BBC iplayer...what do you think?

[andyoxon]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

Not bad at all, IMO A kind of 'watch again'... I wonder if the programs can be downloaded, as file.

They couldn't do this without a license fee, or could they...?


Andy

 

[jonesy]

Hmmm. I tried it a few months back and completely failed to get it to work properly. Problems with the wretched M$ digital rights management system. Maybe they've released an improved version?

 

[marinyork]

Get a lot of the progs I watch on the cable video on demand equivalent (which predated iPlayer by a long time) so I don't use iPlayer perse but it is similar thing. So depending on your philosophy I do/don't use these kinds of services. That and I'd get traffic shaped if I'd used iPlayer!

 

[summerdays]

Well I used it for the first time tonight after seeing the ads and watched the Casualty I missed last week... so it gets a vote from me.

 

[Rob S]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

Not bad at all, IMO A kind of 'watch again'... I wonder if the programs can be downloaded, as file.

They couldn't do this without a license fee, or could they...?


Andy

You can download them but they will only play for a limited time.

 

[redfox]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

I wonder if the programs can be downloaded, as file.

They couldn't do this without a license fee, or could they...?

You can download as a file that lasts a maximum of 30 days or 7 days after you watch it. Like a VCR that erases your tapes for you!

How long before those without a television start getting letters demanding a license fee payment because they might use this facility?

 

[marinyork]

Of course the infuriating thing now is if you have a pvr/vod/iplayer etc the many, many repeats on BBC1/2/Three/Four/HD become more irritating!

 

[mondobongo]

Quite useful if you miss something on BBC as not everything they show makes it to 'On Demand TV' on Virgin.

 

[marinyork]

I meant catch up. Surely with VOD you're not suggesting that content is missed out accidentally like episode 16 of a series.

Once when I wanted to use iPlayer more recently for top gear, they didn't put it on for 48hrs for some bizarre reason, so in that respect it isn't any less crazy than catch up.

 

[Kovu]

Iv'e tried to use it, but messed up on it. So i don't like the thing.

 

[barq]

I like it in principle, but wish it worked a bit better. I've lost count of the number of times the player has frozen, or failed to resume after I paused something. Then I have to start viewing from the beginning as it won't let me jump forward. I hope they get these issues ironed out because it feels very unpolished compared to YouTube.

 

[domtyler]

I used it today to watch the last Robin Hood (a good day to die). Downloaded the file for more flexibility than streaming which can lead to some of the problems touched on above. Tried to burn it to DVD so that we could watch it on the TV downstairs but was foiled by the dreaded DRM which I could remove using Tunebite but the resulting file was hideously jumpy and unwatchable. So ended up watching alone on the main PC upstairs. Apart from that it is a pretty good service.

What I don't get though is that I couldn't find anything under that Ts and Cs that mentioned that you had to be a license payer to download!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

as a mac fiend i'm annoyed it's windoze ie only, but new macbook can be booted in windoze vista (and run faster than most pc notebooks) so at least i can use it that way. virgin's on demand stuff is easier, but i kind of like it anyway. a mac version is in the pipeline too.

 

[NickM]

How long before those without a television start getting letters demanding a license fee payment because they might use this facility?

Well, they can ask...

 

[col]

Well, they can ask...

They couldnt enforce this like they do with tv's could they?I mean how would they,and would it end up being a licence for just haveing a pc,because it could be used to watch ?