 |
| The Pok Pok Special: Roasted Game Hen & Papaya Salad |
 |
| Neua Naam Tok: Steak Salad |
Friday, November 25, 2011
Food Friday: Pok Pok (Portland, OR)
The other weekend, my girlfriend and I drove down to Portland for the weekend. Portland is a fun town, and this time we really started exploring some of the neighborhoods on the east side of the river, including the great restaurants in the area. Pok Pok was one of them and it's perhaps one of the most original Thai restaurants I've been to anywhere.
The biggest thing here is the menu. There was almost nothing on it that you would expect to find. Phad thai? Absent. The standard stoplight selection of curry? Replaced by regional curry varieties. How authentic it really is, I can't say (yet) but they go out of their way to provide a different view of Thai cuisine and the recipes were researched and developed in Thailand and then brought back to Portland. After looking over, we eventually settled on two great dishes (and one alright dish): The Pok Pok special and the Neua Naam Tok (and the Khao Muu Daeng).
Monday, November 21, 2011
At the Top: Seattle (Columbia Tower Club)
This is the view from the top of Seattle at the Columbia Tower Club. Located on the 75th floor of the second tallest building on the west coast, this is as high up as you can get in Seattle and a fantastic view. I really wish I had had my other camera to be able to capture it better! I was here as part of a celebration organized by the French Chamber of Commerce for this year's beaujolais nouveau, which was a great night and a great deal (I'll be going back next year if they have it here).
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Gear: Kindle Fire
The Kindle Fire has been hyped as a true competitor for the iPad and a game changer with it's $199 price tag and bevy of features. I recently got my hands on one and in this post, we'll be exploring Amazon's first tablet and color Kindle. After the break, we'll take a look at what the Kindle Fire is great at and whether this deserves a place in your gadget line up.
For $199, there is no denying that the Kindle Fire is one of the least expensive tablets on the market right now. For the same price as an iPad, you can get two of these and still have a hundred dollar bill left over. There are not many competitors in this particular price category right now. The nook and kobo both have an ereader in the same price range, but outside of that most tablet computers start at least double the price of the Kindle Fire.
The first impression that you have when you pick up the Kindle Fire is that it's compact, but dense. It's still under a pound, but if you've just been handling the other members of the kindle family there is much more heft to the Kindle Fire. The other first impression that you'll get is that this thing is, literally, shiny. In most settings, reflections don't get too much in the way, but outdoors it can be difficult to read the screen. It's very much the polar opposite of the E-Ink displays which thrive in direct sun. The back is a soft touch plastic which is great at keeping it in place: You can easily set this up on a counter without worrying that it's going to slip. On the exterior, there are two speakers, a standard audio jack, a micro USB port, and a power button. Everything else is done via the touch screen. For included accessories, I was really disappointed to see that Amazon chose to go with a full fledged wall wart for a charger. The previous USB power adapter that was shipped with the Kindle Keyboard took less room and was more useful than this thing.
Out of the box, the first 15 minutes of using the Kindle Fire is astounding. You simply connect to a wireless network, enter your user information (unnecessary if you order from Amazon, since they preregister your Kindle) and suddenly all of your media is there. When you activate your Kindle Fire, you're given a trail subscription to Amazon Prime, which gives the Kindle Fire a significant edge over the competition. With Amazon Prime, you can stream movies to your Kindle for free and this feature works right out of the box. Within 5 minutes of playing with the Kindle Fire, I was watching The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for free. Most of the movies are not recent blockbusters, but there are some great ones in the free catalog. Music is also just as easy. You upload you music to Amazon and then your entire music collection is right there on your Kindle ready to be streamed. It works the same way for books as well: You can see all of the ebooks you own via Amazon and download them with a single click. Amazon has done a great job of eliminating the local/cloud barrier with the Kindle Fire.
