It looks as if lately LinkedIn group discussions have become the basis and inspiration for my recent blogs. The previous one I was encouraged to write by the moderator of the group discussion, this one I was not, however I saw the opportunity to put together collective thoughts, some related to the thread and some […]

AV social media maven and rAVe Pubs founder Gary Kaye is making waves with a recent blog post in which he lambasted the HDBaseT Alliance for its failure to properly monitor and implement the “standard” of HDBaseT.  His article is well researched, and makes a number of very valid points. A few weeks prior to Gary’s post, another well-respected AV blogger, Leonard […]

I will be honest, even though I work in the AV industry, I often get annoyed by some of the applications of digital signage in real life. So often I feel like a restaurant or retail establishment will invest all this money into digital signage or digital menu boards without ever really taking the following […]

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there often seems to be an inverse correlation between how brilliant a tech is and whether you should ever let him anywhere near customers. Not all the time, perhaps, but definitely much of the time. Looking back, I can think of numerous examples of people I’ve worked with […]

If you read my last article on the PS4, you’ll no doubt be unsurprised where this article is going next. We’re covering Microsoft’s entry into the next-gen console market: the Xbox One. Next week will be my first non-review column and I hope to go into more detail with some specific solutions that will add […]

It’s getting close to Christmas time and as such family traditions are in full swing at the Coxon household.  One of those traditions for the last 5 years has been reading “The Elf on the Shelf.” For those of you unfamiliar, the book relays the story of an elf that comes to watch your children […]

Think about your last horrible experience with a company. Perhaps the product didn’t work as expected or advertised. Did that company listen to you and try to make it right in a way that was mutually acceptable? Or did you get the loathsome “I’m sorry you feel that way,” which is a particularly insidious type […]

One comment I frequently hear about HDBaseT is that it’s a “bridge technology” between the old days of simple point-to-point connectivity and a future in which AV joins the rest of our data on those great big IP networks which dominate the rest of our lives. Are we ready for this paradigm shift? Is the […]

It’s that time of year here in the United States – we just celebrated Thanksgiving and we’re in the thick of the holiday season. And, of course, the day after Thanksgiving (or, really, Thanksgiving day in many stores) means Black Friday – the day where people go crazy, hit the stores crazy early, and sometimes […]

I sat down last night with the intent of writing my 2nd Annual Thanksgiving post on the AV Industry’s “Blessings” and “Turkeys” for 2013.  Upon sitting down to write, I found out that one of the hardest things to feign is “righteous indignation”.  I just wasn’t feeling it. This morning, while helping some integrators get […]

Guest blog via Weezer Group The Newark Star-Ledger reported earlier this month that Panasonic will abandon consumer electronics to focus on professional products only. WOW! Many I spoke to in past few months thought the pro side of the “Big Boys” (Panasonic, Sony, Sharp, Mitsubishi, etc.) was hurting but consumer was OK. Just OK, not […]

Traditionally, people fall into and then stick with a particular console — although some dedicated game fans with the financial wherewithal go for both. And, the type of consumer we’re looking at with a home theater is likely to want two or three consoles (and maybe a PC as well). It’s a pretty safe bet […]

I’m not going to go into a lengthy exposition of the importance of communications skills and effective communication when it comes to management. I was going to, but decided it would detract from my core goal here, which is to tell a funny story. Some backstory: at my old work our boss, the company President […]

I remember a few years back, before I started in social media and blogging, I was very active in some AV industry chats and forums. One of those forums used to ask questions of established industry veterans about industry practices and standards. As you may imagine, there were sometimes few responses, as it seems that […]

I am fully aware that I am a baby in the AV industry having only been working in it for a little over two years. Let me back up a little bit. If I’m being completely transparent, before working for rAVe, I wasn’t even really fully aware of all that the AV industry encompassed. What […]

There has been a lot of talk about gaming here on rAVe lately.  It started with Matt Cooper’s blog Gamers: An Untapped Market for AV Integrators in which he shared a bunch of stats from the ESA.  Then, Gary followed up on that article with a Rants and Raves audio diatribe entitled “Can Gaming Save the […]

