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Free Net TV Threatens Telecoms
An anonymous reader writes "C|Net's running an article about the threat free television on the internet poses to traditional telecoms and cable companies." From the article: "No one is expecting Internet television to cannibalize traditional TV models overnight. Despite advancements in streaming technology, video delivered on the Web can still be choppy, with frequent interruptions as data packets buffer and reload on the screen. In fact many viewers who watched the NCAA tournament aired by CBS on the Internet last month complained about the network being overloaded."
A new technology comes along that threatens their iron grip on said media's distribution.
The archaic dinosaurs do not know what to do so they spread FUD everywhere and turn to the law and lobbying for protection of their source of infinite wealth. They refuse to change to their environment and instead force the environment to change to them--a fatalistic attitude that hinders innovation and growth among other things.
After all the dust settles, the end consumer (99.9% of the populace) is the one that misses out on what might have been.
This story could be applied all the way back to printed text that was held from the commoners and slaves to hinder knowledge and understanding.
It happened with music. It happened with videos. It's happening with television. And it will happen with everything because the people running the industries refuse to lose their power or adapt their production methods. How about we wake up and change the headline from to or We're eating out of the hands of a few select companies and with television over the internet, the fact is that we might not have to.
My work here is dung.
As telecoms develops, any and all 'archaeic technologies' will eventually be replaced. This includes T.V. in its current form.
This will not happen for a long time though, not until the connection speeds and data compression/quality manage to provide an equal to what is currently available.
We can see slight shifts of emphasis now [in the U.K.] with legislation going about switching OFF analogue signals [soon-ish]. This leave just the digital environment. And as more and more of our entertainment goods goes to digital, we will find that the distinction between 'Telly' and 'computer' and 'phone' and 'dvd player'will dissolve till we have the grail of home medai management.
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so why can't it get here already??
ONE pipe to each home. Pure fiber. Multi gigabit standard.
All data to and from the home, be it voice, audio, video, text, &c &c &c flow through that pipe.
Airwaves free to use for mobile applications.
GUH! Why can't the future just be here?
[/rant]
The sea changes color, but the sea does not change.
Watch what happens to satelite radio...it will be a pre-cursor to what happens with video.
I can already take my phone/PDA, load a streaming media player and stream virgin atlantic classic radio through my cell companies unlimited data services at 160Kbs. Take the audio mini-jack out of my PDA, add a power adapter so it does not drain the juice and I can plug that directly into my car stereo system. Presto! The collection of radio stations at broadband speeds are available via my car. On top of that, with 768Kb/s upstream from my cable modem I'm able to access via teh web my ENTIRE music collection at home and have it streamed to my car.
I predict within 3 years (probably MUCH sooner) you will be able to buy a head unit for your car with either A) cell phone electronics on it or B) a cradle for your phone so the head unit can receive streaming audio from the internet.
Unless they limit the stream rate server side, it's trivial to rip any stream out of it's wrapper and download it at full speed.
I always wondered why most sites don't take that basic precaution when they're providing non-downloadable streaming video. It really isn't a problem unless I'm forced to download the thing in real time... that's a bit painful, though not a showstopper.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Its not really a threat, well unless you consider watching the profits go from big name studios to triple and quadruple play carriers a threat.
Did we forget that tiered internet thingy? Yep. as soon as media shifts to all digital, we have a new set of pipers to pay. Instead of the old cable companies and commercials, it will be digital network providers and commercials PLUS the overhead of tiered network costs if you want to watch that with fewer commercials and in real time streaming.
All of this posturing and lobbying is about capturing market, ensuring that investors will be happy in the future.
Digital content is simply a different medium, and the big players, even the new ones, are not going to let it go for free. If they can't get advertising dollars for it, they will try to charge premium costs for access to it.
One thing is for certain, you can bet that Hollywood, television networks, and other media content providers will be vying to pick consumer's pockets for a very long time indeed.
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It's not like having a choppy picture is anything new. Back before cable was very popular, and 95% of consumers used only antennaes, static was everywhere. Reception was horrible at times, and yet still people used the technology. One of the major issues was that watching national stations was free while cable was very expensive. It's a trade off that people make between quality and cost, and they know that.
Where that tradeoff comes in now is in time and attention. People like watching tv on the internet because it's the only thing they have to do, and the few sites that actually try commercials probably don't get as much viewer attention as a tv. People just minimize it and go do something else until the commercials are over. This is different than walking away from a TV, namely because there is no walking involved. People are lazy, yes, but they aren't lazy enough to not minimize a window.
So in general, I would agree that free internet video will likely bring down the major broadcasters. It will take time of course, and things like poor bandwidth or resolution are definitely a hinderance right now, it's nothing we haven't seen before.
Sounds kinda like, "These 'video disks' will never overtake our VHS format. Look at how big and expensive they are!"
Ignoring the ground during the fall, eh TV execs?
Ex nihilo nihil fit.