I just saw one of the “shareyoursecret.com” commercials and i wish I could get that 30 seconds back. Seriously. The two people in the commercial were squeeling and squeeking and I couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
I think there is a role for society to correct injustices and protect people who can’t protect themselves. And to that end I give you credit cards with 19% interest rates targeted at folks who have no business being considered for $10k or $20k credit limits. Certainly not illegal. Probably not evil. But still… I do so hope that another credit card company gets their kid’s debt business when they hit 19 or 20.
Ah… but is this evil? If evil were relative then I’d have to say no based on the commercial I just saw for a company that offers a $3k loan where the borrower is then on the hook for more than 3 years of payments of around $200 / month. That means to borrow the $3k ends up costing you north of $9k. I saw the numbers flash by but it looked to be in excess of 99% APR.
I know my libertarian friends will take issue with this but maybe, just maybe, something needs to be done about businesses like this. I assume it isn’t illegal but if we take the perspective that the state regulates cigarettes and other things harmful then maybe we could start thinking about the economic health of this country in similar terms. Lord knows the administration is mortgaging quite a bit of our future on their own (see other posts about that) but maybe they could find a few occasions to look out for citizens in trouble.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong. If this is allowed to go on then maybe an alternative source of revenue that I can implement would be to tell people there is gold in the stream out back and then charge them $100 per egg for breakfast at my company store.
I was driving home from lunch today and was thinking about this surprising behavior shift I had over the last few weeks. Anyone that knows me will tell you I watch a fair amount of TV and in our house we have ReplayTV’s (I bought one on eBay with the commercial skip function), 2 Comcast DVR’s, and a Hummax Tivo DVR with DVD burner for those times people want me to record something and bring it to them. All this speaks to a desire to watch things on my schedule and to avoid the less interesting parts.
So, what’s the shift? There is now a show that I watch exclusively on YouTube. I was watching it on Cartoon Network but they air new episodes on Sat night so I had to wait a week between 30 min episodes. A friend called out the fact that the Japanese episodes are available on YouTube with English subtitles and I’ve flown from episode 30 currently on cable to episode 105 (of 199 or so) at my own pace. If you’re curious, check out Naruto on YouTube. The link takes you to my favorite contributer.
As I was driving home I heard an NPR story about how broadband is getting cluttered with all the new services and channels and how they’re trying not to add any unnecessary channels / shows. The solution to all this, Video On Demand (VOD) and how this helps is actually pretty simple. Instead of adding a new channel they just add a new show to the VOD servers and as users opt to see these shows they are streamed in real-time. This means you have one VOD channel and a huge number of shows available. The benefit to the cable provider is it gives them a way to test ideas without committing bandwidth and it also allows them to serve under represented communities.
Before my YouTube “Ah ha!” moment I wasn’t a huge fan of YouTube or VOD. I understand both and they seemed to work ok but weren’t perfect. If a friend sent me a link to a wacky video then I’d click on it and laugh and then navigate away. The quality and frequency of good videos made it hit or miss. If Alice and I wanted to watch a movie on a Friday night then we’d check out On Demand and frequently find the available options underwhelming (the HD options are worse still). Worse still is that the Comcast cable box is pretty weak when compared to my first ReplayTV back in ‘98. I can’t beleive how often the thing lags to the remote control commands or how often I need to rest the box to get rid of show fragments. But all that aside, now that I’ve started to see some practical applications it makes me want more.
My litmus test for technology adoption is to ask myself how hard something would be to explain to my grandfather. He’s 93 and in better shape than I am on most days but he’s less comfortable with technology (the first plane he saw was a biplane) so when it hits the “he could do this on his own” mark then I know it’ll have complete market adoption. The TV and VCR are there but I don’t think VOD is just yet.
Anyway- I’m off to watch episode 106 and see how Naruto gets out of his most recent jam on his way to becoming Hokage. 
