Hi folks -- amplifying what blogger John wrote about the new In2TV service -- it's a lot cooler than I thought it would be.
Granted, there are a few technical requirements -- you need to be using Windows XP (sorry, Mac/Linux folks), and it seems to be working best with the Microsoft Internet Explorer (though it will accomodate Netscape as well as Firefox [you need the Active X extension]). You also have to have Windows Media Player 10 (I didn't, so I had to install it).
Once you get past all that, though, it's pretty neat. At first, when I saw that Time Warner would be opening up the rerun vaults, I thought it would be all Alice, F Troop, and Welcome Back Kotter -- good stuff, to be sure, but it didn't exactly set my world on fire.
I was kind of surprised, then, to see Babylon 5, La Femme Nikita and V. Score!
You can check out the full list of shows here.
Poking around the big ole sphere o' blogs, I would call the reaction curious and optimistic -- at least, from the people who don't dismiss it out of hand because 1. it's from AOL and 2. it doesn't support Mac or Linux.
Also, the In2TV shows are streamed, not downloadable, and are protected by DRM (Digital Rights Management -- think copy-protection), so you can't copy and share the videos (hence the Windows Media Player 10 requirement).
On the plus side, it is free -- it's ad-supported, though I have read in the industry pubs that there are plans to add premium downloads in the future.
Anyway, if you want to see Teri Hatcher before Desperate Housewives and Dean Cain before, um, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and you don't feel like shelling out for the DVD set, check out Lois & Clark.
(Say, they have have Spenser for Hire, too. I used to wonder why Spenser for Hire was always on the Lifetime channel [you know, "Television for Women"], until some lady friends of mine said "Hey dummy, two words: Robert Urich.")
Switching, um, channels, as you may be aware, CBS is offering March Madness on Demand, where they'll be streaming all the games from the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament, though you may be subject to queuing and blackouts (for local TV coverage). It will be interesting to see how their network holds up and if they can keep up with the demand.
So last year, the online broadcast package was $19.95... this year, it's free, but ad-supported. Why the switch? Not out of the goodness of their cold, cold hearts, of course -- obviously, someone counted the beans and thinks that the ad-supported model could bring in more revenue than charging a premium.
Now, I don't want Jamie and his Sports Bloggers Live goons to rough me up because I didn't plug them as I was mentioning the tournament (not that they need my plugs anyway), so go check out their infinite sports blogging wisdom and go stack up your picks against theirs in the SBL NCAA Tournament Bracket Pool (it's all free, only bragging rights are at stake).
Thanks -- Joe
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3 comments:
I tried it, NOT impressed at all , I got all froze...GGGRRRR had to control alt delete, I am on DSL so I figured it's be slick, but I won't try it again
~Julie
I wanted to see Chico and the man ;-(((
Mine actually worked OK, and I usually have great difficulties with stuff like this. It might run better with Pinky and the Brain cartoons instead of actual live-action real people type stuff.
I was on Spenser For Hire once, as a child. I have no memory of it, but we accidentally walked onto the set in Boston and they told us not to move... they then filmed a scene where Hawk drives by and looks out the window.
At the time, I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to watch SFH, so I don't recall if we ended up in the final cut or not. If you're looking for it, it's the episode where Hawk drives by and looks out the window. I'm the short one.
I would be watching that all the time, but I have a sneaky suspicion that my dial-up won't fare too well with it. :-(
~ Susan
http://journals.aol.com/njmom72/InMyLife
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