As many of you know, growth in the cable and satellite industry has slowed considerably. A host of alternatives have arisen to supplement or replace the traditional offerings of broadcast and cable-only channels. So Netflix is a significant example, expanding from basic DVD rentals, to a major provider of original — and often award-winning — […]

I have a third-generation Apple TV. Released in 2012, it was mostly identical to the 2010 second-generation model, except for support for 1080p HD. As a practical matter, the difference between 720p and 1080p two is slight unless you look real close, especially if you don’t have a large screen TV. Besides, streaming video is heavily […]

Perhaps more often than not, when two large corporations merge, the executives speak of efficiencies and “synergies” resulting from the deal. But that usually means that employees considered “redundant” will be given their walking papers. Indeed, I sometimes wonder how many large corporate alignments actually end up being successful, beyond possibly killing a competitor. The […]

Before the merger between AT&T and the largest satellite service, DirecTV, was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FCC, they added the usual terms and conditions that would cover the deal. Most probably won’t concern you. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of those terms and conditions covered customer support and phone menus. […]