Posts by Matt Perot

  • Muse: Postcard from Cologne: Willst Du…,

    The German appetite for trash literature is huge, and anything with even vague reference to Helga Housewife's pays du jour Aotearoa is sure to sell well. I haven't read this or any of the rest of the series, but my immediate impression is more Downton Abbey than Mandingo. "Oh, Matiu" indeed.

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: TVNZ on Demand actually…,

    Just wondering if anyone's had a chance to try using ondemand through Parallels (running Windows XP or Vista) on a Mac? Sometimes even this doesn't get past the old No-Macs-Allowed barrier but sometimes it does... Cheers.

    Downloading via Firefox on Parallels now. Will let you know if it plays OK.

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: You can't moan,

    If those City Vision councillors want to be one-term wonders, they're going the right way about it.

    Surely that's what we need more of -- councillors who are willing to act independently of their future election prospects.

    [I personally support a bit of a clean up of Auckland's billboards, although I don't know if an outright ban is the way to go, and it should certainly not be priority number one given the state of public transport at present. If only we had some one-term wonders working on other issues too!]

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: In other news, the sky is falling,

    PS: A journalist friend is coming back from the UK for his first NZ holiday in years, and is wondering about Wi-Fi coverage during his trip, and particularly in Christchurch and elsewhere in the South Island. Any advice for him?

    Turn back at the airport? (Or am I being too cynical?)

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • TVNZ Ondemand: Windows Media Player only,

    Matt, I don't think this is possible at present. The iTunes Store only sells music videos and Pixar short films outside of North America (no films or TV) and the Fairplay DRM Apple employs is not open for other providers to use.

    Right, but what's to stop TVNZ from becoming Apple's first non-U.S. partner? Apple has said it is working on making U.S. content available overseas, but obviously the licensing issues are delicate. It'd be a whole different ball game, though, if Apple were to sell New Zealand content to New Zealanders.

    It's very wishful thinking, admittedly. But TVNZ had to hire SOME company to do its DRM bidding, and it would have been great if it had been Apple.

    Anyway, off to dream about the renationalisation of Telecom New Zealand...

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • TVNZ Ondemand: Windows Media Player only,

    Oddly enough, my original e-mail -- the one that prompted the reply from TVNZ posted above -- was to suggest that TVNZ go with the iTunes platform from the outset. Why might this have been a good idea?

    - Cross-platform compatibility (well, Windows, Mac, and Linux at least)
    - DRM, but in a form that is less restrictive than most
    - Public appeal. The iPod/iTunes platform is known to a wide audience already
    - No need to set up extra bandwidth to deliver all the content; Apple and Akamai would have taken care of this. My subjective view of TVNZ's current Website response time etc. that it is absolutely shocking, and I don't hold great hope that TVNZ will deliver anything near good performance for delivering Ondemand content.

    My ideal situation would be to have all content available to all New Zealand-based hosts at all times in unprotected mp4 format -- similar to what I understand the BBC has done -- but I thought the above would have represented the best compromise to content rights holders who insist on DRM.

    In any case, the gentleman who answered my e-mail took it to be a question as to whether Macs would be supported. Go figure.

    Once Freeview launches, I suspect there will be a flurry of New Zealand programming available at mininova.org and ipodnova.tv.

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • TVNZ Ondemand: Windows Media Player only,

    For all you Mac-using TV buffs: Here's some correspondence from TVNZ on its pending Ondemand service. It's good to hear that TVNZ is looking into Mac compatibility eventually, although we may be in for a long wait...

    ---
    Thank you for your enquiry. For the initial launch of TVNZ ondemand we will be utilising WMP as a delivery mechanism for our media content. Unfortunately Windows Media Player does not support Macs. This is something we have no control over.

    We will look at ways of delivering our product to Mac users after our initial launch as we understand that Mac users will potentially make up a large proportion of our user base. We will be exploring Quicktime and ITunes as delivery options moving forward.

    Kind regards
    TVNZ

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Remember where you heard it…,

    13" 2ghz macbook in NZ - $2499 NZD
    13" 2ghz macbook in US - $1893 NZD
    Hmm, wonder how i'll be buying my next apple product..

    You forgot to factor in sales tax.

    13" 2ghz Macbook in NZ -- $2499.00 NZD (including GST of $277.66)
    13" 2ghz Macbook in NZ -- $2221.34 NZD (excluding GST)

    $2221.34 compares relatively favourably with the USD price of $1893 (which excludes sales tax) once you factor in free shipping and the currency hedging that is part and parcel of any international business.

    I'd obviously probably still purchase in the USA if I happened to be traveling there, but for now I'm very happy that ONE of the many middlemen have been removed and prices have come down slightly.

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Remember where you heard it…,

    This is awesome news. The pricing available at the Apple New Zealand Store is also nothing to shake a stick at -- Macbooks, Macbook Pros, and iPods are around 10% cheaper than at Bond & Bond or Renaissance, and finally there is an education discount of a further 5% or so just like there is overseas. Excellent!

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: More than a little odd,

    But at any rate, my point is that bottomless P2P users will chow down any and all available network capacity - so why not discriminate against them when network resources are scarce?

    To me, the issue is less about discrimination and more about who does the discriminating. If discrimination is necessary at all, then it should be legally regulated and conducted in a transparent manner.

    In fact, that's pretty much my attitude to most aspects of the Internet debate in New Zealand. It has to be regulated. And I'd also love to see government investment in network infrastructure.

    Deutschland • Since Nov 2006 • 13 posts Report Reply

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