HBO Vs. Netflix or Broadcast Vs. OnDemand

A couple of weeks ago I have discontinued my HBO premium package. I am a TimeWarner customer and decided to use the ~$12 a month for a Netflix subscription. While seeing HBO ads all over the subway on my way to work this morning, I was thinking of how dated and irritating the broadcast model is. For ~$12 I got a bunch of oldish movies (6 months+) and a few TV series using the same old model, i.e. 18 new chapters every season. And in between? Reruns of programs of which highlights I can find on YouTube if they were that good.

So why am I comparing to Netflix? For the ability to choose from a wider selection of movies and for the future. The future since I believe Netflix's mindset is positioning them closer to increasing the share of audience and revenues originating from Digital OnDemand consumption of Video Entertainment content. The Netflix Online OnDemand service is pretty poor at this point of time. Limited selection, annoying installation and compromised QoS. I am betting on them to improve it.

For the sake of the future of Online Digital Entertainment I am hoping Netflix will introduce advertising into their OnDemand service. It is the only sound way to battle infringement of copyrights online and drive the cable and satellite companies from the dated premium subscription models.

The PC is getting a tad closer to the TV

Hectic December month have prevented me from updating the blog for a while. A couple of months ago a word of mouth have made me aware of a new device from SanDisk. TakeTv is a conduit that allows for easy transfer and control of content from the PC to the TV. I have claimed for a while that the Internet, in its current consumption mode, is a limited vehicle for monetising video content. I am still disappointed that very little headway is made to bring the PC closer to the TV.

I have yet to try TakeTv but feel that the effort is commendable regardless of the results. You can learn more here http://www.take.tv/.