SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

Lawyers, mainly. But here’s the teaser trailer for The Watchmen while it’s still up.

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“What’s killing newspapers is the same thing that killed the slide rule.” That provocative statement is oversimplified and kind of a cheap shot, in an entertaining way, but Jack Shafer writing in Slate makes a very good point. Digital technology is decimating the need for some jobs, just as it is creating new jobs and making other changes we can only barely see coming over the horizon.

But it’s essential to notice Shafer’s careful choice of words – it’s newspapers that are dying, not journalism. The business model and the product proposition are what need to change, not the practice of collecting, analyzing and communicating news. Check out the New York Times’ Times Reader as one idea for going forward.

One out of every six (17.5%) U.S. households no longer has a landline, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). It could be even higher than that, since even the report notes the potential for underreporting this percentage in a survey that ironically was conducted over landlines.

That statistic got a lot of press coverage, most of which omitted two additional intriguing findings. One is that this does not represent much of a jump; rather, this has been a slow and steady climb. Even more fascinating, approximately 2.5% of households had no telephone service at all (neither wireless nor landline), representing nearly 5 million adults (2.1%) and 2 million children (2.5%). Plow through the government-speak for yourself here (PDF).  (Creative Commons photo by givepeasachance/Dan Brady) (Thanks to Jake Lee for the lyrics, via Blondie if you must.)

As media observers get worked up about the death of newspapers, it’s worth remembering that most people get their national and international news from television. According to Pew Research, that’s true of 70% of Americans. But to add to print media’s gloom, a full 40% of respondents they get most of their news about national and international issues from the Internet, up from just 24% only a year ago. This is the first time a Pew survey has found the Internet surpassing newspapers, by the way. Click here for other highlights and an explanation of why these percentages don’t add up to 100. (Creative Commons photo by juliebee)

The Pirate Bay, which quite possibly is the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker, launched a free converter for putting video content on mobile devices. Called the ViO converter, the software tool compresses all major formats of video and comes with presets for many popular mobile devices, including those from Apple and RIM’s BlackBerry. (via TorrentFreak)

We’re a long way from Sam Phillips, who 30 years ago cut an acetate disc of a young truck driver’s unique singing voice. Today’s technology makes it possible for anyone to duet with Elvis Presley – sorta. Sony BMG has a website called Sing With the King that lets people sing Martina McBride’s part from “Blue Christmas” on the Elvis Presley Christmas Duets album.

Fans call the given phone number and enter an access code, then sing their little hearts out into the mouthpiece. The resultant recording can be previewed and then either emailed to friends or consigned to the virtual cutting room floor. If all else fails, the email can be of the song’s album version instead. Whichever gets sent, the email includes a link to buy the music and to sign up for future news blasts. (Thanks to Ian Hunter for the song lyric.)

Accessing the Internet will be done primarily using mobile phones by 2020, according to a survey of experts conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Its report, Future of the Internet, says almost 80 percent of its panelists agreed with that prediction. The other fifth evidently share my unsatisfactory phone experiences. But there is hope. The report also predicts: “Telephony [will be] offered under a set of universal standards and protocols accepted by most operators internationally, making for reasonably effortless movement from one part of the world to another.” (Via Network World.)

New York State legislators are discussing whether or not to accept Governor Paterson’s proposal to tax many different types of entertainment as part of his efforts to raise money. The New York Daily News seems to have been first with the story, describing the budget as “a host” of new fees and small taxes in lieu of income tax increases. MMOs, Sirius XM radio, Rhapsody subscriptions and just about everything else you do for fun are covered.

To quote the Executive Briefing itself, the Governor’s recommendations include what is becoming known as “the iPod tax” – in government-speak, “state and local sales tax on purchases of prewritten software, digital audio, audio-visual and text files, digital photographs, games, and other electronically delivered entertainment services.” The Governor euphemistically says this will “close the digital property taxation loophole.” He also wants to tax “entertainment-related consumer spending, including but not limited to, movie theaters and sporting events” and “television and radio services provided by cable, satellite or other similar means.” You can read the entire budget presentation here.

Action sports lifestyle network Fuel TV has added a new hi-def streaming video player, developed by Move Networks, to its website. The new ad-supported player gives fans another option for watching their choice of content. It debuted with HD versions of the entire second season of The Great Wide Open, but other shows including full episodes of The Standard Snowboard Show, Firsthand, FUEL TV presents Camp Woodward, Stupidface, New Pollution and Thrillbillies will be added before the end of the year. Fuel TV will continue to offer shows for free viewing on Hulu.com and through paid download on iTunes.

John Edwards, CEO of Move Networks, said the HD streaming player fast-forward and rewind with no buffering or stalling. While that’s a little hard to belive will work in the real world of my deplorable broadband connection, the player also enables viewers to share full episodes or clips. The HD streaming player by Move Networks is already being used by Fox.com, FXNeworks.com, ABC.com, and ESPN360.com.

The first global standard offering an in-home, high-speed network capable of delivering room-to-room HDTV was announced by the ITU (the International Telecommunication Union). Known as G.hn, the new standard is designed to transmit multimedia over power, coaxial, phone and other home network wiring at triple the speed currently possible. After many months of discussions, the G.hn has support from service providers, semiconductor and equipment vendors, and so is on track to have products enter the marketplace by 2010. Additionally, the HomeGrid Forum has been formed to promote G.hn.

“There’s a clear market need for a unified networking approach,” said Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. “With G.hn, every wire in every home around the world can become part of a home entertainment network. ” (Photo by Matt McGee/Creative Commons)