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I'm ready for the TV revolution to hit!
superboyac:
I know, this is yet another thread where I start to think about something for the first time even though it's already a hot topic among the people in the know. Oh well...
I am officially ready for the TV revolution to take place. We are still using an antiquated system shoehorned with a few modern touches (DVR, Digital TV, etc.). The TV industry is holding on for dear life to their old ways. They want us to pay monthly for all TV-specific services, when TV is nothing more than another feed that could (should, IMO) come through the regular internet connection. Once again, I really want ISP service to be independent from all the other monthly services I pay for (TV, telephone, gas, electricity, etc.). All I want is a data connection to the grid based on the bandwidth I require. After that, I'll choose the other services independently knowing that I have the connection taken care of. That is really the best way for the future. I'm not even saying the company providing these services have to be different. It can all be Verizon, but I want the services clearly distinct. I know, I know...they already do that. But wait, there's more.
So, now that the fundamental ISP service is taken care, let's start thinking about TV. We can now get anything that is information (i.e. not electricity or gas) into our homes. So, a cable TV connection or digital TV connection is not really another "connection". It's just some information coming through my existing connection. Since that is established, let's go ahead and change the way TV is watched. Why should TV still be on a set schedule? DVR's are already very common, what's the point of a TV schedule? Why not have a system where we just decide to get whatever show we want whenever we want? Instead of saying, "I'm going to record Seinfeld at 7:30pm on channel 13", why not just say, "I want episode 3 of season 5 of Seinfeld right now to save and watch later"? I mean, isn't that really where we're trying to go?
The infrastructure and everything is already in place for this. it's not like its a new technology that we have to wait for to become commonplace. Ah! But the TV industry will lose just about ALL of their existing moneymaking procedures that are in place. The schedule forces you to watch the commercials (assuming it's live). Even if you DVR, they don't let you skip the commercials. They did initially, but there was a fuss, and now you can just skip using the FF button, which is totally lame. Also, it would force people to get out of the habit of just surfing to see what's on. For example, when I'm at someone's house and bored, I'll just flip through channels until I find something. That's NOT how I like to watch, but that's how a very large majority watch TV. Again, it's old school. It's time to move on.
Next...channels? Really? What's the point. i don't give a shit about this channel or that channel. The TV access providers should just let you pick either the shows you want or the categories you want. They can charge per viewing, or some kind of monthly package. Ideally, they should offer as many flexible packages as possible. I would gladly (read-->GLADLY) pay $50-100 monthly to have this kind of access to the shows and movies I want.
This is the only way to really compete with piracy, also. The companies can come up with half-solutions like [technology restricted] DVR's, but don't let that fool you...the pirate experience is MUCH nicer. I can go on my computer, find a torrent of some episode, have it downloaded in 10-15 minutes, and watch it right away...no commercials, no fussing around with menus and FF buttons, etc. Bam...immediate satisfaction. So what I described is the ONLY way for companies to offer a equivalent experience. And again, money is not the issue...I have a fine job, I would be very eager to pay for that kind of service. At least Netflix kind of got it right in a lot of ways. Once they have more things available for streaming, that's going to be a huge deal and more towards what I'm talking about.
What really got me thinking about this today was Arrested Development. I finally started watching this show, and it's brilliant. one of the best shows I've ever seen. A lot of people think so also. So why was it canceled? It's not certain, but most of what I've heard points to faulty or ineffective marketing. Nobody really knew what the show was about. So it got canceled due to poor ratings. On the other hand, it was very highly critically acclaimed by both the public AND the industry. That's weird. But if the TV industry operated the way I described, it wouldn't matter, and the show would still be on. The reason why it failed is because it had to meet the expectations of a "prime time" slot, and it didn't, so they had to pull it even though it was good and everyone knew it.
