YouTube at 1080p

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/11/1080p-hd-comes-to-youtube.html

Yup. Starting this week, YouTube is going to support 1080p High Definition videos (up from 720p.) Now, you can get your new holiday HD camera and hog up your measly broadband connection by uploading video. Send me a link to your video.

Check out the link above (especially if you like dogs) to find an interesting detailing of how size matters.

Networks & Their Fear and Loathing of Hulu

http://newteevee.com/2009/11/16/networks-their-fear-loathing-of-hulu/

The folks at NewTeeVee report on the success of Hulu and how the parent companies are unhappy (sorta.) A fascincating read...

"TV advertising has (and continues to be) successful for mass marketing efforts, but even the idea of mass market is going through a big shift. The TV audiences will continue to get divided and subdivided into various niches. Furthermore, the rise of “TV Everywhere,” a way for you to watch cable company-provided video content on the web, is going to eat into the mass market. If the mass market continues to shrivel, then networks will be fighting to get a piece of the shrinking pie. It is no surprise then that the media companies are bickering with their own spawn."

Slower Broadband Could Hinder House Sales

http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=138811

Check out this article from the U.K. publication called ISP Review. They did a survey of 721 respondents that revealed "75% of readers would not buy a house, even a lovely one, if the best broadband ISP speed it could achieve was just 1Mbps. In addition, 51% would be willing to pay more for a house with "faster" broadband." Even more interesting is the comment section where folks complain about the U.K. goal of 2Mbps per home by 2012.

Makes you wonder what the kids at the FCC are doing right now on the U.S. national broadband plan. My advice: go big, go bold and start from a clean slate. Inspire us to build a great foundation for the future.

The Internet's Next 40 Years

http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/exclusives/future-of-the-internet/

My alma mater recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Internet. They asked some of the "originals" where they see the next in another 40 years. Read the article. It's interesting.

"We'll have holograms. And we'll have microchip brain implants. Right now, I have to look something up on iPhone. In the future, I'll just think it."

'Call of Duty' Game Sells $310M in 24 hours

http://www.physorg.com/news177247679.html

Every under-30 male I know is busy playing this game (in online teams.) The article says it is "the biggest selling launch in the history of entertainment."

Methinks it is time for all of us to seriously look at video game architecture as a core driver of broadband and the Internet (and a good predictor of future trans-sector uses of network infrastructure.)

Funeral Webcasting is Alive and Well

http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/innovation/funeral-webcasting-is-alive-and-well

The Internet is for people-to-people communication and this application is proof. Affordable broadband is the tie that binds us.

The folks at IEEE report "If webcasting a funeral seems a little, well, ghoulish to you, you’re not alone. The decade-old service has been a hard sell to most funeral directors until recently. But the advent of cheaper broadband, the financial strain of travel, and deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have all contributed to increased use of the Web as a tool to connect loved ones during such times of need."

Only You Can Prevent a Lousy National Broadband Plan

Check out this picture of telecom lobbying from Jan through June 2009 courtesy of DSL Reports.

http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/1472717~38109c7d9cfa7ddfd5381d448779f454/lobbyists.gif

The battle of the corporate lobbyists is already taking place in our nation’s capitol and, most assuredly, is twisting the discussion on a national broadband plan to fit individual corporate goals. If we have learned ANYTHING from the recent recession and taxpayer bailout, we should recognize that businesses do what is right for them (and isn’t it nice if it actually aligns with what is good for the public.) (In 2003, I worked on the Gigabit or Bust report that noted this very thing was a major bottleneck for a real broadband agenda in this country.)

The national broadband strategy MUST be aligned with the public interest. The U.S. cannot afford to continue to be a goofy, denial-based, lobby-controlled, broadband-famine county. We are a nation of innovators and small businesses. We absolutely must balance lobbyists and their employer's self-interests and focus on a big broadband as an innovation platform for the public. As Paul Budde says, “I think it all depends on good leadership and understanding the social and economic benefits, not just the shareholders value.”