I downloaded and installed iPlayer and 4oD this week.

Both of them use a P2P delivery system to deliver DRM content (in the form of WMVs) to play in everyone’s favourite media player - Windows Media Player.

The problem I’ve got now is addiction.  You see, I have 30 days to play the content before it expires and, from clicking play, 7 days to watch it as many times as I want.  Except, I seem to be downloading everything that I can get my hands on - programmes I’ll never watch… programmes I’ve already watched and programmes I might watch if I’m not watching a DVD instead!  And, “out of the box”, I can’t do anything to save them beyond the 30 days.  Oh well, I’ll just have to go cold turkey.  At least, it means I can catch up with some of the programmes that I have been missing in my less than religious TV watching lifestyle.

I have watched a couple of the downloaded offerings and I’m moderately impressed.  Okay, the picture quality isn’t as high as you’d find elsewhere in other formats, but it’s passable, though I am still to output it to my LCD TV.  Maybe that’s something to do at the weekend.

What baffles me is the quality (as I say, it’s passable (more than passable, really.))  Obvioulsy,  the file sizes (your average 45 minute programme from 4oD seems to be about 350MB) and picture quality are linked.  With it being distributed using P2P it’s not like they need a single server to house larger and, therefore, higher quality files on.  Nor are they limited to one download option per file - a different “stream” for each high quality, mid quality and low quality would be a great idea. 

It is ashame that we’re stuck with WMV, possibly simply because they have to build DRM into each offering to satisfy those who fear the mass piracy of The Weakest Link.  Okay, okay, that was being facetious… obviously there’s prime content on there too… Torchwood, Doctor Who (when it returns), Skins and Shameless (for 4oD).  However, I’m willing to bet that the people distributing those shows will be using higher quality masters that they may even have capped themselves (after all, the equipment to do it is so cheap these days!)

All said and done, though, 4oD and BBC iPlayer are definitely a step in the right direction for newer methods of content delivery and it’ll be interesting to see what both systems (which I believe are actually from the same brainchild) have planned for the future.

Mike Abary, representing Sony, recently stated that if the Asus Eee laptop were to catch on with the mainstream it would be a problem for Sony and may lead to a “race to the bottom” insofar as manufacturers having to produce high quality, lowcost hardware to attract the “bottom end” of a market.

Are Sony right to be afraid of the low-spec/low cost Asus Eee or should they be embracing it?

Quite frankly, yes… they should embrace it with open arms and run happily through the poppies with the idea. After all, if consumers are buying the Eee as a secondary laptop, something to just produce quick documents and browse the internet on, or maybe even for their offspring to do their homework without fear of them playing The Sims instead, then surely that’s a great thing… consumers buying a product and using its features, instead of buying a product and being bedazzled by tons of features they’ll never likely ever use.

Yes, it will mean that manufacturers will have to look at just how much they can slim down to reach a certain a price point, but that can only be a good thing too. After all, it must cost to include all those add-ons and integrals that we simply must have!

It won’t suddenly cause the collapse of the laptop market with everyone suddenly plumping for £200 quid ultra-mobile laptops, nor will it mean that people get all confused between a £200 laptop and a £2000 laptop. It’ll simply give the consumer more choice… oh, hold on, the consumer can’t handle choice… perhaps, they can ask someone for advice.

I’d be interested to see a Asus Eee that runs Windows out of the box and still be between £200 and £250, as I think that’ll be the big step as a business/SOHO machine… ideal for doing all those simple Windows-based tasks that businesses need to do.  In addition, the SD card (or maybe, one day, a CF) slot would allow relatively cheap extra storage space to be added… I mean, how much is a 4GB SD card these days!

It’s a bit odd, but a couple of weeks ago I was having a discussion about HD-DVD and a separate discussion about Blu-Ray and I have to say both participants were very passionate about their support for the individual formats and concerned about the other format.

Now, the news has been awash with the “death” of the HD-DVD format thanks to Toshiba pulling their plans and Sony cheering about the success of Blu-Ray.

Has this cleared the path for the future of a single High Definition format?  Yes… well, maybe.

Ask anyone about the disadvantages of Blu-Ray and they’ll mention profiles… profiles… profiles.

Yes, profiles are mentioned frequently.

Basically, the Blu-Ray standard appears to have been based on a series of specification revisions ranging from making certain features optional (in Profile 1.0) such as internet connectivity and picture in picture, through to making everything and its dog mandatory (in Profile 2.0) and specifying 1GB of storage for downloadable content.  To muddy the waters, aside from hardware issues, it is up to the manufacturer to make the firmware available to access the new profile spec - of course, whilst a manufacturer could produce a firmware upgrade from 1.0 to 2.0, they wouldn’t be able to easily produce the hardware spec on older players!

