More often nowadays it seems as if new technology is being developed to change the way people recieve information and entertainment. Some of these new technologies are helpful and others are just new ways of looking at doing things for future reference. I think that this new way of downloading television material on to personal computers is a great idea. Today more and more people whether its for business or pleasure are using they're computers more and more not just adults but kids as well. I think what Time Warner is presenting here will give the paying customer more variety of what content they want to view. I am a bit curious about the idea of shows deleting after a certain experation date. I think if it is possible they should try and make the service more like a DVR as well. That would allow subscribers to save a show they really like and record and fast forward to they're favorite spots within the shows they download. Along with the type of downloaded content that is available I would like to know how companies if at all would advertise during these types of shows downloaded? Read the article below and comment on what you think!
March 30, 2009, 12:05 am — Updated: 12:06 am -->
In Milwaukee, HBO on the Laptop, Only For Subscribers
By Brian Stelter
In Monday’s New York Times, Brad Stone and I report on tests by cable and satellite companies to create a subscriber model for TV viewing on the Internet. Worried that the proliferation of free video on the Web, the distributors want to make available an online library of TV episodes, but only to customers who pay for a cable or satellite subscription.
In Milwaukee, Time Warner Cable is already testing a similar service. Through the one-year-old HBO on Broadband product, cable customers who already pay for HBO are able to log in to a software program and select which TV shows and films they want to download. The Internet content mostly mirrors what HBO makes available through its cable video-on-demand platform; shows and films rotate in and out of availability, and they are automatically deleted from the computer when they expire.
Kurt S. Bocksenbaum, 45, subscribed to HBO solely because he wanted to use the broadband service. Now he downloads programs like “Big Love” directly to his computer. “I hope that this is extended to other channels,” he said.
Customers are allowed to set up five accounts for each household. Mr. Bocksenbaum’s daughter Elizabeth, age 4, has already learned how to download the animated series “I Spy” onto her child-sized laptop. When HBO on Broadband was announced last year, The Times reported:
While most networks have embraced browser-based streaming video, HBO’s programming is to be watched in a separate computer application that downloads shows to the hard drive. It may face several hurdles: the program is available only on Windows PCs initially; the downloaded content cannot yet be transferred to portable devices; and the content expires four weeks after being downloaded.
The application has some innovative features. It allows users to set up accounts for each family member, and the attached parental controls can block violent or explicit content. It also lets users watch the live televised version of HBO, a feature that may appeal to subscribers who are away from home.
Some HBO customers in Wisconsin say they especially like the download functionality. Rebecca Lavoy, 33, started using the service late last summer to entertain her children when they spend weekends at a cabin in Illinois.
“On rainy days we had nothing for our kids to watch except the same DVDs, and they were sort of bouncing off the walls,” she said. With the broadband service, “we could download a couple shows for the kids and a couple shows for us.”
Time Warner Cable said it did not have a reliable estimate of how many customers are using HBO on Broadband in Milwaukee. Still, the service could be a harbinger of TV’s future on the Web; Time Warner expects to begin broader trials of an authentication system for online TV viewing by this summer.
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