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BBC On Demand: Mac Users, IMPORTANT!!

If you fill in this form,

please, please, please, please, please

also request that they include subtitles in their download formats.

So far, it is looking like they will NOT include subtitles in their download versions, cutting out me and millions of other deaf people from this service.

Including subtitles also really benefits you as the programs will become index searchable.

What does that mean? It means you can search instantly through the scripts of 100's of hours of programming for a particular phrase or clip:

"Hmm, which was that drama program mentioning different forms of cancer, where they mentioned that new treatment?"

If all you have is a stack of copies of Casualty and ER and Eastenders, you're out of luck. With subtitles, a quick search will find you the right clip instantly.

Many thanks if you can request they include subtitles too.
 
RedTomato said:
If you fill in this form,

please, please, please, please, please

also request that they include subtitles in their download formats.

So far, it is looking like they will NOT include subtitles in their download versions, cutting out me and millions of other deaf people from this service.

Including subtitles also really benefits you as the programs will become index searchable.

What does that mean? It means you can search instantly through the scripts of 100's of hours of programming for a particular phrase or clip:

"Hmm, which was that drama program mentioning different forms of cancer, where they mentioned that new treatment?"

If all you have is a stack of copies of Casualty and ER and Eastenders, you're out of luck. With subtitles, a quick search will find you the right clip instantly.

Many thanks if you can request they include subtitles too.
Click to expand...

It'd be pretty shocking if the BBC of all people failed to offer any service for the hard of hearing. Especially after the huge campaign they had a year or two back about those such services (remember the infomerical with the girl walking down the street with some drill going off in the background?).

Have they specifically said they won't include subtitles? Or have they just not mentioned them?
 
FleurDuMal said:
You just have to ignore BBC One and Radio One.
Click to expand...

BBC One is great for good TV dramas like Life On Mars and Waterloo Road (i no that im sad)
and Radio One does have its own good points lke supporting new music. This is my main radio station and listen to it daily. I see where you are coming from about Chris Moyles in the fact that he can be a bit of an arrogant ass at times but then he does have the most successfull radio show in the country.

The BBC is a good service mostly because it is advert free so no stupid Cillit Bang ads. There is a TV licensing tax, is there a radio tax too to cover this??
 
Does anyone think that the Trust's requirement for platform independence might ultimately lead to Microsoft opening up their DRM for OS X and Linux?

It looks like the BBC will have no alternative but to explore cross-platform solutions such as open-source DRM or Real Networks' Helix, and I can't imagine that it would be cost-effective to run a second service side-by-side with Windows DRM.

Would Microsoft rather lose the BBC contract than make its DRM software available for competing operating systems?
 
FleurDuMal said:
It'd be pretty shocking if the BBC of all people failed to offer any service for the hard of hearing. Especially after the huge campaign they had a year or two back about those such services (remember the infomerical with the girl walking down the street with some drill going off in the background?).

Have they specifically said they won't include subtitles? Or have they just not mentioned them?
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert on these details, so I asked my mate - this is what he said:

I do recall that BBC have stated that they are looking into making sure that those downloadable videos will include subtitles.

However it's easy to say one thing and not actually doing it in action -
ie they could well launch it and then claim - oh technical issues...give
it a year or two and we'll get summat sorted guvnor, no worries.

I've stated that they must be subtitled - for easy indexing and benefit
the hearing too (my father, he's hearing, but find subtitles often help
him follow a programme - so it's not just for the hard of hearing -
often it can be due to accents etc that the hearing can't follow either).

However free format is just as vitally important, especially with no DRM
- to give those files some life.

I stated that if they attempted to slap down some form of DRM, then they
might as well throw my money via licence fees into a bin - doing DRM
means it'll just get cracked...then they have to fix it and so on -
wasting money for an impossible result - hence why I would rather they
not do DRM - this would also anyone using any type of electronic devices
to use - yes even including those Amiga users etc - likewise with free
formats.
Click to expand...