Last week I attended a press event in Florida held by Toshiba in conjunction with the company’s LEAD 2013 End User conference. This conference is really geared to Toshiba MPS (Managed Printing Services) dealers. In case you are not sure what that is (I wasn’t), MPS dealers are basically the people that sell, service and […]

Today I’d like to share a moment to discuss everyone’s  favorite transport mechanism, HDBaseT. For those not in the know, the HDBaseT alliance have defined HDBaseT as a technology for transport of video, audio, power, Ethernet and control over standard category cable. As a point-to-point (as opposed to routable) signals, HDBaseT cannot be routed with […]

*Note: this blog post solely reflects the opinions of me and me alone and it does not necessarily reflect the opinions of my co-workers or rAVe [Publications]. This post is not sponsored by DirecTV and it’s certainly not sponsored by TWC. Neither DirecTV or TWC even know who I am. So, I just want to […]

Often, we tend to question the importance of attending yearly trade shows. With rising costs on all levels of attending a trade show, we end up second-guessing the commitments we have set in year’s past. When preparing for a trade show, in many cases, a majority of your marketing budget may be spent without being […]

The New Jersey version of the Almo Pro A/V E4 AV Tour was held last week in the Meadowlands Exposition Center and not only did it set an attendance record for a New York area show, at over 600, but it was also an all-time attendance record for the four year AV Tour. If you’re […]

This is my last week at Kramer Electronics. To say the least, it is filled with mixed emotions. I am very excited about the next phase in my career and the great things that I get to be a part of at Atlanta Soundworks. I am happy that I get to join the ASW team […]

  It just came to my attention that right now Food Network is celebrating their 20th Anniversary. Food Network has always held a special place in my heart, and not just because I love fine cuisine. Back in the late 90s/early 2000s when broadcast TV was 480i NTSC I frequently referenced Food Network as an […]

I realize I am a little late to the party here, but I have to give credit where credit is due.  I recently purchased a Logitech Harmony remote.  The reason was two fold: first, I thought the Touch device seemed kind of cool and second, I was tired of always having to get the TV […]

So, I do this thing where I write a blog, get super inspired to write more frequently then fall off the bloggy train…then 6 months later get re-inspired…so, here I am! I last left you with the news of my engagement, relocation to Reno, and the big switch from manufacture to integrator, and I have […]

Here are some things that have crossed my mind in the last couple of days. ●It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to learn that Apple selected Apple TV’s plastic cabinet to be resistant to the silicone gel used to attach IR emitters. ●Hey, PR guy whom I’ve never met, never spoken with, and who […]

Writing that blog post the other day as a counter-point to Gary Kayye’s assertion that Apple should buy Sony led me to meditate on the power of branding. Of course Apple is famously derided for having itself and all its products surrounded by a Reality Distortion Field; so much so that “Reality Distortion Field” has […]

Before I begin the message of this blog, I will make a brief announcement: It is with both great excitement and tempered sadness that I announce my upcoming departure from Kramer Electronics (on November 15). I have accepted a position as General Manager at Atlanta Soundworks (an integration firm here in Atlanta). With Dave Bright’s […]

I have worked for 3 integrators over the last 13 years, working on projects that include everything from structured wiring in residential to corporate boardrooms to award winning digital signage projects at universities. As such, I know the advantages of being a one stop shop.  In residential for instance, being able to offer structured cabling, audio video, […]

Gary just wrote a very persuasive post, detailing the synergies to be had if Apple were to purchase Sony. I’m not entirely sure that I can agree. The root of my disagreement is that Gary’s argument focused on why a buyout would be good for Sony, but didn’t really address why it would be good […]

Last week’s announcement from Time Warner said that it had the largest loss of subscribers (users of Time Warner CableTV) in history in the last quarter, which is not surprising at all. What is surprising is what the company’s blaming the loss on and thus deceiving the investor community. In playing the blame-game, Time Warner […]

While most of you were sleeping last night, Sony execs were mostly sleepless as they’d just announced a huge loss — one of the worst in company history. I mean huge. In fact, after releasing a 40 percent reduction in their 2013 profit forecast and a nearly $200 million loss for the most recent quarter, […]