to engage our community and I don’t just mean Tech Geeks in Grand Rapids. A diverse people from a grand cross section is what we are striving for.

SIDEBAR

Now I tend to think in random spurts and the other night a new idea came to me. I saw someone in our Twitter stream pose a question about something technical. It was out of our realm to answer and I couldn’t think of anyone specific to send the message to and then it came to me. Before I go ahead and put down what I thought was a bolt of lightning – I recognize that someone reading this might say – duh! That’s what Twitter is best for….okay here it is.

Use a Twitter directory service like http://wefollow.com, go through the directories of the communities we want to be apart of, and follow good Tweeples. Hopefully a decent percentage will follow us back. Then when someone in our community has a question we can RT their message and possibly facilitate getting an answer. I hope it will work we’ll see in a few weeks if it does.

BACK TO IT

Then I started to think about how I would make these new relationships meaningful?

After thinking about this and then not…it can to me….I remember a video I saw and favorited it on YouTube – http://youtu.be/EhqZ0RU95d4 – It’s Gary Vaynerchuk speaking @ Web 2.0 Conference in NYC. Its only 15 and change minutes long but WATCH IT!!!

okay enough screaming…but his words and the simplicity really spoke to me and I’m glad I saved it so I can watch it again and again. In this video Gary touches on how he made his online relationships meaningful. YOU making them meaningful by working at it – he said.

If I want meaning from the people I follow and want to follow me; I have to show that it means something to me. So I’m going to shift our Twitter strategy a little bit. I don’t think it will take much and I think the payoff will be big in the long run.

When someone follows us whether organically or through us following them:

• First we will verify that the following relationship is appropriate. No spammers or product and service hounds with automated messages.
• We will take a minute to read their twitter stream to see what this person seems to be interested in. Click on some of their links or the referenced link in their profile bio.
• We will then respond with a manual thank-you message. Yes I said a MANUAL reply of thanks for the follow. Like a human behind the keyboard typing kind of manual.
• In that thank you we will reference something from their stream or link that we find interesting too.

I realized after seeing Gary Vaynerchuk; that building relationships online doesn’t somehow follow a different set of rules than the real world. So that’s our new twitter strategy for now. Just plain old politeness and courtesy. We’ll see how that works and let you know.

Leave us some of your twitter insights…after all we’re all neighbors now!

Cheers
Doug

Founders Notes

A start at the beginning……

I just finished watching the movie Julie & Julia on Nexflix, late at 2:25 am, in our room in Ann Arbor.  Its a movie I thought I would like, not only because my wife knows me so well and she suggested it, but I like food as well.  But an unexpected component for me was motivation.  The motivation to just start writing about what I’m passionate about.

So here we go…..what am I passionate about.  Well a number of things.  My wife, my life, my new daughter, and stuff I’d like to do in my personal and professional life.  Its there in my personal and professional life or the blurring of the two that I’d like to explore a little.

I am an amateur entrepreneur several times over but unfortunately I have yet to reach a noticeable and public success.  What I have managed to accomplish though is a sense of my strengths and weaknesses.  I have learned that failure is a great teacher – second only to experience.

So on I go again.  On that journey that takes my creative energies and give them a productive outlet.  The last attempt at an entrepreneurial venture failed last year.  It was called Beer:30 and the biggest things I learned from that failure was being present and the power of social media.  Its like I can’t even help myself – I have to try something else or I’ll just stagnate.

This time I just want it to work.  So I have to break away from the stuff I’ve thought would work in past ventures and break out of my mold and allow myself to be sculpted a little.  That’s a risky thing though.  I have passion, I have drive and I have an idea.  I can’t loose those assets but I need to be able to break though on this one.

This one is going to be different.  I know this because I’ve finally realized that I’m not at the center of the universe.  I feel I can be the happiest as a professional giver.  That’s really what this time around is about.  If I can give of myself to help promote my community and better it – I will better myself.  If I can play an instrumental part of steering my community into a better direction where our area can profit environmentally, socially and economically – then I will be able to profit in these areas as well.

Here I am starting, well I’ve actually already started back in February ’10, and the journey shall be called……drum roll…….Grand Rapids Technology Partnership or GRTP for short.  Our mission is to foster Grand Rapids into becoming a computer, web and information technology hub city by building a foundation of technological literacy for our youth, a tech savvy public image for our city and reaching out beyond our region.

I hope to accomplish most, if not all, of these big lofty goals in the next 10 years.  Its a big audacious dream and I look forward to sharing the vision with you on this journey.  I will need help and a lot of it.  In order I will need – counsel, talent and finance.  I say in order because without the first two the last one doesn’t matter.

This blog will be many things.  My thoughts, trials and tribulations on starting what I hope to be one of the great non-profits for our area.  Also what we plan to do and how we plan to do it.  Interesting things in technology and my personal and professional point of view of those things.

But most of all I just want you to get to know me and hopefully I can get to know you too.

Cheers!

Doug

About Doug Lang:

Doug Lang is the Founder of the Grand Rapids Technology Partnership (GRTP).  He is 34, married for almost 11 years to Molly and has a newborn daughter Arawynn.  Doug has lived in the area for 9 of the last 12 years – the last 2 in Grand Rapids’ Garfield Park Neighborhood.

