With surround sound for HDTV racheting up and digital radio adding the multichannel option for car and home listening, my sense from NAB2005 show is that broadcast production and post-production niches are alive and well. PAR has always had good penetration among radio, video production/post production engineers, as well as film and multimedia post audio because of our excellent circulation in those areas.

In traversing the traditional "audio" hall (north) at the Las Vegas Convention Center during NAB, the manufacturers told me that serious equipment buyers were in abundance this year. The newer "south" hall, was, as expected extremely busy to the point where you could not move at times near the Apple, Sony and Avid/Digidesign displays.

NAB's first-ever, pro audio special exhibit area, which was themed the "5.1 Pavilion," sponsored by Pro Audio Review, Radio World, Audio Media and TV Technology, was deemed a success as well. With exhibits from Linear Acoustics, Neural Audio, TC Electronics, DK Technologies, Telos and others, the central hall location made for easy access by attendees. The Pavilion had quite a buzz among those vendors pushing multichannel audio for the new in-channel, digital radio service, which allows a digital signal to be broadcast on the current analog channel.

I sat in on the vehicle surround demo (and a surround sound demo with video) of the various technologies and came away impressed. It is remarkable how convincing the surround impression was -- considering how low the data rates are. To my ears, the overall sound quality of digital on-channel radio (or digital satellite radio as well) is not yet as smooth as good old analog FM, but these technologies are getting closer.

Hurry Up and Wait

Okay folks, here is my current globalization dark side story. Last month I decided to get a new Apple laptop G4 for better audio recording and editing power. I decided to buy it from the Apple Store instead of my usual Mac-by-phone dealer, Mac Mall.

I ordered the new 1.5 GHz G4 with one upgrade: more memory. The nice salesman said the upgrade necessitated the additional memory to be done at the factory. I knew the factory did not mean Cupertino, Cal., but I did not think much about where it was made. Singapore, I figured.

After the $1,500+ credit card transaction, the deal was done -- with free shipping. Officially, the salesman said, I would get the computer in four to six business days. But off the record, he said I would likely see the box in three days.

An e-mail confirmation was sent to me with the details of the transaction and a Fedex shipping number. After two days, I tracked the shipping progress, expecting to see the unit almost here. But no, the unit was still in Shanghai -- that's Shanghai, China. Oh, so that is where it was made. Couldn't they have installed memory in a laptop already in stock in the U.S.?, I thought to myself.

Since it was Friday, I figured I would wait until Monday. On Monday, Fedex tracking said my Powerbook was still in ShangHai! Being the impatient kind, I waited one more day, a Tuesday, and still the computer was stuck in Shanghai.

I then called Apple and Fedex and they said that the shipping was bottled up because of a week-long worker holiday in China that basically meant that shipping had grounded to a halt.

"Could they have told me that when I ordered it?" I asked. In a calm, scripted voice, the Apple customer service rep gave me a new estimated delivery time. With the Chinese holiday now calculated into the equation, my Powerbook would arrive in five more days. Not being the patient type, I told Apple that if they did not have computer to me in two days, I would cancel the order.

Imagine my surprise the next day when the computer actually arrived! They must have paid some bucks to move that little 'ole Apple in one day.

After a few days of antiglobalization rants, I settled down. My consternation gave way to "gee this computer sure is impressive." Now, I am totally happy with it. What was all that fuss was about?

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