But, does it matter?  Surely, as long as the end user can play the film, that should be enough.  Well, technically, yes.  If you ask average consumers (believe me, I have) about their DVD viewing habits, you’ll find that a lot of them tend to watch just the film, maybe the deleted scenes and that’s it.  Their main concern when choosing a single disc over a multi disc isn’t the raft of features they’ll be getting, but the cost (as in, if it’s an extra couple of quid, they’ll buy the multi-disc.)

What does this say?  Oddly, it’s a bit of a strange one.  Basically, being able to watch the features is an issue.  They may not watch them, but denying them access to them due to player limitations is a problem.  To many, it’ll be the equivalent of buying something and not being able to use it… and it’ll be straight back to the shop for a refund.  Moreover, the consumer won’t care about whether it’s a hardware issue or not, they’ll just see that their expensive player won’t play a feature on a disc that they paid about £20 for.  They’ll see that the Blu-Ray disc won’t play on their Blu-Ray player.  Which do you think they’re going to complain about?

Don’t believe me! Let’s look at an old fashioned DVD as an example.  When The Matrix DVD was first released it was one of the earliest examples I know about of a DVD that caused problems for early players - for a variety of reasons, consumers found they’d have video stuttering or not playing at all, sound problems and even menu difficulties.  The problems weren’t restricted to unbranded or “poor” brand players; the likes of Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic had problems with the disc.  Okay, the issue here was that the manufacturer hadn’t followed the DVD specification to the letter, but the way many consumers saw it was that the DVD disc wouldn’t play on their much more expensive player, not that their expensive player wouldn’t play the disc.  How long will it be before a Blu-Ray DVD won’t play on an early profile machine due to the implementation of the playback specification - after all, Blu-Ray Profile 2.0 is still as much Blu-Ray as Blu-Ray 1.0, surely!

We can use all the usual complaints about consumers that we often hear where electrical equipment is concerned - “They should have done their research,” “They get what they pay for.” “It’s their own fault for adopting early.” It’s nice to be in a position of superiority… until it happens to us.  Of course, when people were buying Profile 1.0 players they weren’t in possession of a crystal ball to say what the future held and what they wouldn’t be able to do.

Am I against the Blu-Ray HD standard?  Absolutely not.  I am happier now that a decision (rightly or wrongly) has been made on the future of the format, thanks to market forces.  I’ve chosen not to adopt as early as I did when I switched from video to DVD, but I guess I will do soon.

A UK Governmental green paper - a report proposed with no promise of action - has been issued suggesting that internet users who download copyrighted material should be under a “three strikes” policy.

Firstly, you get a warning. Second, suspension from your ISP. Finally, a ban from the ISP.

It potentially replaces a rumoured voluntary system by, if it ever comes to fruition, making it a legal requirement.

Whilst it does sound like an interesting proposal, it does beg the question of what stops the banned individual popping up again on one of the many, many, many competing ISPs? Would the ISPs share ban data with each other?

Recently, the EU sided with the ISPs by refusing copyright holders the blanket right to obtain details of those downloading material illegally. Basically, this means that members of the EU aren’t compelled to hand over details at the drop of a hat. Not that they wouldn’t, of course, if they so wanted.

With the whole file-sharing issue being more a civil crime than a criminal one, it looks like it’s going to convince the public that downloading songs and movies is wrong. Is it likely to work out? or is piracy just something that the big companies will just have a “write off”? Is there a difference between the “casual pirate” and those that download to sell/trade/share?

Personally, I have no doubt that no matter what the industry puts into place piracy will still continue. Whilst companies have to make money, there will always be people unwilling to pay. Even with DVDs costing a few pounds now (in the many sales and offers), I still ended up in a conversation where the gist was “It’s still four quid or free.”

UPDATED 16 February - I have now changed the spelling of “jist” to “gist” - which is the correct spelling of the word.  I feel suitably ashamed and appreciate the sarcasm (at least I hope it was) of the individual who thinks I shouldn’t be writing a column due to this fact.  Thank you.

Sooooo, E4 has decided to premiere the second season of Skins on MySpace, albeit in segments ahead of a full online screening on the E4 website, and then a traditional (digital) screening on E4 on 11th February.

Why should we care about this?

