[opendtv] Re: Technology years
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 10:23:51 -0500
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> Let us count the ways...
>
> First and foremost, the Internet is an open test bed where
> anyone can innovate. All that is needed is to develop a new
> software tool that leverages the existing infrastructure.
> There have been dozens of cases where a company has developed
> a new tool, made it available for download, and distributed
> millions of copies in a matter of weeks.
I'm afraid you're mixing up two separate discussions here. The
difference is not whether one can innovate or not, the difference is
that the Internet is a many-to-many, primarily unicast medium, while the
ATSC operates in a few-to-everyone broadcast medium, with no credible
scaling of a return path and not nearly enough spectrum for any hopes of
unicast downlink either. That's what limits small, independent efforts.
> When a new tool becomes popular the common practice is to
> take it to the IETF for "standardization." This is market
> driven, not manufacturer driven.
It all depends on where the new tool resides in the OSI layer model.
When the first web browsers were developed, the Internet didn't much
care. The browsers operated above Layer 4, so as long as they used the
existing standards through Layer 4, everyone was happy.
Then after that, in order to allow other browsers to play, browser
protocols through Layer 7 had to become standardized. And then you start
having to deal with the legacy issues.
Same deal with SMTP for e-mail, RTP, etc. etc.
The ATSC and DVB-T can do much the same thing, within the constraints of
their broadcast medium. For example, any broadcaster can decide to
transmit using any codec he likes, on a subchannel, with proper CA. The
FCC doesn't prevent this. It's difficult only because there are very few
broadcasters out there, and whatever they try only makes sense if huge
masses of people can receive.
> The ATSC system is hard wired;
You keep saying this, but it's no more so than the Internet. What you
call hard wired is simply an artifact that happens when you want the
consumer toy to be as cheap and high performance as possible.
Blackberries are also hard wired, for example. You're mixing up
different topics.
> What typically happens, is that participants who hope to do
> something meaningful with the standard LEAVE IN DISGUST, after
> coming to the realization that a small cadre of companies have
> total control over the standard (and the royalty pool), and
> that the "open" process is just a sham.
"The grass is greener," I suppose. A lot of IETF participants also
become exasperated.
Bert
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