If your going on vacation, how many gadgets do you bring on vacation (this includes the notebook)?

Or do you shut down and leave the electronics at home?

What do you think of the newest line of Apple products?

The only item that got the wow-factor was the size of the new device; 80% smaller than the previous device. Expected new features include Apple’s A4 processor chip and only has an ethernet, power and HDMI port on the backside.

The ability to use your iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad as a remote to control and send what you’re watching on a small device to our Apple TV connected to a bigger screen is something that many TV manufactures and set-top boxes need to start working on. Many people would like to have a truly, universal remote that’s easy to program and not terribly expensive (Looking in the vicinity of Logitech).

And just like a late-night infomercial, all of these features plus Netflix streaming, same-day DVD and TV rentals and more; all for the mere price of $99.

Actually, $99 should be another wow moment. Apple could have left the price at $200 and it will still be cheaper than the DVR cable box. Two hundred dollars is a one time fee. Cable customers have to RENT, not own, the DVR box and it’s not cheap: $11.99 for monthly service and $5.25 to rent the box itself is what Cox cable subscribers pay monthly. Over a one year period, Cox subscribers pay $208 a year! Tell me again how is the cable DVR box free?!?!

But sadly, this is were Apple TV goes from being revolutionary to a plain, boring set-top box.

Apple TV could have been the ultimate device to kill the monthly cable bill; why Apple decided not to move in that direction will be an answer we may never know.

What was missing: a TV tuner. If one can’t be added, at least allow third-party TV tuners the ability to write software to the device. While a TV tuner might have been impossible, a major letdown followed at the end of the Apple TV presentation: where was the TV app store that everyone was talking about? Did the TV and cable networks kill the Apple TV app store because people would cancel cable?

The content industry knows not to be on bad side of Steve Jobs because they know they make money on the iTunes store and Jobs can delete those companies off of iTunes. Apple makes little to no money on the content sold in the iTunes store and it’s not in the best interest that NBC Universal, Viacom, News Corp. and Turner broadcasting dictate to Apple what to add or what not to add to a device.

Even without the app store, don’t be surprised if an app store does come to Apple TV. But judging by the opening comments made by Steve Jobs when he said about the 1st generation of Apple TV that  it has “never been a huge hit” but the company listened to those that bought the device and tried to improved it.

With the “never been a huge hit” comment, the Apple TV will remain a hobby device; which is a shame because unlike the iPhone, the Apple TV is a revolutionary device.

Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast region five years ago; causing billions of dollars in damage, massive devastation across four states and thousands of lives lost as many drowned in their homes.

The storm also wrecked havoc on the communication networks, especially in New Orleans as the city the filled up with water from levee failures. With the city 80% underwater and quickly filling with more water, cellphone service became a lifeline to many that survived the storm and desperately needed help.

After the storm, T-Mobile’s network was reduced to 50% functional in the New Orleans market with the CBD reduced to an extremely, limited service.

With a damage but still operational network, T-Mobile processed 2.5 million calls in and out of the New Orleans area two days after the storm. The main switching facility survive the storm and remained operational after the storm as network engineers rode the storm out in the facility. If the switch failed, T-Mobile’s network in New Orleans and Baton Rouge would have failed.

In a press release from 2005, T-Mobile began working on restoring the network. “In order to keep the switch operational following the storm, T-Mobile immediately began airlifting supplies, technicians and diesel fuel into the facility to keep the switch supplied with generator power. This would not have been possible without the exceptional aid of local law enforcement agencies, which have been instrumental in assisting T-Mobile in keeping this vital communications link operational.”

Bellsouth, the main telephone provider for the New Orleans area, suffered extreme loses after the storm with the lost of 810,000 telephone lines in the four-state region and lost 19 central offices that housed equipment to route calls. Most of the COs were located in the New Orleans area. Bellsouth technicians tried to repair the damage network at its’ downtown CO but reports of a National Guard unit coming under fire forced engineers to flee the scene by Louisiana State Police.

With the lost of main telephone lines in New Orleans, wireless networks that were operational after the storm failed to route calls outside the region, especially to 911 call centers.

All this week, ControlAltTV looks back at the storm that change the gulf coast. We look at how cellphones became a lifeline for several people and how the Internet kept people informed for those that left New Orleans. We also explore what lies ahead for New Orleans as the city tries to become a technology hub for Louisiana and the gulf coast.

Until then, we’ve found our archives from 2005 and put them all online for all to see how we covered the storm, including photos from hard-hit areas of St. Bernard parish. I’m also writing what I personally went through that week five years ago on my personal blog at gregschultz.net.