Prime time is useless. Everyone should just be able to watch whenever they feel like it. If I'm free at 7:42pm and I want to watch something, why should I wait until 8pm? And then, why should I be limited to just whatever is available at 8pm? Even though DVR has taken care of that, again, there's SO much more that can be done. We're ready, the infrastructure is ready, it's all ready to go.
And then, we would see a lot more shows like Arrested Development being made. Why? because it wouldn't such a big risk to do it. If they don't have prime time expectations, that means we can have MORE shows being made without the show having so much pressure to succeed. There will be more creativity, more good quality shows, heck, even more bad quality shows.
So, I'm ready, how about you?
Who's comin' with me? Who's coming with me? Who's coming with me besides "Flipper," here?
--- End quote ---
You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What would you do without freedom? Will you fight?
--- End quote ---
OK, back to work...
Renegade:
Amen Brother~!
I hear you!
However, I don't see it happening soon, or soon enough.
The networks, studios, and affiliates have too much invested in the way things are. Giving people a way around them just isn't going to happen.
And then there are the international licensing agreements...
Nightmare.
superboyac:
Er...one more point:
What the heck is the deal with the excruciatingly slow channel changing speed with ALL digital services? Really, what the F--K??!! I hate it, I can't stand it, it makes me want to break something. Now, I don't know exactly why (technically speaking) it's like that, but I'm pretty sure of one thing: they do it intentionally. For some reason, the companies do NOT want us to be flipping around very quickly. I don't know why, but I'm certain it has to do with money somehow. Same reason why we don't see very many good replays during an NBA game. The NBA (David Stern) absolutely does NOT want people seeing replays for every little questionable play. So, instead, they fill the screen up with useless statistics and "special" commentaries during dead balls that could be used to show replays of what just happened. Which is really what the people want to see. i don't give two shits about how many games the Lakers have won Andrew Bynum gets over 12 rebounds...SHOW ME THE REPLAY THAT JUST HAPPENED!!
Arrgghhh!!!
superboyac:
Amen Brother~!
I hear you!
However, I don't see it happening soon, or soon enough.
The networks, studios, and affiliates have too much invested in the way things are. Giving people a way around them just isn't going to happen.
And then there are the international licensing agreements...
Nightmare.
-Renegade (August 18, 2010, 05:31 PM)
--- End quote ---
Yup...well, let me tell them what they SHOULD be doing:
1) start taking this stuff seriously. Get all the agreements and licensing going. But don't just go through the motions like Adobe and Apple. Recognize that this WILL happen, and the first one of the major corps that does it is going to be the big leader. So do whatever you gotta do and get it going. Cross your t's and dot your i's and let's roll it out. But they don't do that because they are comfy with whatever they have and it's a risk they are not willing to take. Also, they are paranoid about all that copyright stuff. You gotta do what youtube did which is intentionally allow the copyright infringements to get it going, and once you're big, then deal with the restrictions like they are doing now. I can't upload any clips because they will immediately be fingerprinted. They could've done that years ago, but they didn't. because they KNEW they wouldn't get big doing that.
2) If you are NOT going to take this seriously, do NOT bitch about piracy. I don't want to hear about it. I'm not defending the illegal activity...I'm just saying I don't want to hear about it. I'm TELLING you how to effectively deal with piracy. If you don't want to do it, you are saying you would rather have the situation we have now, than to actually solve the problem. So I'm done with you. They throw the people a little bone like DVR and think that's it. Sorry. The pirates are WAY ahead of you. Reminds me of how the porn industry is always the leader in revolutionizing media content distribution (VHS vs. beta).
MilesAhead:
It's my understanding the long pause when you click to the next channel is to save bandwidth. With HD they can't have all the signals going all the time like they did in the old days. When you stop on a channel I think it sends a request upstream that channel be sent back to you.
I'm not up on all the particulars but it's likely unless you have like 100 Mb/sec or higher internet service in your neighborhood, then the fiber probably only goes up to some junction station/router whatever they call that box everyone on the street is hooked to, and from there to your house is just the old copper cable.
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