So, I know the Real World has been around forever but I think everyone would agree the % of shows that are “non-scripted” in some form or other is on the increase. The thing that I ask myself pretty much every week is, “Why would people go on TV and act like this?” I guess if you factor in the Jerry Spinger type shows then we can see how we got to the point we are. People got used to the idea of airing dirty laundry on TV as entertainment. Then came the Real World and other shows that hit on the secret sauce of sensationalized TV… get young people (if at all possible, make them as hot as possible), who’ve never been anywhere or met anyone different from themselves, take them to a new location, give them tons to drink and let the film roll.Now, that’s where it all started but we’ve gone beyond that. Wife Swap, Trading Spouses, Celebrity Fit Club, Survivor, Big Brother, 18 different flavors of Real World (RW, RR, RW/RR Challenge, RW/RW Inferno, RW/RW Fresh Meat, ….), Pop Stars, and Temptation Island to name a few of the ensemble shows. Then there are the “family” shows like Newlyweds, Osbornes, whatever that Whitney and Bobby show was, and the like.
Anyway- I’m just amazed at the level of ignorance and depravity in this country. I’m watching an episode of wife swap and it is physically painful to see a 300 pound women go on TV and yell and scream when she hears her overweight and irresponsible kids were required to, get this, eat veggies, do chores and be respectful. I do think the other mother and family were extreme too but I assume there is editing and what not to make “good” TV.
I think the thing that is most amazing to me is that I expect this from the poor families that are drawn to the $50k reward but I think I underestimated the draw of being in the spotlight. It must be that to get all these folks who live in multi-million $ homes to participate. Still, the fact that the visiting mom determines how the family will spend the $50k tends to mean that the money is awarded based on the sense of abundance instead of need. What I mean is, the wealthy mom doesn’t think about the $30k in credit card debt but instead dedicates $2k for a trampoline and includes a line in the award letter like, “so your kids can learn to reach for the sky!”
And at 10 minutes into the show I’m looking forward to never seeing Howie kiss another person for no reason.
Saw this article on the Motley Fool site:
I love seeing news that I think will completely change the game. MySpace announced the following:
“The new Snocap-powered feature will enable bands to outfit their MySpace site with an interface through which computer users may browse the bands’ songs and buy them in the copy-protection free MP3 format, MySpace said.”
I was not a believer in the whole “make it cheap enough and people won’t pirate” theory. I think people are prone to be so self interested that no price is low enough - and then Apple changed the game by offering $.99 downloads. Sure, people still do bad things but I do see that CD sales are down and music downloads are more than making up the gap. Heck, I only used the radio but now I own multiple MP3 players and buy music like I never used to.
I think that MySpace is changing the game by enabling bands to set their own prices and opening up to the MP3 format which will let people download and share music with friends that have common interests. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Will people feel compelled to pay for music because they have some level of relationship with their friends? Will there be some type of peer pressure that pushes people to do the right thing? That sense of community can be a pretty powerful force in your small town or in your online circle of friends.
Well, you know the joke I want to offer about who’s family you’re leaving to spend time with. Sorry for the 2 for 1 post… I won’t miss you enough for unique posts saying goodbye so deal with it.
Good luck to you both!
OK… I’m not saying that this movie is authoritative or proves anything but boy oh boy I’d recommend you see this movie. Here are links to some reviews: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, Amazon, and here is a link to the movie site.
I love all the Jeff Skilling quotes that float around. I wonder if there is a website dedicated to his kind of arrogance. I’ll have to look that up. Gotta love the power of web-based search these days. Found the results in about 2 seconds so if you’re interested, check out this site. My favorites aren’t here so let me look around and see if I can find them.
There are so many details I never knew. Like the rolling blackouts in CA (my new home) occured in the Winter which is a lower utilization period compared to Summer. Apparently Winter in CA requires 28-38k MW and the state has a 45k MW capacity so there was no logistical reason for the power to go out.
I also remember being in MA and hearing the Enron PR machine talking about how it was CA’s fault that the lights were going out. Forget all the speculation about what else might have happened. You have to ask how, with the tapes and memos that are now public, can they live with themselves? It is rhetorical… I know how. They still don’t think they did anything wrong.
LOL- here is two quotes I just heard and then went and found online. Skilling was speaking at the Commonwealth Club of California back in June of 2001. I can’t tell if this is the title but it looks like it on the website: “THE ARROGANCE OF REGULATION: THE POWER CRISIS IN CALIFORNIA”
“Consumers in California are angry, and they should be.” He also said, “This thing in California has been bad for everyone. If we had anything to do with this then we are the stupidest people in the world.”