ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL
| Getting content to the TV isn't hard
What amazes me is how these alternative video delivery services can put these systems in place yet completely drop the ball on getting the content to the TV. From the article, Amazon plans to work with Sony to get content to their Bravia line of HDTVs using a $300 add-on box. And Netflix has their own video player, and Akimbo had its own video player. I haven't kept up with too many of these services, but I'm betting others had or have their own players, and some have none at all, figuring that people love to watch television on their computers.
Do these companies not see the madness in all this? I don't mind getting a single player that will handle all these services, but I'll be damned if I'm going to buy one for each. Actually, I don't see why I need to buy one unless it gets me something besides pay services. If these companies want to sell me stuff, then send me the box to allow me to buy their services. I might be willing to pay some amount for it, but $300 is a bit extreme. Even the $100 Netflix box is pushing it unless it allows me to stream other content from the Internet. I already have a DVD player. $100 will pay for several months of Netflix by mail, and if I really have to see a movie today, I can rent it locally.
How hard can it be to build a cheap box with a video decoder chip, an Ethernet port, A?V out, and some embedded software that allows me to select services and perform authentication to access them? As far as DRM, in case the content owners haven't noticed, pirated material is all over the Internet right now. I seriously doubt that such a box is going to make things any worse at this point. |
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17
 ·Comcast
2 edits | Hey, just build a nice media center PC! I needed a RAID array to backup work stuff, so while researching NAS options, I discovered that I could build my own for about the same price and added an HD Homerun. Voila - dual QAM tuners over the network, and I can watch Comcast HD content (unencrypted) and Netflix streaming right on the big screen via an HDMI cable from the video card to the TV. Plus the file transfer speed reaches about 90MB/sec over the LAN to my workstations for file backup. The 3 disk RAID 5 gives me 1.5 TB of file and video storage - WAY more than any consumer DVR, and I can keep expanding up to 8 disks. The case looks great too - like any other component under the TV. |
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Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY
| reply to ISurfTooMuch
While the idea of using multiple services out of one box is nice, I'd be happy with one affordable service with lots of content; and a confidence that my internet bill isn't going to one day soon go through the roof with caps and overage fees.
I'd jump with glee to dump my expensive cable for a $15-20/month VoD service. But I'm not interested in adding the same above and beyond my cable bill. Nor am I willing to spend $300 on hardware for VoD service that might get priced out of usability in 6 months with the introduction of ISP caps and overage fees.
Only time will tell... |
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ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL
| I think the best defense against caps is to make video services popular now, before caps are widespread. I don't think it's any secret that the cable and telephone companies like caps because they block competing services. Get those services out there and make them popular, and it will be difficult for these companies to implement caps down the road. It's much easier to block something that people aren't yet familiar with than to take it away once they've used it a while.
Come to think of it, I wonder how hard it'd be to build a simple audio/video streaming box that could be connected to the TV. All the components are available off the shelf. If all it would need to do is stream, it wouldn't need much storage. Maybe store the OS and other needed software on a SD card, and use another one to store streamed content if you happen to need that storage. Run the whole thing on a stripped-down version of Linux. No browser, no e-mail, nothing besides streaming. Come up with "tuner" software that can allow the box to find streams using some sort of standardized naming scheme and store them in a favorites list. Make the whole thing so simple that any couch potato will be able to use it. Make it as simple and cheap as possible. I'd be willing to bet that the programming would soon follow. I'm guessing that there are plenty of video producers out there who can't get their content on cable because the cable companies won't carry channels that they have no financial interest in.
Get something like that popular, and imposing caps would be politically tricky for the cablecos and telcos, to say the least. |
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mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to SLD
Ditto. I turned my older gaming PC (still pretty powerful) into a Media Center PC. I can find all the TV shows I normally watch just a few hours old via eztv and download them via BitTorrent. I setup filters that download all my shows atuomatically and put them in pre-determined folders.
Before I got FiOS, I didn't even have TV service and survived just fine using the BT --> Media Center PC method, plus everything is in HD (MPEG4 encoded). I also turned my Xbox 360 into a Media Center Extender, so I have access to my shows on every big screen in my house.
If I wasn't such a soccer fan, I probably wouldn't have FiOS TV. My girlfriend would complain, too. |
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alchav
join:2002-05-17
Palm Desert, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
|  reply to ISurfTooMuch
said by ISurfTooMuch  :How hard can it be to build a cheap box with a video decoder chip, an Ethernet port, A?V out, and some embedded software that allows me to select services and perform authentication to access them? As far as DRM, in case the content owners haven't noticed, pirated material is all over the Internet right now. I seriously doubt that such a box is going to make things any worse at this point. My point exactly, these Electronic Companies are missing the boat. I'm waiting for a BluRay Player with an Ethernet Port and Software that plays various Video Formats including High Definition. This is all that is needed to connect to your HDTV to enjoy DRM Free Video. |
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dudeman
@sbcglobal.net
| Actually.. the xbox 360 streams Netflix video just fine from Windows Media Center.. I laughed at the fact netflix decided to issue out a box that ONLY decodes thier video, then to say it's coming to the 360 when it was technically already there. Thus making that box obsolete. |
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Cod
join:2000-07-05
Greensboro, NC
| reply to alchav
said by alchav :I'm waiting for a BluRay Player with an Ethernet Port and Software that plays various Video Formats including High Definition. This is all that is needed to connect to your HDTV to enjoy DRM Free Video. PS3? |
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Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY | reply to ISurfTooMuch
You just might be right. It would be difficult for them if it spoiled competition already in place. I'll have to look at the content and service costs when it becomes available. |
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