Monthly Archives: February 2005

Dave Ely puts forward a pretty convincing argument against SBC’s IPTV plans. The data pipe won’t be big enough and other technologies available today are already better. Plus $99 is an outrageous price point.

On a related point, Ely makes a comment that “I don’t see live TV as ever fully going away,” well, neither do it, except, of course, the last time I watched a state of the union, I timeshifted it. I watch most sports timeshifted — there are a lot of events that are better saved for later. There’s nothing magical about live, and once you realize that, then timeshifting seems perfectly natural. For example, we didn’t watch the Oscars in real time tonight.

I’m not looking for any IP delivery, regardless of the size of the data line, to much more than deliver timeshifted content. The only reason to deliver real-time content, I think, is for interactive purposes where audience responses only hold value in real time, but BSkyB in England is already doing that with a combo of satillite and landlines. I’m sure DirecTV will offer a similar service within a year or so.

Maybe IPTV isn’t it, but the day is coming when lots of people will download a whole feast of video content over IP and watch it on regular their living room teevees. That just strikes me as inevitable. And if SBC’s price point is $99 per month, the product is doomed.

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Look for IPTV to drive Internet-related revenue growth over the next five years, according to this article.

While I’m a big fan of IPTV, I’m not sure adoption will be fast enough, nor will sound business models emerge quickly enough to drive this kind of growth … but the gaming portion of this projection is probably pretty close to right.

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I’ve used Flash and Cold Fusion. I’ve used FeedDemon. Is Brightcove in my future? Sounds very intriguing. If it’s from Jeremy Allaire, you know it’s well conceived.

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More news favoring IPTV — better video compression (via J.D. Lasica).

What I don’t get though is that some people seem to think that viewers will watch IP video real-time, as a stream. I doubt it. Seriously. Doubt it.

Any system that does IPTV right will allow users to download shows ad hoc (surf the Web, find them, download them), or use and iPodder like system to down load favorite shows as they become available. All shows will be watched at the viewer’s convenience, not when some programmer wants them to watch it. So better compression is great, but it isn’t about watching the stream as it comes in. I don’t think.

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Phillip Swann thinks the idea of Apple buying TiVo is rotten to the core.

But Apple, whose core business is personal computers and portable music players (the iPod), could not deliver one cable and/or satellite subscriber, at least not immediately and perhaps never. Over the years, Apple has developed few, if any, relationships with TV-based companies. With Apple as its owner, TiVo would not be any better off than it is today. In fact, it would probably be in worse condition because it would have to go through some transition pains from the sale.

TiVo needs an innovative leader like Steve Jobs, but it doesn’t necessarily need Steve Jobs.

A diversified media company with good relationships across the cable and satellite industries might be a good bet to save TiVo, but it makes sense that Apple isn’t a good fit. Being innovative may not be enough.

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I haven’t seen Peter Jennings’ special on UFOs yet (it’s tivoed). Who knows? Maybe it’s just a egocentric exercise in pandering and hype, but having seen Jennings on The Daily Show last night, I don’t think so. And — even though Jennings is on television — I don’t think he’s the kind of journalist to tackle a subject less than professionally.

But what I really don’t understand is why would anybody think this isn’t legitimate journalism?

UFOs are a part of our culture, and one that — as Jennings pointed out to Jon Stewart — has not been given the kind of serious journalistic treatment the subject deserves. There are a multitude of interesting angles here that have nothing to do with whether you believe UFOs are spaceships, hoaxes or delusions.

The truth is out there, and Jennings is doing the journalistically honest thing (or so he says) in trying to shed some light on a fascinating topic.

Journalism isn’t all about social security reform, budget deficits and Iraq. When it’s at its best, it’s also about what’s going on in society. And society is into UFOs in a big way. Just do a Google search. There’s nothing pandering about covering what interests people. That too can be service to civic discourse.

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OK, instead of asking Sprint to change it’s collections’ department number, maybe the guy could have changed his own number. Still, his ultimate solution is much funnier.

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Rusty Coats is one of the brighter people in new media. He’s a natural leader who really understands how media is changing. It will be interesting to see what he does with TBO.com now that he’s taking over. It gives him a pretty powerful platform to try some of his ideas on.

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News sites take note: Google has a new encroachment on the local market — type “movie:” followed by a title and/or a zip code and you get times and listings. Here’s my search for local theaters showing Aviator. Here’s what’s playing in all the theaters locally. This is scary. Scary good and scary smart. I don’t know of any regional news site that has movie listings done as well. No ads. Quick download. Links to every known review. Times, location, map. Wow. Here’s what you can expect next from Google to monetize this (I’m guessing), a Fandago-like service.

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Wired sees a new golden age of radio on the horizon, and it’s all about Steve Jones blasting assorted underground punk tunes into the Los Angeles smog, it’s also about the same technological innovations that is changing all media:

Ultimately, broadcasters will have the chance to spray multiple streams of bits into listeners’ dashboards and homes – as many as six streams per station, depending on the fidelity requirements of the programming. Because the 1s and 0s in HD radio are functionally identical to those sent across the Net, says Jim Griffin, founder of media consulting firm Cherry Lane Digital, “digital audio implies the ability to carry video, software, email, text messages, you name it.” Within a few years, he says, radios will have what he calls a buffer – a TiVo-like device that stores broadcast signals at the listeners’ command. “You program it to store All Things Considered for the drive home. Maybe on the show there’s an alert about a new virus. You punch a button and download an antivirus update into your buffer from NPR B, then take that into your house when you get home.” Or perhaps you hear a review that makes you want to get a movie or an album, which you download as you drive. Meanwhile, your radio, which taps into the automobile’s GPS unit, is constantly scanning for local traffic reports, and when a pertinent one appears, interrupts and then resumes the stored All Things Considered. “At the other side of the transition,” Griffin says, “digital radio isn’t necessarily radio in the way we think of radio, other than the fact that it uses transmitters. It’s all about pushing and pulling bits into the buffer.”

The future is on-demand and personalized across all media. And only by embracing digital can radio escape a death spiral. If radio broadcasters can’t narrowcast and provide timeshift options, they will simply fade away.

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