Intel Pitches Optane for Content Delivery

The Content Delivery Summit, hosted by StreamingMedia.com in New York City on May 7, provided a stage for chip maker Intel to discuss a storage technology that it developed several years ago with Micron and later branded as Optane. The pitch was a head-turner for a few reasons. First, let’s underscore a point. Intel was talking memory and storage, not micro-processing or CPUs, with which...
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Cable-Tec Expo: A Mile High and 18 Years Deep

This year’s SCTE•ISBE’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver was my 18th. To old-timers, that still makes me a rookie. Yes, the cable industry can be tight-knit and self-referential. But it is also welcoming, open to change and attentive to innovation. And mile-high Denver was the place to go this fall to tap into the industry’s forward-looking execs. Joining the big blue bear at the Denver Convention...
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IBC 2017: VR, Big Data and Other Trends

IBC 2017, Amsterdam. That should have been the dateline. But the night before I was supposed to leave, I checked my passport. Surely it hadn’t expired. Arghh…it had. After an hour of checking on a quick renewal, I cut my losses and canceled. (Thank you, Expedia travel insurance.) So no Schiphol Airport or time at the RAI Convention Center. Too bad. But live and learn. And you can still learn,...
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Pitch to the Press: 8 Tips from RVA TechJam

How to pitch news to the press. That was the topic of a panel on the final day of Tech/Jam week (July 24-28) in Richmond, Virginia. (Venue: the historic Main Street Station.) Moderated by local news anchor Juan Conde, the panel consisted of four practicing journalists. As the former editor of a trade journal, I like hearing from those in the trenches and thought the advice delivered on this...
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NAB 2017: UHD, IP and Workflows

The week after my trip to San Diego, I flew west again. Once in Las Vegas, I checked in to Circus Circus. Cheap and within walking distance of the Convention Center. And not without some aging charm. From my window, I had a good view of the dome that caps the hotel’s amusement park. A few days is long enough to take the pulse of an industry. It was also enough time to catch up with clients, both...
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Sales, San Diego and a Hat Tip to Zig Ziglar

Credentialed professionals tend to disdain those in sales. (Having grown up in an academic family, I’m somewhat familiar with this syndrome.) Salespersons often defend their role by talking about how everyone sells something. A lot rides on the terms. I like how one old sales pro defined them. “I have always said that everyone is in sales,” wrote motivational speaker and celebrated sales...
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