It’s definitely an interesting way of debuting a programme, especially one that has proven as popular as Skins amongst the teenage (and older) demographic and definitely tunes into the market they are aiming for.  During the first season run, E4 posted short extensions (pretty much deleted scenes) exclusively on their website and have done something similar in the run up to the second series, as a series of “lost episodes”.  They’ve even gone as far as advertising the online offerings on Channel 4 and E4 television channels.  It’s a convergence of media that, thanks to the things like YouTube and MySpace, has allowed people to share their interest in the programme, whereas previously they may have passively viewed the offering on the C4 website - MySpace and YouTube allow them to instantly appraise what they are seeing (for better or for worse.)  Instead of just being passive recipients of televisual content, they can actually interact as part of a growing community, sharing their interest and inviting others to join them.  The TV is no longer moving wallpaper, the Idiot’s lantern or the gogglebox and people don’t have to wait until work the next day to talk about a programme… instead, they can do it there and then, knowing that others watched it with them (but in a small window and maybe a bit jerky.)

It’s not all about the online debut of course… sticking it on the website first, in a lower quality, will probably cause more people to tune into the first episode on E4 to see it in its full higher-resolution glory.  It’ll be interesting to see if viewing figures for the online broadcast are available and how these compare to Season 1’s premiere and the Season 2 broadcast premiere.

But, then we hit another consideration… instead of being a viable alternate offering, could online video delivery be nothing more than another method of advertising a programme to garner higher ratings.  Hopefully not, hopefully we’ll all be given the opportunity to see more programmes as “first-run” online, in higher quality, sometime in the very, very near future.

Okay, okay, my stance has changed slightly over the past year and a bit what with the acquisition of a MacBook and, at work, an iMac to call my (almost own), so I must admit I was very, very nearly tempted to forget eating for a few months and buy myself a fancy Macbook… then I took a breath.

The morning after the Steve Jobs keynote, people came up to me asking if I had seen the Jobs keynote… for a moment, I did wonder if they were referring to jobs-as-in-careers, but they actually meant the keynote. Now, you see, I hadn’t watched it and I hadn’t been privy to endless phone calls from colleagues and friends updating me on the ground breaking announcements being made. You see, I don’t tend to sit around watching keynote speeches or waiting for big announcements to be made because I am, first and foremost, a consumer. I appreciate that some people do - for example, the wonderful fellows at the perennial source of all IT news that is ITPro (I’m not sucking up, honest…) are (hopefully) paid to keep on top of what’s happening in order that people like myself can keep track, in our own way, without the presence of large envelopes and gasps of awe.

Anyway, I digress (as always) and must now chip in about the Macbook Air.

I nearly ordered one from Apple. I was stunned by how thin it was, how light it was (I guess… it’s difficult to gauge from the pictures) and how new it looked. I was amazed by the functionality that they’ve managed to cram in there and felt confident that, having used a Toshiba Portege 3500 TPC for over 3 years ago, I wouldn’t miss the optical drive. I was relishing the option of dual booting Mac OS X or Windows Vista. I even liked the idea of being able to put more into my bag, thanks to something so slim it makes Posh Spice look portly. Then, I stopped…

Why? I hear you ask (don’t talk to the screen, you’ll look mad!) Was it the 3 week wait? Was it the £1200 price tag? Was it the fact that I am using a perfectly functional, if somewhat discoloured, first-gen Macbook?

No, No, Maybe. That, and it lacks Firewire and I have access to Firewire enabled camcorders and hard drives and don’t fancy replacing. It is awkward (or maybe impossible) to increase the RAM or replace the battery. I could get a Macbook Pro, which is still wonderfully slim and has many, many more features for a similar price. Hold on, fixed battery and good looks - it’s the iPod of laptops.

Yes, I know that the Air is aimed at a niche market - I guess the type who can drop more than a grand on something stylish - but I do use my Mac for a variety of features, including video editing and I’ve shoved more than 1 CD into the SuperDrive! The Air definitely has that Wow factor, but that won’t be my reason to purchase.

The clock radio, the windup torch radio, the game watch, and that little watch that I had in the 80s that turned into a little robot to cash in on the Transformers craze (first time round) - each has had it’s place in the technological history of our times.

However, let’s see, why didn’t anyone think of this before? - a taser with a built in music player.

Yes, launched at CES 2008, Taser International announced the device as an ideal tool for joggers and other people who are out and about to protect themselves, their technology and still listen to the latest choons, albeit with only 1gig of storage space.

What next? Perhaps if this isn’t successful, we could have a Magnum with built in video player. I can pretty much guarantee that nobody will try to rob you of that or complain about your choice of entertainment ever again!

For years we’ve been hearing how high street and destination retail is losing out to its online competitors. I guess the key exception to this would still be food shopping. It comes about, usually, this time of year or when a high street retailer suddenly hits difficulty. But is it all just doom-sayers saying doom for the sake of doom saying?

