Media Utopia

(Warning, semi-rambling post ahead...)

Lately I’ve been thinking about how we use media.  A little over a year ago, we joined the DVR revolution with DirecTv’s DVR option, and this taste of flexibility has highlighted exactly how far behind technology we’re lagging in consumer experience.  The DVR is a nice little island utopia.  As long as we’re at the TV with the DVR, the kids have their pick of their favorite shows.  My wife and I can watch a show that we missed, or that we recorded because it was too late for us to stay up.  Unfortanely as soon as you sail away from the island, all is lost.  The DVD player in the car can only serve up movies that we have physical discs for (what an archaic concept!).  My Zune only holds music, videos and pictures that I explicitly put onto is (I don’t keep a lot of media on my computer, so I have to go out of my way to sync stuff.)  My family pictures, home movies, and other digital media mostly lives on our Windows Home Server, which makes it very accessible to our home computers, but not very useful on the road.

What would utopia look like?  Media shared everywhere. If my family owns it, I want it available wherever.

In practice, it’s not this simple.  How would data get from the DVR to the server?  How do you deal with devices with limited storage (come to think of it, every device has some sort of limit)?  How does data get onto the Zune, into the car, etc.

I’m thinking that a simple provider-subscriber model could work.  Each device would advertise it’s content using a format that could describe the media in enough detail that subscribers could make sense of it, and then they could make decisions about retrieving the media (RSS with enclosures might work as-is or with minor extension).  Each device would also have a configurable subscriber profile that would define what it would actively retrieve, or what it would make available by reference.  So, for example:

• DVR Records a bunch of shows.
• DVR publishes listings with metadata via RSS.
• Windows Home Server retrieves RSS from DVR.  Based on its settings WHS will actively retrieve some shows that I’ve set to archive and save them on the server.
• These shows will be added to WHS’s published RSS, with some sort of UID included so that the DVR doesn’t think it needs to copy them back.

or:

• WHS stores some home movies.
• WHS publishes a listing of home movies via RSS.
• DVR subscribes to this listing, and makes them available via the DVR _by reference_, basically it doesn’t make a local copy, but you can view the movies on your TV by selecting them through the DVR interface after which they are streamed from the WHS.  (Wouldn’t want to waste the DVR’s limited drive space by making a local copy.)

The scenarios go from there.  You could set priorities for devices with smaller storage like my Zune30.  It could actively retrieve the most recent 2 episodes of each of my kid’s favorite shows, as well as the most recent episodes of Las Vegas (the one show I try to watch each week), and maybe also a few podcasts that WHS has downloaded for me. 

Ok, that last sentence made this a bit more interesting.  The subscriber/provider model extends. I can subscribe to internet feeds to acquire content.  If I want to, I can publish a feed of select home movies and my family members can subscribe to them.  The data flow might go:

• Digital Camcorder uploads to Client computer. 
• Client computer publishes via RSS. 
• WHS subscribes to RSS and retrieves and archives media (archive action might actually remove it from client depending on settings). 
• WHS adds home movies to its published feed.  
• After reviewing the movies on the server I tag a few as “Share_Family” and they become available on a feed that is accessible from the internet. 
• My extended family then can subscribe via their own WHS or a client application and the content will automatically be transferred to their local repository.

Feeds should be configurable, so that I can build custom feeds that filter by tag, time, format, media type, etc.  So basically each provider will have a single subscription endpoint, but the feed can be filtered, or alternately the client can retrieve the entire feed, and filter locally.  Also, authentication should be an option so that you can make a public/private distinction, or even control access in a more granular manner.

Ok, this has devolved into a bit of stream-of-consciousness rambling, but hopefully it conveys that the technology to do this is available today, but that the implementation is lagging.  DRM is a hurdle to open integration like this, but it’s not an insurmountable one.  Hopefully media companies will realize that if they make their content available and give consumers the freedom to use it in flexible ways, then the consumers will actually be more likely to consume the content.

(Disclaimer:  This post is pure speculation by me.  It does not convey any information from my current or future employers.  I do not know if anything like this is in development, I just wanted to throw out some ideas that might make the consumer experience better in the future.)