Video and music is great, but I found that the experience of using the Kindle Fire for reading was uninspiring. It felt just like the Kindle application for my android phone and left out many of the new features that have made their way to the Kindle Touch (click for my review of that device). No x-ray. No facebook/twitter sharing of quotes. Reading on the LCD screen is on par for similar devices, but E-Ink is still much better when it comes to actually reading an ebook. However, one area where the Kindle Fire definitely beats out the Kindle Touch is in regards to handling PDFs. Reading PDFs on any of the other Kindles is a chore, but the Kindle Fire makes it easy. The only down side is that you can't make notations or take notes like you can in the ebook. Also missing from the reader is text to speech, which the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle Touch both have.
Another key selling point has been that the Kindle Fire does double duty as an internet tablet with android applications. Downloading applications from the Amazon market is fine, but there are many applications that are missing from the store. For example, MapDroyd isn't there and the actual Gmail application isn't there. Angry Birds is there (don't worry) and their choice to include Pulse as a default app is great. If you haven't seen the news aggregation app Pulse, go get it now! What's worse is that some basic android apps are missing too: No clock? No Google Maps? No Youtube? These should be there. The browser is capable, but I haven't seen any real evidence of it being significantly faster due to the "silk" technology. It is possible to load applications on the Kindle via "sideloading" which are not available in the market and to Amazon's credit it doesn't seem like they've gone out of their way to make it difficult. My hunch is that they just wanted to ensure a "safe" market place a la Apple, but in reality it just adds another layer of work. For example, YouTube can be accessed via the browser, but playback was less than stellar. So, I sideloaded the YouTube app via the steps here and the apk here, and suddenly YouTube is working as you would expect. That's somewhat of a let down: If you remove an application, whatever you replace it with needs to be just as good or better. In some cases, this is not the case in the Kindle Fire, but at least you have the option to fix it yourself.
Overall, the Kindle Fire is a pretty good little tablet. The interface is simple enough and puts so much media at your finger tips it would be easy to get lost in it all. It excels as a media portal, although my preference for pure reading still goes to the Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard because of the screen. The interface is snappy and the battery life is pretty impressive for a tablet: It went a full day without needing a charge with a couple of movies and going through all the features. In the end, if what you want is a screen for your media this is one of the best experiences you can have. What the Kindle Fire does is flip the script: Instead of adding a Kindle app to an Internet tablet, they added an internet browser and email client to a Kindle media monster. For $199, there's a lot to love, even if there are a few rough edges with it.
Thinking of one of the other Kindles? Read my review of the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle Touch here!
For $199, there is no denying that the Kindle Fire is one of the least expensive tablets on the market right now. For the same price as an iPad, you can get two of these and still have a hundred dollar bill left over. There are not many competitors in this particular price category right now. The nook and kobo both have an ereader in the same price range, but outside of that most tablet computers start at least double the price of the Kindle Fire.
The first impression that you have when you pick up the Kindle Fire is that it's compact, but dense. It's still under a pound, but if you've just been handling the other members of the kindle family there is much more heft to the Kindle Fire. The other first impression that you'll get is that this thing is, literally, shiny. In most settings, reflections don't get too much in the way, but outdoors it can be difficult to read the screen. It's very much the polar opposite of the E-Ink displays which thrive in direct sun. The back is a soft touch plastic which is great at keeping it in place: You can easily set this up on a counter without worrying that it's going to slip. On the exterior, there are two speakers, a standard audio jack, a micro USB port, and a power button. Everything else is done via the touch screen. For included accessories, I was really disappointed to see that Amazon chose to go with a full fledged wall wart for a charger. The previous USB power adapter that was shipped with the Kindle Keyboard took less room and was more useful than this thing.
 |
| Why? |
Out of the box, the first 15 minutes of using the Kindle Fire is astounding. You simply connect to a wireless network, enter your user information (unnecessary if you order from Amazon, since they preregister your Kindle) and suddenly all of your media is there. When you activate your Kindle Fire, you're given a trail subscription to Amazon Prime, which gives the Kindle Fire a significant edge over the competition. With Amazon Prime, you can stream movies to your Kindle for free and this feature works right out of the box. Within 5 minutes of playing with the Kindle Fire, I was watching The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for free. Most of the movies are not recent blockbusters, but there are some great ones in the free catalog. Music is also just as easy. You upload you music to Amazon and then your entire music collection is right there on your Kindle ready to be streamed. It works the same way for books as well: You can see all of the ebooks you own via Amazon and download them with a single click. Amazon has done a great job of eliminating the local/cloud barrier with the Kindle Fire.
