Viodi View - May 25th, 2005 Issue

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Viodi View Newsletter - May 25th, 2005

IP Video @ Supercomm

Local Content in Oregon
Parenting and Local Content
IP Video @ Supercomm - Going, Going.....
Kink-Free Telecom - Live and In-Person
The Difference Between IPTV & TV Over the Internet
An Interesting Interactive Application
People on the Move
The Korner: Is This the Start of a Mid-Life Crisis?

Penny-wise, pound foolish -I must admit that adage applies to me way too often. Once in awhile, I break with my modus operandi and actually consider the full life-cycle costs of a purchase. Hertz and their “Gold Club” service is one of those rare companies where I will actually spend a little bit more to save a little bit of time. Bypassing rental car lines is a great relief after a day of rushing through airports, which is what Hertz allows me to do. This past trip was even more pleasant as Hertz gave me a chance to test out a re-born muscle car from the 60s; more on that fun experience in this week’s korner.

Local Content in Oregon

Monday’s travel took me to the Great Northwest, where I got to do my favorite Viodi activity; participate in a Local Content Workshop. I am really blessed with the many opportunities to meet independent telcos, but this is probably my favorite event as it is very intimate and is a great chance to hear the perspectives of all kinds of independent telcos. I am continually impressed with the independent telcos and their efforts to build their communities.

I am also impressed with the caliber of speakers that join me in these workshops. Thomas Crowell, of the Law office of Thomas Crowell, discussed the all important topic of Intellectual Property. This is the third time I have heard this basic talk and each time I pick up another subtly about Intellectual Property. As a service to the Viodi View readers, I will publish another portion of his talk. You can see the last segment we published by

Clicking Here

Parenting and Local Content?

Another guest speaker who was a last minute, but wonderful, addition to the program was Kathy Calcagno. Kathy is the producer/host of a show, Parenting TODAY, which is broadcast in Portland on the WB affiliate. Like many independent telcos, Parenting TODAY, is truly a “mom and pop” effort. Two people create this weekly series that, 20 years ago probably would have required a staff of 20 people. This is a talented duo, but Kathy proves that one does not need prior video experience to be a successful content creator.

A banker by trade, Kathy made the jump into video production, a little more than a year ago. Now, she logs the tapes, writes the scripts, finds sponsors, sells ads, is the on-air talent and ensures that clearances and rights are obtained. Her story is inspiring to any telco wanting to move into this business. Going forward, there could be some interesting opportunities for independent telcos to work with this content creation company.

At the last workshop, one of the telcos brought along a representative from their local school board, which was a brilliant way to motivate members of the community to create content. Involving the youth community is another tactic that has a huge potential. One of the attendees of this month’s workshop was a father-son combination. The 15-year-old son is already very adept at creating videos for his Church, his dad’s publicly traded company and his school. You will be seeing and hearing more about this young man’s initiative in future issues of the Viodi View (first, I want to make sure I get proper permissions).

Thanks to Tut Systems for opening their facility to Viodi. They showed us a working MPEG-4 system in their lab and explained that they have shipped two MPEG-4 headends to customers. Now, the set-tops just need to catch-up.

A special thanks to Sarah Mason and DV411 for their support of the Local Content Workshop. Definitely give them a call if you are need of video production equipment for your content creation needs.

IP Video @ Supercomm - Going, Going.....

Content creation is one of the many topics that will be discussed at the LAST EVER IP Video @ Supercomm conference. It will be the last ever, because, this is Supercomm’s last year! I know this is a blatant, self-promotional plug for the conference, but I am truly excited by the program we have put together. The presentations have been flying in over the electronic transom and there are some really good pearls from the 40+ speakers. Viodi is co-producing this conference with USTA (check out this really cool press release by clicking here– it is nice to have an editor; thanks Allison Remsen), so I hope to see you in Chicago.

I was not able to get a critical mass of participants for a Sunday afternoon family picnic at Supercomm, so Viodi will not be producing any sort of after-hours event at Supercomm. Entone and a host of their partners will be throwing a big shindig at the House of Blues on Tuesday night. If this is of interest, please RSVP to Van Nguyen, [email protected]. I will be there with Jane and a bunch of other Viodites (hmmm, if you mispronounce it, it kind of sounds like vidiots) for the festivities.

Note, the IP Video @ Supercomm does require separate registration from Supercomm. Register by Friday to get a discount. Last year it was sold out and we were turning people away, because the room was not big enough.

Special Offer just for Viodi View Readers:

Viodi View member who register for C-COR's Global IP Summit will receive the following:

$400 discount on registration fee (only $895)
Access to ALL panels for the entire two-day conference
Complimentary invitation for the Gala Dinner at Casa Batlló

When registering, enter code 518 in the Sponsor box to get this discounted offer.

Kink-Free Telecom - Live and In-Person

In the last issue of the Viodi View, I mentioned that I was in Michigan learning about Telecom in this state that has been a leader in telecom reform since the early 90s. One of the things that makes Michigan’s Telecom policy unique is that the legislature has to address the rules every five years; which chronologically is a short time, but, in telecom years, is a lifetime.

