TV on demand, Podcasting and the end of DVD
Recently I have been using UKNova to catch up on telly I missed. Its making an effort to be quasi legal by not allowing DVD available series on its lists. It acts as a sort of VCR to anyone that misses something. It requires a registration, and the whole thing is quite community based - upload ratios are enforced etc.
It seems to me to be a shame that the TV companies have not yet done this - leaving its users in a legal limbo. Before I spoke about using a Google ads service to pay for newly produced content, its this type of service that such a thing needs to be tied to. In fact, using RSS feeds to supply new programs is really the way to go. The RSS feed gives you the shows as they appear, and you select them from the list. Bittorrent then queues them up and 2 hrs later you have it ready to watch. Its like the program guides in some cable boxes that allow you to ask it to record things when they are on - except it works retroactively, a huge advantage when someone at work says a show's really good, but its now half way thru.
In the UK we don't get that many repeats of shows - certainly not on the analogue service, and even digital is not that filled with repeats. This offers the true on demand TV often touted.
What is most incredible to me is Bittorrent allows an individual with a broadband connection the bandwidth of a multinational mega corp to distribute his stuff. Powerful stuff...
So now to my current favourite SciFi show Battlestar Galactica. I noticed on their website they are offering audio commentaries by the director. They intend to play them whilst watching the episodes.
This type of stuff is usually added as the value added on DVDs. Curious that they are giving it away for free. So I started thinking about the MP3 revolution. At the same time as MP3 took off DVD audio was supposed to make a big splash. Higher quality than CD, multichannel. All sounds very good. Unfortunatly it seems to have been consigned to the bin over the immediacy of downloadable MP3s. Interesting that the market was less interested in quality over flexibiliy - after all Mp3 is quite a bit below CD quality.
Fast forward Divx and MP4 are becoming the defacto standards for distribution of video over the web. HD DVD is on the way, gonna make a big splash... Maybe. You see the trouble is my eyes aren't what they once were. At 10 foot, I can see the difference between DVD and MP4, but actually it matters less. I reckon HD DVD will be almost impossible for me personnally to distingush from a plain DVD. OK maybe thats not fair, but will I care enough?
Then add the fact that DVDs are actually quite a hassle. Kids get jam on them, people put them back in the wrong boxes, and they take up space - something the average 20 something does not have that much of with the property prices where they are. Now I am not underestimating the value of tangible physical goods over raw data - people like physical things, but convinience is better. 24/7 delivery (in 2hrs!) of any movie with extra features must be worth something too. The iTunes revolution shows that people obviously felt the same way way about music.
Now look at the idea of MP4 with multiple audio streams. This is a much more compelling argument offering something new. Battlestar Galactica may be just a toe in the water, but maybe they're getting there...
The final question is how will the platform work? The MP3 revolution was pure consumer driven - so much so the RIAA is still suing people! Video is now upon us. Will the MPAA fall into the same trap of not giving people what they want?
It seems to me to be a shame that the TV companies have not yet done this - leaving its users in a legal limbo. Before I spoke about using a Google ads service to pay for newly produced content, its this type of service that such a thing needs to be tied to. In fact, using RSS feeds to supply new programs is really the way to go. The RSS feed gives you the shows as they appear, and you select them from the list. Bittorrent then queues them up and 2 hrs later you have it ready to watch. Its like the program guides in some cable boxes that allow you to ask it to record things when they are on - except it works retroactively, a huge advantage when someone at work says a show's really good, but its now half way thru.
In the UK we don't get that many repeats of shows - certainly not on the analogue service, and even digital is not that filled with repeats. This offers the true on demand TV often touted.
What is most incredible to me is Bittorrent allows an individual with a broadband connection the bandwidth of a multinational mega corp to distribute his stuff. Powerful stuff...
So now to my current favourite SciFi show Battlestar Galactica. I noticed on their website they are offering audio commentaries by the director. They intend to play them whilst watching the episodes.
This type of stuff is usually added as the value added on DVDs. Curious that they are giving it away for free. So I started thinking about the MP3 revolution. At the same time as MP3 took off DVD audio was supposed to make a big splash. Higher quality than CD, multichannel. All sounds very good. Unfortunatly it seems to have been consigned to the bin over the immediacy of downloadable MP3s. Interesting that the market was less interested in quality over flexibiliy - after all Mp3 is quite a bit below CD quality.
Fast forward Divx and MP4 are becoming the defacto standards for distribution of video over the web. HD DVD is on the way, gonna make a big splash... Maybe. You see the trouble is my eyes aren't what they once were. At 10 foot, I can see the difference between DVD and MP4, but actually it matters less. I reckon HD DVD will be almost impossible for me personnally to distingush from a plain DVD. OK maybe thats not fair, but will I care enough?
Then add the fact that DVDs are actually quite a hassle. Kids get jam on them, people put them back in the wrong boxes, and they take up space - something the average 20 something does not have that much of with the property prices where they are. Now I am not underestimating the value of tangible physical goods over raw data - people like physical things, but convinience is better. 24/7 delivery (in 2hrs!) of any movie with extra features must be worth something too. The iTunes revolution shows that people obviously felt the same way way about music.
Now look at the idea of MP4 with multiple audio streams. This is a much more compelling argument offering something new. Battlestar Galactica may be just a toe in the water, but maybe they're getting there...
The final question is how will the platform work? The MP3 revolution was pure consumer driven - so much so the RIAA is still suing people! Video is now upon us. Will the MPAA fall into the same trap of not giving people what they want?
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