 |
| The Video Portal |
 |
| Find a movie you like... |
 |
| ...and 15 second later you are watching it. |
 |
| The catalog includes TV Shows and Feature Films |
 |
| All of the MP3s you upload to Amazon are available in the Music section for instant streaming |
Video and music is great, but I found that the experience of using the Kindle Fire for reading was uninspiring. It felt just like the Kindle application for my android phone and left out many of the new features that have made their way to the Kindle Touch (click for my review of that device). No x-ray. No facebook/twitter sharing of quotes. Reading on the LCD screen is on par for similar devices, but E-Ink is still much better when it comes to actually reading an ebook. However, one area where the Kindle Fire definitely beats out the Kindle Touch is in regards to handling PDFs. Reading PDFs on any of the other Kindles is a chore, but the Kindle Fire makes it easy. The only down side is that you can't make notations or take notes like you can in the ebook. Also missing from the reader is text to speech, which the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle Touch both have.
Another key selling point has been that the Kindle Fire does double duty as an internet tablet with android applications. Downloading applications from the Amazon market is fine, but there are many applications that are missing from the store. For example, MapDroyd isn't there and the actual Gmail application isn't there. Angry Birds is there (don't worry) and their choice to include Pulse as a default app is great. If you haven't seen the news aggregation app Pulse, go get it now! What's worse is that some basic android apps are missing too: No clock? No Google Maps? No Youtube? These should be there. The browser is capable, but I haven't seen any real evidence of it being significantly faster due to the "silk" technology. It is possible to load applications on the Kindle via "sideloading" which are not available in the market and to Amazon's credit it doesn't seem like they've gone out of their way to make it difficult. My hunch is that they just wanted to ensure a "safe" market place a la Apple, but in reality it just adds another layer of work. For example, YouTube can be accessed via the browser, but playback was less than stellar. So, I sideloaded the YouTube app via the steps here and the apk here, and suddenly YouTube is working as you would expect. That's somewhat of a let down: If you remove an application, whatever you replace it with needs to be just as good or better. In some cases, this is not the case in the Kindle Fire, but at least you have the option to fix it yourself.
Overall, the Kindle Fire is a pretty good little tablet. The interface is simple enough and puts so much media at your finger tips it would be easy to get lost in it all. It excels as a media portal, although my preference for pure reading still goes to the Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard because of the screen. The interface is snappy and the battery life is pretty impressive for a tablet: It went a full day without needing a charge with a couple of movies and going through all the features. In the end, if what you want is a screen for your media this is one of the best experiences you can have. What the Kindle Fire does is flip the script: Instead of adding a Kindle app to an Internet tablet, they added an internet browser and email client to a Kindle media monster. For $199, there's a lot to love, even if there are a few rough edges with it.
Thinking of one of the other Kindles? Read my review of the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle Touch here!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Gear: Kindle Touch 3G
As a frequent traveler, my Kindle Keyboard (as it's now known) has been a constant companion. It's been from Seattle to Stockholm, and Abu Dhabi to Athens. Everywhere I've gone, it's been my e-reader and my backup communicator so when Amazon announced their new Kindles, I had to get my hands on one for a review. After the break, we'll take an in-depth look at the Kindle Touch 3G (with Special Offers) and see if it lives up to it's older brother.
To start off, let's talk price. The Kindle family is now four devices deep with prices from $79 to $199, depending on what you're looking for. The Kindle Touch comes either with or without 3G and with or without special offers. Special offers save you $40 up front (you can pay to remove them later), but gives you a small advertisement bar at the bottom of your home screen and ads for screen savers when the devices goes to sleep.
