Meet the new drug, same as the old drug.

As it is now entertainment flows into my home from multiple sources, much as it does yours. I have Dish Network and a good portion of my television entertainment comes from it. I have a Netflix account so weekly rental DVD's arrive via the mail. Also with my Netflix account I have the Roku box, an internet streaming video source for movies and television series available to watch free from Netflix and Amazon.com On Demand.

We have a Blockbuster account as well so any DVD we want can be had via a trip into town. I have my laptop and computer and nowadays find myself sprawled out on the bed or laying back in an easy chair streaming programs from such places as Hulu, UTube, Bliptv, and others. Plus regular broadcast TV is now HD and still available.

Podcasts can be carried about on my Ipod or watched on the laptop. Live events are a click away with Livestream. And just about anything can be downloaded and ported to any number of devices to watch while mobile. And this is just the beginning.

And via the internet I have access to almost anything I want to know from friends in a matter of minutes.

So where is all this technology going, and how will we pay for it?

Today many things are free on the internet to watch, but in time that will vanish. It is free now to hook you to the new technology, as more and more ways to extract revenue from it arrives, you will see more free sites disappear. Subscription based systems and pay-per-view will replace these free sites. Producers of this content control the programs and without content these places cannot exist.

In time the only things left free to watch will be the stuff people produce with no expectation of being paid for it. Like UTube today and other video sites, all of the free stuff will probably be things you wouldn't pay for anyway. If it has value, you will expect to have to pay for access to it. You are being trained for that now by these free streaming companies.

In the future there will not be only networks with quality TV shows. Small independent video distribution companies will exist with access to this technology. As they do now. And as they are now they will require money to keep producing programs.

More and more of these technologies will merge and you will have one device to get it all in one place. Plus you will be able to display this material on multiple sources and devices around your home. Today you need to be techno savvy to get all of it. In the future you will not. Further down the road it will all come directly to you.

Just as I played with the "internet" back in he 80's before anyone knew what it was, I can see into the future and see where all of this stuff is going. And it's going to one place. One box.
A single unit that will bring you everything.

This single box will be your computer, television, recorder, camcorder, clock, phone, car keys, security system, remote, wallet, purse, music player, health monitor, game system, appliance controller, storage device, radio, shopping tool, and bank.

You will wear it like jewelry, interface it with your car, sleep with it, bathe with it and control your whole environment with it. You will need only speak or think what you want it to do and it will do it. It will be powered by you and controlled by you. Part of it will be installed within you. The rest will be worn and never taken off.

You will hear with it, see with it and communicate with it. It will become a part of you. It will remind you of appointments and when your health is not good. It will schedule your life and you will follow it. You will let friends access it and you will access theirs. You will know where your friend is, what he is doing and even see what he sees anywhere in the world. And he can do the same to you.

You will sit in Central park as your buddy sits in Gorky park and watch a movie together, listen to the same music and chat. You will enjoy a new tv series together while cooking dinner. You will wake with this connection and maintain it all day until you sleep.
You and he will grieve together over some world tragedy and attend a sporting event together with many of your other friends while passing time on your lunch hour.

You will fight with a partner and even block people who you don't like. You will tweet your every move and have access to others movements. You will see the best and worse of everyone and you will enjoy it.
And, you will never be alone.

All of your actions will be recorded in real time and you can download and store any event you experienced to relive over and over again. Much of your entertainment will be watching something other people experienced. If your friend witnesses a car accident he can flash the whole thing to you in seconds. You will do the same. Nothing like sharing a good train wreck together,or with the world.

When people die they will go offline and you will mourn the loss of that connection but you can download and access any moment of their lives you want when you want. The video of his life will still be on a server somewhere ready to access.

You will cast your life to the world for others to watch. Your whole day will be a blog, tweet and facebook post all in one. You will watch others lives when you are bored with your own. You will hook up and hang with people you don't know and never leave your car. You will share business tips with your peers in real time and watch theirs so you know what they know.

