Google TV really looked like a legitimate contender for my living room until these words were confirmed by Google TV project manager, Rishi Chandra: “Google TV ads will not be skippable”. Bummer. If you think about it though, Google is a company that thrives off of advertising. Of course they’re going to do anything and everything in their power to get ads in your face. Except with Google TV, these ads will supposedly be more targeted than ever, somehow equating to a winning solution for end users.
We’ll see about that.
Still think Google TV is all it’s cracked up to be?
Ubergizmo
As if we needed another reason to hate the MPAA — SOC will live on, invading our homes and gadgets effectively neutering them. Now, if you’re one who doesn’t record videos via analog outputs on devices, you have nothing to worry about. But for those who do, you have plenty to worry about. From here on out, any media the MPAA feels is “too new” or valuable will have the switch flipped, rendering those analog outputs on your TV, cable, or satellite boxes completely useless, leaving you without your paid for content thanks to the new, official bill by the FCC (PDF)…
- October 14, 2009 12:17 pm
Oh the irony. DVR’s have been happily pleasing end users such as you and I for years. For one, we can break free from the network’s schedule and instead enjoy our TV when wewant to. Second, we can rid our lives of the hell that commercials wreak. From the beginning, TV networks, advertisers, and content owners off all kinds have spoken out again and again of how DVR’s are a poison and how they’ll kill the TV industry. Riiiiight. Kill their over-inflated profit margins, maybe. Kill TV? Hardly. So it’s quite ironic to learn that as DVR’s proliferate further into the mainstream, invading our homes, that TV viewership actually has actually been increasing!
According to USA today, DVR’s now make up 1 in 3 homes which is a considerable bump from 27% of just one year ago. Shows across all several networks such as Fox’s “Dollhouse” have gained 37% while NBC’s “Heroes” saw a 27% gain in viewership in the last year with much of that attributed to delayed viewing via DVR’s. While these are some of the more extreme examples, they’re hardly the only shows or networks benefiting from DVRs.
Isn’t it funny that once big content owners get over the fears of “new technology” and actually start embracing it instead of trying to shield themselves from it, how everyone, both producers and consumers alike simply get along so much better? Now, I’m not about to go hug an NBC producer or writer, but the fact I can now watch Heroes *mostly* free of commerciasl and when I want means I’ll be more likely to continue watching that channel and show. Agreed?
When will they learn…
Fark > USA Today
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- September 3, 2009 2:54 pm
Theres nothing like a little anti-consumer, DRM loving propaganda to get you in the mood to slap a kitten and make new friends in the slammer. The latest bout of stupidity and utter ignorance comes to us from none other than the MPAA. For some time now they’ve been trying to break everyone’s DVR so that we can’t record what we watch. They claim such devices hurt sales, artists, and promote piracy — all of which are baseless claims based on fear and the never ending sense of entitlement, trying to squeeze every last penny from consumers. The latest in the plans to rape us all is yet again the same man beating the same horse. They’re on their knees begging, pleading with the FCC to allow some sort of “selective control output” which is really a fancy way of saying disabling your DVR from doing it’s intended job.
One thing we all have to recognize up front is the people that really spend the majority of their time pirating content will get around any and every new scheme companies such as the MPAA come up with while honest unaware customers will be burned by expensive DVR’s that don’t…well…record.
Moving on, one would think the MPAA, RIAA, and every other entitlement driven group of thieves would realize that if people aren’t willing to pay for something, it’s more than likely because it’s garbage. Make something people actually find value in and you’ll find people lining up to pay for said content left and right. Simply shaking a stick at them, groveling to your mommy, and breaking our toys aren’t going to help. The more the MPAA and mobs like them try to force even tighter DRM controls on us, the more consumers will turn to less legitimate sources, and the more profits will fall. Guaranteed!
TechDirt
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- February 6, 2009 11:43 pm
The MPAA, the ugly sibling of the RIAA is pushing FCC to pass legislation that would allow them to use “Selective Output Control”. This SOC will allow them to block certain movies/programs from being recorded on your DVR. Anyone with a single lonely brain cell can see that this is bogus B.S. and is a cheap (in reality expensive for the consumer) ploy to get consumers to pay “extra content” that they’ve already paid for. The MPAA claims that by allowing SOC to be used that they could offer “more choices” and release movies early, even before they hit DVD. Now, politicians are the furthest things from technologically intelligent so they can’t help it I guess. But, they fail to realize that they have the ability to release content early already. They don’t need SOC. I hope at least one person breaks into the 21st century and realizes the sham that is unfolding or else consumers will get taken once again.
Source: Tech Dirt
