roundtable: RE: ENTERTAINING VIDEO O

roundtable: RE: ENTERTAINING VIDEO O

RE: ENTERTAINING VIDEO O

jack.hirschfeld@his.com
Fri, 24 Mar 95 07:48:32 

From: jack.hirschfeld@his.com
Message-Id: <9503240748.0AYXI05@his.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 95 07:48:32 
Subject: RE: ENTERTAINING VIDEO O
To: roundtable@cni.org


Matt York (videomaker) says:

"It is unfortunate that he is forced to send a large plastic cassette 
through the Post Office as his potential customer base (members of this 
list) debate and contemplate telecommunications policy. We ponder how 
a system should be built to allow the hkkleins of the world to "ship" 
their -rather large files- (video programs) to customers over some 
copper wires that can reach each one of us instantly (and for far less 
the cost of duplicating cassettes and hiring people to hand deliver it)."

Surprising talk from a media professional.  The least expensive delivery 
of video on demand that I have encountered is hotel or cable delivery of 
movies at about $5 a pop.  This required being hard-wired to the source 
so that analog video could be transmitted via coax which was already 
delivering signal (prepaid) on other channels.

The economics of delivery of digital signal "long distance" couldn't 
begin to compete with the low cost of plastic cassette plus delivery on 
the postal network.  Dubs can be had for about $8 or $9, and shipping 
adds about $1.50.  The buyer ends up with a  permanent record on a 
cassette which can be reused if the content is ephemeral.  And if you 
think a 90-minute video can reach you "instantly", think again...

The cheapest way to deliver video remains broadcast, of course.  If 
users had satellite dishes and receivers, a 90-minute video could be 
sent *simultaneously* to millions of addresses for less than $1000 in 
today's marketplace...


--

Jack Hirschfeld                  What do you see when you turn out the lights?
jack@his.com

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