Jason Unger

How HBO Became Our Favorite Channel

Posted by junger - 04/04/08 at 09:04:33 am

We never had HBO until last year. We've always been big movie people, but it never seemed worth it to pay extra to Comcast for a bunch of flicks that we could have watched on DVD months earlier.

Then came The Sopranos.

Yeah, you think you know where this is going … but hold on.

We got started on The Sopranos way late. My dad was a fan, so for one of his birthdays we got him the first few seasons on DVD. As it turned out, we ended up watching them instead.

We finished the first five seasons (and a half? six? whatever) right before the final half of Season 6 and decided it was worth to subscribe to HBO — and haven't looked back.

From Big Love to Entourage to Curb Your Enthusiasm to Ali G, HBO has the best original series on TV.

We also watched this show Tell Me You Love Me, which was basically softcore porn with a plot.

Now we're watching John Adams, the mini-series based on David McCullough's book of the same name, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. It's a fascinating look into the birth of our country, no matter how inaccurate the depiction of their teeth.

(I'm kind of hoping Giamatti says something about merlot at some point during the series, but I'm not holding my breath.)

For people who watch a lot of TV — like we do, yes, I admit it — HBO is worth it. We've been entertained way beyond the $10 or $15 a month we're paying for it, and we haven't even started The Wire, Extras or Rome.

When you think about paying $30 for two people to spend one night at the movies, a month of HBO is a steal.

And that's how it became our favorite channel.

Jason Leaves Boston, Comcast Gets TiVo

Posted by junger - 01/22/08 at 03:01:05 pm

If there's one thing Debbie and I disagree on, it's which is the best DVR – Comcast or TiVo.

For some odd reason, she loves the Motorola HD DVR we use from Comcast. And it's not just the convenience of it — she likes the interface, the usability and the remote.

On the other hand, I hate it. And love TiVo.

Since we only have a Series 2 unit — relegated to the office, where the TV isn't even connected to cable — my TiVo has not gotten a lot of love recently.

Then Comcast comes along and starts marketing a sort of hybrid TiVo software for use with their DVRs.

Perfect! Now we can have the best of both worlds. We don't need to buy another box (for our HDTV), pay more service fees, and we each get a slice of the pie.

Too bad the Comcast-TiVo rollout is happening in Boston, where we no longer live.

After three years of painstaking work, Comcast, (CMCSA) the nation's largest cable provider, Tuesday will begin marketing TiVo's (TIVO) interface as a premium software upgrade for DVR customers in the Boston area.

Of course, this was supposed to happen a long time ago, with a national rollout expected by the end of 2006.

It didn't happen.

Hopefully Comcast will start pushing this out to other markets — maybe Washington, D.C.? — soon.

This would be one of the first things the company could do to make me happy.

No Thanks, Netflix, We Don't Need Another Box

Posted by junger - 01/03/08 at 07:01:23 pm

Great. Just what we need — another set-top box.

Netflix and LG have announced that they're bringing movies from the Internet to your HDTV … with another box that has to sit in your media cabinet.

(You can hear the excitement now.)

How many companies have tried to do this? MovieBeam? Vongo? VUDU? Akimbo?

You get the point. No one has succeeded in an on-demand movie service before, right?

Wrong!

The cable and telco companies do on-demand right. You've already got their box. They already have the wires. The interface sucks, but it's easy enough to use, with instant startups and no down time.

According to Hacking Netflix (via Dave Zatz), this isn't going to be the only Netflix-branded set-top box. In fact, Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) says he wants Netflix content in a lot of boxes.

"Our model is that we don't want one Netflix-branded box, we want to see 100 Netflix-capable boxes. We want to be embedded in high-def DVD players, Internet games, dedicated set-top boxes, a wide range of options, not all instantly. This is the first one, a great proof point."

Here's a suggestion: go with the cable companies. Yes, no one likes them, but everyone likes the convenience it affords.

Look at TiVo — they're rolling out software for Comcast boxes. They had a great product that the cable companies undercut in price and convenience. So, they adapted.

Netflix, your movie by mail service was revolutionary. But video-on-demand isn't.

Instead of trying to succeed where others have failed, take your position in the new digital market — as a content provider — and go to the place that needs a fresh face.

Netflix content and cable box convenience would work. I'm not going to go and buy a new box, but if you provide me the content on the box I already have, it's a winner.

You're going in the right direction, but you're starting off in the wrong place.

What's Keeping Me Busy: 12/27/07

Posted by junger - 12/27/07 at 10:12:21 pm

Career vs Love: Which Would You Pick? – Well, ideally you could have both.

But there's a reason the song isn't called "All You Need is a Job."

Video Of The Day: Comcast TiVo DVR – I'm hoping that TiVo as software becomes prominent in 2008, and that Comcast here in DC will start to offer the TiVo guide for their boxes.

It's a great middle ground for me and the wife — she likes the Comcast experience and I like the TiVo interface. This rollout looks like it could suit both of us.

Have Your Baby Before New Year's Day, Save Thousands – An interesting look at why December 28th is the "most popular birth date of the year."

Should I Buy an iPhone? Vote Now

Posted by junger - 11/13/07 at 12:11:11 pm

Right after we moved into our new place, we discovered a HUGE problem.

Our Sprint cellphones don't work inside.

The walls are so thick that we literally have no signal inside, except a faint signal by the windows. However, outside, we have at least 3 bars of service.

As you can imagine, this is a problem.

Since it took us a few days to get Comcast installed (a whole separate story), we were completely disconnected … except out on the porch. (We use Vonage for our landline.)

It's brought me to this question: should I get rid of Sprint and get an iPhone?

I'm a fan of the iPhone — it's a sweet device — but have held off because of the AT&T lockdown and because I'm in a service contract with Sprint.

But if AT&T works inside — T-Mobile gets three bars, while Verizon's signal is weak — it might be a great choice.

Here are the pros and cons, as I see them.

Pros:
- The iPhone is awesome. I would love to get one, even if I wasn't having signal problems with Sprint.
- Make calls over Skype using iPhone WiFi.
- Potentially have service inside. Don't have to sit out on the porch to make calls.

Cons:
- Have to break Sprint contract and buy new phone.
- Stuck with AT&T's inferior network.
- May or may not grab a signal inside.
- Can't make regular calls over WiFi (see Skype above).
- Price jump in service — from $38/month to $120/month

For what it's worth, I currently own the Samsung m610.

So, should I switch to an iPhone? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.