Thursday, July 12, 2007
TV/Radio Police
Democratic Socialism is a strange animal. It definitely has it's ups and downs (but I'll let Michael Moore explain those to you).
One bizarre thing in Germany, though, is that there is a TV/Radio tax. Now I haven't met anyone who actually pays it, yet, but apparently you have to pay a tax for every TV or Radio you own, and possibly, now computers. The tax doesn't go to the provider, as in America, but to the individual.
It stems from the state providing free TV and Radio, and on one hand it's nice they're only taxing the people who are using it but on the other...well, no one likes being taxed.
In my case though, the TV tax collectors have been coming by for the last couple of days and knocking on my door. I don't let them in. One, because I don't have a TV. Two, because I don't even understand the TV or Radio here. Thirdly, and most importantly, I don't feel like using my meager German skills to convey that to them.
One bizarre thing in Germany, though, is that there is a TV/Radio tax. Now I haven't met anyone who actually pays it, yet, but apparently you have to pay a tax for every TV or Radio you own, and possibly, now computers. The tax doesn't go to the provider, as in America, but to the individual.
It stems from the state providing free TV and Radio, and on one hand it's nice they're only taxing the people who are using it but on the other...well, no one likes being taxed.
In my case though, the TV tax collectors have been coming by for the last couple of days and knocking on my door. I don't let them in. One, because I don't have a TV. Two, because I don't even understand the TV or Radio here. Thirdly, and most importantly, I don't feel like using my meager German skills to convey that to them.
Labels: Berlin, Germany, radio, tax, travel, TV
Saturday, June 16, 2007
future of television
I wrote a long reply to an email from my uncle Mark about answering his query to the future of internet television and thought it was worthy of sharing with everyone:
Ah, internet TV, well it is the way of the future I predict and right now options are just beginning to appear. From what I've seen thus far though, is that with price comes quality. I mean, there's a reason that HBO costs so much extra and that's because the quality of television is so much higher. But there are some options:
Some interesting things are, of course, Apple TV, which allows you to stream downloaded content to your TV from your PC. It also now has built in youtube functionality. It can also be hacked to run a full Mac OS, which makes it the cheapest Mac desktop on the market ;)
Next is iTVN which is what I predict TV will look like in the future. It's TV over your broadband connection
Unfortunately now their selection is kind of limited but they offer some interesting things like a la carte ordering. It's also the cheapest way I've seen to get Setanta Sports.
There's been a ton of buzz about Joost. Unfortunately it's not in public beta yet, so you have to be invited to download the program. It seems to have a big selection, but this runs into the problem I mentioned earlier in that it's not all the major channels/programs you're used to. You kind of have to let go of your traditional view of TV, like CNN, NBC, ABC, etc...the old giants.
And then for the slightly more grey market. If you want to watch some shows or movies (in low-quality) streaming over the internet, theres AllUC.org and TV-links.co.uk. If you want something a little higher quality (and in a little darker grey market) there's bitTorrents. ISOhunt and Pirate Bay are some huge bitTorrent search engines.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I've been doing a lot of searching for this sort of stuff in order to keep up with my american shows...
Ah, internet TV, well it is the way of the future I predict and right now options are just beginning to appear. From what I've seen thus far though, is that with price comes quality. I mean, there's a reason that HBO costs so much extra and that's because the quality of television is so much higher. But there are some options:
Some interesting things are, of course, Apple TV, which allows you to stream downloaded content to your TV from your PC. It also now has built in youtube functionality. It can also be hacked to run a full Mac OS, which makes it the cheapest Mac desktop on the market ;)
Next is iTVN which is what I predict TV will look like in the future. It's TV over your broadband connection
Unfortunately now their selection is kind of limited but they offer some interesting things like a la carte ordering. It's also the cheapest way I've seen to get Setanta Sports.
There's been a ton of buzz about Joost. Unfortunately it's not in public beta yet, so you have to be invited to download the program. It seems to have a big selection, but this runs into the problem I mentioned earlier in that it's not all the major channels/programs you're used to. You kind of have to let go of your traditional view of TV, like CNN, NBC, ABC, etc...the old giants.
*Edit: Since writing this email I got an invite to Joost and checked it out. It's a BEAUTIFUL program with a SLICK user interface and really does come through on everything it promises. Some downfalls are the lack of real quality entertainment and mainstream shows, but I have faith their channel listing will steadily grow (it may also be limited because my IP address is coming from Germany and I think you need different rights to distribute worlwide). The other problem is it only runs on intel-based macs, which mine is a Power PC, so I had to load it up on Sofie's iBook. Maybe it's time to buy a new Mac, eh? If you want an invite, drop me a line and I'll hook it up.
And then for the slightly more grey market. If you want to watch some shows or movies (in low-quality) streaming over the internet, theres AllUC.org and TV-links.co.uk. If you want something a little higher quality (and in a little darker grey market) there's bitTorrents. ISOhunt and Pirate Bay are some huge bitTorrent search engines.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I've been doing a lot of searching for this sort of stuff in order to keep up with my american shows...
Labels: Apple, bittorrents, itvn, Joost, TV
