Remember when I asked for comments from economists on what will happen with consumer electronics in the future given that the economy gets worse? Well, Jon had this to say:

OK… so you’ve got at least one economist listener. Now let me start by saying that I’d normally charge $50,000 to answer this question. But for $50,000, I’d actually look at, you know, data and stuff rather than pulling an answer out of my ass. But that’s what you get for free. (That’s an economist for you.) Read more…

From time to time I get emails from people that love me, hate me, or just want to correct me. This time, I got an Email (one of many) wanting me to be more specific about Grayscale and Color Temperature on the podcast. Since I’m not going to do that (I think Dina’s snoring would cut into everyone’s enjoyment) I’m going to let one of you. Kenny’s email was the most thorough and he agreed to let me reprint it here. Read more…

Our listener and Audioholics contributer Jim has a bit to say about rules for movie theaters:

I don’t visit local theaters very often, but last night I saw Doomsday, a movie you might appreciate. It had plenty of the 3 Bs, if you consider people with flesh eating viruses as “Beasts”, that is. It had plenty of the other 2 Bs, in any case. The only thing spoiling my enjoyment of this over-the-top movie was the teenagers with their stupid cell phones… little lights going on and off over the theater, people giggling at times that didn’t match what was happening in the movie… Why do kids think they need to text each other during movies!! Do there need to be new rules for theaters? I think banning teenagers from R movies should be the first step. Wait a second, isn’t that already the rule? Stupid theater… I don’t think they even ask. Second, I’d love to see cell phone jammers in theaters. The only problem this may cause is for Adults who have babysitters at home and might need to get a hold of them in some strange emergency. Then again, it would be nice to know that you can’t be contacted, as well. Third, bouncers. Yeah, if someone is playing with their phone, or being excessively annoying, then the bouncer will just come and remove them. I want a bouncer that inflicts physical harm if someone starts smoking, as well. Have you or the AV Rant listeners got any good ideas to deal with this? Thanks!

Mark sent in these thoughts about HD DVD:

When the dust settles, and business schools get to use this as a case study, I think we’ll find that the decider in this battle wasn’t studio support or the PS3…it was the xbox 360, Microsofts desire to gain traction in the lucrative gaming market, and their decision that getting to the market first was the best thing they could do to gain traction from Sony and the Playstation console.

The moment that Microsoft decided that there was more to be gained by beating the PS3 to the market by over a year to become the sole unchallenged next generation gaming system, then holding up release for a next generation drive or HDMI compatibility, the battle was over. Read more…

Tom is out of the country and I am just not that angry. So, I’ll give Bob a chance to get something off his chest…

I was having a bad day at work on Friday. One of those days when you get to the office and all heck has broken loose over night. And to cap all that off, the office was out of caffeinated coffee. Not a good way to start the best day of the week.
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