Two pieces today attest to the not-ready-for-video-prime-time nature of the Internet. The first is an essay of sorts by The New York Times’ Richard Siklos entitled “Can TV’s and PC’s Live Together Happily Ever After?”
After much analysis of the momentum pushing web-based distribution of traditional TV shows and films, Siklos concludes that while the Internet is very close to becoming a true alternative video pipeline, it falls short in comparison to old-fashioned TV…and will continue to fall short for some time.
But here is the swirling myth — or is it The Big Lie? — about convergence: It’s not as close as all of that activity suggests. For various reasons, watching TV programs delivered by the Internet on regular TV looks like it will remain tantalizingly out of reach for all but the most enthusiastic gadget junkies for some time.
Citing Dave Sanderson at Bain & Company, Siklos offers four reasons why this is true: limitations in broadband infrastructure, the degree of readiness among electronics makers to provide a product with mass appeal, the behavior of consumers and the agenda of the players in the TV ecosystem.
The other piece is a review of Movielink and CinemaNow by The Washington Post’s Rob Pegararo. He pans both online movie download (and now DVD-burning) providers by noting how limited and expensive their choices are. Moreover, trying to watch the downloaded videos via a TV set is a disappointing experience because, one, the picture quality stinks, and two, the downloaded versions don’t offer the extras that come on DVDs.
Pegararo’s starts off his review with his bottom-line:
There’s never been a better time to get movies online — as long as you’re paying NetFlix, Amazon or some other company to ship a DVD to you. If you want to download the movie, however, you’re going to be frustrated. Still.
I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but these comparisons between Internet-distributed TV shows and movies and content distributed via traditional-to-the-TV means (cable, satellite, DVD) is a red herring. Although the Internet holds great potential for serving as another outlet for standard TV programs and movies, the web is a new medium altogether and don’t expect it to act like the old medium (television) or to beat the old medium at it’s game.
Television started out like radio, and did a lousy job of showing video versions of radio shows until it found its footing as a medium unto itself. Likewise, the Internet is starting out trying to distribute traditional TV and film content, but it’s not built like old fashioned TV outlets. The web, while holding promise as a big-time money-making video platform, offers new and different kinds of video content that is vying for viewers’ eyeballs all the same even if that content isn’t what you’d expect to find on a TV set.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 7:48 PM | Print | Comments (0)
The LA Times’ Charles DuHigg has this piece today about CD-swapping site Lala.com, which is gearing up to offer a user-friendly way for music lovers to share physical CDs by mailing them to each other. The firm was founded by Silicon Valley pioneer Bill Nguyen and promises (it’s still in beta mode) to allow users to obtain entire albums for the price of a single legit downloaded song.
It is in essence a giant swap meet facilitated by sophisticated software and unlike all but a handful of file-sharing sites, completely legal. (It’s a modified, Internet-based version of what my friends and I did in the seventh grade — once one person tired of an album, or got a duplicate album as a gift, she passed it on to someone else). LaLa.com charges $1.49 for linking together someone seeking to obtain an album and someone who has an album to spare.
LaLa.com stays on this side of the law by stipulating that the albums, which are mailed by the owners, must be originals and not duplicated from the originals. Users that receive copied albums are urged to report the offending supplier, who will be barred from the service.
Despite the legality, the record companies are not pleased.
“This is a nudge-nudge, wink-wink way to get around the law,” said Ted Cohen, senior vice president of digital development at EMI Music. “It makes it easier for people to copy CDs and steal music. Why would the music industry do anything to encourage a company like this?”
LaLa.com hopes to woo legitimate distribution deals with the record industry — the company offers 20% of its revenues to artists and hopes to make its profit on sales of CDs through an online store. But, from the sounds of it, the record companies will be a tough nut to crack. They clearly don’t like file-sharing and they rightfully fear that many of the CDs, despite LaLa.com’s safeguards, will be pirated.
At a conference last August, the chief executive of the Recording Industry Assn. of America, Mitch Bainwol, told a room full of music retailers that “listeners who make copies of CDs and give them to friends are becoming a greater threat than peer-to-peer networks.”Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 5:21 PM | Print | Comments (2)
Working at the computer before checking out the Sunday political talk shows waiting on my DVR (my daughter calls these shows “the windbags”), I received a comment to a post I wrote Friday entitled “Trust, Politics and Internet Policy.”
The comment came from Jennifer Goebel, a 9th grade student in Plano, TX, who, with some friends, created a local campaign video, which they posted on Google Video and promoted via “web word of mouth” on MySpace. Their efforts were the focus and inspiration for my post.
I thought Jennifer’s comment was worthy of its own post. When we (and Congress) consider the policy questions related to net neutrality and Community Internet (a.k.a., muni-broadband), we’d be wise to remember Jennifer, her friends and their counterparts around the country. They are its future.
Here’s her comment, along with my reply to it.
Dear Mr. Shapiro, We had 16,384 hits up through election day (May 13). Everywhere we (the kids on the video) went people seemed to have seen the video. I know of some adults who only vote in major elections, who took time out to go vote, and I do give some credit to the video that was made. It feels good to be part of a grassroots campaign. This will make us kids get involved in more of the same…it feels good to think a person can make a difference. Thanks for including the story about our video on your blog. Sincerely, Jennifer Goebel 9th Grade Jasper High School
Jennifer, Thanks so much for responding. Your experience gives old fogeys like me hope that your generation will play a key role in revitalizing our democracy. Your comment underscores the point I tried to make about the importance of keeping the Internet a “neutral” platform for political (and other) speech, where 9th grade students with talent, intelligence and passion can exercise the same First Amendment rights (real and practical rights, not just theoretical rights) as large well-funded corporations. Please keep us posted on any further developments you’re aware of on this front, either locally in your area or on a wider scale. You are “IP Democracy” in action. Best of luck.Posted by Mitch Shapiro at 2:11 PM | Print | Comments (0)
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