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A Tip of the OCAP
May 9, 2007
From my outpost 3,000 miles away from The Cable Show ’07, it seemed that OCAP dominated the early part of the festivities.
From programmers throwing their support behind the middleware technology, to set-top manufacturers incorporating it into their products, to CableLabs’ preshow promise to kick-start the technology, OCAP was everywhere.
The theory behind OCAP is sound. Naturally, there should be one interactive-TV standard that runs across all of the multiple platforms and makes deploying services an easy task.
But from a consumer’s point of view, does it really matter? Haven’t we heard about interactive TV being the next big thing several times over? Remember when being able to order a pizza via the remote control was all the rage?
I’m not trying to pour cold water on all of the applications being developed. I’ve just found, from personal experience and the experiences of acquaintances, that interactive applications tend to be way down the list of why to choose service providers.
Interactive TV trails far behind price, for one. Price is the main reason why I now use a VoIP offering from my cable operator, as opposed to a “traditional” landline phone, for example.
Availability of certain programming also holds far more importance. The debut episode of DaveSpin chronicled my potential switch from cable to DirecTV so that my roommate could watch his beloved Boston Red Sox on MLB Extra Innings. My cable operator has since reached an agreement for the out-of-market package, so my terrace is still dish-free, for now.
Maybe one of these applications being developed will blow me away. But for now, I can’t get giddy over OCAP.
Posted by Dave Cohen on May 9, 2007 | Comments (2)
