Friday, March 21, 2003

SonicBlue - don't let this be true!!!  Replay is the greatest things sinced sliced bread!!!  No I don't work there, I am just an enthusiastic user.  If you are sitting on the fence - buy one now!!!!  Tivo is not nearly as nice as this.  Also, buy directly from the company's website!  So they get the money, The retail channel can catch up later (sorry guys, got to save the company first).   They're going to sell the whole shebang for 40m to some Japanese company.  At $1000 per player (lifetime subscription included) That is equal to 40,000 buyers!  Come on, there must be 40,000 people who will buy this. How bout the troops (you've got 300,000 troops in Iraq).  These are the guys who will want something cool as a reward for their hard work - Replay is the thing. At least let's hope that the Japanese company will keep it operating nicely!  I'd hate to be out the bucks, have a useless non-functioning machine, and have to go get a TiVo... ========================================= Sonicblue seeks bankruptcy protection By Jim Hu Staff Writer, CNET News.com March 21, 2003, 8:20 AM PT Hardware maker Sonicblue has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and intends to sell its ReplayTV digital recorder and Rio MP3 player businesses. The bankruptcy notice, filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Jose, Calif., is intended to let Sonicblue continue operations long enough to sell its main subsidiaries. The company plans to complete those sales by April and then to open the bidding for its remaining assets. "In the end, we and our financial advisers have concluded that the best outcome for our creditors and our employees is to sell our businesses to better-heeled owners," Gregory Ballard, Sonicblue's CEO, said in a statement. So far, Sonicblue has signed nonbinding letters of intent with Japanese consumer electronics companies D&M Holdings and Marantz Japan to sell its ReplayTV and Rio subsidiaries for $40 million. The company also has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its GoVideo business to Opta Systems for $12.5 million. Sonicblue has retained Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Capital as its financial adviser and Pillsbury Winthrop as its legal counsel. The bankruptcy filing caps an unsuccessful attempt by Sonicblue to find potential buyers or investors to reduce its debt. The company has been fighting a lawsuit by the entertainment industry over technology in its ReplayTV device that lets people skip commercials. Sonicblue recently settled a patent suit with TiVo, its digital recording device rival. Related Quotes Quotes delayed 20+ minutes   SONICblue Inc SBLU 0.06 -0.17   Tivo Inc TIVO 5.40 0.09 Quote Lookup:   Symbol Lookup  Streaming Real Time Quotes Print story E-mail story News.com feeds Send us news tips Related News Hidden ad-skipping feature found in TiVo January 15, 2003 No escape: Gadgets bring tech everywhere January 9, 2003 Sonicblue turned on to Universal remote October 23, 2002 Maxtor drives Sonicblue's ReplayTV October 22, 2002 Sonicblue pins hopes on holiday pricing October 21, 2002 Get this story's "Big Picture" 1:17:10 PM

Thank you for your beautiful blog and your interesting posts!  You are an inspiration! ============================= Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do is in turns fascinating and sinister. This book is a must for any designer working in the technology field. B.J. Fogg is clearly a upright fellow, yet the techniques he offers to persuade desired behavior are so clearly articulated that it is easy to see how they will be used for unethical ends. Stanford professor Fogg lists many positive uses for these techniques, such as educating teens about domestic violence, or teaching diabetics to monitor their blood sugar levels, or getting RSI sufferers to stretch-- yet it's no effort to image the dark side. A later chapter on ethics does just that, showing his student's experiments in designing unethical tools, such a Pokémon game that coaxes personal information out of children and persuades them to bug their parents for toys. That said, ignorance is not an option. We need to understand these methods, as designers and as users. I had never seen Amazon' Gold Box as more than a very silly bit of foolishness.. now I understand it for the highly crafted and effective sales tool it is. Even if persuasion turns you off, you need this book for chapter 7, on web credibility. Check out the website for a taste. Design and information architecture are critical pieces in the struggle to differentiate a site from the vast number of personal sites and imitators sites... an increasingly difficult task for users. When you finish this book, the hackles on your neck will rise, you'll feel lightly slimey-- but you will be a better designer and a smarter consumer. 11:01:43 AM

Key concept here is that Blogger would help Google's user's track where they've been... But you can already do that (with some modest effort).  For example I've got RadioExpress.  It's a great little add-on for Radio users where you just click a link and it opens a blog entry box with a built in link to the page you were viewing.  If you want to caputure it and take notes then do it. I'm using it right now!  Kudo's to Mike Krus! 10:49:35 AM

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