Tech & VC 06 Jul 2007 02:03 pm
1995 is Calling. It Wants Lame IPTV Implementations Back
1995 was the year I saw my first TV Tuner Card. It was a pixelated pile of junk, but it allowed my friend to have a TV in his bedroom without his parents knowing it, so we thought it was so cool for being covert.
However, 12 years later, watching plain ol’ TV on my computer has lost its novelty. That’s what I don’t get about all the hype of services like Joost, Slingbox, and (just demoed today) Microsoft’s LiveStation. They are hardly more than a TV Tuner Card without the wire. I could have made one of those my sticking an antenna on my TV Tuner Card (….oooohh Wireless!).
I am much more excited about endeavors like Wallstrip, Diggnation, and Ze Frank as the future of TV on the internet. IPTV will be read/write TV. I’m looking forward to the Threadless of television.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
2 Responses to “1995 is Calling. It Wants Lame IPTV Implementations Back”
on 06 Jul 2007 at 2:38 pm 1.Nate Westheimer said …
Andrew, I disagree. Why? Because much of this is software based (at least Joost is). A few months ago I won an AppleTV. It was nice for watching my Lost episodes, but when un-used for the most part. Then along came YouTube on my AppleTV and I’ve spend several evenings going through video after related video.
It was pure “ahh”: longtail content, control over what I see, and in a “lean back” environment.
Once Joost is on my AppleTV (which has been hacked already), game over for me.
And it will happen — because it’s software powering this wave of IPTV. Not a card in the back of a computer.
on 06 Jul 2007 at 2:41 pm 2.Nate Westheimer said …
okay, reading this again, i’m not sure i “disagree” with what you say… i’m just dont think Joost is hype.
good post.