Buying a Kindle with special offers won't affect performance, but may affect your enjoyment as an owner. If you opt for the special offers, the Kindle Touch starts at $99 for a wifi only version and $149 for the 3G unit shown here. The same units without the advertisements will run you $139 for the wifi and $189 for the 3G. While there is a Kindle that is offered at $79, the Kindle Touch is the least expensive Kindle you should consider: For $20 more, you get twice as much memory, a user interface that is easier to use, and several features which are just absent from the basic model like text to speech.
The hardware feel solid while you're holding it and is neither too heavy or too light. You can throw this in your bag and forget it's there. The materials feel high quality and well constructed. In terms of hardware interfaces, there are two speakers, one LED light, two buttons and two ports (one micro USB and one headphone jack), and everything else is done via the IR touchscreen. The screen is surprisingly responsive and the onscreen keyboard is much easier to type on versus the Kindle Keyboard, although how often you need to do that has been limited somewhat (see the 3G discussion below). As an E-Ink display, it's sharp and readable anywhere there is enough light to see the screen. Overall, my complaints about the hardware are pretty small: The screen seems seems to be set deep in the device (perhaps to better protect it) and Amazon changed the way it attaches to the official case (compare this with this. To be fair, the new case looks like it will offer more protection). In the box, you get the Kindle and a USB cable, which is downgrade from the Kindle Keyboard that came with an international USB power adapter.
The user interface for the Kindle Touch is easy to use for someone who is familiar with computer basics. The "Easy Reach" interface in the books is exceedingly simple to use: Tap where your finger naturally goes to turn the page forward. Tap on the left side to go back. Tap on the top to get to the menu. Click the home button to go back to the main menu. In the main menu, tapping and holding will bring up the options menu for a particular item (to add to a collection or delete, for example), while there is a menu bar at the top that gives you access to the Amazon store, the search function (plus wikipedia!), and the actual setting menu where you can manage your wireless networks and the device. Anyone can figure this out, but someone who is completely new to computers would benefit from a 15 minute tutoring session.
One strong thing for ease of use when it comes to the Kindle (across all versions) is that it's really designed to be used without a PC. With a 3G version ordered from Amazon, 99% of everything the Kindle has to offer is accessible right out of the box with zero set up. For wifi versions, the maximum amount of set up required is to enter the password for your wifi network. If you buy one in store, "set up" consists of getting online (automatic with 3G, password with wifi) and entering your Amazon email and password. There is never any time you will be required to hook it up to a computer to manage your library or set it up.
There are a couple of things that really shine in the new version of the Kindle OS: The first is the new text to speech options. On the Kindle Keyboard, you only have two options for text to speech: On and off. In the new version of the software, there are more options including the ability to slow the reading down. In the previous version, the text to speech is blindingly fast, so this is a great change. I hope that they roll this to the Kindle Keyboard at some point in the future.
The second killer feature is the new x-ray feature, which is currently only available on the Kindle Touch. When you download a book, it analyzes the text for phrases and words of note and automatically pulls Wikipedia snippets. When you open x-ray, many of the concepts of the book, page, or chapter are just there to browse. With two clicks, you can be on the wikipedia entry for the concept, person, or place you're interested in and with the Kindle Touch 3G, you can get access to this information virtually anywhere in the world. It's a great feature.
Overall, the Kindle Touch 3G may be the best Kindle for reading out there. The interface is easier to use than previous generations, it's snappy, compact, lightweight, new features like x-ray add something to the reading experience, and E-Ink is ideal for actually reading. With 3G, it's one of the most seamless experiences you can have: Any book you want is available to you, anywhere, anytime. There is no need for your computer to ever be involved with your Kindle: Any book you own can be pulled over 3G to your device whenever you want. It really is fantastic and it is 100% free with nothing to manage.
That said, there is one caveat. In the Kindle Keyboard, you could fire up the experimental browser and surf the web on your Kindle over the 3G. It was a little clunky, but it meant that in emergencies you could fire off an email, translate something on the fly, and check the news. On the Kindle Touch, you are only allowed to access Wikipedia over the 3G and the rest of the internet is cut off from you. For most people this won't really have an impact, but if you're a power user and travel extensively this might be a reason to look at the Kindle Keyboard 3G instead even if it is lacking some of the cool features that the Kindle Touch 3G has.
