Google Testing "Mystery" Entertainment Device

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by Destro

These days, the tinfoil hat crowd seems to have splintered the same way that music did in the 90's (when it went from the same 5 or 6 genres that had been around for decades, to dozens or hundreds, hard to count, really). There seems to be someone who's against everything, no matter how harmless.

When you sign up for a Facebook account, you don't have to enter any personally identifiable information, nor send or accept any friend requests. I avoided it myself for a while (on some "principle" that not don't understand), but unless you're going to stay off the Internet completely, having a Facebook account can make life easier, and that's only going to become more so in the future. Facebook is not going away, and could become almost ubiquitous.

I'd encourage anyone who intentionally tries to avoid Facebook (or find yourself being "against" things frequently) to loosen up, and don't be such a cynic. I used to be that way, but wow, life is much better for yourself and others when you try to find reasons to do things, instead of reasons not to do them....

Wow. Tinfoil hat crowd, eh?

Let me begin by saying I have yet to find a single compelling reason to create a Facebook account. And let me also say that it does not surprise me that there are others on this forum that feel the same way. SageTV is all about freedom of choice and openness, based on the range of hardware, operating systems and cable/satellite/OTA providers that it runs on. SageTV, while it existed, lobbied against DRM technologies and it's restrictions. Compare and contrast this against Facebook, which is as proprietary as it comes. You have the choice of one provider, and one provider only. They can change the rules at any time, and if you don't like it, TS. I much prefer email communication, which is based upon standards implemented by hundreds/thousands of companies around the world. If you don't like how your email provider is treating you, there are a lot of other choices.

SageTV appealed to a niche market, to people who knew a good thing when they saw it. Facebook appeals to a mass market, and I won't even speculate on the reasons why. It still amazes me the amount of extremely personal, confidential information that people are willing to enter into Facebook. People have lost out on job offers because of information that was found about them on Facebook. Suddenly, it doesn't seem quite so harmless anymore.

Now, if you'll excuse me you young whippersnapper, I need to go repair my tin foil hat. Darn thing tears pretty easy, maybe if I use thicker gauge tin foil...

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by ranger

If he doesn't want a Facebook account, he doesn't have to have a Facebook account.

But apparently he does feel the need to sneer at those who do have Facebook accounts.

Personally I had no interest in Facebook until I had teenage kids. Once they got Facebook, I got Facebook, so I can see what they're up to online and stay involved in their lives as they choose to live them.

As others have said, you're not required to do anything you don't want to do, or let random strangers see anything you don't want them to see. It's just another set of tools to use (or not) as you see fit.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Brent

Perhaps. But they did say big announcements (plural). And it's not yet Monday at least in most places. Surely Google doesn't suck that bad at this press thing.... or do they?

For GoogleTV, an updated Youtube app is a big announcement. You just need to reset your expectations. It's GoogleTV after all, and this isn't taking place at an event like CES.

But you're right, they did say "announcements." But, is there actually a big event planned, or are they just doing a website announcement? If there's no actual event, I wouldn't expect anything too big. The Youtube thing is probably the main announcement. I just saw your blog post. I think we'll see your guess #1 and 2 fairly soon (content providers, and new devices), I just don't know if we'll see them tomorrow. Content has always been lacking on the platform, and I suspect the failed product launch actually puts them at more of a disadvantage in negotiations than they would have been pre-launch. And, its about time for their new hardware partners to step and and detail their plans.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Destro

These days, the tinfoil hat crowd seems to have splintered the same way that music did in the 90's (when it went from the same 5 or 6 genres that had been around for decades, to dozens or hundreds, hard to count, really). There seems to be someone who's against everything, no matter how harmless.

When you sign up for a Facebook account, you don't have to enter any personally identifiable information, nor send or accept any friend requests. I avoided it myself for a while (on some "principle" that not don't understand), but unless you're going to stay off the Internet completely, having a Facebook account can make life easier, and that's only going to become more so in the future. Facebook is not going away, and could become almost ubiquitous.