Saturday, November 03, 2007 6:06:53 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  Internet | Media

So Television Really Was a Fad

TechCrunch's Arrington writes that Television is dead.  From that post: "The key tipping point will be when a startup is able to distribute proper television content over the Internet legally. People will begin to abandon their cable tv subscriptions in favor of Internet distribution." 

The only argument I have with this statement is that there doesn't have to be a startup.  Last year I wrote a post titled "A New Media Model" where I discussed how the media producers could simply cut out the middle men and deliver content directly to consumers.  I really don't want a new middle man to take the place of the old one, I want flatter distribution, and I want choices about what content I receive, when I receive it, and how I can use it. 
 
As a side note, until devices like Apple's ITV are commonplace, efforts in this arena are going to fall flat.  I've watched missed episodes of some of our favorite shows on our computer and it just isn't the same.

Friday, December 01, 2006 3:50:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [1]  Media

Apple's iTV points to the future.

I watched Engadget's coverage of the Apple announcements (and by "watched, I mean I contributed to the slowing of their servers by repeatedly hitting F5 the whole time), and I'm intrigued by the iTV announcement.  I actually went looking for something similar a few weeks back when Amazon's UnBox launched.  While many folks are lauding Apple for this innovation, I disagree that this is really innovation, it's just the next logical step.

There are devices out there already that provide a way to shove content to a TV wirelessly, but that are about as expensive as the proposed iTV, and much more difficult to work with.  The folks at Apple will probably make the iTV experience pretty user-friendly.

The interesting point of this whole thing is that during the iTV announcement, I had my first "Maybe I don't really need cable or satellite anymore" moment.  If we get to the point (not far away now) where all the content I watch can be downloaded or streamed, then why should I keep paying DirecTV?  I can buy a lot of a la cart programming for what I pay in satellite bills each month.  If the local news channels get on board with this new form of content distribution, then I really won't be missing anything.

It is a bit of a leap conceptually though.  People generally don't feel bad about sitting down for an hour to watch a television show because we're conforming to the TV's schedule.  If all my content is on-demand, then I'm probably going to watch less TV because watching an hour long show means I'm more overtly committing that time.  Since the show can fit into my schedule now, it'll get prioritized just like everything else, and many shows would probably fall off the bottom end of the priority stack.

Sunday, September 17, 2006 1:52:21 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  Media

Robert Scoble is an Edge Case...

I was pretty much unplugged when the news came out this weekend.  I lost one day driving my family back from Michigan (if you follow Live Local's Streetside project, check out what I saw on the drive), and I had a lot of schoolwork, so reading feeds was backburnered.  But I heard the news anyway.  From my wife.  My wife is not a blogger. She doesn't knowingly use RSS.  I'm pretty sure that she doesn't even read my blog (correct me if I'm wrong ;) ).  My wife normally gets her news by typing "http://news.yahoo.com" into the address bar and then poking around.  She was catching up with the news on Sunday morning, and she started reading me the story about Robert.

My reaction?  I was not surprised in the least.  I was more shocked that my wife knew the news before me.

The significance of this should not be downplayed.  The Scobleizer's fame has hit the mainstream.

This is obviously great news for PodTech.net, and bad news for Microsoft. The bad news for Microsoft is complicated.  First, they've lost a dedicated employee.  Second, they've lost an influencer.  Dave Winer put it best when he said "A person like Scoble can have enormous influence just by adopting some very simple ideas".  The most important reason that this is bad for Microsoft is that it highlights the fact that Microsoft is not the kind of place that someone like Scoble would want to stay.  Robert seems like he's driven to change the world for the better, and the fact that he left Microsoft carries a message, right or wrong, that Microsoft isn't as much of a "Change the world" kinda of place as it used to be.

But back to the inflammatory headline I used to draw you in...  Robert, regardless of how you feel about the label, you are an edge case, leading edge.  You're an early adopter, and you have a pretty decent track record for picking the technologies that will make it to the mainstream, although I think I'd side with Chris Pirillo on the Second Life debate.  The fact that you are going to PodTech makes me really think about their business model, and consider the fact that it might take off.  I've written a couple of times about what I think the new media model should be, but I was thinking about how big media could get onboard.  Seeing a company like PodTech gathering steam makes me believe that it might be possible for the little guys to disrupt the hold that big media has on entertainment and information.  It's going to be interesting...

