Convergence III

The story of the Apple TV is a neat one. All the creativity, etcetera.
I don’t have one yet, so I was prepared to burn a vCD with the video episode from iTunes I was going to download. The download process was as slow as eMule and more so than with a torrent, so I had to wait one full day at my DSL’s wild speed.
Well, my disbelief was total when, after trying to burn the file, I was repeatedly given a mildly obscure error message. Only a HELP notice actually told me (and only well after the download) that iTunes doesn’t allow to burn videos on CD or DVD’s.

Then, I was enlightened: I discovered Apple TV’s raison d’etre. Must have been a (perhaps tacit) agreement with the media industry associations. If I cannot burn files to disc, then what option am I left with to actually watch the film I just bought on my TV set? I don’t believe a Win Media computer would help, in this case (given iTunes’ proprietary standard), nor the Open Source Media Portal Win solution.

Thus, the Apple TV. The media industry is happy: you don’t walk around with a thousand copies of Desperate Housewives to give away. You don’t mess around with CD’s or this uncomfortable burning process. I won’t argue: the idea is quite good (but not new). It is the obligations that I do not like. I should be given (especially after paying) the freedom to choose to watch my videos wherever I may fancy.
A question then occurred to me: does the A-TV allow to view streamed videos? I mean, those from YouTube or ABC.com that aren’t to be downloaded?

These limitations are really absurd, in this global age. As another example, I discovered I cannot buy anything on an iTunes store other than the US’ one. Say I’d like to get a song track from iTunes-France which is not available on iTunes-US. Can I buy it? NO, unless I have a credit-card from that country. Are we really surprised if people download a lot?

So, in the end, I downloaded the same tv episode again: this time from the net. And I burned it.

About Antonio Vantaggiato

Professor, web2.0 enthusiast, and didactic chef.
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