Maclean Magazine Scorns Canadians
Appearently Maclean believes that Canadian consumers are being unfair about usage based billing, and that we all want free access to the internet.
This Rogers Communications owned publication thinks that because they believe average users aledgely only use 16 gigabites per month that anyone going over this amount should be subjected to higher fees, just because some 2% of users download “hundreds of gigs worth” per month.
Is this what they call “Fair” ? And where did they get that 16 gigabite per month figure ?
My average use is at about 40 gigs per month at the moment because of Youtube and i’m sure Netflix users have a similar rate. I am not an “average user” ?
It’s obvious that legitimate online television and film content streaming have resulted in a hike in average use and that 16 gig figure will not cut it.
There are already hundreds of internet ready devices, including televisions and blu-ray players, that enable families to view film and television from the internet. And these devices are getting more and more affordable each day so the “average” use will likely surpass 50 or 60 gigs per month soon, if it hasn’t already.
Cloud computing will also drive some of these transfers up, as more and more people use this new technology from their home, so usage based billing is no response.
Cloud Film/TV Distribution
Six major film and television studios have partnered to bring a new technology to the market, allowing users to view television episodes and film on multiple devices with the ability to share this programming with six friends or relatives.
Ultraviolet is the industry’s response to a reduction of sales of DVDs and Blu-rays in the United States in 2010, down 3% to 18.8 billion.
Starting this summer, they’re hoping to transition from DVDs to this more flexible online distribution to take advantage of the booming digital downloads and streaming sales and rentals. And they have 46 retailers and device manufacturers on board, including Best Buy, Comcast, Samsung, and Toshiba.
There are two major hold outs at the moment though : Apple and Disney.
Apple had its own service but they are expecting to sign on because they allow Netflix already on some onf their devices.
Disney, on the other hand, has their own plans, for a similar technology called KeyChest, which is partly owned by Steve Jobs.
According to Mitch Singer of Sony, Ultraviolet will be fully implemented by 2011, allowing people to view material on cell phones, tablets, video game consoles and computers. And by 2012 they expect to have Ultraviolet software built into portable devices.