Monday, August 07, 2006
What Happens When You Have 5000 Channels To Watch
byActually that number may be extremely conservative. With the growth of IPTV the number of “channels” you could watch becomes almost limitless. Presently, your TV gets its programming via a broadcast signal, cable connection or satellite. The amount of programming or number of channels you get is determined by the broadcast signals in range of your TV or by the “package” you have purchased from your cable or satellite provider. At any rate, your options are determined by your geographic location and/or the offerings of the cable and satellite companies.
Now comes IPTV and it is a whole new ball game. With IPTV, your TV can get content via a broadband connection to the Internet just like your computer. That means you can get video content and programming from any website that chooses to deliver it. Just as your computer permits you to see video content from ABC, CNN, ESPN, Major League Baseball, YouTube, video blogs (vlogs) or thousands of other websites, with IPTV your TV will potentially be able to display that same information. And as broadband speeds continue to increase and codecs continue to improve, the picture quality and size of the video you’ll be able to watch with IPTV, will also continually improve. The big television manufacturers are already collaborating to try to create some standards for IPTV that will protect their interests and bring some stability to the growth.
Web 2.0 has allowed ordinary consumers of content on the Internet to also became producers of content via blogs, podcasts, video podcasts, photo-sharing sites, online social networks and Web-enabled video creation/sharing. With IPTV it is reasonable to assume Web 2.0 will beget TV 2.0. If you want to produce your own television soap opera and offer it to the world on television, IPTV will enable it. You can do it today on the Web.
Of course, there will be obstacles. The people who offer cable programming and satellite service would like to continue to control your gateway to your television experience. There is a reason the cable companies, phone companies or satellite providers want to provide your Internet connection, too. That is one of the things that the net neutrality debate is all about. Today on the Web an almost infinite amount of content—written, photo, video, etc—is available to everyone for a similar cost. Yes, some have faster speed broadband, but everyone can still access everything. For some with a slower connection, it just requires more patience. But with IPTV, programming providers such as cable and satellite companies would like to continue to be the arbiters of how much you can see for how much you pay. It’s a divisive issue, but beyond the purpose of this post.
You are going to be hearing a lot more about IPTV whether it is here…India…and all over the world.
