MyMac response to New York Times article

MyMac unofficial staff response to:

“Smart Gadgets Acting Dumb, as an Upgrade Goes Awry”

by Alan Schwarz

New York Times

July 3, 2008

URL (may change, and not a live link):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/technology/personaltech/03basics.html?em&ex=1215489600&en=73a15c377197c828&ei=5087%0A

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(Exerpts from original newspaper and web article:)

The gadget galaxy in which we live — constellations of televisions, computers, DVD players, cellphones and other battery-powered, Wi-Fi delights — is held together by many forces. None is more potent and persistent than what shall henceforth be known as Schwarz’s Law: Try to upgrade one thing, and it will invariably downgrade three others.

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This is the jungle that real-life consumers like me live in — a savage wilderness where intelligent beings enter only to be transformed into howling, chest-beating orangutans. The product reviewers and tech columnists we rely upon for guidance? They live in a fantasy land, receiving umpteen cameras and Blu-ray players gratis from various manufacturers, test-driving each model, and telling us which have what features. Real tough.

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I made sure to get the finest 1080p resolution and three HDMI ports for lickety-split hi-def connections. (Goodbye, component cables!) I insisted on a universal remote to control the TV, my cable company’s digital video recorder and my DVD-VCR hybrid. This is a must because Time Warner Cable’s so-called universal remote has proved as worldly as Gomer Pyle, and is so slow I have knitted sweaters while it persuaded the box to change channels.

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I had never seen “No Signal” in such splendorous HD (or its much-anticipated sequel, “Component 2”). Images appeared in a range of aspect ratios — from 16:9 to 4:3 to something so distorted that even Picasso would have shuddered. Geek No. 1 was downright befuddled — he fiddled with menus, submenus and more on the TV and cable box before deciding that, naturally, the Time Warner box was to blame. “Good luck with that,” he cackled.

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After two months of this, I finally succumbed to the forces of Schwarz’s Law. My only upgrade, in the end, was to return everything back to the way it was — the TiVo bit the dust, the old Samsung TV went back on the stand, and the nightmare quickly receded into my subconscious. I was reminded of the line from “War Games” when Matthew Broderick is told by the behemoth but sage computer, “The only winning move is not to play.”

(Another dozen paragraphs fill in Schwarz’s saga.)

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Please read to the bottom of this posting, as we hear from MyMac staff, in response to Schwarz’s story, and his writing:

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I think it’s lovely, not weird. But the guy obviously has a PC. Can someone write a sequel on how easy it is with a Mac … if, in fact, it is.

Carmel

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MAN! PUBLISH THIS!

wowser, good one. post it, references and all

roger

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I see two major mistakes this fellow made:

1) He owns a PC…good luck with that

2) He relied on the Best Buy Geek Squad. Obviously, this man has no sense at all. (see #1)

Frankly, I think the most amazing part of this whole story was that the Geek Squad, arrived “right on time” to install everything.

I don’t think think this has happened in recorded time.

Rich

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I like it.

I like the part of tech columnists living in a fantasy land. I have to agree with that to some point. It drives me crazy how well-known technology commentators always talk like everyone should have and can afford the latest and greatest. Not like that in my world.

Donny

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I don’t think we really need half the gadgets on these things. They’re too complex. I’m generally libertarian, but there should be more control over how our devices “talk” to one another. Or would that lead to less communication development? Hmm.

Nate

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The writing style, admittedly, was a bit (?) obtuse…

I am a regular listener to the HDTV and Home Theater Podcast, and it sounds like the experiences Schwarz experienced were not out of the ordinary.

First, he got horribly ripped off with that $120 HDMI cable. If you pay more than about 20 bucks for a two meter HDMI cable, you paid too much. If there’s one near you, try the “new” CompUSA. They have an excellent selection of appropriately-priced cables.

Second, the salesman on the floor should have identified that the DVD player he was buying didn’t have an HDMI connector (which means it wasn’t an upconverting player–which requires HDMI). Of course, salesmen aren’t paid to be experts in this stuff–hell, Circuit City fired all their experienced sales staffers last year because at two bucks an hour more than entry level sales staffers, they cost the struggling retailer too much. It was comforting to know that many of those higher-paid, knowledgeable salespeople were afforded the “opportunity” to apply for the new, lower-paying entry-level position.

Third, I don’t understand why he had problems with a Logitech Harmony remote. It was the best (and probably cheapest) and most useful addition to my home theater system. The step-by-step configuration process was easy beyond belief–at least with my system.

Fourth, CableCard technology is still in its infancy and from everything I’ve heard on the HDTV and Home Theater Podcast, and even the PCMag Radio podcast, CableCards are nothing but trouble. The newer two-way CableCards are supposedly even more troublesome than the one-way cards. The cable box should have worked if it was built anytime after 2006 or thereabouts (some earlier Scientific Atlanta and Motorola cable boxes had some internal software issues with HDMI handshaking). The problem with CableCards is that the cable operators want nothing to do with them–they are too hard to install and configure and bring in less revenue than a cable box.

Admittedly, component video is only analog and only 720P, but the highly-paid and well-trained geniuses from the Geek Squad should have at least started there to ensure the various individual pieces were working correctly, and to eliminate any possible HDMI issues, which can be pesky at times.

Fifth, was his PC fully compatible with the TV? Was he feeding the TV via HDMI, DVI, Component, or ethernet?

I feel for this guy who went through technology Hell. It also leads me to believe I could make a fair amount of money cleaning up after the Geek Squad (or Circuit City’s equivalent).

Larry

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