While giving Sling Media a hand at this year's 2006 International CES, we had the opportunity to meet and speak with Jeff Chiusano, the very first registered Slingbox owner according to Jeremy Toeman of Sling Media. Not to say that Jeff was the first to buy a Slingbox (though he could have been), but he was definitely the first to hit submit on the registration page. This achievement gives him special place in the history of Sling Media, and the Slingbox. Here are some hightlights from the conversation:

Jeff, you're the first registered Slingbox owner. Tell me what it's like to have that kind of status among the Sling crew?

Well, amongst the uber electronic geek community, it's very gratifying to know that I was the very first to run right home, setup my Slingbox and get registered... a feeling of joy.

How did you first hear about the Slingbox?

I believe it was when [Sling Media] first announced at CES last year, and I heard about it and thought the idea was great. I thought there were other software based solutions out there, but the problem was that I didn't want to have to put a PC in my living room. So instead I thought a device like this, that's stand alone and small form factor, connected to my TiVo box...what else could you ask for? And I just kept tracking on it, saw information on when [Sling Media] was releasing...and bought it as soon as it was available.

Tell me about your experience that first day buying the Slingbox. Where were you? Where did you buy it at, and what was it like?

I found out that they were going to be selling it at CompUSA, and I had actually gone the day before launch trying to get one. Of course, the guy said "No, sorry. We can't sell you one until tomorrow." So, the next morning, bright and early, I went back and bought one. It was great, and it was easy to set up. I was impressed by what the retail box looked like. In general, I thought the whole presentation was very seamless; it was easy, and I thought even people who weren't very technically oriented could get the hang of it and learn how to use it in a few short minutes.

How many Slingboxes do you think you've sold to other people?

Oh gosh! To be honest, probably a few. Just word of mouth stuff, telling people about how if they're out of town, or things like local programming, which is big for some people, when they go out of town and want to be able to watch their local news or sports. Or, if they have subscriptions to something like a DirecTV sports package, and they're out of town...gosh! Now they have to go to a sports bar, or whatever. When people start really sharing about that, then first thing people ask is about if they have to set something up on the computer, and that's going to be difficult and what have you. It's a lot easier than people ever expect it will be. One, because you have a stand-alone box, and two because the wizard and software make it really easy to get things up and going.

You are a member of the SlingCommunity, correct? What's your screen name?

Yes. It's rgbyhkr.

How did you first hear about the SlingCommunity?

I believe there had been threads going on at another community, AVS, and at the time there had been lots and lots of requests for a Sling community to start up on their own. As soon as that became public it was posted on AVS, and I went over and registered on the SlingCommunity.

Are you on the site often?

Now and then. I think it's one of those things where because I've learned to use it from day one, I've worked out a lot and learned to do this and that. What it's more for now are updates, what [is Sling Media] doing next, things like the PPC software, and what have you.

What do you think of the site in general? What kind of improvements are you looking for to make it a better user experience?

I would say I'm not as huge a fan of front-page thread views, where you first get to a community and there is a front-page listing of active threads. I'm not a big fan of that, one of personal taste, because I have some areas in every forum that I like to navigate to quickly. I don't like having to do several mouse clicks. Obviously, I could book mark the second page, but if there was an option based upon a cookie or something that would remember if somebody wants to start out maybe even in this particular sub forum. That would be something that's interesting. Other than that, I think it's great. The participation is wonderful, not only by users themselves, but also by [Sling Media]. Questions are getting answered, and I think it's very well run.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today Jeff, and happy Slinging!

The SlingCommunity Team would like to thank Jeff for sitting down and sharing his thoughts with us, and the rest of the SlingCommunity. For his achievement of being the first to ever register a Slingbox, he was presented with his very own SlingCommunity T-shirt. Make sure to keep an eye out for Jeff in the SlingCommunity Forums!