In total, the new Kindle line up offers a family of devices which are aimed at different user groups. The Kindle Touch 3G is meant to be the flagship E-Ink reading device and it is, unless you have some very demanding needs. It is leaps and bounds better than the $79 Kindle and the 3G offers a user experience that can't be replicated on a wifi only device. Unless you plan on traveling internationally and need the full internet access, this really is the device to get.
....of course, if you want to do more than just read books, check out my review of the Kindle Fire! You can also read my review of the Kindle Keyboard here, if you're a power user and need that full internet access.
To start off, let's talk price. The Kindle family is now four devices deep with prices from $79 to $199, depending on what you're looking for. The Kindle Touch comes either with or without 3G and with or without special offers. Special offers save you $40 up front (you can pay to remove them later), but gives you a small advertisement bar at the bottom of your home screen and ads for screen savers when the devices goes to sleep.
 |
| A Kindle Keyboard with no Special Offers vs. a Kindle Touch with Special Offers |
Buying a Kindle with special offers won't affect performance, but may affect your enjoyment as an owner. If you opt for the special offers, the Kindle Touch starts at $99 for a wifi only version and $149 for the 3G unit shown here. The same units without the advertisements will run you $139 for the wifi and $189 for the 3G. While there is a Kindle that is offered at $79, the Kindle Touch is the least expensive Kindle you should consider: For $20 more, you get twice as much memory, a user interface that is easier to use, and several features which are just absent from the basic model like text to speech.
The hardware feel solid while you're holding it and is neither too heavy or too light. You can throw this in your bag and forget it's there. The materials feel high quality and well constructed. In terms of hardware interfaces, there are two speakers, one LED light, two buttons and two ports (one micro USB and one headphone jack), and everything else is done via the IR touchscreen. The screen is surprisingly responsive and the onscreen keyboard is much easier to type on versus the Kindle Keyboard, although how often you need to do that has been limited somewhat (see the 3G discussion below). As an E-Ink display, it's sharp and readable anywhere there is enough light to see the screen. Overall, my complaints about the hardware are pretty small: The screen seems seems to be set deep in the device (perhaps to better protect it) and Amazon changed the way it attaches to the official case (compare this with this. To be fair, the new case looks like it will offer more protection). In the box, you get the Kindle and a USB cable, which is downgrade from the Kindle Keyboard that came with an international USB power adapter.
The user interface for the Kindle Touch is easy to use for someone who is familiar with computer basics. The "Easy Reach" interface in the books is exceedingly simple to use: Tap where your finger naturally goes to turn the page forward. Tap on the left side to go back. Tap on the top to get to the menu. Click the home button to go back to the main menu. In the main menu, tapping and holding will bring up the options menu for a particular item (to add to a collection or delete, for example), while there is a menu bar at the top that gives you access to the Amazon store, the search function (plus wikipedia!), and the actual setting menu where you can manage your wireless networks and the device. Anyone can figure this out, but someone who is completely new to computers would benefit from a 15 minute tutoring session.
One strong thing for ease of use when it comes to the Kindle (across all versions) is that it's really designed to be used without a PC. With a 3G version ordered from Amazon, 99% of everything the Kindle has to offer is accessible right out of the box with zero set up. For wifi versions, the maximum amount of set up required is to enter the password for your wifi network. If you buy one in store, "set up" consists of getting online (automatic with 3G, password with wifi) and entering your Amazon email and password. There is never any time you will be required to hook it up to a computer to manage your library or set it up.
There are a couple of things that really shine in the new version of the Kindle OS: The first is the new text to speech options. On the Kindle Keyboard, you only have two options for text to speech: On and off. In the new version of the software, there are more options including the ability to slow the reading down. In the previous version, the text to speech is blindingly fast, so this is a great change. I hope that they roll this to the Kindle Keyboard at some point in the future.
The second killer feature is the new x-ray feature, which is currently only available on the Kindle Touch. When you download a book, it analyzes the text for phrases and words of note and automatically pulls Wikipedia snippets. When you open x-ray, many of the concepts of the book, page, or chapter are just there to browse. With two clicks, you can be on the wikipedia entry for the concept, person, or place you're interested in and with the Kindle Touch 3G, you can get access to this information virtually anywhere in the world. It's a great feature.
