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Changing of the Content
Guard: Where's the value and who gains?
Other Article: IPTV Client
Browser, MPEG-4 HDTV IPTV, IPTV Reference
Design, TVoBB Service
By Chris Coles,
President/CEO
Myrio, A Siemens company
July 18, 2006
Let’s face it, in today’s world we are all running at a pace faster
then a generation ago. At the same time, technology has granted us
the ability to blend our professional and personal lives. With
mobile phones that are more like mini PCs, to Wi-Fi enabled laptops,
we can work anywhere at anytime. This is why the Digital Home is
becoming our chance to create a personal sanctuary. Picture this: |
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It’s Thursday evening
and the kids have finally fallen asleep. You make yourself
comfortable in front of the television for a little downtime to
watch your favorite television show that you scheduled to record via
your mobile phone earlier that same day. At the conclusion of this
commercial-free show you pull up the school lunch menu on the
television to make sure that you don’t have to prepare a bag-lunch
for your kids. You notice on-screen that your sister is calling, at
the same time your brother shows up on chat session in the lower
corner of your television. You converse/type with them about your
parent’s upcoming anniversary party. Afterwards, you pull up your
work schedule for the next day and review your meetings and a few
emails - all via the television - before heading off to bed.
Centrally located, the living room is becoming the center of your
entertainment and communication environment. The question remains,
however, is Internet Protocol Television, IPTV for short, really the
platform to offer all of these advanced services?
What used to be termed ‘Triple play’- the grouping together of
Internet access, TV and telephone service into one subscription on a
broadband connection -.is now ‘Single play’. Single play is a
one-stop shop that provides everything consumers demand to ensure
their entertainment and communications needs are met. The goal for
service providers is to create the same experience in multiple
environments across the 1 ft (mobile phone/PDA/iPOD), 2 ft (PC) and
10 ft (television) mediums.
To be a truly ‘disruptive’ enabling technology, providers must think
of the consumer first and the technology second. A good example of
this is Apple’s highly successful iPod MP3 player. From a simple,
easy to use platform accompanied with a large selection of the most
popular music (and now video), books and unique content genres, iPOD
has become the de facto widget in helping us stay entertained in a
very complex world. More and more iPODs are popping up all around us
- at the gym, in cubicles and on the bus. To the user, it is a
convenient way to be entertained and unplug from the rest of the
world. To Apple, it is a multi-billion dollar stroke of genius.
How can telecommunications and other broadband or broadcast
providers strike the same accord as Apple? Simple - stay in tune
with the demands of the end-user. While the mainstream public
doesn’t know exactly what IPTV or the Digital Home is what they want
is easy access to their new on-demand movie player or be able to
simply and safely share photos of their teenager’s recent birthday
party. The one commodity that all consumers want and are willing to
pay for is T-I-M-E [Time-saving, Intuitive, Mobile and
Entertaining]. At the end of the day, a service provider can be very
successful by offering a compelling, innovative and economical
bundle of services that will follow this T-I-M-E paradigm.
To capture and accelerate these innovations, two items must be
analyzed.
- Realize that the fulcrum of
power in the consumer marketplace has shifted from the marketer
and retailer to the consumer.
- Operators and network owners
need to accept this shift in power and capitalize (read this as
monetize) by opening into new agreements on who and how their
network will give access to subscribers.
Ultimately this means entering into
business agreements with not only the top content providers (e.g.
Disney, Sony, MGM) but also those content providers that belong to
the “Long Tail” spectrum. These are the video podcasts, the online
garage bands, blogs (both static & video), thereby giving consumers
a way to search effectively and offer suggestions about info-tainment
based on their historical usage and purchasing patterns.
Additionally, some innovative providers will simply make their own
branded content by tapping into those localized sources of content
or jumping head-first into creating or partnering with grassroots
viral type content channels like heavy.com, Rocketboom, iVillage and
Here! - just to name a few.
A new challenge has fallen upon the service providers of the world.
Take the ‘technology’ out of your offerings. Make access and use
simple intuitive and affordable. Provide interesting and personable
content choices. Above all else, make our lives easier. Great
concepts take time. Remember, the iPOD had a long runway to fame
that all began with the Walkman.
Chris Coles
President/Chief Executive Officer
Myrio Corporation, A Siemens company |
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