After learning more about digital rights management (DRM), it seems to be a property that many people encounter without even realizing what it is. 

At first take, one may not believe that they have had many encounters with DRM. However, I can relate to the conversations broached by Kraig Baker last week. For example, when AOL was new in the 90’s, it seemed like everyone collected its free trial CDs to have on-going access to the service without paying for it. The only hurdle was that a new user ID had to be created each time a new CD was used, but that was not enough of a deterrent to stop people.

Many companies use such trial methods to protect their products. At the office, one may need to decompress a zipped folder; a Stuff-It alert will remind them if their free trial serivce has expired. Then, of course, the worker can simply send the folder to a co-worker to open to avoid purchasing the service.

Many people have run into the “problem” of  iTunes not being transferable to other players; this is probably the most well known form of DRM. With photography, as Baker discussed, many people are guilty of trying to remove watermarks from an image. 

Perhaps the argument is valid, that people will try to break any rule or hurdle. I do believe, however, that someone has to want something enough to be willing to put the time into “breaking in” to get it. There is a point at which it is not worth the struggle, aside from it being illegal, to access information the hard way. It is certainly easier and more honest to pay for goods and services.

I recently reviewed a selection of clips on the Wine Spectator Brightcove sight. In my line of work, I work with Wine Spectator. My public relations office represents restaurants with impressive wine lists as well as wineries.

One featured clip was a humorous take on staff members making margaritas in their cubicles. Another clip was well done as an educational piece – it provided background on rose wines and a comparison of several wine labels. The third clip I viewed was another serious, educational piece about cigars (linked from Cigar Aficionado).

I think it works well for Wine Spectator to offer these clips. What a great way for the editors to engage their audience with visuals of the wine regions and with commentary. My only concern would be that their message seems mixed. I viewed the humorous clip first and I was unsure if all of the clips were going to be done in jest. If their audience is looking for one format vs. the other, Wine Spectator has to rely on the fact that the viewer will take the time to check out multiple clips in order to find what they are looking for.  Wine Spectator runs the risk of losing an audience that may not be patient enough to keep looking for an educational piece if the viewer comes across a skit first.

The clips are viewable both via Brightcove and the home page of WineSpectator.com.  There were no advertisements paired with these clips. The formatting on the Brightcove site is much more aesthetically pleasing than the Wine Spectator site, which could use some beautifying. The Wine Spectator Web site looks like a trade publication’s Web site, and now that they are offering more consumer-friendly things like educational video clips, they may want to consider a more consumer-friendly site to pair with their nice videos.

I also noticed there is an easy-to-find link for embedding the clips. I liked how clearly displayed that was, it is a good way for Brightcove to encourage their links to be spread.

KOMO 1000 News uses QuickTime to stream live online:

http://www.komonews.com/news/4531461.html?t=a&video=pop

It was pretty choppy on the computer that I viewed it on, and the page itself was not much to look at. However, I like that radio can be streamed. It is useful for lines of work that require people to be attuned to what the media is covering and what formats they use. It is also useful for leisure consumers, as it is a convenient addition to the existing ways to consume media. It is a convenience for the public to be able to access the broadcasts this way, and it allows KOMO to maintain a competitive edge.

KOMO TV also streams segments:

http://www.komonews.com/news/25962894.html?video=YHI&t=a

While looking for a Web site that integrates streaming media directly into its page, I recalled the University of Washington site that shows live footage from a Web cam pointed at Suzzallo Library. It is automatically updated every 5 minutes. I recall viewing the Web cam footage while in undergrad and the one draw back is that the campus isn’t quite as appealing to look at during the dark, rainy months.

The UW Web cam is one I would reference more out of curiosity rather than necessity, although it could serve the purpose of letting people know if they should bring an umbrella to class. The site is useful for visitors to see what the campus looks like. In addition, the particular view afforded by the Web cam is beautiful on a sunny day when the Fountain and Mt. Rainier are visible.  

The Web cams on the Whistler Blackcomb Web site, are ones that I use as a reference tool and visit for the purpose of gathering information. I check the site when I know I will be skiing there, so I can know what to pack and what conditions to expect. The Whistler Blackcomb site, however, needs to be manually refreshed to receive an updated view – unlike the UW site which automatically refreshes. Another nice feature on the Whistler Blackcomb site is the ability to monitor the construction progress of the new Peak 2 Peak Gondola (which will be amazing when complete!). From this site, users can open an interactive Earthcam page that allows them to zoom in and out of images, and even view Web cam shots of the construction site from a month ago. These sites are very effective, as they are informative and encourage the public to visit Whistler. I dislike having to do the automatic refresh, but it is not too much of an inconvenience.

The San Jose Business Journal posted on Monday, July 14, 2008, that Netflix Inc. and Microsoft Corp. “unveiled a partnership to stream movies and television episodes using the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system.”

“The companies said a growing library of more than 10,000 movies and TV episodes will be available from Netflix when it launches on Xbox Live in late fall, with more choices added over time.

 

Netflix said the move ‘represents an important step forward in making instantly streaming movies on the TV more broadly available to our members.’”

Streaming media can also be used in ways other than to emulate TV and radio shows. Some other uses include videoconferencing, remote surgery, security, and education. Teachers can use streaming media to bring content and illustrations into a classroom, or to share lessons with students who are remotely located. It can also be used for security monitoring that can be viewed anywhere, as opposed to video camera surveillance that uses a closed circuit. Videoconferencing allows live exchange across distances, and remote surgery enables doctors to help patients at a different location.

Washington state’s largest daily print newspaper, The Seattle Times, utilizes streaming media on its home page.

While doing public relations outreach a couple of years ago, I encountered the trend toward streaming media firsthand. I was taken aback when an editor at the Times confirmed over the phone with me that her team had plans to cover my client’s event − in a nontraditional manner:

“Yes, we’ll be there to get a video.”

“Great, we’ll see you there!” I replied before hanging-up the telephone.  

Wait a minute. A video?

Yes. [Enter streaming media.] The newspaper, characteristically ingrained in text and photographs, was going to cover the event with a video camera.

Nowadays, having overcome the novelty of finding streaming media on a print publication’s Web site, I find such combinations of media (multi-mediumed multimedia?) to be the norm.

I like The Seattle Times’ Web site in that its streaming media components are discretely placed midway-down the page and off-set to one side. The site maintains a focus on written articles and is not screaming streaming media. I find the publication’s streaming media to be user-friendly, featuring diverse videos that are easy to scroll through and select. There is also a separate page for the Video section of the “paper” that can be opened in a new window without disturbing the more traditional text articles.

My sole quip with the Times‘ use of streaming media is the lack of information about the videos themselves. In a clip titled “Cape Flattery and Neah Bay” which turned out to be more of a narrative feature than a news report, there was no reference given to the creator, Liz Langdon, until the end. As the video’s narration took place, I was distracted from the content and asking myself: Who’s narrating this? A journalist? A local resident? What am I watching? I would have found the segment to be both more informative and enjoyable had I known the context up-front. The lack of detail can be remedied by implementing more descriptive titles, providing a video introduction to each clip, and/or posting adjacent text that states what is being viewed.