PluggedIn Beta May Be A Waste Of Time For UK Users

Ars Technica have covered a new music video site called PluggedIn which offers HD and High Quality Music Videos. I was intrigued by this so I joined ... I found it a nice looking site, except for the fact that it is a complete waste of time for anyone in the UK as far as I can tell, because every video I click on tells me "oops, The content is not licensed for distribution outside the US and Canada." There might be content which works, but so far I haven't found it. What kind of nonsense is that? Oh yeah, I forgot it probably has something to do territorial distribution rights or licensing agreements, I guess. I clicked on Amy Winehouse, (who is a British artist by the way), and was told the same thing. The problem is that sites like this should be smart enough to filter out content by territory and only show that which is available in the territory from which the visitor comes. Not hard to do when they ask you to enter most of the relevant details in the membership page. Companies like PluggedIn should be a lot smarter in their implementation of their concepts and also start thinking in a truly global fashion rather than territorially. Get with the times folks ... stop wasting my time with ill conceived and poorly implemented websites.

BBC To Go On-Demand with iPlayer

The BBC is tio launch an on-demand media service which will allow viewers to catch up on TV programs for up to a week after airing, and to also be able to download some series for up to 30 days. The new iPlayer system went through a trail period during January of this year in which 10,500 individuals and organizations participated in a test of the service. iPlayer users will be able to catch up with selected BBC programming from the previous seven days, and store programming on their computer for up to 30 days. As a fan of some of the bbc's programming I'm looking forward to what this has to offer...

Yet Another Media Player...

Microsoft announce yet another browser plug-in for playing media. Silverlight promises all that Flash has and more . . . OK . . . I'm really not holding my breath on this one. When will these guys wake up and realize people don't need more confusion but simplification of the software and solutions they use for accessing the internet? I have one question — will Silverlight work on all platforms, including Mobile and PPC, or am I going to be pulling my hair out when I want to have media I can readily transport? And what about DRM? Is this yet another vehicle to annoy me and countless others when we try to use media we have paid for fairly, on more than one device?