• Control-Alt-Delete | Special Hurricane Katrina coverage
• Katrina photos
• My blog

My alarm was set for 5 AM. My computer was turned on to WWL-TV and glued to the National Weather Service radar, watch Katrina’s eye tear up the Louisiana coastline. My TV tuned to CNN. The WWL-TV stream was very choppy as the website was experiencing heavy demand so I tuned to WDSU.

And then I started blogging. Everything I heard on WDSU and CNN, I immediate blogged it. And this went on until 10AM and I had to quit as I was exausted.

When I woke up (around three or four PM), a helicopter was en-route to New Orleans, providing a live TV feed to every outlet in the world. While flying over Jefferson parish, I could identify all the landmarks in the area. Loyola Blvd., the Best Buy on Vets Blvd. The first scene of major destruction that I saw was the destruction to the front entrance of Target in Metairie.

The helicopter flew towards downtown New Orleans and the world got the first view of the rusty roof of the Louisiana Superdome and every window blown out at the Hyatt hotel next door. Norman Roberson was visible shaken by how much damage the hotel experienced.

It then flew to the lakefront as the Southern Yacht club was burning to the ground. We also got a glance at the massive flooding in the Lakeview and it was unbelievable. Flood waters were as high as the traffic light, about 10 to 15 feet. And while the flooding was extreme in the Lakeview area, the rest of the city looked like it escaped major damaged. The national media were already calling it; that the city “dodged a bullet”

It was impossible to contact my parents as all phone lines into the 504 area code were destroyed. I did send text messages to them but since my parents were technology-impaired, they did not get the message.

I had a night class to attend and it was the first day of school, something that I could not miss. Before class started, I tried to use my Hibernia bank card at McDonald’s in Plano. It did not work. Luckly, I had a local bank account with money in it to buy dinner. I had KRLD radio 1040AM to see if anything new was coming out of New Orleans.

The class that I registered for was canceled for the semester without any notification. The main culprit: low enrollment. While driving home, a squall line from Katrina moved up Central expressway; producing pounding rains and strong winds. The winds were so intense that my truck bounced left to right while sitting at a traffic light.

I went home and tried to continuing blogging, trying to get as much information from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Plaquemines parish as there wasn’t a lot of information coming from those regions.

I had WWL-TV on the background and the mayor was on TV. The only thing I remember hearing was the twin spans, Interstate 10 that connects Slidell to New Orleans over Lake Pontchartrain, was completely destroyed. What I did not hear was the following:

I stayed up until midnight getting as much information as I could and blogged it. I went to bed feeling heart broken and sadden by the past 24 hours but with the feeling that the worst was over.

Or so I thought.

August 11, 2005. I had just moved to new apartment in McKinney, TX so I can be closer to school. Two of my friends from high school came up with the idea of starting a technology news-related website as well as a podcast. The name was chosen, Control Alt Delete, and the website was under construction.

Two weeks later, the website was ready and we were preparing to do our first podcast.

And then Hurricane Katrina formed before going ashore in South Florida.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

In the early morning hours, I was working on my website that will easily allow me to update the situation going on in New Orleans. I had WWL-TV streaming in the background. Suddenly, anchor Bill Capo comes into the studio and announced something that took my by surprise.

“Pressure has dropped from 930 millibars to 903 millibars, meaning that the storm is going through intense strengthening”

The next morning, Hurricane Katrina became a category 5 storm with winds of 165 MPH. I had WDSU-TV because they were the only station that was streaming their wall-to-wall coverage while the other stations were not. Many radio stations in New Orleans were not streaming over the Internet, including WWL radio.

While watching I10 convert to contra-flow to accommodate heavy congestion, Margaret Orr was becoming a little hysterical but was able to remain calm during the weather segments. A one point she did say on the air that Katrina could have sustain winds of 190MPH, which never occurred. I stopped watching because I had to prepare my apartment in the event that unexpected guests were to come over.

My parents called sometime between 1 and 3PM, saying the house was boarded up, RV and cars packed and they were on the road, heading to Houston, Tex. with my grandmother and dog. My mother describe the scene unfolding in St. Charles parish. The emergency sirens blasting every hour over hour. Firetrucks, lights and sirens blaring, rolling down every street in the neighborhood; looking for people that were not leaving and convince them to leave the parish.

The message was clear: if you’re staying, you will be annoyed.