The idea behind this sort of law is that regulation of a rapidly changing industry, such as telecom, must be regularly reviewed so that it does not become outdated and stifle innovation and progress. Michigan’s Telecom Act is about to expire and the Telecommunications Association of Michigan is arguing that the rules need to be tweaked to reflect the massive technology and business changes that have occurred in telecom since 2000.

Their Annual meeting reflected this theme, which TAM describes as, “working out the kinks.” TAM smartly created a catchy graphic that depicts a couple of tin cans connected by a curly-cue string. What impressed me about this annual meeting was that it mixed informative presentations along with an exhibition floor that had exhibits that focused on the services to be offered. SBC’s display of its U-Verse product offering had to impress the many state legislators that attended this 2 day event.

Click to see larger image

Click here to learn more.

The Difference Between IPTV & TV Over the Internet

Being quoted in the same article as SureWest Communications CTO, Bill DeMuth, is a great honor. The author of this article, Geoff Daily, does a good job distinguishing between IPTV & TV over the Internet. A similar article by Mike Quigley President and Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel in Business Week also does a pretty good job of charactering the differences.

One note of caution is that many pundits are underestimating the ability of cable and, even satellite, to provide the same interactive functionality as IPTV. Features like multiple camera angles, which I hear touted over and over like they are a new concept, were commercially proven in the early 1990s by Canadian cable pioneer Videotron over coaxial cable television plant. The MSOs will roll out these features as needed in order to stay competitive, so telcos need to realize that IPTV is not going to be the single silver bullet that restores their preeminence in the telecom field.

An Interesting Interactive Application

Image Courtesy of Digisoft.tv - taken at IPTV 2005

Speaking of interactive applications that could be accomplished over IPTV or cable television plant, in the last issue I mentioned being impressed with Digisoft.tv’s two-screen interactive television application. Using a standard Sprint PCS picture phone, they snapped a photo of Peter Lowten and I and sent it to an ADB hybrid RF/Ethernet set-top box [an aside; this box could be real interesting for a hybrid RF/Ethernet, Fiber to the Home video system]. Click here to reference the full article from the last issue of the Viodi View.

People on the Move:

As some of you may have noticed, Jerry Brandt, who will be giving a very informative talk at the IP Video @ Supercomm on content requirements, has joined Intel.

Wayne Gaudette, an old pal from my Raynet daze, has just accepted a Regional Vice President position at Bigband Networks. When Wayne and I were at Raynet in the 1992/93 timeframe, we worked on a “triple play” project with Bell of Pennsylvania whereby we were going to extend the campus’s cable and data system to off-site apartments. Bell of Pennsylvania bought and installed the equipment and we were ready to go, but regulatory challenges shut down the service before its launch. The ironic thing is that Scott Sandall of D & E will be talking at IP Video @ Supercomm about a similar service that D & E offers to those very same apartments.

Congratulations to Jerry and Wayne in their new adventures.

The Korner: Is This the Start of a Mid-Life Crisis?

When I first stole a look at the new Mustang about a month ago, Paris Hilton’s allegedly trademarked phrase, “that’s hot”, came to mind. The Ford designers were able to capture the essence of the original Mustang from its glory muscle car days, giving it a distinctive, yet nostalgic look. Let me be clear, I believe that the first priority of a car should be economical transport. As such, I almost always rent a sub-compact which saves a buck or two in rental fees and allows me to eek a little more mileage from the little car’s thimble-size gas tank.

One can imagine my delight when I saw that Hertz had upgraded my sub-compact car to a factory fresh, 2005 Mustang for my travels around Portland this week. The soft-top convertible version I drove was noisy, as would be expected. I was pleasantly surprised, however, that I could fit my over-packed suitcases into this car’s relatively small trunk. Two people could comfortably vacation in this sporty speed machine, but it would probably be impossible to travel with a family of four and their associated luggage.

Make no mistake; this car is really a two-seater meant for the open road and to be driven by free-spirited, middle-age krazies like me. The surprising amount of front seat leg room coupled with the bucket seats and the full-length headrest makes for a comfortable seating arrangement. With big round dials reminiscent of the original Mustang, the instrumentation panel harkened back to the days of when the world was analog.

The thing that really impressed me was the raw power. It felt like wild mustangs were under the hood, as a gentle touch of the gas pedal resulted in a testosterone-rush of rather rapid acceleration. I did detect the faint scent of burning rubber at least one starting line – I mean stop light. It was probably a good thing that the thoroughfares in the “City of Roses were somewhat congested, as there is nothing worse than getting a speeding ticket where traffic school is not a viable option.

I just hope my fleeting infatuation with this Detroit iron is not an indication of something bigger – something like a mid-life crisis. Please feel free to initiate an “intervention”, if I exhibit the tell-tale signs associated with this affliction – signs such as, I become a snappy dresser, my hair is colored (and combed) and you notice syringes in my personal effects that look like they could be from do-it-yourself, anti-wrinkle treatments (if such a thing exists).

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