The Dodge Retort

A story a few days ago about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in The Economist pointed out:

“When The Onion starts making fun of your company’s problems, you’re in trouble. It means that those problems are well-known enough to be funny to a mass audience. That’s the sign of a badly damaged reputation.”

Indeed, the hilarious online news parody did cover the most recent delay in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner whose first commercial deliveries will commence in the first quarter of 2011 instead of the fourth quarter. My only comment is that The Economist is UK-based and, as a result, is pro-Airbus – translation – anti Boeing. Financially, Boeing is humming along these days with its reputation quite in tact (my bias, perhaps).

“CHICAGO—With the airline industry continuing to suffer under the ongoing recession, the Boeing Company was forced Monday to lay off Al Freedman, the only guy left at the corporation who knows how to keep wings from falling off planes. “We used to have a whole team of engineers who knew how to make the wings stay on, but those days are long gone,” Boeing CEO James McNerney, Jr. said. “We’ll make it work, though. The wings are not necessarily the most important part of the plane, anyway.” McNerney added that at least they were able to save the job of the guy who knows how to prevent jet engines from exploding.“

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I’ve been invited along with 600 others by the Verizon folks to watch the first NFL game ever broadcast on 3D TV. The game will be between the New England Patriots (my team) and New York Giants Sunday night Sept. 2.

The event is at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. It’s an away game – no crowds!! TDR (me) will file a full report about the experience.

For those already with 3D sets, it’ll aired on FIOS channel 834. Bring your 3D glasses. Here’s the news release from Verizon.

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NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                Media contacts:

August 11, 2010 See below

Verizon FiOS Scores First NFL Game on 3D TV: Giants-Patriots Preseason Match-Up on Sept. 2

Company to Produce and Broadcast the Game,

Exclusively for FiOS TV Customers

NEW YORK – Verizon is kicking off the football season with the production and broadcast of the first National Football League game in 3D on television for the company’s FiOS TV customers in parts of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts andRhode Island.

The game is the Sept. 2 preseason match-up between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.  Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m., with Verizon FiOS1 pre-game, half-time and post-game shows – all in 3D.  The game begins at 7 p.m.

Verizon FiOS1 is producing the 3D broadcast, which will be shown on FiOS Channel 834 for FiOS TV subscribers in theNew York City area, including Long Island and Westchester and Rockland counties, as well as for subscribers in northern New Jersey, Mercer County, N.J., Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  Similar to previously offered 3D programming from Verizon, customers must have 3D TV sets, 3D glasses and a high-definition set-top box to view the broadcast.

The veteran on-air broadcast team includes play-by-play announcer Spero Dedes, analyst Howard Cross and sideline reporter Kimberly Jones.

“This is the next major step in our development of 3D experiences for our FiOS TV customers,” said Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon.  “Broadcasting the first 3D NFL game delivers on our promise to FiOS customers to provide a superior TV offering, including 3D, HD and VOD programming, as well as interactivity that cable can’t match.”

Giants Chief Marketing Officer Mike Stevens said, “The Giants are excited to host the first 3D broadcast of an NFL Game in our new stadium.  We have worked closely with our partner Verizon in developing new technology throughout the stadium for our fans, and now Verizon FiOS and the Giants will be taking the next step in innovation for our fans at home.”

In support of the 3D broadcast, Verizon will host customer viewing parties at New Meadowlands Stadium and at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.  Guests at Gillette Stadium will include youngsters from local Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Verizon also is working with two popular sports bars in the New York and New England markets — Slate Bar in Manhattan and Snookers in Providence, R.I. — to give consumers a first-hand look at the power of Verizon’s 3D experience.  The company will set up 3D TVs at each location and hold promotional events there.

The broadcast marks Verizon’s third major 3D initiative this summer.  On July 10 and 11, the company broadcast the first Major League Baseball games in 3D, between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners.  And on July 15, Verizon announced that it will carry 3D programming on FiOS TV Video on Demand from WealthTV.

“We are committed to bringing our customers a consistently high-quality TV experience with the best programming available over the country’s only all-fiber network,” added Denson.  “And there’s so much more yet to come, with new programming, applications and other enhancements that only FiOS can deliver.”

FiOS TV offers a broad collection of programming, with more than 565 all-digital channels including up to 142 HD channels and 18,000 monthly video-on-demand titles.  FiOS also provides next-generation interactive services including an advanced interactive media guide; social networking, news and entertainment widgets; remote DVR management via broadband or cell phone; and more.

