If you don’t have an Xbox, a TiVo, a PS3, a Roku, a Vudu, or a MSO Set Top Box, or even if you do, you may also have a Slingbox. But hey, sometimes you’re not home and you want to watch on the net. There’s Hulu. YouTube. NBC.com. ABC.com. CBS.com. Fox.com, Joost. MLB.com. Nearly every digital property distributes their content online, right?
Above: Reuters Content Syndicated to Sling.com: Britney Spears Feels Old.
Well, on the off-chance they don’t now you can record it on your Slingbox and watch it online, even watch live after you download a plugin. The problem is that any content that’s still not distributed online will be soon. Maybe Sling.com has a unique player, a different and better user experience you say? Well, not so much, most of the licensed content is delivered by Hulu.
I still need to play with this some more, but like the Slingbox, which will be useless once mainstream media distributes content to the three screens on their own, this strikes me as a waste of time and money. Sooner than later Sling will get sued, and they have little to back them up. So enjoy this waste of money while its out there, it won’t be around long.
[...] See original here: Sling.com: Now Streaming from The Set Top Box to the Web | Online … [...]
Not sure I agree with you on the “getting sued” part. On what grounds? You are watching your own content, on your own cable box, through a web interface. Am I missing something? You’d have to share your login in order for multiple people to view your Slingbox on the site, and I’m still not sure that it supports multiple streams. I know that the direct software does not.
I think the web interface is cool as hell. If you can’t install the software on your work computer, or your friends don’t want you to install it on theirs, you can still watch your own Sling.
I knew you were gonna disagree on this one, love it. Is the content you’re watching from your Slingbox on Sling.com really “your own”?
Content owners want to retain control over where you watch their content. While Sling licenses the content distributed to everyone on Sling.com they don’t license what you watch from your Slingbox.
First, and most importantly I would argue that Hulu (in addition to having a far larger content library) offers a better user experience. The only real possibility of Sling.com having any impact is if it helps them sell more boxes – this is the only way the site can gain wider distribution. So long as the user experience is better viewers will keep going to the more common online distribution hubs.
I don’t know that anyone would spend the effort to sue them, but anytime you circumvent the traditional system and rights holders’ ability to control the viewing experience you’re asking for trouble. Sling like every other set-top box manufacturer worth anything has partnered up with the distributors rights holders work with (they’re owned by DISH Network) but DISH faces huge competition up against DirectTV and traditional MSOs. The value add of creating yet another content hub isn’t worth it.
From a personal standpoint, I’ve always thought Sling’s greatest potential and greatest benefit is its unique ability to deliver content to Mobile. Sling’s solution for streaming video from their box to the mobile phone from a user perspective is pretty great, why not focus on that where there is a clear need?
I’ll answer your question with a question (how productive). Does it have to be “your own” content? Or more importantly, what defines “your own” vs “fair use” and “time shifting”?
Technically you wouldn’t be “rebroadcasting” someone else’s content. You are already allowed to time shift content, courtesy of your DVR, and watch it whenever you like. The sling portal gives you access to your slingbox. But you need to log in. Other people can’t watch the content on my slingbox, so I’m not redistributing it. I’m just watching it on the same screen I’d be watching it on (computer, via slingbox) but through a different interface (web app vs desktop app.) I don’t see any issue there, and I’d bet that Sling did plenty of due diligence before going through all the development that went into building the functionality into their site.
I think you need to separate the content on Sling.com into two groups. Licensed content that they are making available, and content that you make portable for yourself and yourself only.
I’m also not convinced that one has a better use experience over the other. In fact, I find them very similar, especially for the content that Sling is redistributing from Hulu. I also think that they’ll end up with very similar content offerings. There’s little incentive at this point to do exclusive deals with publishers rather than hypersyndicating content, so I’d give Sling a few months and I’d bet they are on par, show for show, movie for movie.
I agree with you on the mobile side, though. Sling has a leg up in the techno-savvy, gadget freak world, and is giving their users another vehicle for accessing their content. Hulu’s advantage is that they were first to market as the “YouTube for TV Content” and they’ll be fighting for the same audiences coming out of opposite corners.
I have been watching videos through Sling, and for the occasional TV viewer such as myself, it is a great site. I have a few shows I like to keep up on. I also use Hulu to keep up on my favorite shows as well. The limited commerical interruptions and the quality of the streaming media, for me, is worth the while. I have gotten to the point where I feel that I may even drop actual cable TV and keep my high speed internet connection for my TV viewing needs.