You will use this technology to get ahead and gain an advantage in both your work and personal lives. You will get attention and love it, or drown in someone's misery. You can turn it off but rarely will you do so because the connection is addictive. And the compay you buy this glorious service from will constantly feed you advertisements to direct you where they want you to spend your money and time. No one wants to be out-of-the-loop and turning it off causes you to miss stuff. So you leave it on.

It's your connection to the world. It is the new drug.

And the drug is already here. Can you leave your cell phone at home? Do you suffer when the internet goes down? How about satellite TV? I know I do.
Sure we get it from different pimps today but one day all the pimps will consolidate and we will have one supplier.

And,we will love it.

All of this cool shit is very tantalizing. Like a drug we taste it then get hooked. We have to have it, and the pimps know this. They are working hard to bring it to us. What we do with it is of no concern to them, only that we buy.

Alcohol in moderation is actually good for you, even a little pot won't kill you. But abuse either and you are on a path of destruction. You see, almost everyone has an addictive personality. The pimps know this too.

The art of "give a little, sell the rest' is not new either. A good pimp will always sample the product. Give out some to build a market. Get them hooked and they will come back to buy more. It's one of the oldest tactics in the book.

All of this free shit is great, but remember you are the lab rat here. Enjoy the technology, but be able to walk away when the price goes up.
J.

Noah had one

Here's the phone system I'm replacing. Check out the vacuum tubes...

Ga ga ga ga ga.....

Heading out of town to work in Atlanta for a few days. Hopefully I'll get to shoot something worthwhile, although it rarely works out that way. I usually don't have time to stop working to actually film the work, and by the time we quit, it is 8 or 9 at night. We go back to the hotel and crash, after maybe getting a burger. Wake up and do it all over again.

-Owen

Travel Log Part 1

I should have known. I have the worst luck ever. Some people have told me that I have the luck of Job. My fiancee and I decided that since we had never taken a vacation anywhere together, and neither of us have actually taken a vacation in years, that it was high time to rectify the situation.

Of course our trip would have hiccups. Started off that way. Thankfully, I've learned to just laugh most of it off. Makes you appreciate it more when shit goes your way, right?

On the short trip to board our dogs, the new puppy got nervous and decided to drop ass in the car. He left us a little present in between the seat and console that we had to pull over and take care of. Yay. After that, finally underway.

We went to the Battleship Park in Mobile, AL, where the U.S.S. Alabama battleship is on display, first. We had a blast, the sub U.S.S. Drum is especially awesome. I could spend an entire day just on the submarine. The battleship is nice too, but it was too hot to climb around inside that behemoth. We got some great video and photos all over the park, dispite the windy conditions. We got there a little late, and only had about 2 hours to tour the whole place, so we had to move at a good clip, and missed some things, but had a great experience overall.

When we left we were starving, so we decided hit up an interesting looking little joint called Felix's that we passed on the way in. It has a very distinct look about it. The food was very good as well, they focus on seafood and it was done very well. Nice atmosphere inside, but a stark contrast to the exterior of the building. You'll see what I mean when the pictures are up.

When we got back to the parking lot after dinner, we saw disaster in the making. An extremely nasty storm was rolling in. True to our luck, this bastard was heading the same direction as we were, so we decided to pass on the fun park in Orange Beach and make straight for the hotel in Pensacola. Good thing too, the storm is intense, and turns out we are a little tired.

Tomorrow we plan to hit the Naval Aviation Museum, and see what else we can get into, weather permitting. Fingers crossed. More later...

-Owen

Your attention, please...

Do not fret. The idiotic, insane, and evil are still running loose on the streets. No need to panic.

As you were.

-Owen

Jesus...

Well, I finally caved in and made the jump. A jump off a large cliff, into a deep chasm. I signed up for Facebook. Sigh.

You know I hate social network sites, especially the dreaded Myspace. But FB seems slightly more grown up, and seems like if I want to stay in contact with people, I have no choice. Whatever happened to using email?

We'll see how this goes for me. Rocky, no doubt, given the situation and my loathing for these things. Who knows, maybe I'll survive it and get some fun/use outta it.

Wish me luck.

-Owen

Yay!

Happy Independence Day everyone! Have fun and stay safe!

-Owen