SDRNews SDR2009-02-17 Moving Finger of Technology
- Internet Killed the Satellite Radio Star
- Twitter’s Deep Pockets
- Revenge of the Rabbit Ears
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The Moving Finger Writes in Technology
by Andrew McCaskey
And The Finger, Having Writ, moves on..
Two articles today are strangely related – one of the technology of satellite radio and the content providers who’s business has been staked upon it, and the other on the increasing and unexpected role of cheap rabbit ear antennas in the television broadcasting and entertainment business.
The premised of the article in Slate is that to survive, Sirius/XM must realize that they are riding a dead horse technology with impossible cost structures in a world that had irrevocably changed the day that they turned the satellites on. Had they gone to air in 1988, they would have had a twelve or fifteen year period of exclusiveity. As it turned out, they launched in 2001, after Napster – which set expectations of content for free, and after the iPod, which set , along with podcasting, the expectation of infinite variety and the possibility of a match to every taste.
Over the air (OTA) antennas were never more than an afterthought in the video universe as cable and satellite delivery duked it out, with telcos lusting from the sidelines and throwing a punch when they could. Now, the lowly rabbit ear antenna is a significant threat, in a world where Hulu, Boxee, Roku/Netflix, and bittorrent suck away premium content – that is time shifted anyway – leaving only realtime events such as news and sporting events. Nothing melts a $120/month premium satellite package more quickly that good rabbit ears and the speedy broadband that every geek is going to give up only above electricity and mortgage payment.
I could never have imagined the turn of events ten years ago, but the moving finger of time is already in motion. {sharethis}
The quote in full is from Omar Kayam:
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it
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