Well Known Fact

An Open Letter to Congress: On #PIPA and #SOPA

Dear Members of Congress:

I am gravely concerned about the potential adoption of the bills generally known as SOPA and PIPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.

As eWeek recently noted, “The language of SOPA is so broad, the rules so unconnected to the reality of Internet technology and the penalties so disconnected from the alleged crimes that this bill could effectively kill e-commerce or even normal Internet use. The bill also has grave implications for existing U.S., foreign and international laws and is sure to spend decades in court challenges.”

Both bills greatly expand on existing, reasonable restrictions to the point of unreasonableness and provide tools to law enforcement agencies that effectively place non-Judicial persons in the role of playing judge and jury without due process.

Both bills usurp existing protections on prosecutorial restraint and permit gross travesties of free commerce to occur on no more than flagrant accusations, with little recourse for those affected.

I urge you, Members of Congress, to stand proudly against these two dangerous pieces of legislation.

Sincerely,

Cory Siansky
www.WellKnownFact.com

What I Learned at #CES This Year: A Three Part Series

Lesson 1: Be a great generalist, be a great unitasker or be gone.

The tablet market best describes this lesson.

Apple owns the general tablet market with iPad.

For e-book readers, Amazon’s e-ink Kindle line represents one example of a product offering good value (starting at USD $79) for a very constrained list of functions.

There remains room in the current marketplace for additional unitasking tablets, but I’m not convinced I saw them at CES this year.

The Samsung Galaxy Note might be such a device. But probably isn’t.

Let’s dig deeper.

Apple’s iPad, for better or worse, owns the generalist tablet market. This is not to say other general purpose tablets can’t be successful in the market. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 has great appeal, for example, even though it hasn’t won huge market share. The 7 is probably the most capable under-appreciated product on sale right now.

What I am saying is that the ship has sailed for mindshare for the first generation of general use tablets. Apple 1, Rest of Marketplace Zero.

If Microsoft expects their new generation of Windows 8 tablets to succeed, they need to innovate fast. Like Google, Microsoft sets an OS standard and has little control over the hardware their partners offer on their platform. Android competitors cannibalize one another all the while funneling cash to Google’s maw.

Microsoft will need to out-Google Google to make a general purpose Windows 8 tablet more attractive to an existing Android tablet-buying audience. Oh wait. That hasn’t taken off. Scratch that.

Microsoft will need to out-Apple Apple to make a general purpose Windows 8 tablet more attractive to an existing iPad-buying audience. Oh wait. That’s improbable. Scratch that.

Microsoft must create their own market by executing phenomenally on what a Windows 8 tablet should be (whatever that is). Or in an alternate reality, Microsoft must create an OS that offers hardware partners the latitude to deliver it to market at a phenomenally low price. In this scenario, some bad behavior or shortcomings might be overlooked on the back of perceived value (see Amazon Fire).

Absent a generalist approach, a purpose built one-task wonder can succeed. It must do what it does phenomenally well and at a right price for its market. I mentioned Amazon’s e-ink Kindle line earlier, but let’s look at an entirely different slant.

A more mature product of also-called-tablets exists in the form of Wacom’s fabulous input devices. This is a company that knows its niche market incredibly well and continues to innovate for its market. The product performs its role well, and is priced right for its audience.

Wacom lives this mantra—they are working hard to get their devices right and haven’t rested on their laurels.

Products that innovate, execute well and are priced right have a chance. Everything else, see dust bin.

This is the first in a three-part series about lessons learned from this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Lesson 2: Glitzy tech sizzles, but ecosystems sell »

Lesson 3: Great design still matters »

#CES #CES2012 Trends That Won’t Go Away

Observed at this year’s CES too many times defying explanation:

- egg-shaped media chairs
- robot vacuum cleaners
- dancing robots
- reclining massage chairs, like you see at the mall, but supposedly for home use

#CES #CES2012 — Desperately Seeking Disruption

A long-standing theme for my coverage at CES is finding potentially disrupting technology. One clue that something new may be emerging is stumbling on the same underlying engineering in completely different sections of the show floor, used for completely distinct markets.

Two years ago I had the opportunity to get a sneak peak at PowerMat, a wireless, inductive charging approach for handheld gadgets. A major impediment to adoption is the relatively high cost—iPhone or BlackBerry Powermat-compatible cases run USD $20-$40 retail not including the required mat charger. Most consumers will contend with a USB cable to save $50.

At the time, PowerMat’s high-end implementation was in home appliances. A toaster or blender, for example, powered through an under-counter wireless source. Still it hasn’t reached mass adoption.

Two different areas of the show floor offer inductive charging products, but this year targeted at the electric car market. Nothing gets attention on the show floor like a hot car, and a prototype Tesla roadster charged inductively is getting some second looks. Perhaps a technology seeking its market more than a market seeking a technology.

#CES #CES2012 — Back to Basics

After three excruciating years watching TV manufacturers chase, develop and hype 3D sets, makers are getting back to the fundamentals of television: quality images, rich sound, screen size variety and stylish enclosures.

3D TVs are still here at CES, for sure, but the importance of this particular feature is receding into the background. Sony is showing a glasses-free 3D line that is both credible and not headache inducing. Still, not everyone needs to pay a premium for this feature.

LG and Samsung both showed off OLED sets of the non-3D variety with eye popping brilliance and unfathomable thin cases measured in single-digit millimeters. Thin cases equals low weight, and that saves costs in production and shipping, not to mention moving it around the house.

Sony stresses how their platform from end-to-end helps users play, watch, listen and share their favorite content—including users own-created pics an video. Sony continues to chase a digital lifestyle theme. For consumers committed to a Sony-only lifestyle, it makes sense, albeit with a cost premium for some components.

Samsung’s trying another run at SmartTVs and a look into their future: a 4K ultra high definition set that is, purportedly, ready to go to production as soon as there is a market prepared to buy it.

Sony is getting serious with 4K, too, having shown a 4K unit here five years ago. A first-ever 4K front projector for home use, which is nothing but cinematically incredible. Really a must see. Sony is showing the complete production solution from camera rig, post-production, content management and distribution.

Canon, long known for its prowess on lenses, shows an array of purpose-built devices from the point-and-shoot to the professional line that is cohesive and demonstrates their world-class optics an understanding of light and motion. Of course, the talent of the user plays a certain role.