I tried to relaxed that night by watching a NASCAR race. My parents wanted to keep them informed but a busy signal was always greeted when I called them. I did send text messages to them but my mom didn’t know what a text message was at the time.

Even with a boring race, I kept WWL-TV on in my computer room as it was next to the living room. That night, former mayor C. Ray Nagin told WWL-TV that he had a talk from former National Hurricane Center directory Max Mayfield and was so scared by his dire predictions in the next 24 – 48 hours that he will announce a mandatory evacuation for Orleans parish, something that has never happened before.

But by then it was too late.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

The family evacuation party of three plus a dog arrived in Houston in the early morning hours. My website was complete and I was blogging from afar about the situation in New Orleans.

I could not talk much to my parents as all lines to the 504 area code were jammed and all I got was a busy signal.

The storm was still a category 5 with landfall at Grand Isle, La. If the track stayed on that course, my parents’ home as well as New Orleans would be under 30ft of water.

As the evacuation of the city continued, the media was also evacuating the city as well. WWL-TV was moving to the LSU campus, WDSU-TV to Jackson, Miss., WVUE-TV to Mobile, Ala. and WGNO-TV to Baton Rouge. WGNO was first station to shut down operations from their broadcast facilities in the New Orleans Centre and partner with Baton Rouge ABC affiliate, WBRZ. WDSU was in the process of moving to Hearst-sister station WAPT-TV in Jackson, Miss. When the station was shut down and moving to Jackson, Miss., another Heart-owned station stepped in to fill the void. WESH-TV from Orlando, Fla.

All day I was in a daze. I still had family members that were unaccounted for and had no idea if those members left or stayed. I preyed that they left New Orleans.

The Superdome had opened as shelter of last resort and early estimates indicate that 10,000 people took shelter inside the dome. At the same time, the outerbands of Katrina were hitting New Orleans, knocking out power and flooding city streets. WWL-TV had changed the tone of their music for the commercial breaks to a a very-low key brass guitar, death is coming with a drumbeat tone.

No matter where I was, I was in formed. The TV was tuned to CNN during the daytime and WWL radio on at night until a squall line killed the signal. When I lost WWL radio, I went to bed; not knowing if tomorrow I would see my city drown to death.

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina not only became the 6th strongiest storm to hit the Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama coastline; become the one of the five most deadly hurricanes as well as the most destritrucive storm to hit the United States, casung $81 billion in damages.

Hurricane Katrina also showed how fragile the communications network can easily break down during a major disaster. Long distance lines were damaged in the region and many cell towers in New Orleans, Mobile and the Mississippi Gulf coast were either destroyed by the storm or stopped working after generators that powered the cell towers can out of fuel.

TV and radio stations also went dark as the storm surged from Katrina knocked all but two TV and four New Orleans radio stations off the air.

As the five year anniversitry approaches, what ahve you done to make sure your communication needs will continue to work during a national crisis? If you have emergency communication plans, what are they? Or are you absolutely sure that the wireless networks will continue to function during a crisis?

If you’re an AT&T subscriber, you might have noticed that service has improved substantially. However, the network still experience overload as I encountered  problems accessing the web during the Saints victory over the Texans during parts of the first and second quarters.

The phone I used on the AT&T network (Google Nexus One) was able to access the Internet during the game, something that was not unthinkable last year. I asked Sue Sperry, spokesperson for AT&T for the gulf coast region, if service was improved inside or around the Superdome and the response was indubitably but not yet.

“We are close to launching [a new antenna system] in the Dome,” Sperry responded via e-mail. The new antenna system is called a Distributed Antenna System and, according to a press release, it “consists of several strategically placed antennas that distribute AT&T’s wireless network coverage throughout the stadium, providing for more efficient management of wireless capacity in heavily trafficked areas. The additional capacity will help to improve call reliability, increase download speeds and enable more consistent network access to help customers make the most of their AT&T devices.”

Even though the DAS wasn’t activated in the Superdome, there are two thoughts that come to mind. One reason could be that it was a pre-season game and there wasn’t as any fans that attended the pre-season opener (72,000) than those that come to a regular-season game (78,000 – 79,000).

Or that people are fed up with AT&T and switched to another provider like Verizon, Sprint or T-mobile.

After one year in alpha-testing mode, Digg v4 rolled out today to the public and readers were greeted with technical glitches all day.

The reaction on the new design has been negative and many are wondering if this will be the death spiral of Digg.

So what do you think about the new Digg design? Will this keep the site alive or will the site continue to fall?