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Roger McNamee On Video on the Internet
plasticmillion writes "Roger McNamee, venture capitalist and author of The New Normal has just posted the third part of a fascinating series on his blog entitled "Video on the Internet". Here are parts one and two. His basic premise is that media companies are trying to treat the internet as a normal distribution channel like broadcast or DVD, but they need to learn that there are new rules to this game if they are to avoid the errors committed by the music industry. The user comments are also a must read, with luminaries like Marc Andreessen chiming in with their insights."
Streaming is not inefficient, it still transfers the same amount of information as nonstreaming. The problem does not lie in efficiency. Datagram networks (the internet) is notorious for bad streaming content because the packets can take different routes and because of network jitter. I agree that a tivo setup will dominate like he says, but that doesn't make streaming inefficient!
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There's actually an easy way to get DVDs for $10; just go to Blockbuster and cruise through their used DVD bins. They have a constant deal of 2 DVDs for $20 and sometimes even put on a better sale like 3 for $25 or buy 2 get 1 free. I have bought well over 50 DVDs from them and have yet to have a problem with the quality of any of them regarding scratches. And these are DVDs that have only been out for about 2 months so it's not like those $5 DVDs you see at the grocery store that you've never heard of.
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these are great computer shows that are made by normal people on comsumer grade computers.
and there are others like infonomicon and broken floppy that still need some work.
Whenever I read about the promises of VOD or using the Internet for television type programming, I hear about the huge bandwidth necessary for full screen, VHS quality. It's just not necessary. In fact, full screen might be a detriment.
Computers are viewed differently than TV's. It's an immense difference. We're closer and we're not adverse to doing multiple tasks on the screen at once. Someone is going to have to step up to the plate with that realization and then VOD over an IP network will be reality.
After one game, I asked my wife if she'd be willing to pay for a live concert by an artist she really likes (Rick Springfield) at this smallish screen size, but with sharp video and good stereo audio? She said, "yes."
To me, this makes some events economically feasible that wouldn't make sense as free TV, basic cable or even pay-per-view. There are undoubtedly other applications, with similar niche audiences.
The current streaming technologies from Microsoft and Real and especially Macromedia Flash (quickly becoming the major player in streaming video) make it easy to integrate advertisements in many different ways, often without stopping or disturbing the actual desired content.
This is the 500 channel universe we've heard about. Except, it's really an infinite channel universe.
Of course, there's a question of whether there's enough bandwidth right now to handle it. The answer's probably no - but - there is a plethora of 'dark' fiber, waiting to be powered up. If video is the next killer app for computers, there will be plenty of incentive to unleash enough bandwidth to enable it.
I work for a local TV station, but I don't consider this our ruin. If we're smart and aggressive, we'll be able to sell the content we already produce, and specialized content that demands our localized expertise, in this new venue.