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Net Soup: Frank Beacham

Frank Beacham is a New York City-based writer and producer. Visit his Web site at www.frankbeacham.com. E-mail: frank@frankbeacham.com. Until our new data system is fully integrated, please click here for earlier articles.

Static Begins to Clear on How Internet Affects TV

by Frank Beacham, 5.04.2005

Thanks to vastly improved and lower-cost Internet technology, more users and new data on human behavior, we are getting a clearer picture of how television and the 'net are co-existing. more

Mobile TV: Do Wireless Carriers Have it Backwards?

by Frank Beacham, 4.06.2005

Am I dreaming, or is this another case of "been there, done that?" more

Broadband Expansion Spawns 'PodCasting'

by Frank Beacham, 2.02.2005

Just as personal blogging is impacting major newspapers and broadcast news operations, now a newer form of even more targeted Internet technology has exploded onto the scene in an attempt to reach the hearts and minds of audiences. more

Net Update: More Lawsuits; New Journalist Tools

by Frank Beacham, 12.08.2004

As it becomes clearer that broadband is developing into the next big media distribution system, showdowns between large content owners and Net users are escalating and getting nastier. more

Ear Time Versus Eye Time

by Frank Beacham, 11.10.2004

By Christmas, we'll be seeing a flurry of new portable devices that store, playback and allow the personalized viewing of video programming away from home. more

"The Whole World is Watching," Revisited

by Frank Beacham, 10.06.2004

Spanning this 36-year bridge of time, I found myself in the middle of the two largest political convention protests in American history. more

Flag Rebellion: Build Your Own Recorder

by Frank Beacham, 9.22.2004

A big DTV "gotcha"--a snake now quietly hidden in the grass--won't raise its head until next summer. When it does, expect a big bang from viewers who will rightfully feel deceived and ripped off by the world's largest media companies. more

Law Could Lead to High-Tech Terrorism

by Frank Beacham, 9.08.2004

The widening use of digital recording technology has ignited a continuing battle with those who seek to own and control our culture. That conflict has now escalated to a new level of viciousness--one that pits a who's who of high-tech entrepreneurs in a face-to-face showdown with the world's largest content owners. more

EFF Launches Patent Busting Project

by Frank Beacham, 8.04.2004

There's a trend, the group found, of patent holders threatening and filing lawsuits against small businesses, individuals and nonprofits over claimed patent violations in their use of the Internet. more

Mobile Videophones Meet TV News

by Frank Beacham, 7.07.2004

A new generation of digital imaging - both still photographs and motion video - coupled with wireless access to the Internet, is already making its mark on history. more

Internet Erases True Customer Service

by Frank Beacham, 5.05.2004

In case you haven't noticed - and I'll bet you have - the last remnants of what used to be called "customer service" are quickly evaporating from the planet. Unfortunately, we can blame this sad legacy directly on the Internet and the value system that it's creating. more

Bluetooth: It Just Works

by Frank Beacham, 4.07.2004

Experience has demonstrated that the bleeding edge of technology is usually a very uncomfortable place to be. However, Bluetooth - a wireless connectivity technology that operates in the 2.4 Ghz range - has proved to be an exception. more

Producing Better Streaming Audio

by Frank Beacham, 3.10.2004

Too many Web producers haphazardly encode any sound sent their way without consideration to optimizing it for Internet delivery. more

The New Killer App(le)

by Frank Beacham, 2.04.2004

Jobs coupled the online store to a software jukebox, iTunes, and Apple's iPod, an elegant portable music player with a miniature hard drive. He made copy protection invisible, putting convenience, modern design and hipness first. Although the skeptics confidently predicted disaster, Jobs hit a homerun. more

For E-mail Users, Little Relief From Spam

by Frank Beacham, 1.07.2004

What was once the Net's biggest attraction is quickly turning into a monstrous time waster. more

'Leaky Documents': A Dangerous Internet Trap

by Frank Beacham, 10.10.2003

Did you know that when you exchange common Microsoft Word files over the Internet that you may be revealing hidden information from your computer? more

Media Theft: An Internet Reality Check

by Frank Beacham, 9.03.2003

Among the most overheated issues this year is copyright protection of electronic media. From the proposed "broadcast flag" in digital television to the downloading of audio and video entertainment over the Internet, we're told there is a crisis. The world's largest media companies say they are being stolen blind by hordes of digital pirates. more

Love and Theft

by Frank Beacham, 8.06.2003

"That actress...was a thief," declared Howard Stringer, Sony's top American executive, at a New Yorker Magazine breakfast last month. "She should have adopted the Internet defense: 'I was downloading music in the morning, downloading movies in the afternoon and then I thought I'd rustle a few dresses out of the local department store...and all of a sudden, I'm arrested. How is that fair?'" more

For Many Internet Users, Frustration Rules

by Frank Beacham, 7.09.2003

To those of us who have made the Internet an integral part of our daily lives, it's easy to forget that not everyone is aboard the online train. In fact, according to recent research, a very large block of the U.S. population is still resisting the connected society. more

'Dark Side' Shows Bright Side to Music Malaise

by Frank Beacham, 5.14.2003

Until he enlightened us with his newfound digital religion at the recent NAB gathering, Disney chairman Michael Eisner always acted very threatened by thieves. more