Jeff Hoover is the president of Audio Advisors in West Palm Beach, Florida (audioadvisors.com; 561-478-3100) - and everyone thought he was, well, a little crazy when he built the Design Center, a $2 million showcase of rooms outfitted with the latest gear. But Hoover knew better.
Here's some summer reading: Thoughts on Music, by Apple's Steve Jobs (apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic). It's not a romance novel, or even a juicy tell-all. Instead, his short treatise may change the future of recorded music.
Without some form of protection, gear can be damaged or even destroyed by power surges - short bursts of voltage that exceed the U.S. standard of 120 volts.
On February 17, 2009, all analog TVs in America will go kaput. Turn on your trusty Zenith, and you'll get - static. Whack it as much as you want (and feel free to take out your frustrations), but it won't do any good. The TV set itself is still perfectly fine. It's the analog broadcast signal that's the problem. In particular, it won't be there anymore.
With summer just around the corner, there's no better time to upgrade your digital camera. CASIO's Exilim EX-Z75 ($230; casio.com) is perfect for a day trip or an extended vacation. I used mine for some basic around-the-house stuff, but this 7.2 megapixel would be a great travel companion.
In the last 5 years, more than 50 companies have introduced home-network-ready receivers that connect your computer with your TV and audio system so you can stream music, TV shows, movies, and photos from the home office to your home theater. As place-shifting devices go, Apple TV - the slickest media receiver yet - is decidedly late to the game.
Despite the widespread installation of Wi-Fi both at home and on the street, downloading of music to portable players has largely remained a corded affair, with the device wired to a computer. But if you're keeping up with the times, you may have noticed that Wi-Fi now beckons anyone sporting earbuds.
SXSW always opens "officially" with a keynote talk by a big-name artist. In past years, speakers have included the likes of Little Richard, Ray Davies, and Lucinda Williams.