Even for those who never watch football ever, chances are they will be watching this upcoming Super Bowl. Let’s take a look back at my favorite ads, many of which are technology based.
9. ?Xerox’s Monks (1976): It’s one of the earliest tech based Super Bowl ads. In the 1970s, it was a miracle to print two pages per second.
8. Go Daddy’s Broadcast Hearing (2005): A great spoof in the wake of the Janet Jackson scandal from a year before, and Go Daddy has brought us racy Super Bowl ads ever since.
7. McDonald’s Nothing But Net (1993): You try making a jump shot off the Chicago Sears Tower for a Big Mac. And remember, nothing but net.
6. Career Builder’s Monkeys (2005): Because you dream of working in an environment like this. Go ahead. Admit it. Some of you may already do.
5. Noxema’s Joe Namath and Farrah Fawcett (1973): Perhaps the first time a major NFL star got a Super Bowl commercial. And his face is rubbed by a future TV legend. Now that pays for itself.
4. Hulu’s Alec Baldwin (2009): Yes, this commercial is slick, humorous, and sends a message about the evils of watching too much TV. But this commercial helped usher in a brand new era in technology: streaming movies and TV shows.
3. Coca Cola’s Mean Joe Greene (1980): No top 10 Super Bowl commercial countdown would be complete without this classic. Decades later, the interaction between the kid and NFL star warms the hearts of many.
2. Budweiser’s Hank the Clydesdale (2008): I’ve got to put my Clydesdale in here. This ranks so high because it has everything: humor, determination, a good moral, and can make you laugh and almost cry at the same time. This is a total package commercial nearly everyone can relate to.
1. Apple Macintosh’s 1984 (1984): Need I say more? This commercial was so powerful it only had to be shown once. It turned a company from obscurity to greatness. It started a technological revolution that goes on to this day. Where would we be without this ad?
Remember when your TV could only get 3, 4 or 5 channels? Remember how cool it was when you got 30 channels with cable? Remember what it was like to get 100+ with Satellite? Remember the joy you felt when you first downloaded Netflix and/or Hulu on your device?
The game is changing again: introducing Sling TV. It’s a Dish Network only service, available only in the US, and the subscription is expected to cost only $20 a month. And there’s no contract requirement. With a heavy concentration on channels like ESPN, Cartoon Network, and HGTV, Sling TV is aimed at Millennials and younger people. It’s available on all devices from Android to Apple. All you do is go on their website and sign up on the computer/device of your choice. Other channels available will include CNN, Food Network and Travel Channel. Some channels, like Bloomberg and Disney XD will cost an additional five dollars a month. They are some on-demand shows will be available through Sling TV, but you may have to pay extra for that too. But one setback, well a minor one: you can’t skip commercials.
I wish I knew more about Sling TV, but what information I can gather, this might be a good deal. I’m a sports fan, so ESPN would be a huge stepup. Plus, ESPN is very popular with the under 35 crowd. So is Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, even CNN. But so is MTV, BET and VH1. Twenty dollars a month sounds like a great start for these channels, but I think it can add a few more, especially if they want to cater up to the younger generation. And at a time when one cable company is getting so much power they can virtually charge anything they want, it’s great to have options. If I were Sling TV, I would definitely add AMC, home of Walking Dead and Mad Men, and they’ve got to have ABC, home of Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. What other channels should Sling TV have?
Newspapers, magazines and books are still running strong on the shelves of newsstands, bookstores and even some convenience stores. Throughout this digital age many companies have been going digital and have put their papers, magazines and books online for you to read without having to leave the house.
Now Magzter is starting make trend with magazines. At the beginning Magzter just sold magazines per issue or annual subscriptions to your favorite magazine. It?s just like having them delivered right to your doorstep like old times only without having to wait for the mail. Well now Magzter is starting a subscription model called Magzter gold.
Magzter gold will be a subscription model like Netflix but instead of movies and TV shows you get magazines. At $9.99 per month you will get access to over 2,000 magazines which include Fast Company, ESPN and even Maxim. Magzter has also brought in a lite version for $4.99 per month that gives you access to five titles but you can access the entire archive of those titles.
Now you may ask yourself this is a good idea why didn’t Magzter start this sooner? Well it comes down to the publishers of the magazines and getting them to want to try this. As Co-Founder and CEO Girish Ramdas stated that they have ?always been toying with the idea? and that it only has come to life due to Magzter getting publishers to get on board.
Now this is not first company to do this however. A company called Next Issue is doing this but with just over 140 titles is $9.99 per month but still need a subscription of $14.99 if you want to read weekly items such as Time and The New Yorker.
So do you believe this trend will work out or do you think it will flounder? I believe that it will work out just fine, if these publishers are still printing paper magazines, newspapers and books, why not do a digital subscription. I would like to know your thoughts on this not so new concept. So please leave your comments below.
I was not able to go to this year?s CES but I have been following it with much anticipation and I have found one thing that I wanted to blog about today. There have been many different news sources covering CES and tons of great information. One thing that stood out to me that I have been very interested in is 3D printing. Awhile back I saw a program about 3D printing foods.
Well at CES 2015 the XYZprinting Company which was founded only in 2013 is bringing the future of food to us now! The food printer which is actually set to release in 2015 for around $2000-$3000 is able to print all types of food and even in different shapes!
From the reports I have seen the printer made candy and cookies made in shapes of dinosaurs. Even pizza made in the shape of a heart! Now all of these items will still need to be cooked but the fact that it can make this is amazing.
