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The Future of Digital Video?
An Anonymous Coward, in name only asks: "I've been asked to write about the Future of DVD technology for a newsletter and I've been doing some thinking and research regarding this. It seems pretty clear that DVD is a dead-end technology, due to be replaced by Video On Demand. Already Disney is launching a VOD service, albeit through traditional broadcasting. It's to be a brief piece, and I plan to touch on how VOD will affect viewers as well as professionals. What is a realistic timeframe for beefing up broadband (such as Powerline Broadband?) and smartening compression (On2's VP5 , MPEG7?) to create a workable VOD system that will replace DVDs? Is delivery more likely to be based on an open or proprietary standard? What do you see as the future of Digital Video? Any input is greatly appreciated." While I don't think that Video on Demand will spell the end of DVDs, it would be interesting to know how far the technology has progressed, and how much further it would need to be developed before you could can pick-and-choose your movie-of-the-night from your own living room.
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station-wagon filled with DVDs!!!
but what about when you're in a situation where you have no connectivity?
That's what suicide is for.
I really hate Dan Patrick.
And so is the combustion engine with the innevitable creating of super cool transporter beams. And so is television when they plug wires right into our eye sockets. And so is lip balm when they upload our consciousness into RAM. I'm not ready to count out portable physical storage media just yet. Ubiquitous bandwidth is a long ways away, and people *like* owning things that can't be taken away from them.
I too have VoD already. It's called kazaa. :)
j/k
I bought a Strawberry Shortcake video for my girl last week (just before I heard about Penny Arcade's mix-up with American Greeting), and she has watched it at least two times a day since then. One day she watch the video 5 times! If I hear one more "Have a Berry Lovely Day!" I swear there will be @#*! to pay.
Quite frankly, when I purchase a video it is only because I plan to watch it so many times that it is worth having around where I can get my mitts on it. If the entertainment industry thinks that I am going to fork out money each and every time my little girl wants to watch Strawberry Shortcake, then they have another thing coming. Even at $0.50 a viewing I have saved money by purchasing this particular movie outright, and I didn't have to sign up for an expensive cable system either.
I think I will go read a book now.
Welcome to Microsoft DRM-enabled DVD-XP. In order to activate the video you have inserted, please call 1-8MP-AAO-WNSU.
*place telephone call... get authorization code... enter code into player*
Welcome to Microsoft DRM-enabled DVD-XP. Video activated.
Warning: unknown television set detected. If you are using this player with a new television set, you will have to call to re-enable this product. Please call 1-8MP-AAO-WNSU.
*user mumbles, "aww, fuck it" and grabs an old VHS tape*
Somebody get that guy an ambulance!
SGI and Time Warner installed a mpeg VOD over cable system in Orlando, way back in 1994 (Scientific Atlanta did the cable modems). SGI later helped design and build a VOD over fiber-direct-to-the-home system for NTT near Tokyo in 1996. This was back when supercomputer CPU's clocked slower than some of today PDA's, so the set-top boxes were pretty pricey.
Then Mosaic got too popular and distracted everybody.
yeah like Beta, and the new Coke.
Je t'aime Stéphanie
ITs obvious that video killed the radio star
Then again, the video store's not far away, so I could always just get there with my jet pack to avoid the parking hassle, so maybe I can live with video on demand anyway.
PJRC: Electronic Projects, 8051 Microcontroller Tools
I know this isn't the first time, but thought I'd ask:
Cliff, was this a screwup, or do you plan to pick fun Troll questions like this regularly? Cuz if you do, I'll start writing some questions....
Based on the success of Tomb Raider, it's clear that sex is superfluous and I have decided to write a paper on this. Can anyone talk to me about the overall trends toward the entire species dying off due to lack of interest in anyone else in comparison with Laura or Angelina, and what's the consensus on how quickly this will happen?
A cousin of mine who works on an Free Software project just got hired by Microsoft and I'm wondering just how long it'll be before everyone doing free software gets hungry, gets real jobs, and Linux dies off?
My cat just hurled up something truly horrendous. Has anyone tried using this stuff for case modding or overclocking? If I do, where should I submit my story? Tom's hardware seems the obvious choice, but this goop smells suspiciously like the Register's style of investigative journalism.
Well, the overclocking didn't work quite as planned, but the heat and electrical jolt seem to have spawned a new life form. Am I required to get a patent on it, and if so, is there a GNU-like document for preserving li'l blobby's rights without exploiting him/her/it?