[opendtv] Re: The TV Industrial Complex
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 26 May 2013 13:58:54 -0400
On May 22, 2013, at 5:06 PM, "Manfredi, Albert E"
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Not really, Craig. You have it backwards. I remain amused by all the attempts
> of unnecessary middlemen to take on more of a role than they deserve, or more
> of a role than anyone needs, just for this oh-so-difficult-and-intractable
> (sarcasm) TV content over Internet problem. And that would have included
> Microsoft, if for some misguided reason, they wanted to do something
> different and special for TV content.
But they did - the XBox One is designed to complement a cable box - you need a
MVPD subscription to watch live TV.
Perhaps you are assuming this box will use the Windows Media Center software
you use on a PC.
Sorry, but that product is in maintenance mode - it is not the future
direction for Microsoft, as the person who runs that division has stated on
multiple occasions.
>
> Windows Media Center is nice, for OTA TV, but it's not a must-have by any
> stretch. What makes it good, aside from the nice UI, is that it's a
> stand-alone product. No need for underhanded deals, special favors, or any
> other forms of collusion, with anyone. What a breath of fresh air!
MOre like stale air. The product is going nowhere.
>
> In short, the Internet exists, Internet browsers exist, search engines of
> many flavors exist, streaming media protocols of many flavors exist, so it's
> 100 percent up to the content owners to decide how to exploit the Internet.
They have - if you want our best stuff you will need a subscription with a MVPD
service.
> There is literally nothing that the Microsofts, the Apples, or the Googles,
> need to add to this, other than at most some stand-alone, end-system tweaks
> of the user experience, for TV content. Similar to a Windows Media Center
> sort of tweaking.
You missed one critical thing…
The content that people are now paying more than $100 billion to watch.
Yes this can change, but the evidence suggests that it is not going to happen
soon. WHat every happens with OTTY in the future, one thing is certain - it
will be heavily monetized.
> Whenever I see these articles that suggest otherwise, that suggest some
> middleman or other must collude with some conglom or some MVPD, it just ticks
> me off. All they are doing is delaying what should be happening, which is
> more unfettered access to TV content over the Internet. Collusion only serves
> to force ancient and anachronistic walled garden models to persist. Consumers
> are pushing the other way. Unnecessary middlemen should quit trying to delay
> progress.
Well at least you admit that what most analysts (including myself) are saying
is true - the status quo will stay in place for the foreseeable future. It is
OBVIOUS that these oligopolies are working to gather to delay what "should be
happening." The reality is that this is increasingly true for MANY of the
things we think we need to enjoy life.
As they say, wantin and gettin are two different things.
Regards
Craig
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
Other related posts:
