This isn't 2005 anymore
December 24th's Favorite Thing - Online video streaming
You know, I was sitting there at the table, wrapping presents and thinking about the NFL game on Thursday (Carolina at Pittsburgh) and I was grousing about how it would be perfect if I could have the game on in the background as I complete my wrapping.
And it occurred to me; I had seen a listing somewhere on the internet about where to find streaming of live sporting events. A little Googling (and a text to my buddy, Grap) pointed me two sites... Atdhe.net and Veetle.com. Each required me to download a free player, but within about 10 minutes I had the laptop connected to the living room TV with the HDMI cable, and I was watching Pittsburgh run up and down the field on Carolina like the Panthers weren't even there. The game was streamed by a Swedish TV station, and all the commercials were (naturally) in Swedish. But I don't think it was like Homer stealing cable (Side note; Speaking of reminiscing, remember the pamplet the cable installer gave to Homer "So You've Decided to Steal Cable"? Classic. The Simpsons have fallen so far over the years.)
OK, so the whole thing would have been better with a more competitive game, and even though the picture clarity wasn't the same as watching ESPN-HD, the fact is that I didn't have the NFL Network, but yet I was watching the game. (Side note; It reminded me of 1984, when Channel 24 showed scrambled porn movies after 11:00 PM, and I would be in the bedroom playing with the antenn... well, never mind. It wasn't quite like that.)
I know that Hulu and Netflix are out there, and many major networks have their hit shows available to play online on demand. I wasn't sure that the culture would be changing away from scheduled TV, but I am starting to roll that direction.
I mean, I can watch this....
Part of my skepticism was due to the fact that I had missed the season three finale of Mad Men, and decided to pay the $2.99 to watch the stream of it. The picture certainly wasn't HD, and kept stopping to buffer. I was very disappointed and said aloud to no one in particular that this has a way to go to get me to change my viewing habits. Sure I can watch YouTube, and friends send me clips of various highlights and stuff, but nothing was really relevant. But tonight's football game was. I will likely try it again on Sunday at Noon, before the Packers game starts. We'll see how it goes.
I can see the corner just up the road... and getting closer all the time.
On the First Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Baseball's Hot Stove League
On the Second Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - A handful of chopped pecans
On the Third Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Memories of my past
On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Jim Steinman lyrics
On the Fifth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Christmas tree smell
On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my favorite thing is - Watching forbidden football
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