Cablevision's idea to move the DVR to the headend appears to gain some weight as the Supreme Court has rejected arguments by studios and content creators. "The media companies have argued that the use of network DVR, where the programs are stored on the cable company’s servers—in the cloud, as today’s lingo would call it—and “streamed” on demand when users request/record it, violates copyright laws" But is there really a difference between saving shows remotely or saving them on a centralized server. Probably not. My biggest concern is that the current DVRs used by cable companies offer a limited search and playback experience.
Unlike Tivo, their functionality and design are clunky. What's to change even though the programs are saved centrally. Ultimately, it is the software and viewer experience that will determine success. And perhaps it offers Tivo a valuable opportunity to offer its expertise to Cablevision to create a better user experience.
Or will the DVR become an outdated, obsolete product. Once content is available online for distribution across any platform, will the concept simply go away. Why copy for later when it is always available, always on-demand.
On our Verizon FIOS VOD, all of NBC's shows are offered with pause, rewind, and FF disabled. Seeing as no other network's shows are saddled with these restrictions, I can only assume NBC requested it.
ReplyDeleteIf the network DVR concept were to take flight, it's possible that the same kind of restrictions might be offered.