Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY
| reply to ISurfTooMuch
Re: Getting content to the TV isn't hard
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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Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY | 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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