UNINNOVATE / Engineering At Its Finest / Since 2006

What’s the difference between these two computers?

They have almost the exact same internal hardware. Both have a 1.2ghz Intel Atom CPU and come with a keyboard. Both are about the same size and sell for around the same price – a few hundred dollars. You can plug both of them into a TV and use them to browse the web to play online videos.

One is an Acer One Aspire Netbook. The other is a Logitech Revue. The Logitech product is designed to be plugged into your TV (as part of the Google TV initiative) while the Acer product is designed to be portable.

So why then are all major online video services blocked on the Logitech Revue? We’re talking about pretty much every video network – ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Hulu, Hulu Plus, and even SyFy. Why is the exact same web browser running on a nearly identical computer four feet away from the TV able to watch online video while another computer connected to the TV can’t? The only difference between the two units is that one is supposed to make watching video online easier, providing the networks with more viewers of their ad-supported content.

Major television networks are spending time and money developing new ways to make sure that you can’t watch their videos on your computer – if your computer happens to be hooked up to a TV. They are going out of their way to alienate an entire new generation of viewers.

Meanwhile, anyone under 30 either knows how to easily download illegal copies of TV shows or has a friend that does. Often the illegal versions are available sooner, are better quality video, and don’t contain advertisements.

In a desperate attempt to cling onto old business models, television networks are stretching logic to its very limits. After spending millions developing websites to stream their videos, they are spending even more money to make sure you can’t watch them. Instead of providing an easy way to watch videos with the advertisements still intact, they are driving their viewers to piracy. Didn’t they learn anything from the music industry?