[TriLUG] OT- The death of TV?

Thu Aug 2 16:08:13 EDT 2007

That's true, but that's more of a vertical integration which will enable services such as IPTV to travel directly from the content provider (via some arrangement between a telco/broadband provider and a broadcaster such as Viacom) to the end-user. You're still going to be limited, in theory, to only the shows being offered by the content provider. Obviously you will be able to get to any site on the Web, but the video quality is not going to be DVD or higher-quality due to server-side bandwidth issues.

There isn't much money long-term in providing bandwidth so the successful companies will need to own content as well (hence the re-formation of the AT&T behemoth...and the basis of the whole "Net Neutrality" argument.) From what I understand, AT&T is attempting to quickly ramp up their bandwidth around the country, partly due to a FCC stipulation to better serve rural areas; and also to be able to fully leverage their vertical integration strategy. 

Most of the world will likely never have FTTH, but they are a ready market for streaming videos. However, the bandwidth needed to maintain the growth curve of streaming video sites is immense (YouTube alone reportedly pays over $1 million/mo. for bandwidth) which poses problems for sustainability.  

It's a very interesting dilemma actually as it seems obvious to me anyway that TV is about to undergo a dramatic shift. As bandwidth to the home continues to increase it becomes possible for everyone to be a producer. The bandwidth issue will get worse, but I think P2P will answer most of those problems. There is a very good discussion of this online at http://www.oculture.com/2007/07/free_podcasts_of_university_courses_75_courses_and_growing.html under the Computer Science section. It's called "The Future of the Internet". Unfortunately, they locked it up in iTunes which really sucks (if you get a chance, petition them to put these lectures in straight mp3 format as well and/or upload them to miro, the open source "iTunes".)

Personally, I think it's wonderful. Eventually it becomes almost meaningless for the Murdoch's of the world to consolidate media empires because people will become more savvy (hopefully) about where they get their information. It's odd to look back and think that one day I'd have access to over 200 channels of programming on TV, yet gain almost NOTHING of value from any of them. Conversely, I can go on to miro or stumblevideo.com and find more informative and entertaining programming in five minutes than I would get in a week from normal TV.

Kevin

----- Original Message ----
From: Neil L. Little <nllittle at embarqmail.com>
To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 10:19:14 PM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] OT- The death of TV?

The next generation chipsets for cable modems are reported to have near 
fiber speeds. The same holds
true for DSL. Roll out is slated to begin within a year.

I know of at least one city down-east in NC that is in the process of a 
building out of fttp for every address
in the town (TWC ticked them off big time!). They plan to begin offering 
Video, Internet and telephone
services starting February 08. Service rates will be competitive with 
cable/telco rates.

Its not the death of TV but a convergence of media. Advertising has 
already shifted to the tune of 20 percent
already.

Neil, WA4AZL
JARS Forever!!

Greg Brown wrote:
> Don't get me wrong, I'll be ready for Internet TV once it is really comes of
> age.  There is so much content generated from all over the globe that I just
> love to watch.  Actually one of my favorite things to do when traveling to a
> new country is to turn on the tube at night and see what is on.  Japan and
> South Korea have some truly bizarre stuff on television.  Documentaries from
> Australia are usually pretty neat too.  And al Jazeera isn't what it is made
> out to be in the USA.
>
> Greg
>
> On 7/31/07, Kevin J. <mrkevinj at yahoo.com> wrote:
>   
>> I'm being facetious, of course. There is a strong argument, however, that
>> the Internet is not ready for IPTV so it's probably a few years away yet.
>> Programs such as miro, Joost and ooma (a p2p voip phone system still in
>> beta) are getting around the infrastructure (and cost) issues by using p2p
>> architectures.
>>
>> Cable programming isn't going away for a long-time, but for folks who want
>> more than the crap being passed off on cable TV, the Internet is the next
>> evolutionary step in video.
>>
>> News is so pitiful in this country that I don't bother watching any news
>> programming on TV outside of The Daily Show and an occasional BBC broadcast.
>> I can get much better news from the miro video player (www.getmiro.com)
>> and YouTube. Check out www.blinkx.com to get a sense for what IPTV might
>> look like in the future.
>>
>> Kevin
>>
>> "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of
>> thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Greg Brown <gwbrown1 at gmail.com>
>> To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list <trilug at trilug.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 10:03:22 PM
>> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] OT- The death of TV?
>>
>> Yeah, I suppose death of cable TV would equate to death of decent Internet
>> over cable as well.  Regardless of how fast someone might get fiber to the
>> house in the RDU area I won't be in the first wave.  So I hope cable lives
>> on.
>>
>> Greg
>>
>> On 7/31/07, Christopher L Merrill <chris at webperformance.com> wrote:
>>     
>>> Kevin J. wrote:
>>>       
>>>> Given the lack of any compelling content on cable TV, and the VHS(or
>>>>         
>>> higher)-quality
>>>       
>>>> of streaming video, I'd give cable TV programming another 5 years at
>>>>         
>>> most (IPTV anyone?).
>>>
>>> You'll give cable TV 5 years to do what, exactly?  I hope you're not
>>> silly enough to be predicting it's demise.
>>>
>>> --
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>       
>> -
>>     
>>> Chris Merrill                           |  Web Performance, Inc.
>>> chris at webperformance.com                |  http://webperformance.com
>>> 919-433-1762                            |  919-845-7601
>>>
>>> Website Load Testing and Stress Testing Software & Services
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>       
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search
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