Technology can't win against Big Media

When Intel announced that it was putting together an Internet TV service, I was really excited.  I really want Internet TV to kick off.  I believe it is a new model of media that will lead to a revolution in how we look at content.  It looks like that revolution won't happen any time soon.

I was looking forward to Intel's offering because Intel is a big name company.  Thanks to the Blue Man Group, even grandmothers know who Intel is.  I was sure that big media couldn't ignore such a recognizable brand.  I was wrong.  It appears that this technology giant is failing to deliver.  It is failing not because of a technology limitation or due to bad programming or due to bad project management.  The entire technology part is off the hook.  It is failing because the current media distribution companies (your cable TV providers) have been actively trying to prevent Intel from acquiring media for its service.

You see, companies like Time Warner Cable make lots of money on crap.  By crap, I mean 200 hundred channels with nothing but cats.  It is worse than that though.  The internet has proven that people love cats!  With cable TV, you get hundreds of unorganized channels with no ability to watch on your own schedule.  This is exactly what they want, since those money is made on a per-channel basis.  So, if you only want 20 channels, but you are forced to get 200, you end up paying for the 200 channels.  Profit!

The whole point of Internet TV is to reduce the channel concept and help you find things that you actually would enjoy.  You like MythBusters but you don't like Ghost Hunters...you know (since you like real science) then the Internet TV service recommends shows and/or episodes that match your tastes.  You might find a new show that is good but isn't paying a whole lot for advertising (imagine that!).  You might find an episode of a show that you haven't liked in the passed, but you really enjoy that episode, so it causes you to give it a second look (my wife hated Bones the first time she saw it; now she loved it...pre jumping the shark).

Imagine a system that promotes shows without forcing them to pay large amounts of money for advertising.  Imagine content producers having the ability to reach wide audiences without a lot of startup capital.  Imagine a system where you sit down on the couch, and all the content that you want to watch is sitting in a queue for you to watch, finish, then move on to non-TV related activities.

Youtube and Netflix have a lot of these qualities and features.  I was hoping Intel's service would be a superset of Youtube and Netflix features, plus the only thing that is really required to take on the content distributers.....content.  It looks like the big media empire will continue to live on, though.