Tuesday, June 13, 2006 7:21:12 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  Media | Microsoft | Podcasting

Big TV Media Still Doesn't Understand The RSS Revolution

It looks like some media networks are testing the water, but they aren't embracing free media in a way that consumers will really love it.  About a year ago, I blogged about how I would like to see networks embrace RSS, and podcast-style media distribution.  The most important part of my post was that the networks would need to change the advertising paradigm, including the standard metrics from folks like Neilson.

It seems that folks like Disney / ABC are starting down the path by putting some shows online but they're missing the point.  They are still grasping for their old model of forced commercials, and in the process they are crippling the possible expansion of viewership that would come with free use of their content.  People want to put shows on their video iPod, on their laptop, or simply save them to watch at a different time on their home PC/Entertainment system. 

I understand that commercials matter to the networks, because that's been their paycheck for a long time.  Unfortunately commercials are becoming less and less effective.  Tivo/DVRs are only a part of the problem.  Most of the time when I'm watching TV, I have a laptop next to me.  During commercials, I check email, read blogs, do work, etc.  I'm not paying attention anyway!  Mark Cuban has an interesting idea for how to make commercials more interesting.  The only way that the effectiveness of commercials is going to go up is if the networks make them interesting. If it's compelling, timely, in-context with the show I'm watching, or funny, then I might pay attention.  Otherwise, you might as well let me skip it because I'm not paying attention anyway.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 3:46:29 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  Consumer | Media

Beware of Bloggers, a Warning to the Traditional Press

The traditional press, newspapers, magazines, etc., have long enjoyed a unique power over the information that they present to their readers.  They could selectively quote, frame the discussion, and in many ways make the information portray a preconceived story.

That era is coming to an end.

Mark Jen recently posted a preemptive disclosure of a conversation he had with a Forbes Magazine fact checker.

Mark Cuban went so far as to post the entire text of an email interview he did with a NY Times reporter, who evidently twisted Cuban's words to fit his story.

Blogs are flattening the world of information.  Big media will continue to hold large amounts of power, but abusing that power will become riskier, especially in instances where you are using quotes out of context, or framing articles in ways that totally disregard the source material.  While it's true that the majority of your readers may never see the other side of the story directly, your direct competitors may pick it up, and use it to undermine your credibility.

Blogging lowers the bar.  It used to take a great deal of time & money to get a message to thousands or even millions of people.  Now, any person can start a blog for free.  Whether or not their words reach any audience will be determined by relevence, and the indexing of blogs that is being shaped by the likes of PubSub, Technorati, Google, and MSN.

Now, re-read that last sentence, and see if you can guess who the new Media Superpowers are going to be...

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 9:50:50 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  Blogging | Media | Search

A New Media Model
An entire industry has sprung up to fill a gap between the the current content producers, their archaic distribution models, and the way consumers want to use content with modern technology.

What would happen if a major network decided that they were going to cut out the middle-men, and go straight to the consumer. I'm thinking WB, TBS, FOX, or maybe even Mark Cuban's HDNet.

Here's how it works.

1. Take every show you run on your network, including the commercials, and digitize them to a variety of bitrates and formats (WMA, MOV, Etc.).

2. Host an RSS feed for each show, allowing users to subscribe (using Doppler or similar programs) to different feeds for each show. Publish each show to the feed concurrent with it airing by traditional means.

3. Talk to your advertisers. Remind them that your goal here is to put their commercials in front of as many eyes as possible, at the lowest cost you can manage. Since this new model eliminates many layers, you should be able to distribute content this way at a lower cost. If bandwidth is a concern, utilize bittorent or other peer-to-peer technology.

4. Develop metrics that allow you to quantify "circulation" of your shows, instead of focusing on numbers of viewers. Maybe talk to Arbitron or Neilson about developing some sort of authoritative advertiser-friendly metrics for electronic media distribution.

5. Aggressively pursue anyone who tries to chop commercials and redistribute content. Use technological measures to discourage this, and lawyers to enforce it. Gradually move away from disruptive advertising, and focus more on product placements, and content relevent advertising.

6. Consider offering unique RSS feeds with different advertising for different demographics. In general, people would rather have ads that are relevent. Give them control and they would choose to view more relevant ads. Use this to sell the advertising.

Would this work?
Thursday, April 07, 2005 5:28:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)      Comments [0]  Technology | Media