Craig Birkmaier wrote: > Really? > > And how would you characterize this content? Aaaargh!! What Tim Cook, that article, and I are talking about has to do with technology, not content. Tim Cook is not about to become a TV productions studio. On topic, please. > You might be using one of the web based program guides like Zap2It I use Zap2It, I use webcrawler, I use my head. Anyone can figure out to try cbs.com, nbc.com, hgtv.com, bbc.uk, rt.com, rai.it, tf1.fr, and so on, without needing a search engine. Their portals already provide search features, for their content. And on top of that, I found that wwitv.com portal using Webcrawler. You can watch, among a zillion other things, BBC TV News using that, even if it's not available on BBC's own site. And again, we are talking technology here. Not the attitude of TV networks to keep their stuff locked away so no one can find it. The technology exists and is at everyone's disposal. Apple does not need to show the way. > And only a handful of people - like you - have full web search > capabilities associated with their TVs. That is ENTIRELY the fault of the on-the-take CE companies. Sorry, but your argument doesn't hold water. It is up to the CE companies to wake up and do what is well understood, and for the content owners to put their stuff on the web and to make it available to search engines. There is no new technology needed in any of this. Apple doesn't have anything to add here. And my take is, if people started demanding decent connected TVs, or taking their own fate in their own hands, the content owners would be forced to meet their needs. Or risk losing audience big time. > I was looking at several of the Smart TVs being offered this Christmas. > They generally can hook up with Netflix, YouTube, Hulu/Hulu Plus and > Amazon, but none of them offer anything that you could call Internet > browsing and search. Isn't that what all of my rants have been about (on this subject)? > The congloms and their partners in the MVPD and CE industry have spent > most of the past two decades trying to slow down the transition to the > new digital infrastructure that is emerging today. First, this is about content and not about technology. The technology exists and is very well understood by manufacturers and by users. But even then, what you say is not entirely the case. The major networks - all of them - are making their FOTA stuff available as VOD, with additional features added. And some previously cable-only content is also available free online, e.g. Lifetime movies, or the Jon Stewart the Daily Show, http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/432869, on Hulu free. Or HGTV shows on hgtv.com. And I'm sure there's more that I haven't bothered to find. So honestly, Craig, you're simply not seeing the bigger picture. Bert ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.