The printer has 3 chambers for the printing. They have an extensive amount of items that can be put into the chamber to create some awesome items. From the looks of it now however only baked goods will be able to be created on this device. So cookies, cake decorations and pizza are the biggest items that were shown off at the printing booth. They also showed printing designs on items like cakes and even toast with the chocolate dispenser cartridge in the printer.
With cars that will be powered by hydrogen and drive themselves it is not a surprise that we would be able to print our own food. I am just excited to see what these printers will mean for the food industry most of all bakeries. To be able to take something could take days to craft and sculpture for a cake could not just take hours with these printers. I look forward to see them on the market at the end of this year who is purchasing them. Enjoy the clip below as it will give you some more insight on how the 3D printer was shown off at the CES 2015 booth.
After looking at nothing but rendered images for the past few years,? seeing real footage of Apple’s new spaceship of a headquarters is a little bit surreal. Computer Geeks got a peek at the building’s footprint last summer, but a new clip shot with a drone in 4K really shows the building taking shape. And WOW is this thing massive!
The video comes from a YouTube user flying a Tarot 680Pro Hex with a GoPro Hero 4 Black over Cupertino. You can not only make out the massive spaceship shape of the building but also see the floors being laid. The scale of the whole project makes the giant, heavy-lifting cranes feel like my son’s toys. The scale is further demonstrated by the very little homes surrounding the new Apple HQ.
Of course, it will still take some time before we see the finished Norman Foster design completed in all of its green-friendly glory. Progress on the construction of the complex makes the impossibly futuristic project feel real in the meantime. Real big. The only question that I have, is how can I get a job there? This structure and environment is rumored to be like working for Google, except with way better toys! I can’t wait to see this structure finished and head out to California to check it out first hand, stay tuned for updates as they come out!
The safest thing you could possibly do on New Year?s Eve is not drink, not go out, not do anything.?You?re probably going to go out, anyway.?You?re probably going to go to some party and you?re probably going to drink. A lot. You?ll dance terribly. You?ll tell someone that you love them. This person is someone you do not love.
New Year?s Day is also the worst day for drunk driving accidents. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Over half of all fatal accidents on New Year?s Day happen in the early morning hours and with drivers?with a blood alcohol level over .08 percent.
We hope you don?t make an ass of yourself and we hope you don?t try to drive while drunk. But just in case you do have a bit too much to drink, here are some?tech tools to help you save yourself from your drunk self this New Year?s Eve:
Uber surge pricing might make you feel like you?re forking over what?s left of your rent money on New Year?s but it?s worth taking that or a cab home if you are too drunk to drive. Breathometer helps you know definitively if you are too?inebriated to drive by blowing into either the wireless or original breathalyzer device and then testing your BAC level. For $50-$100 plus a free app, it?s cheaper than most breathalyzers out there.
Hint: if you are having trouble navigating through the testing process, you are too drunk. Seriously, test yourself before you even think of getting behind the wheel.
Drunk texting is one of the more incriminating things you can do while intoxicated. Someone else has the evidence of your embarrassing moment.?You might find yourself drinking more than you planned and then whipping out your smartphone in the corner of the room at a New Year?s Eve party and?texting someone?incoherently.
There are several apps that attempt to prevent you from texting while drunk. Drunk Mode hides certain people from your contacts list for up to 12 hours when you tell it you?re about to go drinking. It also helps you locate your drunk friends with the ?Find My Drunk? feature. And just in case you can?t remember a thing, the ?Breadcrumbs? feature helps you retrace your steps, your delirious, embarrassing steps from last night.
Remember when we told you not to drive drunk? Well, this device will make sure you don?t. It?s?a?member of?ignition interlock technology and it is normally geared toward those who have a problem with drunk driving. A?third of all drivers arrested or convicted of driving while intoxicated?are?those with a previous record, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. California State Senator Jerry Hill has a proposal in the works to require all convicted felons residing in the state to have one of these devices in their car.
The device allows the driver to turn on the ignition in their car only if they blow a BAC below the legally required limit to drive. It?s also pretty pricey.?These devices run anywhere from $500-$1600 and are usually installed by a car dealership.
You drank too much, you know you shouldn?t be driving?but you?don?t want to leave your car where it?s parked for whatever reason. Do not drive! For about $40 + $2.65/mile,?StearClear will hire someone?to drive your car for you. It?s possibly more expensive than a cab (on any night besides New Year?s) but cheaper than getting your car towed. It promises not to ?hyper inflate or invoke surge pricing on weekends or peak travel times so this may be a good alternative to Uber.
This is a similar service to StearClear but costs about $35/hour + $2.40/mile. It?s made for corporate executives but can be used as an alternative to get?you or your drunk friend?s car?home safely, too.
If you do happen to get behind the wheel after drinking and you happen to live in L.A. there?s an app that will alert you to DUI checkpoints. Mr. Checkpoint says it helps prevent drunk driving and wrongful arrests. The founder tells us , ?I personally have been wrongfully arrested for DUI and sued the city.??To?be clear, this app?alerts you to the checkpoint. Drunks can use it to avoid getting arrested,?spending the night in jail (or longer) and handing over thousands in fines. How it prevents drunk driving is a mystery.
One day we will have self-driving cars and possibly built-in?alcohol detection systems in all our technology. For now we have apps and devices that require you to take responsibility for your actions on your own, before things get out of hand. But people keep on being people and not heeding the warning signs or taking measures to prevent themselves from acting like idiots. Consider this post a PSA and stay safe out there.
