Walt says the Slingbox — a new gadget that allows viewers to watch TV shows they receive at home in other locations, and on devices other than their TV sets — is a very good product that makes place shifting a reality.
The beauty of digital media is the flexibility, Walt argues, and that flexibility shouldn’t be destroyed for honest consumers just because the companies that sell them have a theft problem caused by a minority of people.
For HDTV owners who want a digital video recorder, the choice can be tough. The Comcast high-definition DVR is a cheaper, but flawed product and the TiVo Series3 is an excellent, but overpriced one.
Netflix was a pioneer in the business of movie rentals — getting consumers to rent DVDs online and mailing them out in cheery red envelopes. Recently, it has put a lot of effort into a service that delivers movies digitally over the Internet to subscribers, preparing for a day when getting movies on a physical disc will become outmoded.
Edited by Walt and written by Katie Boehret, this is a guide to gadgets, web services and other consumer technologies.
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Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.