Kid Technology Chat Series: Zephyr 9 Years

In my curiosity to learn more about how kids use and think of TV, the web and other technologies in their lives (i.e., games, mobile, etc.).  I decided to embark on a series of direct interviews with kids of all ages, backgrounds, regions, social and economic classes and so forth.

The following is a recent skype video chat I had with my good friend's son.  Zephyr 9 years.  To give you some context, Zephyr was born in the US, then lived in Indonesia for about 5 years (from 9 mos to 6 yrs old), currently goes to a private school and lives in a small town (under 5,000 residents) in New England/USA.

Alan: What grade are you in?

Zephyr: 4th grade

A: What do you think is more fun, television or the web?

Z: The web.

A: Why?

Z: Because you can do more stuff.  TV you can only watch TV, and the web you can see TV plus watch all types of videos and do other cool things.  The web can do so much more than television.

A: What kind of TV or videos do you watch on the web?

Z: I used to watch videos on youtube.  But don't any more because I'm banned right now by my parents.

A: Why are you banned?

Z: Because my parents say I'm lazy and they want me to do my work.  School work and chores around the house.  If I do this, prove to them, then I can get back some of the tech stuff again.

A: Okay when you're allowed to go back on the web and watching TV where will you go, what will you look at?

Z: I'll check out a shoe website like Nike.  Also go to Burton.com (snowboard company).  They have cool snowboarding videos.  

A: Do you snowboard?

Z: No

A: Do you skateboard?

Z: Yes

A: Do you learn something from those snowboarding websites.

Z: No, not really.  But they're really fun.

A: What video games did you play before getting banned?

Z:  The game "Street Sesh" on Addictinggames.com, and at my friends house we play Rock Band, we jam together and play drums and guitar at the same time.  I also like the "Need for Speed" game.

A: Do you learn from the technology you're using?

Z: From television I learn from watching National Geographic and Discovery Channel.  Like I watched a show recently on Colossal Squids, which was cool.

A: How can you convince your parents to bring technology back?

Z:  They said I can earn it back, if I do all my school and house work and all they ask of me.  My parents allowed me to use the internet, play video games etc. only on weekends.  I think they think it's better for my education.

A: Do you want to sometimes watch TV and videos that are not educational in nature?

Z: Yes I do.

A: If you had a crystal ball that sees into the future and were given the choice to be an executive working in TV or in a web company, what would you choose?

Z: Work for Yahoo or Google.  My 4 friends and I Google at lot.

A: Did you Google today?

Z: No.  Remember I'm banned.

A: Okay.  We'll make an exception for this interview and I'll take the heat from your parents. Will you open your browser and Google right now and tell us what you're searching for?

Z: Sure. (types for a few seconds) I typed in "Lego." And then clicked on their website and went in to see the latest star wars Legos.  Such cool stuff.

A:  Thanks for your time today Zephyr.  Good luck to you with that ban.  Hope you take on yourself, do your work and get your technology back.

Z:  Thanks.  Bye. Bye.

Goodbye Cable, Hello Web, DTV Antenna? Dilemmas Part 1

My world view of cable TV changed this Chinese New Year 2009.

May be a very interesting "cable TV free" 12-months ahead.

Can my wife and I survive a year without cable?

Like many Americans, I'm taking stock these days of my needs vs. wants.  As I eliminate newspaper delivery except for the Sunday NY Times, I've been contemplating if it's time to cut off my cable TV service.  

Is now the transitional moment to switch from my cable dependancy to the web?

Whether it's for economic or technical reasons, many questions surface for the user.  This blog's goal is to explore the inherent dilemmas that arrise when questioning such robust habits and ponder "Can I live without my MTV for one entire year?"

Is TV on the web ready to service all our media viewing needs?

How much will I save anyway?  

Are we too dependent on cable service to really give it up?

What are other available options for viewing media?

Has anyone I know personally made this leap, and ditched their cable TV service?  

Turns out I recently met a few who have proudly gone "cable-TV-free."

Let me preface what I'm about to write by addressing my potential next employer, the cable TV executive.  

If you're a cable industry top brass reading this blog, you may wonder,  "Do I really want to hire a producer who doesn't pay his part to support our network?"  I reply, "Sure you do, I'll be watching your shows, not just on TV, but I'll be happy to watch (and pay for them or sit through commercials) via my iPhone, iTunes, Netflix.com,  hulu.com, others, and here's why....."

We all know television distribution and consumption is changing before our eyes.  This blog will explore my personal (and professional) reasons why I'm seriously considering axing my cable TV service and depending 100% on the web and other means to get my TV fix.  Through my writings I hope to offer some insight into this trend of viewer migration from cable to web (and beyond).

How did I started thinking about this in the first place?  

My wife and I recently celebrated Chinese New Year at a friends home (outside of Boston) and he said with a huge smile and liberated glow, "Guess what I just got rid of my cable TV service and the $50/month bill."  I was a bit surprised and said, "Okay but how are you going to watch TV now, you know CNN, LOST?" He said, " On the web, plus I applied for a federal rebate and purchased a Digital TV converter box and antenna."  Taken a back I snapped, "A what, antenna, wow dude I haven't seen TV "rabbit ears" since I was a kid." My friend continued, "You got to see the picture.  Crystal clear."  And it is clear, surprisingly clear.  Feeling the wow-factor as I contemplate truly free TV.  Utopia.  Or is it?  