In addition, with NFL Mobile only from Verizon, Giants and Patriots fans can get news, scores and highlights all season long on their Verizon Wireless smartphones.  For information on how to download, customers can visit www.verizonwireless.com/nfl.

For the latest news, updates and information about FiOS TV, visit www.verizon.com/newscenter andhttp://www.verizon.com/athomeblog.

You’d think FAST LANE makes life easier getting you through tolls faster. But if you’re account does not stay current which can occur quite innocently, FAST LANE makes you’re life slower – and harder.

My account briefly was not current because a the expiration date on my credit card was not updated. I thought I had updated it in time, but apparently not. So we got three tolls violations in New Hampshire.

I wrote about the experience a couple of weeks ago. Here’s the update.

I called Mass FAST LANE this morning to find out if my updated and functioning account would cover the three violations which total $9 (three $2 tolls plus a $3 processing fee). She said is perfect bureaucrat-ese “Oh, we don’t cover New Hampshire, but I can give you the number.”

I fumed. I had been on hold listening to irrelevant instructions for 15 minutes. I asked if violations get picked up automatically by my credit card on file. She talked right through my question about something I did not care about.

So I am sending New Hampshire a check for $9 because I can’t stand calling to so-called service center. Maybe this is all working according to the FAST LANE plan – be such a thorn in your side, you won’t screw up again. But it’s infuriating.

So you think firing all the toll-takers and installing FAST LANE gear is cheaper. Think about this: there’s a whole new FAST LANE bureaucracy behind the scenes, processing violations, credit cards and generally being a pain.

I’m giving back my transponders and getting back in line.

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If only the track gangs building the trans continental railroad in the 1860s had this kind of technology!

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The bureaucracy and rules behind the Massachusetts FAST LANE could well be termed the HACK LANE. That’s because it punishes good customers (me!) and then makes them jump through hoops to get the fines reversed.

Granted, the FAST LANE is a huge convenience. I whiz through the Hampton, N.H. tolls at 60 miles per hour (yes, the Live Free of Die state charges two dollars for use of about a dozen miles of  I-95). It beats the numb glare of the toll taker, but this is also an altogether too easy way for taxing authorities to take money our of your pocket.

Here’s my beef: I neglected to update the expiration date of my credit card so I went over my balance. FAST LANE outrageously charges a fine of $50 every time you go through a toll and have no credit balance.

That’s because rather than giving you the option to charge your credit card for every toll, FAST LANE takes $45 and then draws down the tolls. So my wife goes through the Hampton tolls today and the orange light goes and says “call service center.”

We had no balance left and FAST LANE could not charge my card $45 to refresh my credit balance. By the way, take those orange lights seriously and don’t wait to call the service or check your account online.

I thought I had updated the credit card expiration date earlier this week before we went over our credit balance. It didn’t take, apparently, because I did not re-enter the card number, too.

I did it correctly this morning about 10 minutes after my wife went through the toll that zapped our credit balance. The service center rep said we will probably get fined, but it did not show up on her computer because there’s a two day lag time for the recording of violations.

She added that I will probably get a letter about the fine and an appeal form to possibly overturn it. The process, she said, takes 30 to 60 or 90 days to process. When pressed, she said I would probably be forgiven, but will be charged $5 for processing.

I’m thinking this is a lousy way to treat a good and regular customer. If Amazon or even Verizon treated customers this way, they would not survive. It’s the heavy-handedness and arrogant behavior of bureaucrats who seem to report to no one. Maybe, I should give back back my transponders and get back in the lines.

While I was online, I checked my annual FAST LANE balance – it’s quadrupled in the past four years mostly from toll increase. The former Mass. Turnpike Authority, which was folded in the Mass. DOT last year, was a cesspool of patronage and mismanagement. It was always broke, too.

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Darth Vader is not happy about his iPhone 4….

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I love this…..iPhone mania is lunacy…a bit off color but unambiguous

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I knew there was another reason I liked Droid Incredible better Droid X Android-based smartphone. The “flicker and banding” problems with Droid X displays story broke yesterday after several reports on Web tech talk sites such as Howard Forums.

The review unit of the Droid X I returned this morning to Verizon Wireless’ PR agency had no such problem. Engadget reported Tuesday that Motorola and Verizon Wireless made the following statement to its inquiry about the display issue.

“Verizon Wireless and Motorola are aware of a very small number of DROID X units that have experienced a flickering or banding display. Motorola has resolved the issue and is continuing to ship the phones. Any consumer who experiences a flickering or banding display should contact a Motorola customer support center or Verizon Wireless.”

