I love to pick on technology dogmas. There is absolutely no reason to ever be religious about technology. The internet is not now, nor will it ever be the be all end all that some portray it to be. Its has reached the point of diminishing returns after 15 years of excitement, just as PC CPUs, Windows Software, Desktop PCs and many other formerly exciting technologies have.
I happen to think that there is much more excitement and opportunity on networks that offer gigabits of bandwidth, personalization and high levels of quality of service than on the internet. But thats just me.
As much more opportunity as I believe there is, its not a slamdunk that these networks will dominate because their owners have not historically been innovators as a regular matter of business. Fortunately, I think thats starting to change, but its not a given it will accelerate.
The most evident example of this is the DVR. There is absolutely no reason for any cable or telco video subscriber to have a DVR in their home. None. Just as Yahoo Mail, Hotmail and GMail moved our email storage from our PCs to their storage farms, our 2 way video providers should be moving our DVR storage to HardDrive Storage farms. In fact, its even easier than it sounds. Rather than having a show like Lost stored across thousands of DVRs across their subscriber base, they can just store 1 copy and share it.
Its crazy that every set top box has an 80gbs or bigger harddrive and the electronics to add more storage. All they do is jack up the cost for the provider and the consumer. Its a no win situation.
So why does it occur ? Because the 6 or so major media companies that control all the biggest TV networks won’t let the cable and telcos do the right thing and offer networked DVRs. Its been 2 years since Cablevision was sued for offering a Network DVR and a year since they lost the case. Could the big media companies be any more ridiculous ? Chalk this up as one more reason why the consolidation of media power in the hands of just a few major media companies is a bad thing. This belongs right up there with the RIAA suing every grandmother they can find in levels of stupidity.
But wait, there is more. A properly designed network dvr can completely destroy Apple TV and every other wanna be in home internet video to the TV solution. How ?
Nodular Hosting
Whats that ?