But then my inner deeply embedded dilemmas started to creep out.

Dilemma 1 

Will I (and my wife) survive WITHOUT our cable TV service and DVR?

All for "free" TV.  But can we (or millions of others) live with no CNN, no Animal Planet, no Discovery, no HBO, no Weather Channel, no Home Shopping Network, and NO MORE DVR !!!!!!!!!  What am I nuts!!!!! No device to allow me to skip all those commercials? How would I/we survive?  But wait, how many programs do I really watch via cable TV anyways?  A handful.  Can I live without seeing them? Sure.  But will I be happy?  Perhaps not.  I remind myself of the mantra and remember to distinguish "need vs. wants." 

I am a gadget man for sure.  Someone who loves "having" the latest and greatest thing.  The bigger question is......can I depend on the web to watch my "comfort shows" such as LOST, THE OFFICE and 60 MINUTES (for starters)? 

 Is going "antenna" a step back in "gadget" time and blow to my ego and TV diet?

We'll get there, but first how much will we really save?  

Let's explore the costs and projected savings.  Money is always a good motivator to take action.  

While I'm at it, what if I cutoff my landline phone also?  Many more of my friends have made this jump with no regrets.  No landline, no daily newspaper and potentially no cable.

Next step...... I called RCN, my cable TV, internet and landline phone service.  My current bundled "deal" cost is $120 per month with taxes (full disclosure: this includes a year promotion of free long distance).  Without my phone and cable the agent's revised total comes to about $35 for just internet (cable modem).  Savings per month is about $85/month.  Or $1020 per year.  Real money for sure.

I already subscribe to netflix.com "watch instantly" and purchased their $100 TV converter box that hooks up to my TV and internet router, this service allows for unlimited online movies plus 2 DVDs in my possession at any one time, all for $15/month.  Good value, yet netflix.com doesn't offer the current season of  LOST or THE OFFICE.  At least not yet.  Bummer.

Even if I purchased an entire "season pass" of LOST on iTunes for $50 (really $49.99).  I'd still be saving $970 by getting rid of my cable TV provider.  Plus then I can watch LOST pretty much anywhere I am,  via either my iPhone, TV or laptop.  Up $970 annually.

(Full disclosure:  I did end up finding commercial supported full episodes of LOST on abc.com as well.  Go to abc.go.com/player )

What additional out of pocket expense will we incur to transition from a paying cable TV subscriber to cable-free media consuming household?

Oh yeah...to go the antenna route there's a few more expenses, need to buy a digital TV converter and a compatible antenna.  Figuring in the $40 government rebate, my out of pocket totals about $60 dollars.  Still up $910 in savings.  Feels like I'm at the casino.  Up, down $. 

Money is clearly the upside to scraping our cable provider, but what are the downsides?Convenience, reliability, quality and size of image perhaps.  Are other Americans considering jumping off the cable TV wagon.  The more you look, the more you find.  Turns out three of my friends don't have cable.

Dilemma 2

How am I going to watch my other favorite shows (THE OFFICE, 60 MINUTES)?

I went on a search and came across a superbowl ad for hulu.com, starring Alec Baldwin.  Odd ad, did you see it?  Did Alec make you log onto he NBC-sponsored hulu.com?  Did it's job for me and zipped to the hulu site.  BINGO!  Here I can watch all of the recent THE OFFICE episodes.  Check them out for yourself (No NBC is not paying me, I swear!!!)  www.hulu.com/the-office

Pretty cool.   Watched an OFFICE episode.  Player works like a charm.  However I discovered that episodes do expire, makes sense due to limited drive space.  Full length show gigs add up. 

Quality is pretty good on their flash player.  Same situation on the nbc.com site.  Either way I will be covered and able to watch the OFFICE on the web and (if needed) on on my iPhone for a fee.  

Okay how about 60 MINUTES?

Not so fast.  Cbs.com has only a few full episodes of 60 MINUTES, but mostly clips of segments.

CBS seems to be holding out on posting full episodes online.  What are they waiting for?  

With commercial-driven full episodes on the net, web viewers cannot fast forward through the dozens of commercials as DVR-wielding cable consumers can and do.   Advertisers should be very happy about web TV watchers.  DVRs are their arch-enemy.

After a short search, I finally discovered a URL to screen older full episodes of 60 MINUTES @ www.veoh.com  Decent player.  Most recent show is from 1/11/09, nearly a month ago.  Not bad, no great.  Thing is....I don't want to be left out of those water cooler conversations on Monday mornings at the office.

Wait, I'm freelance producer, I don't have time to stand around and chat.  I have to work, to produce results, and prove to my existence to my executive producer and show I am an invaluable part of her/his production team.   (as a side note: I later discovered veoh.com also has recent full episodes of LOST. YEAH BABY!!  LOOKIN' GOOD TO PULL THE PLUG ON MY CABLE TV). 

Now ........how to my convince my to wife to make the switch.  How will she watch her Spanish -language networks like Univision and Telemundo including their series, specials and novelas.

By watching in "real-time" via a digital antenna or the web?  I'm still researching (and debating).

I will continue to blog about this experience as we decide to pull the plug on our cable or not.

I'm nearly ready to jump into this self-imposed year-long experiment to watch TV without depending on cable television. 

Still need to convince my wife though....  

To be continued.