One World One Music

So, I’ve been watching the Olympics pretty religiously since they began some ten days ago and I’ve enjoyed every minute.  From our dominant softball team, to the trials of our runners, to the incredible eight finals of Michael Phelps.  In the spirit of the Olympic games I present the following.

The Olympic Stadium MP3 player.  It’s shaped like the classic Bird’s Nest of Beijing I’ve come to know and love and has the running character that is the Olympic logo on the bottom.  Priced at $19.20 I don’t know what sort of quality you’re buying in a music player, but this souvenir looks to be just that, a memento of the twenty ninth Olympic games.

It’s not clear whether the this MP3 player is officially licensed (though I’d guess not) but that doesn’t hurt it’s style.  It looks like the stadium and that’s what counts.  Now I just wonder what the screaming of 91,000 spectators would sound like through a set of ear phones.

Weekly Links–Olympic Edition

It only comes around every 4 years. I can’t resist. Here are some of my favorite Olympic links:

USA Today has a wonderful page called “Ever Wonder” that highlights various questions about the Olympics, like how does Michael Phelps swim the butterfly, what does a BMX track look like, or how time keeping has changed in the Olympics.  It’s really fascinating AND interactive.

Scholastic’s Go For the Gold Olympic site is great for kids to explore and learn more about the games. Found via Larry Ferlazzo

The New York Times has an interactive map of how many medals each country has won in the current games and Olympics past.

Olympic.org has Flash-based animations of all the sports at the games with detailed explanations of how each sport performs. Ever wonder what fencing was all about, how about synchronized swimming–learn now.

On the go? Get your Olympics fix by texting OLYMPICS to 51515 and get NBC’s results, videos, medal counts, etc straight to your mobile device.

Enjoy

Olympic Spirit

Today is the opening of the Beijing Summer Olympics.  The Olympics is the only event of its kind on the global calendar and once again the world has gathered to celebrate it.  This year, more so than almost any year before it, even the parts of the world that couldn’t get to the host country have unprecedented access.

Let us begin with the basics.  NBC’s coverage of the games and the culture within China will saturate its regular programming for much of the foreseeable future.  From the Today show in China to tonight’s broadcast of the opening ceremony TV will be especially sports centered.  NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, and other affiliate networks will present the most coverage ever (and a lot of HD options).  Let us not forget that as the games have grown over the years so have the means by which we access them.

For the first time NBC will stream complete coverage of the Olympic games online.  There’s even a Wiki article on how to utilize internet access despite certain site restrictions.

Even tickets to this years game have gone high tech!  Radio frequency identification technology within tickets will help (primarily) to deter counterfeits.

It will be interesting to see how much extra coverage gets through (cultural and otherwise) due to the on going news of China restricting media access beyond events.  Yet, the fact remains, though the news getting through may be of the Olympic events alone, there will be quite a few hours to broadcast.

Olympic-sized coverage

I remember watching Lionel RIchie perform at the 1984 L.A. Olympics closing ceremony. I saw it on an old television with rabbit ears. In contrast, this Olympiad offers unparalleled coverage with more than 2900 hours of programming on multiple networks, web and mobile, many of them in HD.
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NBC Universal has broadcast many of the last few Olympiads and its coverage gets broader and grander each time. This year there are more viewing options than ever before. In fact, this year’s coverage if greater than all the previous summer Olympics combined.
If you have HDTV, you can watch via Universal HD. In addition, some areas are offering a special basketball-only channel and soccer-only channel. Ah the beauty of HD. Past games offered a handful of events broadcast in HD, but this year’s games will be totally shot and broadcast in HD (for those with reception).
So with all this coverage, there is even more chance to see your favorite inspirational stories (my favorite part!), live finales, and all your favorite sports, however obscure or more obscure.
With TIVO or DVR you can program your recorder to capture every possible moment of your favorite events. 
If you can’t wait to be home to watch on your t.v., this year’s Olympics also offer unprecedented mobile coverage. You can get alerts, check out the website, view live TV or see video all from your mobile device.  
I know where I’ll be every night.