[opendtv] Re: From Comcast, TV as data center
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 07:55:20 -0400
At 4:24 PM -0500 5/23/12, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
My thoughts EXACTLY.
All you need here is a PC, connected to the TV if you like, and
whatever apps are needed to control or monitor any IP device
available on your home WiFi. Big flippin' deal. Or, a tablet with a
set of apps can do the same job, also via the home WiFi, if you're
happier using tiny screens.
A regular "connected TV" SHOULD have been able to accommodate this,
but as we all know, those have been deliberately crippled by the
same interests trying to sucker consumers into this scheme.
It looks to me like the cable companies are trying to reinvent
walled gardens, rather than making use of the "standard" nature of
IP stacks.
You can't blame the cable oligopoly for trying to leverage their core
competencies - problem is they just SUCK when it come to innovation.
The roots of this problem came from their success as the dominant
(oligopoly) supplier of TV programming in the U.S., followed by their
success in broadband as their leveraged their wired infrastructure as
they upgraded to digital plants.
First and foremost they want to protect and extend their oligopoly.
The notion of a home server has been around for decades - they just
never figured out how to put the pieces together right. This has led
industry pundit Phil Swan to write the following commentary:
The Cable TV Industry Needs a Steve Jobs
http://www.tvpredictions.com/cable052212.htm
Sadly, the media oligopoly, working with their partners in the cable
oligopoly, have the leverage to extend their hegemony to mobile
devices, at least for now. This allow them to control much of the
most desirable TV content for viewing on smart phones and tablets.
Whether Comcast can make any headway with X-1 remains to be seen.
What cannot be denied is that others, including Apple and Google can
only wrap new products around the cable bits that flow into our
homes; they cannot build a better service from the ground up, or
offer a practical ala carte service rather than the cable bundles.
Bert may think that all he needs is a PC connected to his TV to enjoy
the Wide World of Content; sadly, the one thing the congloms and
cable are good at is figuring out how to tightly control
distribution. For now, the key to unlocking content on mobile devices
is a cable/DBS subscription.
Unfortunately, this ploy may work. As the vast majority of homes have
MVPD service, they are likely to look at the ability to view this
content on their mobile devices as a "new service" that adds to the
value of their overpriced MVPD subscriptions.
Regards
Craig
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