[opendtv] Re: 2013: The year of the OPEN DTV?
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2013 09:26:21 -0500
At 8:07 PM -0600 1/2/13, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Consumers already have to struggle with a bunch of TV remotes
Ever heard of Windows Media Center? No struggling with a bunch of
remotes. And there were previous versions of this type of software.
CE companies should easily be capable of licensing software from
Microsoft or others, OR hiring programmers to do this in-house.
Yes Bert, we've all heard of Windows Media Center. But the fact is
that you are one of a very small and elite (or is it extinct) group
of users. Here is a comment from Windows chief Steven Sinofsky:
Our opt-in usage telemetry shows that in July, Windows Media Center
was launched by 6% of Windows 7 users globally with the heaviest
usage in Russia, Mexico, and Brazil (frequency and time). However,
most people are just looking around; only one quarter (25% of 6%) of
these people used it for more than 10 minutes per session
(individual averages), and in 59% of Media Center sessions (by these
6% of users) we see almost no activity (less than a minute or two of
usage). TV was the most common scenario we observed, and not
surprisingly, traditional media (DVD and CD) are less common (and
declining over time) than streaming and file-based content. By
comparison, Media Player (66% of Windows users in July) and IE (88%)
are popular rendering engines for all types of media content,
including an increased volume of "premium" and streaming content.
Read more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-admits-people-dont-use-media-center-very-much-2011-9#ixzz2H6qSOKb2
Microsoft spent years pushing the idea of the connected home, with
the PC at the center of that effort. As I said in the previous post,
THIS IS NOT THE SOLUTION PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR.
And if the congloms decide to shut down the small number of people
who use PCs connected to their TVs, this tiny number will quickly
slip to ZERO.s
For the life of me, I cannot understand why you think people want to
move a sup par, lean forward computing experience to the lean back
environment of the living room, complete with a wireless keyboard.
By the way, you can hook a Mac Mini up to a TV too, and many
thousands of consumers do this.
As Synofsky reports, viewing Media Player and content via IE are very
popular, but these are desktop, not living room experiences. And the
real action now is with tablets, and to a lesser extent, smart phones.
The future of the TV in the living room has NOTHING to do with an
embedded chip running Media Center, or Google TV for that matter. I
have no idea whether Apple can revolutionize yet another industry;
personally, I would bet against it, for all the reasons we have
discussed.
It all boils down to busting oligopolies and redistributing the
hundreds of billions people now spend on their entertainment fixes.
That's what I just finished saying. The success of these Internet
appliances DOES NOT depend on building some walled off content
trove. Why should it for TVs? Why do Apple and now Intel think they
need to rope off content? Why do the clueless trade press
journalists not explain what's obvious?
One more time. Apple does not rope off content. Just like Target and
Walmart, they SELL IT. And they also rent it. The content that is
walled off is the stuff you rarely if ever see live, other than the
crap that is released via broadcast television. I'm guessing you are
not a big football fan; the only people who could see the BCS Bowl
Games were ESPN subscribers.
That is the definition of a Walled Garden.
Sorry, Craig, you have a habit of transmitting before receiving. I
am saying, TV content, both free and for pay, IS ALREADY available
at a kazillion sites. Not just the obvious ones you mentioned. Do a
freakin' search. The more time passes, the less stuff the MVPDs have
that is truly exclusive.
Yes Bert. As has been the case since the early days of TV
broadcasting, virtually all content eventually makes it way into
broad distribution, at ever declining prices, sometimes free or ad
supported. Nothing new here.
But for some reason, the American TV viewer choose to pay for first
run and early access to content via an MVPD subscription. Shame on US!
The only way to end this monopoly control would be for viewers to
stop watching. Unfortunately, the sheep have no more interest in
doing this than paying attention to the political theater in the town
where you live.
Perhaps we should call them "low information viewers."
What was the old saw about TV programming? That is is aimed at the
typical seven year old?
All of this has been solved. The trade press should quit trying to
invent new would-be messiahs, who will lead us to the promised land.
Sorry Bert, but these issues are far from being solved. You are among
the two percenters, who like the way things are. To your credit you
are not one of the sheep.
Regards
Craig
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