Next week’s 2018 Independent Show in Anaheim is sure to draw comparisons to the legendary Western Cable Show. The next three videos provide a preview of what to expect from a show that has the energy and in many ways a similar vibe of the exciting times when the cable industry was still young and the Western Cable Show was a must-attend event.
Nurturing Innovation – #NCTCWEC
Expanding internationally has given CableLabs both scale and the opportunity to find innovation from around the world, according to CableLabs’ COO, Chris Lammer. CableLabs Upramp program is another way they are nurturing innovation. Upramp matches young companies that are fresh from accelerators with mentors from the CableTV industry to help them develop products that meet the needs of the cable industry.
Continual Broadband Investment Is Necessary – #TIS17
“You have to keep reinvesting in your network to assure performance,” says Bryan Lynch, Senior Vice President of Cable for Schurz Communications. For Schurz Communications, this has meant four major upgrades to their network in its 50+year existence with the latest iteration being fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). Lynch points out that the investment has been substantial. He describes FTTH as essentially bringing the headend to the consumer, greatly improving reliability, relative to networks with active components in the outside plant.
Video Programming – Something Has Got to Give – #TIS17
“It is real now,” exclaims Todd Juenger, Vice President, Senior Analyst, US Media, for Sanford C. Bernstein. Speaking at the 2017 Independent Show, Juenger explains that by 2023 that, on average, video programming will be a zero-margin business and that this is already a reality in some cases for smaller operators. He suggests that this could present a turning point in negotiations between content owners and distributors. Juenger suggests that broadcast retransmission has a slightly different dynamic in that they started from a lower-base and that a free alternative (e.g. off-air antenna) exists.
The Corporate Electric Bike Share
Bikeshare isn’t just for urban areas, as Matt Dosch, COO of Comporium, indicates that Rockhill, SC (population approximately 73,000) saw 900 trips in June with an average trip-distance of about 3-miles for its sponsored bikeshare program. Electric-assist bikes and electric scooters expand the market even further into something that is more accurately described as personal mobility sharing. Enter Swiftmile into the mix, which has an offering that could be described as a hybrid bikeshare model.
Rapidly Deployable WiFi Played Key Role in Thai Cave Rescue by Alan Weissberger
A U.S. based company’s outdoor WiFi gear played an important role in the recent Thailand cave rescue. In a saga that gripped the world, 12 young Thai boys and their soccer coach were trapped for two weeks, before being rescued by Thai Navy Seals. In this article, Alan Weissberger details the WiFi network that was assembled for the rescue operation.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- It was educational and fun to catch up with the ITS Fiber folks. They have done a terrific job of being “noticeably better”, but a >90% reduction in interruptions is incredible. Watch the video here.
- Jackson, WY is amazingly beautiful. It is also amazing that a town of 10.5k people has 100k+ parking spaces, 27.1 parking stalls/household & only 51% peak occupancy (PDF report download). Still, this video reminds my why I can’t wait to return.
- Lifecycle costs are the key: “What UPS’s EV Plans Could Mean for Co-ops”
- Disruption Alert: RT Auto Insurance for the Autonomous Age: @intactinsurance makes strategic investment in @voyage with goal of defining AV #Insurance
The Korner – Autonomous Vehicles – Augmentation or Replacement? #SmartDrivingCar
For those of us in Silicon Valley, the journey to next week’s TIS18 will an opportunity to get behind the wheel and experience the wide open road that connects the northern and southern halves of the Golden State. At some point, will this privilege be taken away, as mobility robots prove safer, cleaner and cheaper? This raises the fundamental question of whether autonomy will augment or replace the human.
Author, angel investor and Cannonball Run (yes, it is a real thing and not just a 1981 movie starring Burt Reynolds) winner, Alex Roy, addresses this question in the above interview, filmed at the 2018 SmartDrivingCar Summit. As the founder of Human Driving Association, his view echos that of car designer and futurist Michael Robinson in that the automation features must improve safety, while effectively becoming an extension of the human.
Roy describes the Human Driving Association and its efforts to responsibly implement automation to improve all aspects of vehicle safety. Check out the Human Driving Association’s manifesto, which includes a proposal for a “Constitutional Amendment, creating a right to drive, within the limits of safety technologies that do not infringe upon our freedom of movement.”
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