Seriously, what is the purpose of this blog?

I'm a big fan of technology in general, and Apple in particular. But right now, no one is doing tech better than Apple.

I find that truth to be self-evident. Their gadgets are simpler, and work more consistently. (That wasn't always the case - the Mac LCIII I took with me to college was so underpowered that it wasn't able to run the MacPaint program it shipped with in full screen.)

Now, if a company does something better than Apple's doing it, by all means, I'll buy their stuff and talk about it here. And if Apple *doesn't* do something, like make a DVR or a TV or speakers, for instance, I'll talk about that, too.

So why a tech blog? What is the purpose? What is the angle? Well, after 11 years in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, and 7 years in our current condo, we're moving. To a house the suburbs. A house which will serve as a blank slate for all of the tech projects I've intended to start here, but put off for years because our condo was a "temporary" residence.

So it's not just a tech blog - it's a construction/project blog. While I'm going to post articles about new tech from Apple (and occasionally others), the overarching theme will be a demonstration of how we integrate that Apple tech into our new place. AirPlay all over. Home automation, all controllable by iOS. That sort of thing.

The first project seems obvious,and a bit ominous. The home theatre in the living room needs to be designed and installed. And it's not going to be simple. For instance, while the TV will go over the fireplace, the location is prewired for power and... coax? It appears that we'll be running a ton of HDMI through the walls and behind the fireplace, to go with the ton of CAT5 we'll be running for Project #2: "An End to Buffering: Stop the Reliance on Wi-Fi."

One thing about our set-up and this blog in general: We're not working with top-of-the-line tech. This stuff is all off-the-rack, mid-range consumer electronics. I lack the means and the motivation to acquire a reference system, and I can't tell the difference anyway.

For the primary home theater, we're working with the following components:

• Sony 55" LED HDTV
• Sony AV Receiver
• AppleTV 1080P
• Sony Blu-Ray Player
• TiVo Series 3 (Probably 6 years old, with lifetime service. May be on its way out. I've got a ton to say about TiVo, but that will probably have to wait a while.)

We move in on June 1, 2012 - 9 days from now. First step - comparing and contrasting cable/internet/phone providers in the Chicago suburbs. This will make for some compelling blogging.