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Entelligence: Conspiracy theory, part one
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. We've all heard the great conspiracy theories of our time. President Kennedy was killed by more than one gunman. The moon landing was hoax, a drama secretly recorded on a stage set somewhere in Atlanta or Texas. More recently, the attacks on the World Trade Center were really perpetrated by the US, not Islamic terrorists. There are far more, I assure you. What's funny is that in the last few years, our industry has spun off a number of conspiracy theories worthy of being made into a movie. Apple, Microsoft, RIM, HP, Palm -- you name it, and there's a story being told. Of course, with most of these stories it's never direct from the source. It's people, who know of people, who knew someone, who heard from a friend that... something happened. As with all good tales, there's always someone who will believe. Oliver Stone, are you listening? Here are my five favorite tech conspiracies.
Sony's secret kill switch: myth, rumor or hearsay?
Could there be something lurking deep inside your Sony laptop or TV programmed to break the device as soon as the warranty expires? That may sound like a crazy conspiracy theory not far off those involving the mysterious deaths of engineers, but it's a theory that continues to persist to some degree in Japan, and even seems to have grown in recent years. As Telegraph.co.uk reports, the belief in a secret timer or "kill switch" has been around for the past twenty years or so, but it apparently took on some newfound momentum amid the rash of Sony laptop battery failures, which even prompted some Sony execs to publicly deny that such a switch exists. The kill switch apparently isn't completely pervasive though, as the PlayStation 3 is supposedly "exempt," thereby explaining its considerable success in Japan -- although there's some talk that's because it's a Trojan horse for Sony's next big scheme: mind control disguised as 3D glasses.
WealthTV conspiracy theorists issue anti-Engadget press release
Note from the editor: Okay, I'm trying not to crack up here, but publicity-hungry "small family owned business" WealthTV (which, according to their site, is "headquartered in a 40,000 square foot, high definition state-of-the-art facility in San Diego" -- yep.) issued an anti-Engadget linkbait press release, accusing us of being the long, long tail arm of Time Warner, and "big business at its ugliest." As it happens, this WealthTV network -- which, I, personally, have never even heard of until a few days ago when we wrote a story on it here -- apparently recently went to the FCC to protest Time Warner Cable's "monopolistic program access practices" because the provider didn't pick them up.Of course, I probably don't have to tell you what an imbecilic accusation it is that some nefarious executive at TWC -- which is only partly owned by Time Warner -- was able to pull strings at Time Warner, which pulled strings at AOL, which pulled strings at Weblogs, Inc., which pulled strings with me, in turn resulting in some pretty hilarious verbal commentary by long-time editor Ben Drawbaugh on the Engadget HD podcast. But just so we're extra clear with the conspiracy theorists in the house that aren't convinced, WealthTV obviously wasn't paying too close attention to how we do our thing.Knocking on Time Warner Cable is something of a pastime and running joke between myself and Peter Rojas on the original Engadget podcast. Hell, I'd like to take this occasion to remind everyone that in the five years I lived in New York, I had nothing but problems with Time Warner Cable as a consumer (whereas in the last year and a half I've been in San Francisco I've had nothing but amazing experiences with Comcast -- go figure). Might also be worth a quick link to the post where we called a TWC CableCARD installation a "fiasco" -- in the headline, no less!But then again, since they totally busted us, we should probably come clean about a few Time Warner Cable-mandated stories I've had the team put in the hopper for this week: WealthTV so broke, the bank asked for their calendar back WealthTV so broke that when someone saw 'em walking down the street with one shoe and said, "Hey, you lost a shoe." WealthTV said, "No, we found one." WealthTV so poor when you ring the doorbell they say, "DING DONG!" Look, WealthTV, if it makes you guys feel any better, we promise we'll never, ever cover your channel again. Thanks for reminding us all that cash and class are obviously two very different things.Yours,RyanP.S. -Release posted after the break, including the contact email / phone number of the channel's PR rep. Enjoy!
