9 comments

• 

  Ludo

  11 months ago

  Sdk!
  Enable USB port for external disk
  Allow USB and/or Bluetooth keyboard
  Did I mention SDK?
  reply
• 

  Mike

  11 months ago

  I still think the internet's going to win this one. While all eyes are on products like Blu-ray, HD-DVD, AppleTV, etc., the internet beats them all. The price is free, the format is whatever you want it to be, and availability is now.
  
  Moral issues aside, that's simply superior to your options above. Steve Jobs competed with piracy by offering an incentive: fast, cheap, and guaranteed quality. Why is everyone so focused on taking Apple down, rather than learning from their successes and doing it themselves?
  reply
• 

  webomatica

  11 months ago

  By "internet" I guess you mean piracy and a good old Bit Torrent. Do
  you think the cable companies are basically battling against piracy?
  In that, do you see people cancelling cable because, they can just get
  all their shows through torrents?
  reply
• 

  Mike

  11 months ago

  Indeed. I barely watch anything on TV myself, so if I were paying for cable, it would definitely be one of the things I'd cut.
  
  I'm sure there are many others who only watch a couple of shows, and only turn on the TV when there's something to watch.
  reply
• 

  papa

  11 months ago

  Internet might win long term, but my money is on cable/satellite in the near/mid-term. The latter just has such strong penetration coupled with the fact that people are USED to and comfortable with enjoying TV and movie entertainment in this way. The barrier to entry is low, the hardware is already in the living rooms and the format wars are moot.
  
  Internet is great too (I'm a big fan of Hulu and Apple's one-off episode solution is neat), but watching TV on a computer is not the norm (I'm talking about mainstream America) and bandwidth remains problematic for high-def content. Convergence of internet and living room will bridge this and may result in some cable/internet hybrid. But is it there yet for most of American? No. I will grant that the internet option may very will win among the youth segment today (and because of this, it's a good long-term bet).
  
  Solutions that require "extra" hardware (console delivery systems, media devices) are non-starters from a mass market standpoint. Same goes for solutions that require "extra" software (think joost vs. flash based solutions).
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• 

  webomatica

  11 months ago

  Yeah, that's fair, the cable companies have all the intertia and the
  user base. If the cable industry is saavy enough to where they start
  incorporating Apple TV like features into their cable boxes that get
  installed anyhow, or taking the Marc Cuban approach, then it's game
  over for all these tech companies. But they could also sit on their
  hands like the music industry, and resist change, assuming this VOD
  thing is just a fad. They don't even get "unbundling" channels (like,
  what if I only want Sci Fi channel and nothing else?).
  
  I'll say this change in behavior could take a decade or more, and it
  may be a slow motion train wreck just like the music and newspaper
  industries - we'll see.
  reply
• 

  DaveD

  11 months ago

  How exactly can cable "lose" this battle when they hold the biggest trump card of all - bandwidth control? They already have begun instituting download caps.
  
  No discussion of video distribution over the internet is complete without acknowledging this reality.
  reply
• 

  webomatica

  11 months ago

  Yeah, I overlooked that one. If the cable companies start getting
  aggressive with caps I'll be pissed. But that is a choice - I would
  rather see the cable companies start incorporating media extender
  features into their boxes (enabling consumers) instead. If they go
  with caps for the purpose of clamping down these new delivery
  technologies, then I consider that an opening salvo in a war I hope
  they ultimately lose.
  reply
• 

  Mike

  11 months ago

  Exactly - that's competing by stifling innovation.
  
  The music industry took advantage of their monopoly when people couldn't do anything about it - remember when CDs cost no less than $15 each, and contained 99% crap, except for the single?
  
  They're paying for it now, and nobody can really feel sorry for them. The cable companies are doing the same now, and I won't shed a tear for them when they're made redundant.
  reply