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In search of the video jukebox
It will take at least a couple of years to get from this early stage to the era of the digital jukebox, when most movies and TV shows will be downloadable from a single place, tech industry watchers say.Copyright holders are starting out timidly, unsure whether offering programs for download will siphon money away from their broadcasts and DVD sales.
Technology makers are trying to convince Hollywood that it can protect its properties from rampant piracy. Hollywood is worried about file-sharing technology such as BitTorrent, a software tool that allows users to download large files quickly.
And no one is sure what consumers want. What restrictions will they accept on the number of devices they can use to watch their videos? And will they prefer to order shows and movies through a TV set-top box, a Web site or a software program?
"There's a lot of confusion," said Tim Bajarin, president of research firm Creative Strategies Inc. "You have multiple channels vying to try to be the best video/music distribution vehicle, period. We're in a highly competitive phase." ...
The problem is that the companies that own movies and TV shows may be limiting the potential of the video download market by taking things so slowly. If consumers don't have a central place to buy whatever show or movie they prefer, they'll probably avoid the market altogether, said Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford University law professor and leading advocate of copyright law reform.
"You only begin to have takeoff when you have total interoperability," he said. Even iTunes has kept the music download market from being as big as it could be, he said, since it allows songs to be transferred to only one portable player, the iPod.
True. And, once again, no mention of the burgeoning marketplace in free video downloads.
I hope to launch a new videoblogging site in the next week or so.
December 28, 2005 at 09:53 PM in Video | Permalink
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Hey, I just finished reading the book 'Darknet' and would absolutely rate it as one of the best technical books I've ever come across. Your book truly challenged my firmly-set views on Darknets, and I plan to be thinking the matter over for a good while. Thanks for turning the book into reality.
kaedajnor
Posted by: kaedajnor | Dec 30, 2005 6:36:39 PM
Here is what I want.
I BOUGHT IT. IT'S mine!!
I want to buy a movie that starts with the menu. I don't want a move where I have to sit through/fast foward past the previews or be terrorized by Interpol and the F B I, or see the lame anti-piracy video Before I get to watch the movie.
I BOUGHT IT. IT'S mine!!
This is exactly the sort of crap that is causing Box Office attendance to take a dive.
If hollywood insists on putting this crap on them, Let them do it to the Netflix and Blockbuster junkies.
"Technology makers" is an oxymoron of the first water, as if it can be expressed in 1's and 0's on a computer, it will be decrypted, ripped, changed and copied.
-See Sony DRM debacle-
It will not be done as an act of aggression against movie moguls, it will be done as a byproduct of insatiable curiousity on the part of folks with time on their hands.
Posted by: the head lemur | Dec 31, 2005 12:27:35 PM
Don't forget about Music Video Jukeboxes. According to wikipedia: Other Uses of the Term "Video Jukebox" or "Video Jukebox"
Video Juke Box – (Digital Video Music) - The TV or another display device hooks directly to the “Juke Box,” often a set-top box, (though it can be a much larger unit, and could have a video screen built-into it.) Whatever network it's hooked up to, (the transmissions could come via satellite,) the Video Juke Box regularly receives, and often is automatically updated with, different music videos. The least played tracks are automatically deleted upon each transmission of new material.
A video Jukebox may also refer to small electronic devices like iPods that record and playback music. (Slang)
Video JukeBox (Internet) – The presentation of Videos in a media player on a website, usually a flash player similar to those found on youtube, google or vnertia.
Posted by: Charles | Jun 24, 2008 5:34:38 AM
