The Spot

Friday, December 13, 2013

Battle of the Mobile Sportscast Apps

In an era where Corporations are considered people, and commercials are no more than an expression of opinion in the eyes of the law, the consumer has been left up excrement creek without a paddle when it comes to informative purchasing power and product reliability. Utmost so, when it comes to communications entertainment and the oligopoly of service providers. But tonight we've been given a glimpse of hope, as "competition" has emerged for the evening, and there is some direct comparison shopping that can be accomplished. Power to the consumer!

....so what the hell am I ranting about?

Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder for a ~~beatdown~~ road game that is being broadcast via two mobile applications; Time Warner Cable Sportsnet and Disney's WatchESPN. I think it's important to note that the ESPN app has been recently updated and is now drenched in iOS7 GUI. Perhaps the update had some side effects, like poorer A/V quality.

Not only was the audio lagging and the video spattering on the ESPN mobile app during the first half of the game, but I submit that the Time Warner Cable lettering itself is crisper and clearer than the ESPN lettering in the respective screenshots (yes, those tiny letters above "Sportsnet"). The TWC app presents a perfect, crystal clear picture across my Fios wifi connection, but the ESPN app can't seem to get a completely clear HD rendering, even on the wifi under the exact same conditions.

Perhaps Disney was just trying to get out the new version and will be improving their mobile video app service, but as for now TWC Sportsnet is far and away the better video service to watch the game on your mobile device. Just look at how clear the graphics are between B and James!

Monday, November 04, 2013

Long Beach Events: Holiday Bone-anza!

Coming up on November 17th, from 10am-4pm at Good Neighbor Park in East Long Beach, Friends of El Dorado Dog Park are putting on the Holiday Bone-anza to help raise funds to complete the El Dorado Dog Park! There will be gourmet food trucks on hand, a live DJ, Christmas music, dog training demos, a silent auction and raffle prizes, and they'll be making snow to play in. Come on out and have some fun with the whole family with over 40 vendors helping to support the El Dorado Dog Park, opening this December!

A Holiday Message to Retailers

I saw a ~~Christmas~~ "Holiday" Tree lot almost completely set up on my way to the office this morning. It got me thinking about the retail-driven nature of the holiday season that we will be innundated with over the next 60 days, or so. The furvor of the season even spills over to Wall Street, with expectations always lofty, and retailers painsakingly trying to achieve those expectations. The traditional answer to boosting sales was to emphasize the importance of being first -- we open at 9pm on Thanksgiving for Black Friday, or we have a Pre-Black Friday sale! But to all those retailers depserately trying to snag extra dollars from the over-fatigued and under-informed consumer, please remember this one constant and unwavering tenant of retail consumerism that creates a huge buzz, lines out the door, and commands a premium in price.....

No matter what, the Club does not open before 10pm.

It's a bold posture, but nothing whets the consumer appetite like anticipation and being told they must wait for what they want. The Holiday shopping season is ripe for a make-over, and I think this is just the trick. But delayed gratification in America; is that even possible?

Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday Fun

In an attempt to take "joke emails" to the 2.0 version, this came across my inbox today and I just busted. Maybe it's because an appraisal for a loan I'm working on came in at least 10% short of what I conservatively thought it should, but this is just damn funny...

Your House As Seen By:

Yourself.