Boxing clever

2009-03-20 09:40

Alistair Fairweather

Remember the first wave of internet hype circa the late '90s? The net was going to replace all other media. TV? Pah! All video would be distributed "on demand" via the net to wherever we were, and would soon be beamed directly into our brains via special electrodes.

It's taken a decade, but the idea is finally blossoming (although not so much the electrodes thing - that always sounded a bit unsanitary).

More and more people are connecting their computers to their TVs, watching everything from illicitly copied TV shows to amusing YouTube clips, without having to cluster around a laptop to do so.

But is this really the grand convergence we dreamed about? When your favourite show starts a debate about something, ("Isn't that the dude from Everwood?) you can't get online and look it up without an annoying break in the natural flow of your evening.

And what about the dizzying array of files and formats out there? There's nothing more frustrating than finally getting a video you've been dying to watch, only to have your computer shrug its shoulders with one of those annoying "I can't play this" messages.

That's just where Boxee comes in. Not only does it automatically detect and suck in all the media you have - and that includes video, music and photos - it displays them all through a single TV-friendly interface.

It gets better

It lets you Google that hunk on Grey's without pausing the show, and it plays virtually every format out there without needing to be taught how. It's like a digital butler that takes all the hassle out of watching (and listening to) whatever you want to.

And it gets better. Boxee has built in social networking functions that let you do things like recommend a new show to your friends, or see what music they've been listening to lately. You can even discuss a new show while both of you watch it in your own living rooms.

So how much does all this cost? That's the best part - nothing. Boxee isn't a physical thing, it's a piece of software, and a free one at that. At the moment it only runs on Apple Macs and Linux machines, but a Windows version is on its way. Its owners are planning to make their living out of deals with online retailers and by licencing their software to big electronics corporations.

At the moment one of Boxee's most attractive features, the way it bundles free online streaming services like YouTube and Comedy Central, is hampered in South African by our high bandwidth costs. But just think for a moment about when that changes - you'll be able to watch a whole range of your favourite shows on your TV, for free.

This has already caused a furore in the USA when Hulu decided to block Boxee's access to their servers in February. This is the same Hulu that broadcasts advertising supported shows from major American TV networks for free on the internet.

So what's the problem? Surely Boxee is just another kind of browser? It seems they broke the cardinal rule - they allowed, nay encouraged, the shows to be watched on a TV and in the living room. All self-respecting broadcasters know that is their domain, and no scrappy little software geeks are going to tell them any different.

Powerful and disruptive

This reaction may be short-sighted, even childish, but it's also fairly predictable. The large TV networks have been slightly more progressive than the music industry (17 million people stopped buying CDs last year folks, wakey wakey), but they're still wedded to the old model.

And that's what makes Boxee, and the coming revolution it represents, so powerful and so disruptive.

By acting as a connective tissue that seamlessly bridges the gap between web and TV, between desk and sitting room, Boxee shows us a glimpse of the new way we will all consume media.

Check out Boxee's website.

And here's a hint, all you TV execs, it doesn't involve cushy dominance for your outdated model.

Send your comments to Alistair.

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