Three Minutes With Mark Cuban 188
Thomas Hawk writes "Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks, HDNET, blogger extraordinaire and all around tech visionary really, really gets it. Read on for his views on Media Center, content delivery via hard drive instead of DVD, movie conversions to HD, Home entertainment, etc."
He's a bigger geek than Taco (Score:5, Interesting)
I love the fact that his channel broadcasts all movies in their original aspect ratio with 5.1-channel sound. And this part made me laugh:
"We have a show called HDNet World Report where we put cameras in all kinds of hot spots--Iraq, wherever. And when we show a firefight or some sort of bombing, we don't have the reporter say anything. They just say, "We're in Iraq, we're in Baghdad, and there's a firefight going on, I'll shut up and let you watch it." And being able to see it in wide-screen high resolution with 5.1 sound, if you have a tank firing, you hear it coming out of one ear and see it leaving out of the other ear. It's just incredible. Just to be able to see it like you're actually sitting there is amazing."
Movies on a hard disk. (Score:4, Interesting)
Since folks like Netflix and Walmart have to buy the copies of the movies they rent out, the movies that are distributed via hard disks will need to be licensed copies as well. I wonder how the owners of the rights will keep track of the copies that are put on the hard disks - especially since the intention is to reuse the media.
The mode of distribution is not also as simple as the Netflix mechanism. Sending hard drives by mail cannot be as easy or cost effective as sending CDs by mail.
Some of what he says does sound futuristic - it may well become feasible in the future, but would it be possible now?
Re:He's a bigger geek than Taco (Score:5, Interesting)
Well (Score:5, Interesting)
He's got a lot to back up that confidence, really insightful on a lot of things, and yet not afraid to admit where he's clueless.
Impressive dude.
~G
Re:Lucky or Smart? (Score:5, Interesting)
Less of a fluke artist than that guy that started hotmail and sold it for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Re:He's a bigger geek than Taco (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Narcistic Car Sales Man (Score:3, Interesting)
go to website: www.somerentalmovie.com
search for movie.
select movie for viewing.
desktop box pings server through net, downloads movie locally to HD while you are still at work. You come home at 6:30 pm, your movie(s) and shows are ready to watch. have 100 gigs of storage or somthing like that.
next day, repeat. I would pay 100 for the set top box, and $3 per film. at that price, I would not pirate, because it would be too much hassle.
Even illegal street vendors could not compete because they would have to sell each dvd for less than 3 and that would not be worth it.
And peer to peer would not be able to compete, because of the ease of use and quality of the product.
Now, if they are really smart, the system would allow for decentralized movie downloading.
for example.
Person A downloads Master and Commander widescreen to set top box (STB) from central server.
download takes 12 hours.
Person B queues same movie. A's STB allows port open from B's STB's ip to download that movie.
Eventually, all the users's spare bandwidth is used in carrying all that suff back and forth, and the users don't mind because they're paying monthly fees already anyway.
Put programming at $1 per hour. three hour movie, $3. two hour movie, 2$. 40 minutes sitcom: 40 cents.
People complain because no ad revenue... I say: imagine how many more people can watch your show if they don't have to watch it thrusday at 5:30, but can watch it anytime.
Re:Movies on a hard disk. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I give Cuban respect. (Score:2, Interesting)
I've worked with Cuban (Score:1, Interesting)
He starts companies in a shed, creates a lot of hype, sells the company for a couple of millions, and moves away before the poor sod that bought it realises the amazing "TV network" he bought actually consists of three Macs with outdated video capture cards and some VTRs so old they're held together with duct tape.
Great businessman, but not someone who I'd trust to give me an unbiased vision of the future - he's going to tell you whatever makes his current company seem more valuable.
Re:SimMavericks? (Score:3, Interesting)
Let's just say Mark is not afraid to make trades. Each offseason the Mavs make some pretty big moves, this time dealing Antoine and Antwane, as well as losing Steve Nash. Last year was getting Antoine and Antwane, but giving up Van Exel. The year before it was getting Van Exel. And on and on and on. While he has kept together a core of players - Nash (well, not anymore), Finley, and Dirk - he has no qualms about trying new pieces for just a single season before dealing them off to somewhere else. Is this smart basketball management? I dunno, I doubt it, but I think it's good for generating interest and excitement from the fans, so it's probably good business. And the more you learn about Mark Cuban the more you learn this guy is good at business.
Re:Lucky or Smart? (Score:3, Interesting)
Compared to every other rich American businessman in the entertainment industry who's all about commercials during movies, broadcast flags, content delivered on whatever can lock the user out, and adjusting the "consumer's" internet connection to put a priority on corporate content, he's a genius.
The guy might not be Einstein, but it's refreshing to see someone in the TV industry that gets... well, absolutely anything. It's sort of like a dog who can open doors or get his food down from a cabinet that's six feet above him. He may not be a genius, but he's way above the rest of his kind.