Oscar Pool Ballot, 94th Academy Awards

It's time for the Awesomest Oscar Pool Ballot In The History Of Oscar Pool Ballots.

Every year I create a special ballot based on a typical Academy Awards printable ballot -- but on my ballot, each category has a different point value. The highest valued category is "Best Picture," while the mainstream films' categories are valued at two points. The non-mainstream categories (like the documentary and short film categories) are valued at one point.

This way, in a tight race for the winner of the pool, the winner most likely would not be determined by the non-mainstream films (in other words, blind guesses).

Download the ballot here for the 94th Academy Awards and use it at your Oscar party.

click here for larger

And if you're wondering why Tom Cruise is on my ballot... he's been on every one of my Oscar ballots. Because he's soooooooooo cool.

I Love My Apple TV. It Should Be Better.

When the Apple TV box first appeared in our house, it sat alongside a cable box and a DVD player. Eventually, the DVD player disappeared. Over the years, our cable TV consumption slowly dissolved to a fraction of what it once was. And as of summer 2021, 100% of my family's living room TV and movie consumption comes from the Apple TV.

While I love my Apple TV, the experience could be better. Nope - it should be better because the Apple TV has positioned itself as a premium product, and it should deliver a premium experience for its customers.

Some of my buddies have been writing and podcasting about the streaming experience, diving deep into the feature sets, capabilities and limitations of the current landscape.

Joe Rosensteel wrote two recent pieces on Six Colors that are worth checking out: When Apple TV’s ‘Universal Search’ is a black hole and Searching for a better guide: Live TV in the age of streaming

John Siracusa wrote on his Hypercritical blog, An Unsolicited Streaming App Spec and a follow-up post, Streaming App Sentiments. John discussed the pieces on his two podcasts, ATP #470 and on Reconcilable Differences #177.

I'm inspired by these pieces and podcast episodes, and I hope to write more about Apple TV in the future. Heh, the last time I wrote about Apple TV was over a decade ago.