Monday, January 7, 2013

Stuff that sucks less


With the tsunami of CES press releases this week and in keeping with the theme of, "I don't need more stuff, I need stuff that sucks less," I want to mention two inexpensive products I've been trying over the holidays:

Dropcam – https://www.dropcam.com All security systems are compromises, but I may have found a solution that addresses my meager needs.  A ton of technology in tiny package, fast and to easy set-up, very cool iPhone, iPad and web interfaces to the cloud based DVR functions with motion, sound and disconnect alerts.

Roku - http://www.roku.com My only justification is HDTV access to Amazon Prime content; not sure if any of the other "channels" are worth a damn. Easy hook-up, initialization and user interface.  Given how little TV I watch, I'd really like fire my two cable companies, but on-demand access of the desired content has eluded me.  The Roku is an experiment in this endeavor. 

Both of these devices are bandwidth hogs, so you don't want to use them on a metered broadband service. We pay about $600 a month in connectivity costs; two homes (cable, broadband and telephone), two cell phones and a Verizon MiFi.  My naive expectation is that $7,200 a year would buy fantastic mobile connectivity and content.  Waiting......

I don't have positions in either company..wish I did!

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