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Microsoft Sees Future in IPTV
linumax writes "It took 12 years and more than $10 billion, but one of Microsoft's biggest dreams may finally be coming true: The company is close to becoming a major player in the television business. This is not about PCs that play video -- the company has done that for years -- but rather a whole new platform for delivering television over the Internet, through software that's mostly invisible to consumers." From the article: "Consumers will see cool new features -- imagine four live pictures on a screen at once -- instant channel changes and more options for on-demand video rentals, including high-definition content. Microsoft TV also merges phone services, so incoming messages, e-mail and caller ID can be displayed on users' television screens. Microsoft hopes its Internet protocol television system (IPTV) will also be used in India, China and other developing countries, where it could provide education and government services as well as entertainment via the television."
I know that my money is staying in my pocket until someone introduces commercial-free subscription TV.
Many Bothans died to bring you this sig.
IPTV is the needed "invention" to roll faster connections for less money. IPTV can offer a variable payment method - subscription (show, channel or all channels), pay per view, or ads. IPTV can bring low budget vids to a wide audience, and it can tell advertisers, content creaters and others who is really watching their shows.
But will government, cable distributors and Hollywood allow it? I already foresee the "monopoly monopoly!" posts, but I think only a few big players could start the ball rolling.
I am very interested in seeing what MS can do to overcome bandwidth concerns at the backbone, ISP and user level (TFA only eludes to it).
IPTV could destroy Tivo, Comcast and Fox if the content is broadcast quality or better. I fear blog production quality, though.
Will this eventually be a separately managed "Internet" bridged at the DSLAM or ISP level? Will MS involve enough big players to keep regulators off their back? Will it run Linux? Err...
Then again, it could be a WebTV failure as well.
We need to stop separating media into cable, POTS, cell, radio, Internet, etc. Its all just packets and it needs massive cohesion in order to be truly at-will. Use all that bandwidth for AnyPacket services and bandwidth will skyrocket while prices will plummet. Why is MS forced to chase landlines? Overregulation.
Funny though that MS is digging their own grave. IPTV = more bandwidth = more client-server software implementation.
I can't wait for the future.
With PC sales slowing as the market saturates, Microsoft is salivating over the potential of faster-growing areas such as television and mobile phones.
Salivating? More like clawing desperately at taking over the living room. They already failed with WMA thanks to iPod.
All Apple has to do is release a video-based iPod, and it's bye-bye Windows in the living room as well--to be more specific, WMV (VC-1) will be dead along with H.264, which is already the primary codec for Blu-ray movies (Sony is already threatening X-Box 360's streaming movie capabilities thanks to Blue-ray, thereby making X-Box 360 useless since it has no Blu-ray or HD-DVD drive).
I'm sorry, the features sound cool, but a lot of Microsoft tech gadgets have come and gone that sounded cool on the surface but just didn't provide the right interface or were too cumbersome. As usual, I'll wait and see (and hope Apple does something to actually legitimize it).
"Sufferin' succotash."
Imagine two of those being horrible brainless reality TV re-runs peppered with commercials for products you wouldn't even think about buying, one a giant fat dirty BSoD and the other a rather fetching locked-up "Do you want to send this error report to Microsoft" dialog box floating happily on a background of hills and blue sky.
Ahh yes, the future is bright. The future is BallmerVision.
She's built like a steak house, but she handles like a bistro....
I remember when Amiga was talking about such an environment. Where the lines between appliances were blurred. They dubbed it Digital Convergence but never went very far with it.
The idea was that all of your devices serve a single purpose (they did in 1998, when this was published). But, Amiga had this vision that they'd develop a platform that could live on a TV, a computer, a mobile phone, even a PDA. You could watch TV on your phone. Or you could use your phone over the TV (huh?). Even better, your phone and your TV could be your computer.
The next ten years are definitely going to be interesting. Will Microsoft ever get this thing off the ground? Or will all of the litigation stifle it?
I realize what Microsoft is talking about is a bit different, at least on the surface. But if they have this portable "media OS" they can certainly take it to the next level -- the level of "Digital Convergence".
My ZooLoo
Not ads or commercials but: How much DRM and proprietary hardware will be needed to view it?
Yup, nothing truly exists until Microsoft 'Innovates' it into existence. Nope, nobody ever thought of sending video over IP until today, thank God Microsoft is out there inventing the future for us.
Democrat delenda est
This brings a whole new level to the meaning of Adware and Spyware. Talk about your privacy concerns. Microsoft will know not only when you watch TV but also which channels.
From what I've seen, the excitement of "IPTV" seems to be modeled on the wrong things. "Have four screens at once! Imagine all the TV you'll get!"