So basically, they've SAID that they're THINKING about including subtitles. No firm committment.

This 'looking into it' process could take forever and a day without some arsekicking.

As my mate above said about using their files with other electronic devices, people with various disabilities use various devices to access their info, not all of which is gonna be DRM compliant.

As a publicly paid, public service broadcaster, the BBC has a greater responsibility to provide inclusive access and durable media files than a private company does.
 
Brize said:
Would Microsoft rather lose the BBC contract than make its DRM software available for competing operating systems?
Click to expand...
Microsoft may consider it for the Mac in time for the London Olympics, but Ballmer would rather gouge out his own eyeballs than let Linux users in. MS will not shift its policy for anyone. Of course this won't be what they have told the BBC.
 
dynamicv said:
Of course this won't be what they have told the BBC.
Click to expand...

That's the concern. Thankfully, the Trust appear to be unequivocal in their requirement for broad accessibility, although the 24-month timeframe is disappointing.
 
dynamicv said:
Microsoft may consider it for the Mac in time for the London Olympics,
Click to expand...
There is no way MS will support anything other than Windows unless they are required to by law. How come MS Messenger for Mac is the only major one that doesn't support video or voice chat yet?

EDIT: Sorry for laughing, it wasn't needed :eek:.
 
dynamicv said:
When are the people who run this country finally going to wake up? It's bad enough that people here are being completely stiffed on the price of Vista without our public bodies doing everything to ensure that we must just bend over, hand over the cash and allow M$ to shaft us.
Click to expand...

The sad thing is, the BBC have more than enough talent to develop a cross-platform solution themselves. Unfortunately, when looking at the licence fee, many people see only the two TV channels, a bunch of shows and some radio stations. The BBC have traditionally also been a real R&D powerhouse. DVB-T, Nicam Digital Stereo, PAL, PALplus, Teletext, MHEG interactive services, the BBC Microcomputer, the DIRAC codec, etc. -- all these have been developed either in co-operation with, or entirely by the BBC - and as such, are public properties and open standards. They're also massive users of Linux -- their entire BBC-I interactive TV service was developed in-house on Linux systems. *That* is good use of public money - not handing it over to a commercial entity over which we have no say.

I hope the BBC's internal R&D has survived the sell-off of day-to-day IT provisioning to Siemens. I applied for a job there just before the sale and went to an initial interview. Glad I stopped pursuing that - one of my friends working there says things aren't so good since Siemens took over...
 
Eraserhead said:
EDIT: Sorry for laughing, it wasn't needed :eek:.
Click to expand...
Don't worry, in a way you're right. When Microsoft allow Mac users into the "wonderful world of Windows DRM", it'll be to fend off a European Commission demand that they open it to all. Macs will be allowed in to show the EC they can play fair whilst still keeping Linux out.
 
its all over

Its all over guys:

"In response to concerns that the iPlayer will rely on proprietary Microsoft digital rights management technology, the Trust will require the BBC executive to adopt a platform-agnostic approach within a reasonable timeframe. It said: “This requires the BBC to develop an alternative DRM framework to enable users of other technology, for example, Apple and Linux, to access the on-demand services.”


http://informitv.com/articles/2007/01/31/bbctrustrecommends/
 
No it's not all over. What about subtitles and other disability access? No word on that apart from a "we're looking into it".

Even if subtitles are included, will they be DRM'd to hell so that we can't use them as a search index?
 
Sign the e-petition

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the BBC from making its iPlayer on-demand television service available to Windows users only, and instruct the corporation to provide its service for other operating systems also.

...

The BBC plans to launch an on-demand tv service which uses software that will only be available to Windows users. The BBC should not be allowed to show commercial bias in this way, or to exclude certain groups of the population from using its services. The BBC say that they provide 'services for everyone, free of commercial interests and political bias'. Locking the new service's users into Microsoft Windows whilst ignoring those members of society who use other operating systems should does not fit in with the BBC's ethos and should not be allowed.
Click to expand...


Link to the petition.
 
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