The next internet sensation?

The BBC's iPlayer, its on-your-computer on-demand television service, begins open beta today. (Details below the jump.) Will it be the next internet phenom?

Martin Belam predicts how things will play out:

Day #2: The press reports that the BBC website 'crashed' due to demand for the iPlayer, because someone emailed someone at The Telegraph saying they couldn't download it over their dial-up connection.

Day #3: A blog post entitled "Ten Mistakes that the BBC made with the iPlayer" hits the front page of Digg. Mistake #1 in the list is using Microsoft's DRM. Slight variations of that gripe appear as numbers #3, #5, #6, #7, #8 and #10.

Day #5: First reports of an exploit of the iPlayer's DRM system begin to surface on the web, and links to a hack appear on Slashdot, Digg, and, by mistake, on the BBC News site for five hours.

Day #6: The BBC's backstage.bbc.co.uk mailserver melts under the weight of multiple gloating anti-DRM posters saying "Told you so. Linux rulez teh internets".

It's profusely illustrated, and funny. Go read.
-----
Via Diamond Geezer, who got in early for the closed beta.

For those who tuned in late...
Despite the small "i" in the name, Apple has nothing to do with the iPlayer: In fact, Mac users are out of luck (so far, although a Mac version is promised), as are some people running Windows Vista (DRM problems).  Those outside of the UK also need not apply, your network address is probably blocked.   Anyone else can get it here, then enjoy unlimited viewings of downloaded programs-- with a 30 day limit (then they automatically delete).

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 14:38:20 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 273 words, total size 3 kb.