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This one gives me goosebumps….nice video, Flightblogger….

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What difference does an ounce make? When it comes to smartphones, a lot.

The Droid X made by Motorola and sold by Verizon Wireless is lot of smart phone for 200 bucks:  its big 4.3 inch display is brilliant and crisp. The X’s thin design is sleek and a major improvement upon the brick-like profile of its original Motorola Droid. Verizon Wireless loaned me a review unit late last week and I’ve been putting it through its paces.

Droid X

But I give the Droid Incredible (which TDR followers know I loved)  from HTC with its smaller 3.7 inch screen and profile a small edge.  Given, they are both $200 Verizon smartphones with the usual two year service contract, they beg comparison.

Here’s the weigh-in: The X weighs 5.47 ounces (49 ounces less than original Motorola Droid) versus 4.59 ounces for the Incredible (versus 3.7 ounces for my aging Blackberry Curve). Watching videos on the X, my hand tired holding it up while I was horizontal on the couch.

It feels a bit bulky in my pants pocket, too. It’s 5.02 inches tall, .039 inches at it thickest point and 2.57 inches wide versus. The Incredible is a touch thicker, a touch less wide and 4.63 inches tall.

Both are both based on the Android version 2.1 operating system, but that’s where the innards’ similarities end. The X comes with a different chipset known as OMAP from Texas Instruments,  long a mainstay in cell phones. And it has the Motorola application platform, whatever that is.

The Incredible phone is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor and is a heavily Google-ized phone. Verizon Wireless  calls the Incredible a “Google Experience Device (GED).” The X is a pure Android…the differences are subtle, but simply put, the GED is an Android-based phone with lots of Google apps built in.

So what does all this mean? I found some of X’s applications a bit funky and hard to use. For example, it was easy uploading photos from the Incredible to Facebook. It took some messing around to set it up on the X. The X’s camera had a pronounced shutter delay (maybe it was the lighting, but it never seemed fast in the 50 shots I took mostly in broad daylight) and it initially took me a few minutes to figure out that the shutter button was on the side.

Verizon's Incredible from HTC

Speaking of buttons, the X does a lot more with physical controls on the phone itself. I was constantly using the go back button, which the third from the right in the photo. I prefer the Incredible’s heavier use of screen-resident controls. The Incredible also seemed a touch faster than the X.

My X’s camera also inexplicably defaulted to black and white shots and I still figuring out how to get color shots back. Mind you, they both have great video cams and 8 mega-pixel cameras. I just had better Kodak moments with the Incredible in the few days Verizon Wireless gave me a loaner.

I also took an instant liking to the Incredible, but had to warm up the X although it is great for watching videos and has excellent apps for texting, e-mail, speech recognition and a great voice phone (as in talk on the phone).

The X is DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified meaning it can wirelessly or wired share content with other DLNA devices of which I have none and I suspect there are few. So I could not test this app.

I noticed little differences between the Incredible and the X. The on-screen keyboard on the X is excellent, but the CAPS lock stayed on after a keystroke instead of automatically defaulting to lower case which was the Incredible did – a tiny but smart feature.

One edge for the X is that it comes with 16 GB of memory built in and can be upgraded 32 GB whereas the Incredible comes with eight and can only add another 16 GB via a MicroSD card, according to Verizon’s specs (a friend who works for Verizon tells me the Incredible does go up to 32 GB and that Verizon’s specs are wrong).

Grant you, both phones are good and reason enough to say screw Apple’s iPhone should Verizon Wireless ever carry it. I am not saying this just because Steve jobs last week arrogantly excused the antenna problems with the iPhone 4. The Droids are nearly as good as the iPhone and you get a more reliable network with Verizon Wireless than what iPhone users endure with AT&T.

One iPhone advantage I noticed is that many Android apps cannot be sized spreading/pinching thumb and fore finger on the touch sensitive displays. And the single Android New York Times app is pretty basic compared to the several NYT apps for the iPod touch and iPad. After all, the iPhone, introduced Jan. 9, 2007, enjoys a near three-year head start on Android smartphones.

I could spend months testing out the both phones and still find new things. I always get paranoid that when I say a phone lacks a particular feature because maybe I could not find it or turn it on. But that is the phone’s fault, isn’t it?

I haven’t made up my mind for sure given I am waiting until November when I get my discounted phone plus a another $50 off. By that time, the Incredible and X could be in the rear view mirror, supplanted by a raft of new Android smartphones. Verizon Wireless has five, now (six technically, but one is being phased out).

For those with either  the X or the Incredible, what do you think?

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