TVersity allows media to be streamed to my Sony PlayStation 3 via the home network. I first thought it'd be useful as I could listen to any of 8000+ music files through my home theatre system. I'd need not load them via my computer anymore. Of course, also being able to read thousands of personal photo archives off my external drive and display them on the larger, living room Toshiba screen promised to be fun too.
I had never seriously considered video podcasting as promising technology. After all, I'd not want to watch the tiny screen of a portable device, I thought. Now, I realize how useful Internet delivery of broadcasting may eventually become. With a Canadian Internet provider, it's not possible to watch U.S. television over IP. The networks block access. I'm especially disappointed in not being able to participate in www.hulu.com. However, the Internet is going to be a major means of delivery sooner than some might believe. A dozen years ago it was best practice not to create a web page that had over 50K of photos and text. Then, when radio first started arriving by IP, I wondered if we'd ever have sufficient bandwidth for such an extravagance.
I find it a little ironic that I'm enamoured by high definition content via satellite or Blu-ray but that I'm still so willing to watch grainy video on the 42" LCD. This playing around seems so refreshingly pioneering though. Yesterday, being able to watch live television from Sri Lanka was magic, although the teledrama was little better than a slide show of blurry images on the big screen.
I had been very skeptical of those who dismiss the importance of new high-definition discs. These people have written that Blue-ray's lifetime will be limited as the last physical medium. Their proclamation about the immediate future being in downloads seemed so pie-in-the-sky. Haven't those pundits witnessed how much time it takes just to download a movie trailer? I do admit I felt more than a little thrilled when throwing video around the network though. Demand will guarantee broad enough broadband. I'm a reluctant convert.