Overall, the Kindle Touch 3G may be the best Kindle for reading out there. The interface is easier to use than previous generations, it's snappy, compact, lightweight, new features like x-ray add something to the reading experience, and E-Ink is ideal for actually reading. With 3G, it's one of the most seamless experiences you can have: Any book you want is available to you, anywhere, anytime. There is no need for your computer to ever be involved with your Kindle: Any book you own can be pulled over 3G to your device whenever you want. It really is fantastic and it is 100% free with nothing to manage.
That said, there is one caveat. In the Kindle Keyboard, you could fire up the experimental browser and surf the web on your Kindle over the 3G. It was a little clunky, but it meant that in emergencies you could fire off an email, translate something on the fly, and check the news. On the Kindle Touch, you are only allowed to access Wikipedia over the 3G and the rest of the internet is cut off from you. For most people this won't really have an impact, but if you're a power user and travel extensively this might be a reason to look at the Kindle Keyboard 3G instead even if it is lacking some of the cool features that the Kindle Touch 3G has.
 |
| Accessing CNN.com over 3G on the Kindle Keyboard (left) and Kindle Touch (right) |
In total, the new Kindle line up offers a family of devices which are aimed at different user groups. The Kindle Touch 3G is meant to be the flagship E-Ink reading device and it is, unless you have some very demanding needs. It is leaps and bounds better than the $79 Kindle and the 3G offers a user experience that can't be replicated on a wifi only device. Unless you plan on traveling internationally and need the full internet access, this really is the device to get.
....of course, if you want to do more than just read books, check out my review of the Kindle Fire! You can also read my review of the Kindle Keyboard here, if you're a power user and need that full internet access.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Donate your Orphan Miles for Veteran's Day
Veteran's Day is a day to thank the men and women who have served our country. While we wish everyone in uniform a safe return to their family, many soldiers return only after sustaining injuries in the line of duty. For these soldiers and their families, relocating temporarily to be with their loved ones as they receive treatment at a VA hospital can be complicated by having to worry about where to stay and how to pay for their accommodation. For these families, there is Fisher House, which provides a comfortable place to stay within easy reach of the VA.
Their program helps make a a difficult time a little easier, and you can help by donating any orphan miles you to their Hero Miles program. Your miles help cover travel to and from the hospital where the soldier is being treated. Many of us have a mileage program we don't use that much or will never earn enough miles to earn a reward. These orphan miles can be the difference between a wounded soldier having their family with them in a time of need or not. Donate your miles today.
Their program helps make a a difficult time a little easier, and you can help by donating any orphan miles you to their Hero Miles program. Your miles help cover travel to and from the hospital where the soldier is being treated. Many of us have a mileage program we don't use that much or will never earn enough miles to earn a reward. These orphan miles can be the difference between a wounded soldier having their family with them in a time of need or not. Donate your miles today.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Food Fridays: The Salmon Difference
Salmon is salmon, right? Not so! One thing that Seattle is known for is fresh fish and especially for our top notch salmon. If you think you don't like salmon, the fish here will convert you to a salmon lover.
This is what you usually find in the supermarket: Atlantic Salmon. It's farmed and that light pink color is actually from food coloring in the feed for the fish. It's perfectly fine fish, but...
...when it's sitting next to this, it's hard to thing about buying it. Here's what we get every year: Fresh Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. It's wild caught, usually fresh off the boat and that color is 100% natural. Doesn't it look delicious?
This is what you usually find in the supermarket: Atlantic Salmon. It's farmed and that light pink color is actually from food coloring in the feed for the fish. It's perfectly fine fish, but...
...when it's sitting next to this, it's hard to thing about buying it. Here's what we get every year: Fresh Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. It's wild caught, usually fresh off the boat and that color is 100% natural. Doesn't it look delicious?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
12/1/2011: The End of Kindlefish?