I think the real magic of IPTV will be convenience. Right now, I have an iPod for Podcasts (yes, the name sucks to some people - deal with it), and a Tivo at home. For some stupid ass reason, Tivo doesn't have their Desktop software with OS X 10.4, but that's another issue.
For me, the beauty of IPTV will be watching whatever I want. Whenver I want. Did I miss "Battlestar Gallactica" or the entire first season of "Veronica Mars" (Hey, I've seen the first three episodes - good show). Or "Firefly". With IPTV, and perhaps some sort of subscription in place of my cable, I can see them. Click the button to my set top Tivo-ish device, and I can watch the episode. Or use my account to view it on my phone as I travel nationwide. Or catch it on my laptop. I wouldn't even mind commercials so much (unless they were done in an onerous fashion - ie: if I pay $2 to watch an episode, I better damn well be able to fast forward a commercial if I want).
The rest of it ("instant channel changes"? My parents had that with a regular TV - it was called "Hey, kid, change the channel") is fluff. But IPTV has a need now. Look at how many people download episodes off of the net. I'll be honest: if I missed a show (pre-Tivo days), I'd bittorrent it and catch the other episodes later. I'm still hoping that Tivo fixes its desktop software to make it 10.4 compatible so next time I hop on a plane I can watch something there instead of feeling bad for violating intellectual property law by downloading a commercial-less TV episode through a peer to peer network. (Yes, I'm not sure if it's officially illegal or not, but since I'm assuming it is not legal, I still feel bad.)
What's going to be interesting is how Microsoft reacts. Right now, Apple has a near lock on the online music industry - and if my theory is right, they're manuevering so that within 5-10 years when iPods are down to $30-$50 apiece (aka - the price of a decent portable CD player right now), they'll make their money by being the driver of online music sales through the iTunes store, thereby becoming the Microsoft of music. (Oh, I'm sure the Apple fans are going to hate me for that one.)
My guess is that Apple is now hoping to do the same thing for online video sales. I don't predict an iPod Video tomorrow, but if Apple has an "Airport Express Video" or some other type of device with a tivo-ish remote control interface (store the movies/video podcasts/etc on your PC, stream through the wireless device in a oh-so-Apple cool and simple interface), they could make a move.
Microsoft is all about the PC - everything is the PC and serves it. Apple I think has learned that, with the iPod, they can keep the PC in there, but it's a side player; without the PC, the iPod would not function, but it doesn't matter if you use Windows or Mac, Apple still makes money. If they introduced another device that was like that, Apple could continue to have the PC be important, but not the *most* important thing.
(Which is why I think their recent market share sales went from 4.5% to 6.6% or something like that according to their latest financial statement - by making the PC unimportant with their devices, they made it easier to buy a Mac. Odd idea, and I'll let someone else tell me how wrong I am.)
If they had a device like that, the studios would be, like the iPod, forced to play with them or risk being locked out. MS would rather you bu a "media center PC" - yet another big complicated expensive box for the house, which may be giving them tunnel vision in their IPTV plans. So I'm not sure if they get it - but we'll just have to wait and see.
Of course, this is all my opinion. I could be wrong.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
I haven't seen anyone comment on this yet, so here goes....
The summary states that MS hopes to partner with developing nations like China and India to use IPTV as an educational tool. As someone who works full-time on IT in development, I'd like to offer my considered opinion that this is one of the worst possible suggestions one could possibly make.
The resource requirements for a service such as this would be incredibly expensive, especially relative to the amount of money available. Most importantly, it would require a massively centralised infrastructure that is almost the exact opposite of the kind of setup that would actually benefit rural communities. Production studios, distribution facilities, high bandwidth network infrastructure in places that barely even have a power grid - how could this possible look like a good idea?
I'll tell you how: MS is doing the same thing that the IMF and others have done for decades. They're trying to sucker these countries into building a system that will keep them chained to MS for an entire generation, simply by tying a ribbon around it and saying, 'Think of the children!'
It is, in my opinion, a cynical and calculated move to take money from the hands of those who could make a real difference and put it into the hands of the rich.
It sickens me to see people taking advantage of others who are poor and ignorant. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens all the time in developing nations. It looks like MS is growing up as a corporation, and learning to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
Before you guys go congratulating Microsoft for innovating the concept of IPTV or allowing telephone companies to deliver telivision services... other companies have been doing this for years before Microsoft got into the game. Check out the following companies: http://www.minervanetworks.com/ http://www.myrio.com/ http://www.orca.tv/ http://www.tutsys.com/ http://www.skystream.com/ Hundreds of phone companies in the US TODAY, and more in other countries, already offer IPTV to their customers... and no, not using Microsoft's software. There are already companies that are offering these "advanced" services, which alot of people on here thinks Microsoft innovated.