I'd encourage anyone who intentionally tries to avoid Facebook (or find yourself being "against" things frequently) to loosen up, and don't be such a cynic. I used to be that way, but wow, life is much better for yourself and others when you try to find reasons to do things, instead of reasons not to do them....

I'm not a tinfoil hat type, quite the opposite actually. I avoid Facebook because I don't want to be part of the "drama".

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by Serra

I really don't understand the reluctance to use Facebook. I mean just because you create an account to view other people's and company's Facebook pages doesn't mean that you will have to actually use it for anything else. Plus, I don't think you have to reveal any personal information besides your name and email. If revealing your email bothers you, then obviously you haven't discovered that you can get free emails all over the place and don't have to check them but once when you sign up.

I'd say get over it and get a Facebook account, you might as well so you can view things like this. I promise you, you do not have to play Farmville to have a Facebook account.

I realize that Failbook can be very useful to many people. It is just another way to keep in touch with friends and family members across the country in much the same way the texting can be useful for people to keep in touch with their kids, etc (no, I don't find any reason for me personally to text).
I just personally have no use for any of those things. I don't have the time to keep track of 4 bazillion Failbook, Twatter, etc pages. If you want me to know about it, then post it somewhere anyone can read it. I don't know, someplace like maybe YOUR GD WEBSITE!

I do have a problem with companies considering Failbook, Twatter, etc as their publicist. To me it is the same as them saying "Well we posted it on the public bulletin board down at Stop & Shop, why didn't you see it?"

To each his/her own. If you find those sites useful, and I can understand why many might, then by all means use them. Just don't assume that "everyone" uses it. There is no reason for many of us to add one more thing to our already overtaxes online presence.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by stanger89

All I have to say about Facebook is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rNgCnY1lPg

And, no thank you.

Thanks for that. And thanks for all the others who expressed their reluctance to use Facebook.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by gabrielcab

"Big announcement Monday"

Please be SageTV 8 [/QUOTE]

Let's hope so! 99.9% sure that won't be the case though.

[stanger89]

It did "just" occur to me though, that it's very unlikely any "GoogleTV" announcement will be SageTV related, given the comments from GoogleTV (on that interview a while back that I can't even remember where it was), and that SageTV and GoogleTV seem to be being run out of different parts of Google.

[pjpjpjpj]

This morning on the 5 am local news, in the "business" segment (all of about 2 minutes long), one of the things they mentioned was that Google was expected today to make an announcement of a new "media streaming device". The way that it was worded made it sound like it would be a wireless box you put at your TV to stream media from wifi.

So unless this had Sage-like DVR capabilities built in, this probably won't be any more exciting than something like Roku.

[jorton]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-573...?tag=mncol;txt

This can't be all...

[Skirge01]

Just stumbled onto this one. Probably related...

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19949037

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Just stumbled onto this one. Probably related...

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19949037

Interesting.

[pjpjpjpj]

Interesting that they are using the "@home" name. I had Charter Cable over a decade ago and that was their high-speed internet branding. I guess when that network went away in 2002, the name was up for grabs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/@Home_Network

[phelme]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Interesting that they are using the "@home" name. I had Charter Cable over a decade ago and that was their high-speed internet branding. I guess when that network went away in 2002, the name was up for grabs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/@Home_Network

@Home was what saved my connectivity bacon in '99. In my neck of the woods I couldn't get DSL at the time and was loathe to have to live with ISDN.

[sleonard]

Has anyone seen the actual announcement? It's getting late in the day.

S

[darcilicious]

Yeah, the youtube app was updated

http://googletv.blogspot.com/2012/02...google-tv.html

[stanger89]

Do they really suck that bad at marketing? Not only is it not "big" they didn't even that on the day they said they'd have a "big announcement"?

[darcilicious]

Actually, I think they ran into some kind of hitch in their giddy-up and haven't posted the big announcement(s) as of yet...

[Brent]

Originally Posted by darcilicious

Actually, I think they ran into some kind of hitch in their giddy-up and haven't posted the big announcement(s) as of yet...

Is that speculation? Or do you know something you should be sharing with me

[darcilicious]

Oh, dear! PURE speculation, with a little giving-them-the-benefit-of-the-doubt thrown in