INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 20 for Windows => Topic started by: 6233638 on November 02, 2014, 06:55:47 am
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So here's the challenge for those who think it's easy to make intuitive software.
I don't think it's easy at all, and I think it's a huge project to do it right.
I'd have to think about it; I'm sure there are maybe a handful of little things which meets this criteria, but those are going to be small conveniences at best.
3. TV setup
I must say that the priority of this is very surprising to me.
Just about everyone has abandoned the idea of using a HTPC to record/watch live TV these days, and streaming services are replacing people's TV subscriptions.
I suppose there's some benefit to being the only company to support it any more, but it isn't something I'd be focusing a lot of development time on - especially if your main development focus is now on Linux to support platforms like the id.
Maybe you could just have the install download a "readme" file with basic setup instructions and/or limited step-by-step guidance to get a new user up and running. The readme file would need to be linked to a "Help" button or "Read this First" link on the JRiver startup/install screen, or it would go unnoticed.
Writing up documentation is a hell of a lot more than an hour's work.
I've probably spent more time than that on some of my posts here, when trying to help with a single problem.
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3. TV setup
I must say that the priority of this is very surprising to me.
Just about everyone has abandoned the idea of using a HTPC to record/watch live TV these days, and streaming services are replacing people's TV subscriptions.
It's clear that the US audience is cutting the cable in favour of mobile TV via internet enabled hand held devices:
http://www.businessinsider.com/cord-cutters-and-the-death-of-tv-2013-11 (http://www.businessinsider.com/cord-cutters-and-the-death-of-tv-2013-11)
... what's not clear from the report above is where free-to-air sits in the mix.
In Australia, I don't have solid stats to hand but most people I know don't pay for TV. They go free-to-air. Where the FTA stations are stepping up, is to provide internet based "catch up" TV and one station advertises popular US / UK shows with the tag line, "we do the downloading, so you don't have to". A shortcoming of internet based TV services in Australia is that the resolution and picture quality still drags behind FTA. So, I'm not convinced that the FTA TV market should not be pursued by JRiver. The current philosophy of not pursuing pay cable / satellite TV seems to make sense in light of the data from sources such as the one above.
The scene in Australia may change once there's wide spread high speed, wide bandwidth broadband internet. That's some years away yet.
Also not statistically solid, I've noticed a number of US users here move to MC's TV offering with comments here on Interact that "I'm cutting / I've cut the cable". So, it's possible that FTA TV in the US has got some life left in it yet.
EDIT: flash just in from one of our resident TV gurus:
Proposed New Television Setup (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92807.msg641151#msg641151)
referring to this report:
http://www.nab.org/documents/newsroom/pressRelease.asp?id=3168 (http://www.nab.org/documents/newsroom/pressRelease.asp?id=3168)
For MC, I'd say it's largely about making the software more usable rather than open heart surgery, so that certainly makes sense if it's easy to implement (i.e. up to 1 hour of effort).
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Don't the ISPs usually cover bandwidth for services like that in Australia though?
I don't know about streaming video specifically, but I know a few people over there who can select their ISP's servers (Internode?) for Steam so that downloading new games doesn't count towards their bandwidth caps for example.
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Also not statistically solid, I've noticed a number of US users here move to MC's TV offering with comments here on Interact that "I'm cutting / I've cut the cable". So, it's possible that FTA TV in the US has got some life left in it yet.
EDIT: flash just in from one of our resident TV gurus:
Proposed New Television Setup (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92807.msg641151#msg641151)
referring to this report:
http://www.nab.org/documents/newsroom/pressRelease.asp?id=3168 (http://www.nab.org/documents/newsroom/pressRelease.asp?id=3168)
Note that within that release (which is over a year old, I didn't find the newer one, though I didn't look hard) they indicate that of that 19% that are OTA-only households, only ~6% were "cord cutters" (meaning, that the remaining were probably never TV subscribers in the first place, or would be if they could afford it).
So, it is a market, and a growing one, but not in the majority. Still, I'd say that the move to online consumption + OTA bolsters the case for improved TV support in MC, not diminishes it.
I wouldn't recommend focusing very much on a Live TV experience (though this is important for certain uses, mostly news and sports), but overall, if that path is increasing as a means for people to get content, that means that fewer people will be using provider-supplied set-top DVRs and they will need a solution. That's exactly why TiVO released an OTA-only version of their hardware. But that thing is flawed in a whole bunch of ways, and TiVO's software is still... Non-ideal (better than the brain-dead provider-supplied DVRs, but still pretty bad).
I also think we're a long way out before a cohesive IP-based solution to TV content distribution solidifies. It will, eventually, but the interests here are powerful and in conflict. Some things will move more quickly (scripted dramas and pay sites like HBO, I'd guess). But others, like Sports, will remain something of a disaster for some time to come.
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I must say that the priority of this is very surprising to me.
Just about everyone has abandoned the idea of using a HTPC to record/watch live TV these days, and streaming services are replacing people's TV subscriptions.
100% !
This is the video from one ISP [1 Go Optical Fiber / Android Box] in France : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvjyJjaHS4w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvjyJjaHS4w)
This is where tech. talks is all about [french] : https://lafibre.info/bbox-ftth/ftth-bouygues-1g/ (https://lafibre.info/bbox-ftth/ftth-bouygues-1g/)
TC
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In Australia OTA FTA TV is required, and it will be for many years. The software could be much better, as shown by past TV solutions, which have since been swallowed up.
My main reason for buying MC was TV support.