A Day, A Week, Hemant, A Year

NBA All-Star Weekend hits Sin City this year, and as if the glamour and excitement wasn’t enough already, the NBA is taking this year’s festivities to the next level. The All-Star Saturday Night and All-Star game which are slated for this Saturday, February 17th and Sunday, February 18th, respectively will be breaking technological boundaries as it will be the first live sports events to be broadcast in High Definition 3D. Yeah, you heard me right - 3D.

Now before you get too excited, the broadcast is only going to be available to special guests of the NBA at Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Hotel since the NBA is saying it is an “experiment”. Either way, it’s a pretty cool concept and may be the first step in delivering this service to regular Joes around the world. Here’s an excerpt from Variety.com explaining the process.

Technology company Pace has designed five 3-D HD camera systems that will cover all of the action at the Thomas and Mack Center. The Pace blueprint calls for two HD cameras to be built in to each of the five systems, working together to transmit the 3-D images. Invitees will need glasses to get the full 3-D effect.

A special director will take charge of the 3-D coverage, said Steve Hellmuth, senior VP of operations and technology for NBA Entertainment, “but the widescreen depth of field is so immersive that there’ll be far fewer cuts than in the standard-definition version, and the cameras won’t have to move as much.”

Hellmuth bills the experience as “about as close as you can get to having courtside seats.”

This technology might be exactly what I need to get back the feeling of watching a Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre that I miss so much….without having to pay $8 for a hot-dog.

You can read the full article at Variety.com here. Engadget also covered the story here.

Since I’ve returned from Ontario, I’ve had my cable and internet service provided by Shaw Cable. This decision was made more for convenience than choice. I would have preferred Bell ExpressVu, but that would have required a dish, and my condo association did not have rules in place in regards to allowing dishes. So my choices were Shaw Cable and SaskTel Max. Since I have a High Definition (HD) TV and SaskTel Max didn’t offer HD programming - I really had only one option. I consider having a HD TV without subscribing to HD channels to be the same as having a computer and not having internet access. It doesn’t make sense.

Now the quality of Shaw High Speed Internet has been great. I have not complaints. But when it’s time to discuss their cable service - well that’s a completely different story. Firstly, they offered nine HD channels when I signed up just over a year ago (as opposed to 27 with Bell). I could deal with it because at least it included the sports channels and Canadian and American networks. I was pleasantly surprised (this is sarcasm) when I realized the US networks were coming from Seattle, meaning that any prime-time programming wouldn’t start until 10:00 at night.

Well I guess the upside was that the HD channels were free. Shaw assured me of this.

Fast-forward 12 months. Shaw decided to start charging for certain HD channels. Last night I tried to tune into TSN HD to watch my beloved Toronto Raptors take it to some sorry opponent (they’re first in the East by-the-way). Once again I was pleasantly surprised (this is more sarcasm) to see the ‘Subscription Required’ message pop up on my screen.

Immediately I called Shaw to ask, “What gives?” I finally got to talk to a customer care representative who begins to immediately barrage me with questions. The interrogation was as follows:

Me: Hi there. I would like to order the High Definition sports channels.
Shaw Rep: What’s your name?
Me: Hemant Naidu
Shaw Rep: What is your phone number?
Me: 306-XXX-XXXX
Shaw Rep: When were you born?
Me : April 13 of 1975
Shaw Rep: What is your driver license number?
Me: Licence number? Geeze. Ok, let me grab my wallet. Ok. It’s XXXX XXXX XX.
Shaw Rep: That’s not the number we have on file?
Me: When have I ever given you my driver license number?
Shaw Rep: When you initially hooked up with us.
Me. Hmmm. Oh, OK. I know what’s going on. When I signed up with you I had an Ontario license.
Shaw Rep: Yes, that’s right.
Me: When I got a Saskatchewan one a few months later, I had to return my Ontario one.
Shaw Rep. Ok, you’ll have to bring in your new driver license to the office on Monday.
Me (thinking): But the Raptor game starts in 15 minutes, not on Monday).
Me: I’ve made these types of changes since I’ve had my new license, and I’ve never been asked to verify it.
Shaw Rep: Yes, we’re trying to crack down on fraud.
Me (thinking): You’re a fraud.
Me: So you’re not going to let me add a $3 channel.
Shaw Rep: Not until you bring us your new license.
Me: Do you guys charge a service disconnection fee?
Shaw Rep: No.
Me: Ok, ’cause I’ll likely be calling back and doing that.
Me (thinking): Idiot.
Shaw Rep: OK. Bye.
Me (thinking); WTF?

I stood there in a dazed state. Curtis was sitting on the couch with a matching look on his face from listening to my conversation. After I regained my composure I said, “Why didn’t I ask to speak to her supervisor?”

Now for those who don’t know, SaskTel has added High Definition channels to their Max service. And they don’t offer a measly 10 channels - they offer 29. If you ask why I haven’t switched to them yet, it’s just because I haven’t seen a demo of it. There are some possible quality issues with it.

Anyway, getting back to where I left off. Since I was so mad I decided to call Shaw back, make my request again, and if I got the same result I was going to disconnect the service and switch to Max. I called back and got a different rep.

Me: Hi. I’d like to order the sports HD channels.
Shaw Rep: OK. Those are in the HD Premium package for $9.99 a month.
Me: No, I think I can just get the sports ones for $2.99 a month.
Shaw Rep: Oh, you just want those two?
Me: Yes.
Shaw Rep: OK, let me just turn that on for you.
Me: OK.
Shaw Rep: Alright, I’ve enabled those channels. Can you just try channels 301 and 308 to make sure they’re working?
Me: Yup, looks like they’re good.
Shaw Rep: Right on. Thanks for calling Shaw.
Me: Thanks. Bye.
Me (thinking): WTF?

I know. You’re probably as confused as I was. Needless to say, Shaw managed to buy themselves a little more time with me as a client, and I got to watch the Raptors beat the Boston Celtics in all of its High Definition glory. I’m not an expert on the training process over at Shaw Cable but you’d think they’d be running off of the same script. Either way I don’t really care and I think this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Today I’m going to hit the SaskTel store downtown where I can hopefully get a demo of their Max service and start my transition off of Shaw - taking my $135 per month with me. Honestly, I don’t think they’ll care - or at least their service reps won’t.