The Web: A Voice For The Ignorant
Posted by: Rowan in Personal Blog, tags: BBC, DRM, iPlayer, Mac, Microsoft, Tech, Thoughts, TV, WindowsVery few things irritate me more than people who have no idea what they’re talking about mouthing off on the web. And few things entertain me more than their arguments being ripped to pieces by people who have slightly more idea what they’re talking about. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for democracy and free speech and all that, but sometimes I just think people should find out what the hell they’re on about.
The BBC’s iPlayer is a very emotive topic on the web it seems, and in particular the original Windows-only download version. SMPPMS says on the iPlayer forum:
The BBC has rightly been criticised for spending £130 million for developing the download version of the iPlayer which is tied into Microsoft’s Windows Media Player which restricted to Windows Operating systems only. This had very rightly received widespread criticism from the public
And The_Phazer replies:
No it didn’t. The BBC spent £4.5 million on the download version of iPlayer. It spent £130 million on rebuilding it’s infrastructure internally for on demand content provision, the public value test for iPlayer, making available rights for seven days for programmes. All of which had to be done in order to get any platform for iPlayer working, be it Flash, download, Virgin on demand etc.
SMPPMS goes on:
and is being investigated by the EU anti-trust authorities for breach of EU fair competition laws.
And again The_Phazer replies:
No, it isn’t. You’ve just made this up. Lots of open source people read this somewhere and assumed it was true, but it isn’t. In the slightest.
In both cases, The_Phazer is right. In particular the latter part about anti-trust just makes SMPPMS look like an idiot – stating things which are simply untrue rarely makes your argument look credible!
As for spending money on a Windows-only solution, I was one of the critics, and I must admit that since being at the BBC and learning more, I’ve softened. In particular, as The_Phazer points out, the vast majority of the cost was about re-tooling the BBC to support on-demand at all, and is not tied to Windows. I think they made 2 mistakes here though:
- Communication was bad. Most people see all the initial development work and cost as having gone into the Windows Media downloads system. Not true, but understandable misconception, as little effort was made to explain this properly.
- The streaming version of iPlayer was not, as CMPPMS asserts later in his (or her) post, a “U-turn” by the BBC, but rather was always planned. The team should have at the very least made this clear from the very outset, and ideally gone for a concurrent release rather than rushing the download service out of the door first.
I love iPlayer overall. I think it has some way to go, and yes, as a Mac and occasional Linux user I dislike the fact that some of it is Windows-only. But then again as a Virgin Media subscriber I am enjoying the new iPlayer on TV service very much, and I wouldn’t want to be deprived of that just because Sky don’t have the infrastructure and technology to provide the same service to their customers yet. The BBC are doing their best to expand the service onto as many platforms as possible, and yes, mistakes have been made and things have a long way to go. But if you’re going to scream about it on the web, at least get your facts straight.
If you’re interested, I highly recommend reading the whole thread - it’s not too long.
Right, I might go watch something on iPlayer now… And later in the week, I’ll be using the it to catch up on the thoughts of some of the country’s most respected broadcasters on the future of public service broadcasting. I recommend a look!
[Disclaimer: As you probably know, I work for the BBC. However I don't work for the iPlayer team and I don't represent the BBC's views at all here - these are just my personal opinions!]