[opendtv] Re: Internet TV distribution architecture
- From: Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2014 20:13:19 -0500
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> Pay attention Bert. Yesterday I noted that Akamai operates 250,000
> servers in 80 countries. They already have mirror sites in most
> major cities, or at major WAN intersections. Gainesville is such
> an intersection, and thus is an Akamai mirror site.
Pay attention, Craig. Where exactly do you think Akamai's mirrored servers are
physically located, with respect to individual ISP networks? Like, draw a
diagram. Maybe then you'll start to get it.
So the question is, if TV over the Internet becomes the norm, who will take up
the extra load? Akamai? Who gets to insert the local ads? Akamai? I'm not
saying they can't, I'm merely asking why the broadcasters don't get involved in
this new game, since it is in fact the functional equivalent of the services
they were providing for network TV delivered OTA.
> There were two reasons data broadcasting did not work out:
> 1. Broadcasters did not embrace the opportunity;
> 2. Broadcasters FAILED to create a DTV platform to receive these
> broadcasts.
Hardly, Craig. The reason is that (1) you were trying to force-fit services
over the broadcast medium that are far better accomplished over a two-way
medium (you know, like the list of restaurants in town, and other such), and
(2) sometimes the math didn't make any sense. For instance, downloading a movie
slower than real time, over the broadcast medium, makes no sense. The basic
equation is d = rt, which I suppose translates here to total download = bit
rate * transmission time.
So, downloading slower than real time means you have to download more streams
simultaneously, to make effective use of the broadcast medium. Might as well
download real time, and send fewer streams simultaneously. Net effect is the
same. And that is, in effect, what broadcasters do with their subchannels.
Users can go ahead and record if they want to. No need for non-real-time data
transfers.
The Internet was well established by 1998, when DTV was in its infancy, Craig.
The services you mention, like USDTV (IIRC) and Moviebeam, similarly faced a
problem of coming too late. MVPDs could do the job better, and were well
established.
The other problem with you thinking is that it goes against the trends. Which
are, more is done "in the cloud," not less. Tablets and smartphones depend more
on this hyped up "cloud," less on internal storage and internal processing.
Bert
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