Technology360

Hypermedia: Why Now?

Jon Udell writes: "The umbrella title for this series of columns--Primetime Hypermedia--suggests that, for what used to be called multimedia, the long march through the desert is finally over. The mission of these columns is to explore and document the promised land that we are now starting to colonize. But here's a question I've been asked a lot lately: Why now? ...¶... Broadband connectivity is another piece of the platform that's now falling into place. When I last visited my parents, I was mortified to find that their 1.5 Mbps cable internet setup put my 384 Kbps DSL to shame. When I got home I called my DSL provider and told them I'd be switching to Time-Warner's RoadRunner service. Their response was to lower their price and bump me to 3 Mbps. That's just one anecdote, but if 2004 wasn't the tipping-point year for downloading multi-megabyte media files, then 2005 is. Fatter pipes boost the rate at which we can download these files; ever-more-pervasive WiFi expands the number of locations from which we can do so; BitTorrent spreads the load. ..." Link: O'Reilly Network. This article covers a variety of topics and is well worth reading to help understand the rapidly-unfolding new media environment. Thanks to Stephen Hill for the tip. --Dennis

Kagan Projects 2.5 Pct. Annual Radio Audience Decline

... According to independent research commissioned by Sirius, once consumers get a Sirius radio, they spend 83 percent of their radio time with Sirius and 7 percent with traditional radio. ...¶... Based on escalating subscriber numbers, [CIBC World Markets' Jason] Helfstein forecast that satellite radio alone will cause a 1.25 percent to 1.3 percent decrease in terrestrial radio listening. That’s on top of the 0.5 percent annual decline radio is already experiencing. Factor in an additional 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent drop from iPod usage (15-17 million iPods are expected to fly off the shelves this year ) and you’re looking at an annual haircut of 3 percent. However, since new technologies typically increase total media consumption, Helfstein tempers his estimate to an overall 2.5 percent annual radio audience decline. ¶ That figure is in line with what other “old media” are already experiencing. TV viewing, for example, is dropping 2.8 percent a year. ... Link: MediaWeek.

Vimeo

Vimeo is a site for organizing and sharing video clips with Flickr-style tagging.  It's been up in beta since February.  Thanks to the Television Archiving weblog. --Dennis

Researchers: Metcalfe's Law overshoots the mark

Two University of Minnesota researchers have written a paper arguing that Metcalfe's Law, a rule of thumb that computes the value of communication networks, is overly optimistic.   ¶  Metcalfe's Law--a rule of thumb, really, that provided a rationale for aggressive expansion efforts during the dot-com boom--posits that the value of a network increases with the square of the number of devices in the network. But in a preliminary paper (click for PDF) published March 2, Andrew Odlyzko and Benjamin Tilly of the university's Digital Technology Center concluded that the law "is a significant overestimate." In one example, where the law would find a network's value increased 100 percent, their calculations found only a 5 percent enhancement.  ¶  The two researchers proposed an alternative formula that heads in the same direction as Metcalfe's Law but doesn't go as far. ...  Link:  Cnet News.com.  Thanks to Slashdot. --Dennis

U.S. Frequency Allocations

The federal agency, NTIA, has a nifty color spectrum chart (pdf, 42x27 inches) here.  --Dennis

TiVo signs on with Comcast

... TiVo's outlook is suddenly a lot brighter (its share price is currently up over 50% in today's trading), as the DVR pioneers have announced that they will be partner with Comcast to adapt its software to work on the cable giant's existing DVRs while providing interactive video advertisements in its menus. Comcast customers will be able to get TiVos directly from the cable company at some point in 2006. ...  Link:  Ars Technica.

TiVo, Comcast reach DVR deal.  Link:  Cnet news.com.

What's Up Atlanta Daybook has a 3/17 interview on this with  Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast.  Thanks to Lost Remote. --Dennis

Mark's Monday Memo, 3/14/2005

Mark Schubin's Monday Memo on digital television for 3/14/2005 has been posted to his archive at digitaltelevision.com. --Dennis

Defining Visions: So Much for Innovation -- Rejoinder

Thanks to Bob Miller from Viacel Corp. for the thoughtful rejoinder to Joel Brinkley's article in Ultimate AV by this name from which I quoted on 6 March. It's in the comments. --Dennis

Progressive peek at TV's Web potential

Paul Andrews writes: "For all the news about phone companies, cable providers and Web portals bringing television to the Internet, a new Seattle-based Web service is helping provide an early glimpse of what TV could look like on the Web. ¶ Although only a few weeks old and still in beta, CommonBits.org is drawing on powerful new downloading, indexing and newsfeed technology under an activist agenda to help independent audio, video and other media find wider distribution and their natural audience. Go to the site and you find all kinds of content, from 'The Daily Show' clips of Jon Stewart monologues to 'Democracy Now' broadcasts. ..." Link: The Seattle Times.

BitTorrent May Prove Too Good to Quash

Rob Pegoraro writes:  "...BitTorrent is different. This free, open-source program offers a spyware- and nuisance-free installation. And while it is certainly handy for downloading movies and other copyrighted material for free, it's also increasingly used to distribute software and entertainment legally.  ¶  This makes BitTorrent not only a fascinating test case for legal experts, but it also looks a lot like the logical fusion of peer-to-peer file-sharing and traditional downloading. It's too robust to stamp out with lawsuits, but too effective not to adopt for commercial use. ..."  Link:  Washington Post.