Thoughts on Apple and Flash

By Will Hartwell

It is fairly common-knowledge that Apple’s portable media devices don’t support Adobe Flash, the technology used in “75% of video on the web.”  However, the true reason for this decision has remained somewhat mysterious.  Some people say that it has to do with efficiency and hardware, while others suggest that Apple is simply trying to put Adobe out of business.  And the folks at Apple never seem to give a straight answer.

Until Now.  This morning, in a blog post entitled “Thoughts on Flash,” Apple’s own Steve Jobs answered this million-dollar question:  Why no Flash?

This is my response (a more appropriate title, I suppose, would be “Thoughts on “Thoughts on Flash”").

Open

Jobs’ first reason for not supporting Flash is that it is “not open.”  To quote Jobs:  “Though the operating system for the iPhone, iPod and iPad is proprietary, we strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the web should be open.”  This, Jobs explains, is the reason why Apple supports the open HTML5 standard instead.

Makes sense, right?

I guess I would buy this argument more if Apple’s entire corporate philosophy didn’t seem so “closed.”  One of the biggest complaints with the iPhone is that it is an incredibly closed system; for example, Apple must approve every single app developed for the system before it is released to the public.

With that said, there are certainly benefits to having a closed system.  For example, a closed system like the iPhone generally prevents poorly written apps from getting in and screwing up your system.   By keeping the system closed, Apple can help ensure that its hardware will meet all of the demands of the software.

However, Jobs isn’t talking about the merits of closed systems; instead, he is arguing for open systems.  He says that he doesn’t want to be controlled by Adobe’s proprietary products.

Sure, but try telling that to the myriad of mobile developers out there who would prefer not to be controlled by Apple’s proprietary products.

Translation:  If Apple owns it, it should be closed.  If not, it should be open.

The “Full Web”

Next, Jobs argues that although most web videos are flash-based, “almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads.”

Not having an iPhone to test out this claim, I really don’t have much to say about it.  If true, it seems like a pretty legitimate reason not to support Flash.  However, the fact that Adobe gets a ton of download requests for Flash from Apple devices indicates to me that Apple users tend to have trouble accessing videos online.

Reliability, Security, and Performance

As Jobs points out, Flash has a pretty poor security record.

It’s hard to argue with this one.  I suppose the numbers could be somewhat swayed due to Flash’s overwhelming market share (the more websites that use Flash, the more likely there is going to be a security breach), but I don’t really have actual evidence to back that up.

Battery Life

This is a big one.  Jobs claims that Flash videos would cause an iPhone’s battery to drain twice as fast as HTML5 videos do.

This seems like an entirely legitimate reason.  Though wouldn’t allowing Flash integration actually do a better job of dissuading people from using it?  Better yet, wouldn’t it encourage Adobe to improve its product?

Touch

Here, Jobs argues that most current Flash websites aren’t compatible with the iPhone’s touch capabilities.  If web developers are going to have to rewrite their Flash websites to be compatible with smartphones anyway, why not just have them switch to HTML5 instead?

Not being a Flash developer myself, I really don’t know how difficult it is to update a Flash website to support touch-based devices.  However, I’m thinking that it is probably going to be easier to update a website within its existing framework than to adopt an entirely new one.  Just saying.

“The Most Important Reason”

OK, apparently this is the big Kahuna – according to Jobs, that is.  Basically, Jobs argues that cross-platform development tools like Flash end up hurting overall product quality.  The idea is that cross-platform systems will only offer upgrades when all of the supported platforms are capable of handling the upgrades.

So, if Apple comes out with some great new feature that isn’t available on Android, Windows Mobile, etc., then it won’t be supported by Flash until it shows up on those other platforms.

I get the argument, but I’m not sure I agree with it.  With cross-platform tools, developers can more-easily reach a wider audience.  Instead of having to start from scratch when writing programs for iPhone OS, Android, and Windows Mobile, developers can write something that works for all three.  Wouldn’t this increase the number of iPhone apps, boosting competition and overall product quality?

Plus, if Apple really comes out with some awesome, world-changing, new feature, won’t developers just write dedicated iPhone apps to utilize the feature, regardless of cross-platform compatibility?  Just because you can use a cross-platform development tool doesn’t mean that you will always use it, in every situation.  If there is value in writing a dedicated iPhone app, what is the threat of a cross-platform tool like Flash?

Conclusions

At the end of the day, whether you like it or not, Apple’s mobile devices aren’t going to support Flash.  According to Jobs, “the avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary.”

Although this is a pretty bogus argument, akin to “you voted for me so you must agree with every decision I’ve made,” I think Jobs’ has a point.

At the end of the day, iPhones are selling.  Like crazy.  Will Apple’s refusal to adopt Flash change this?  Not likely.  Will this decision lead to the ultimate demise of Flash?  Maybe.

Will we all be better off because of it?

I guess that’s the million-dollar question.

Will Hartwell is a GRTP Associate and Computing the Rapid Cloud contributor.  Will is a recent law school graduate and a law clerk at Paparella & Associates, an Intellectual Property Law Firm here in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at will@grtp.org.