But, what draws people the high street?

For me, it’s still the destination for impulse buying as opposed to planned purchasing (invariably, all my pre-orders for DVDs, for example, tend to take place online) and just generally having a browse. It’s also nice to actually be able to talk to someone, as opposed to spend hours trawling websites for information. The internet is wonderful for research, if you’ve got the time and the inclination - but it’s still nice to actually talk. And, as much as I hate the hustle and bustle of the high street especially around sale time, it’s still nice to have a particular product there-and-then. I know some of the sales prices are just the same as online prices elsewhere but, if I’m being honest, it makes no difference to me whether I buy from HMV, Virgin/Zavvi or WH Smiths for a fiver, or online for a fiver… it’s still a fiver, I’m not being conned into paying more!

Even thinking about my online habits, I tend to buy from only a small number of online retailers. My reasoning for using Play.com, for example, isn’t to do with being the cheapest, but to do with excellent customer service. I know that I could find any particular DVD cheaper by trawling through one of a dozen other sites, but I prefer convenience (unless there’s an absolute killer of a saving to be made.)

I’ve recently been attracted to www.hotukdeals.com as a source of finding killer deals quickly, though obviously they can’t cover everything!

A number of retailers have started to bridge the gap between their online/high street realm with something that I’m sure will be christened (by me, mainly) clicks-and-mortar (if it hasn’t already.) It’s nice to be able to reserve something at an online price and pick it up instore, though obvious it still will never be as cheap as with online only presences. It is, however, a step in the right direction.

Whatever I do buy online or in stores, it tends to be physical. I went through a brief phase of buying digital music from a variety of online stores, but found it a bit disappointing. I guess there’s something to be said for actually having a physical product in front of me.

What are other people’s buying habits? Do you (or would you) buy everything online? Or do you mix the two? Is there anything you definitely wouldn’t buy online? Can you impulse buy online? And, do you really think the days of the high street are numbered?

Could this be a turning point for torrent tracker sites?

TorrentSpy has lost  its legal case with the Motion Picture Association of America after it was discovered that those involved in the case had taken deliberate steps to delete tracking data - IP addresses and server logs - despite an order that they retain the data.

The odd thing here is that the data they were being asked to hand over had been stored in RAM and, despite their insistence that such data is temporary, they failed to convince the judge.   The judge accused the defendants of systematic and widespread attempts to destroy evidence - I guess that there’s more to this than just a reboot.

Could this herald a change of direction in the world of torrent trackers?  Many are pretty vocal about their status - the idea that they do not hold any of the actual data being served, that they are only a gateway - pretty much a Google for torrents.  Is it possible that these sites, like TorrentSpy and the many before them, are actually breaking the law either intentionally or unintentionally?   And, what lies in the future for file-sharing?  P2P hasn’t died, alt.binaries newsgroups are still alive and kicking, whilst the torrent concept is still a robust one, but what do people think will be the “next generation” of file sharing?

“The government needs to ensure greater protection for people’s personal information,” begins a BBC News online report from the thinktank Demos.

I feel that my career direction should head towards thinktanks at some point or another because without them we’d not be able to see the blatantly obvious!

The loss of discs of data by any organisation is a bit of misfortunate, but add this to the loss of god knows how many laptops and a belief that “we’re pretty sure they haven’t fallen into the wrong hands” is downright bizarre. I bet if they’d been asked a few weeks before the event, those in the know would have crowed “we’re pretty sure that the data will be safe.” I guess we should just be glad that it wasn’t a print out with a fancy cover and a little tiny girls’ diary padlock on the front - though that would have probably proven more secure.

Surely, it is implicit in the nature of any organisation handling data that said data, regardless of the “importance” is handled in a secure, confidential manner that is fit for purpose! Procedures should exist for the protection of all data handled, in the same way that one wouldn’t give out your own home address, telephone number and bank account details to anyone who just happened to ask for them. Oh, wait a minute, some people would.

Anyway, I digress. I do believe that any government should share with us details about how data pertaining to us is being used and how this could impact on our lives - after all, banks and loan companies advise us when you apply for a loan/credit card any other services - they advise us of the credit agency that they will refer to and, in theory, we can have this data sent to us and corrected if the need is there. Companies can also be asked to make available to us, under the Data Protection Act, information that they hold about us - I guess this could even stretch, if it doesn’t already, to being able to access CCTV recordings. Data, not the information that the data becomes once interpreted, seems to be the true currency of our time. We can’t escape this fact and nor should we expect to. Sadly, we are only a number to some organisations and, furthermore, it seems the government of today (as with many organisations the world over) is quite happy to forget that behind that number there is a person .