Recently Google decided to change the way the API for Google Translate works and, more importantly, to change it from a free service to a paid service. On 12/1/2011, Kindlefish will no longer work unless I start paying Google to use their API. The fee isn't that much overall ($20 for 1 million characters), but I will need to rework the site to update it to the new API and I don't earn any money off of Kindlefish.
If you are a fan of Kindlefish or would like to support the website and service, please consider donating by using the link below! If I get enough donations ($40?) to keep Google happy and pay for the coffee needed to rework (and improve) the website, I'll keep it up and running. Using the new API, Kindlefish will end up being more reliable than ever and continue being there for you whenever you need it.
Update: So far, there haven't been any donations. I've been happy to provide Kindlefish as a free service so far because Google Translate has been free for me to use, but at the moment it looks like Kindlefish will go down temporarily in order to assess whether I want to start paying for access to the new API.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
5 Reasons I Don't Like DirecTV on Flights
About two months ago, I started receiving emails from PR companies for products and articles they are interested in promoting. I generally ignore these because this is just my personal blog and what I write about is what I'm interested in, not necessarily what is going to drive traffic. However, this e-mail caught my attention: "10 Reasons I Love DIRECTV on Flights".
Am I alone in thinking that DirecTV in flight is actually a bad thing? Here's my top 5 reasons that DirecTV on board isn't really all that great:
1. "Welcome aboard. That'll be $6". - Some airlines, like JetBlue and Virgin America offer a free selection of TV channels, but for others those screens are strictly for hire if you're in coach. Continental and Frontier both require a swipe of a card to watch your shows.
2. Commercials in the Air. - Even after you swipe your card, most of what you get is live TV and whatever happens to be on just then complete with commercials. There are some channels which are prerecorded with popular movies and series, but these are 10 out of 105 channels and I'm not sure if those are ad free. The last thing I want to see when I'm in the skies is a commercial for anything on TV.
3. More Flicker in the Cabin. - If you're on a red eye or in need of sleep, DirecTV adds to the light flicker inside the cabin which makes it harder to get to sleep and stay asleep.
4. Is there anything even on? - Think about it: When you watch TV at home, odds are you're watching your DVR or streaming a video from Netflix. How much live TV do you watch? For me, it's virtually zero, and none of this looks remotely interesting to me:
5. It's OK to Unplug - A flight only lasts a few hours and it's one of the few times where we have all the excuses to turn everything off. Why not enjoy being 35,000 feet in the air? There's virtually nothing you can do on an airplane that can't wait until afterward.
(PS: The original article is here, but once you get there there's not much except advertisement. No thanks!)
Am I alone in thinking that DirecTV in flight is actually a bad thing? Here's my top 5 reasons that DirecTV on board isn't really all that great:
1. "Welcome aboard. That'll be $6". - Some airlines, like JetBlue and Virgin America offer a free selection of TV channels, but for others those screens are strictly for hire if you're in coach. Continental and Frontier both require a swipe of a card to watch your shows.
2. Commercials in the Air. - Even after you swipe your card, most of what you get is live TV and whatever happens to be on just then complete with commercials. There are some channels which are prerecorded with popular movies and series, but these are 10 out of 105 channels and I'm not sure if those are ad free. The last thing I want to see when I'm in the skies is a commercial for anything on TV.
 |
| No, thank you. |
3. More Flicker in the Cabin. - If you're on a red eye or in need of sleep, DirecTV adds to the light flicker inside the cabin which makes it harder to get to sleep and stay asleep.
4. Is there anything even on? - Think about it: When you watch TV at home, odds are you're watching your DVR or streaming a video from Netflix. How much live TV do you watch? For me, it's virtually zero, and none of this looks remotely interesting to me:
 |
| From my IAH-SEA flight a few months back |
5. It's OK to Unplug - A flight only lasts a few hours and it's one of the few times where we have all the excuses to turn everything off. Why not enjoy being 35,000 feet in the air? There's virtually nothing you can do on an airplane that can't wait until afterward.
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| This is what you should be looking at. |
(PS: The original article is here, but once you get there there's not much except advertisement. No thanks!)
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