Copywrong: Using Technology to Curb Copyright Infringement

By Will Hartwell

Approve of it or not, everybody knows that it happens.  Each year, billions (yes, with a “b”) of music and video files are downloaded without the consent of their copyright holders.

This trend is the direct result of the advent of decentralized peer-to-peer file sharing technology.  Beginning with programs like Napster in the late 1990′s, and continuing today with the BitTorrent file sharing protocol, peer-to-peer technology has effectively changed the way that we distribute media, and in the process has forced distributors to change the ways they do business.

Now, a couple of recent articles show how the music and film industries are using their own technological developments to fight back.

DRM-Free, But Not Entirely Free

In How “Dirty” MP3 Files Are A Back Door Into Cloud DRM, Free Republic contributor Michael Arrington discusses how some music distributors watermark files with a purchaser’s personal information.  Basically, certain companies, such as Apple and Wal-Mart, are embedding information into their music files so that down the road the files can be looked at to determine whether they are in the hands of their original purchaser.

What is particularly concerning about this not-so-new technique is that it is being utilized in files advertised as “DRM-free.”  For those who don’t know, Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to technologies that limit a person’s use of certain copyrighted digital content.   An example of this can be found in Apple’s iTunes Music Store, where DRM-protected files are encoded using Apple’s proprietary FairPlay system.  Files encrypted by FairPlay can only be played in media players that utilize Quicktime, Apple’s proprietary multimedia software.

When a file is listed as “DRM-free,” buyers know that they will be able to use the file in any way they choose, free of any limitations placed on it by the seller.  There is a certain value to this, and some buyers are even willing to pay more money to  purchase DRM-free content.

Adding identifying information to a file changes things.  Although it doesn’t necessarily limit the immediate ability to play the file, it keeps open the possibility of limiting playback in the future.  Imagine, for example, a system that compares a user’s account data to the data contained in a music file, requiring the data to match before playing the song (one of the features of Apple’s DRM-encoded files).  Arrington suggests that could be a key feature of future cloud-based (internet-based) music streaming systems.  By placing identifying information in a file, the file remains susceptible to future use control.

Torrent Users Sued For Movie Downloads

In another recent article, New Litigation Campaign Quietly Targets Tens of Thousands of Movie Downloaders, Eriq Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter talks about a recent lawsuit aimed at people who download motion pictures using the BitTorrent protocol.  The US Copyright Group, the plaintiffs in the case, have utilized a new German technology that tracks torrent downloads and identifies downloaders by their IP address.  This technique, which has already been used in Germany and the UK, is being used for the first time here in the United States as part of this massive lawsuit involving over 20,000 defendants.

[I'd like to note that Philippe Martinez's "The Steam Experiment," one of the films the defendants are charged with downloading, was filmed right here in beautiful Grand Rapids, MI.  Having seen "The Steam Experiment," however, I'd like to make it clear that I do not warrant the film's quality in any way.]

As the article points out, there is a significant flaw in identifying downloaders by their IP address.  At present, it is relatively easy to “steal” another user’s IP address.  For example, any time someone logs into another person’s wireless network – whether a friend’s home network or a local coffee shop’s free public network – they are using that other person’s IP address.  Just because someone administers a Wi-Fi network shouldn’t mean that he or she approves of or authorizes the actions of the network’s users.  Or should it?

OK, that’s enough from me.  What do you think?

Will Hartwell is a GRTP volunteer and Computing the Rapid Cloud contributor.  Will is a recent law school graduate and a law clerk at Paparella & Associates, an Intellectual Property Law Firm here in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at will@grtp.org.

Open Source a disadvantage? Nawh

Great blog picked up from Twitter - http://bit.ly/98BEDd

Well written and thought out but…

I tend to think this blog highlights a certain population of the Open Source community that doesn’t really not what that core of Open Source is about.  Open source isn’t about a militaristic view that all software must be open and free for use.  It’s about community that want’s useful software to be available to people who will embrace it.  That doesn’t mean you can’t have a viable business plan or gain economically from using open source software.

I think of it like this:

The Open Source movement is like a free flowing river or software, data and programming. It is a river close to fertile fields where all you have to do is dig your open channel to irrigate the crops you plan to grow.  There you have tapped a source to use to grow your own crops (developing your own products).

You have changed what came from the river and created something else.  You’ve labored and now it is different from what the source was and in that is something new.  You give credit to the source because without it you could not have created/grown what you have but now it is yours to do what you want with – consume or sell for economic gain.

Another way to look at it would be like saying:

“Open roads and highways or skies are a disadvantage” – that would be crazy to say.  Having these open resources are the medium that carry everything from personal freedom to pure hardcore commerce.

People or firms that engage in the open source community have plenty of vision and patients to see their vision to an economic gain.  Has anyone heard of RedHat, Google, Mozilla or the billions of dollars that are transacted over open source built platforms?

Open source may have some socialist underpinnings as its mother – but its father is pure “Free Market”.

So I ask you who really has the disadvantage here:  Open Source or Status Quo?

Please comment and spread the word…..