Targeted marketing

I do have a PVR, so I skip thru commercials. But skipping :30 at a time still allows me to see bits and pieces. The wife and I often boggle at how badly targeted so much TV advertising seems to be. That, or we are totally atypical of the audience. But right now I am looking at something interesting; the HD-only channels have HD-specific ads. Disney movie ads with a few seconds at the end dedicated to the HD format DVD. An ad for a camera that has HD output, so when you take photos of the kids you can show them off better (direct from the camera, if you are like that). Etc. Its interesting, because its been recognized for what it is: a market I am totally certain of. Everyone watching these has this specific piece of equipment. We can appeal to that! I'll bet there is a lesson here about how targeted marketing has largely failed in desktops and mobiles; even mobile browsers tend to have UA strings that say the device is mobile, if not which one. Even if privacy concerns leave out the near-term option of addressing customers based on carrier-provided information, location and other specific info, there's probably something that would allow more targeted marketing than "get the latest hip-hop ringtones!"

I love 1080

I have always been a tad of a naysayer about HD being the Second Coming. Our old TV was very good quality, attached to good equipment and calibrated (not ISF, just my Avia disk, and an SPL meter for the audio). So when we got the new TV the change in DVD quality was negligible. Though the big screen was nice. Yes, I've seen top-of-the-line monitors playing HD or BlueRay disks, and they are only a bit better, I think. Well, backing up, mostly good equipment. When we got the new TV the dish looked like crap. Something about the extra resolution available, the display technology, the ability of S-VHS to display the signal or...something, just made it look awful. All the JPEG artifacting is just super-visible. Even in the menus, for some reason. So, today our Christmas present to ourselves arrived. With several guys, each with their own truck, and lots of ladders. Just 5 hours later, its done! Revelation. Its SUCH high quality I cannot believe it. You know how some shows (say, good ones) have a certain look? Well, I don't even recognize some of them (like Law & Order), because I had gotten used to the awful quality of NBC OTA to the local Dish site, then compressed. Also, neat system. Entirely aside from some specific UI neatness, we switched from two PVRs to one. The one in the living room is on the same circuit as the one upstairs, and there is data on multiple frequencies flying about. Watch any show, on any TV. Neat! Interesting point regarding my opening about high quality products is that the installers said this was by far the nicest monitor they had seen. Everyone else has "Samsungs and Sanyos and /Vizios/" (emphasis not added). And, this is by no means the top of the line panel. I guess not too many people have the money for the top products.