[Commentary]

Credit: Screenshot of Amazon Video On Demand

Late last year Adobe released an upgrade to their ubiquitous Flash software that enabled higher quality video. In response, overall video streaming quality on the web has improved as various video services have upgraded their offerings. Amazon is the latest to make the leap, turning their unsuccessful and Windows-only Unbox digital media download service into a streaming digital media service. Amazon Video On Demand finally brings their large digital library of movies and television series to Apple Macs, removes the requirement for a separate software download, and offers compelling competition to Apple’s iTunes.

Downloads have not disappeared. Amazon Video On Demand offers both streaming in your browser and downloads to the Unbox software. However, the streaming service is meant to reduce or even eliminate the need for downloads. Digital media purchases remain in the Amazon cloud, available from anywhere you have access to the site and a sufficient internet connection.

I tested the new service with “Superman Returns”, a movie I purchased on Unbox over a year ago. The movie was only available for purchase for a short time. After I first downloaded the movie, I had subsequently removed all videos from my computer. When I tried to download “Superman Returns” later, I discovered that the draconian movie studio requirements prevented a second download. I was stuck with a purchase I could not watch.

Now that my video purchases are in the cloud, I was surprised and delighted to see I again have access to “Superman Returns.” Previous Unbox purchases show up in “Your Video Library” along with new purchases, ready and waiting to be streamed.

Credit: Screenshot of Amazon Video On Demand “Your Video Library”. Well, My Video Library.

Video starts playing immediately. Video quality depends on the speed of your internet connection and network congestion. Apparently there is no buffering, though this could potentially improve the video quality at the expense of immediate access. Over my 12 mbps cable modem connection from Cox Communications and then over wireless, video quality started out poor, but improved quickly as the connection and streaming seemed to “take.” A “Connection” status button on the video menu bar notes kbit/sec and the video quality, up to mbps speeds and 480p (DVD quality.) The quality can fluctuate, but after minor stuttering early in the movie, the streaming stabilized until I was lost in the movie. If this quality can be maintained during network congestion in my local area and as more people begin to use the service, then Amazon Video On Demand may very well be considered a success.

The video menu bar has your standard video controls including play, pause, skip back, skip forward, and volume control. Video can be popped out of the video library page or launched into full screen. A download button allows you to archive the purchase and play locally from your computer, but, again, I think streaming success may make this unnecessary. While the button is also available on a Mac, the download is sent to your registered PC (you control the destination in your Amazon account settings) and Unbox installation. Unbox software is still unavailable for Mac or Linux computers, and you cannot transfer video to iPods.

Credit: Screenshot of Amazon Video On Demand playing “Superman Returns”. Can you read my mind? Do you know what it is that you do to me, Brandon Routh? I mean, Superman?

Amazon Video On Demand is fast, easy, and a much better experience than using the clunky Unbox download and player software. I have long desired to make a complete switch from PC to Mac, but a few remaining services I could not get on a Mac have delayed the change; my Macbook Pro sits side-by-side with my desktop PC. With my videos in the cloud, that final switch is coming soon.

How does the experience stack up against iTunes? ITunes remains the high bar against which all other digital media services will be compared. I have slowly begun to purchase more music from Amazon because everything there is DRM-free, but doing so does require a download of Amazon software that sends your purchases to iTunes. When it comes to video, Amazon potentially has the upper-hand (I would like to play with the service longer before I come to any firm conclusions.) All you need is a browser and an Amazon account. Amazon’s ease of purchase and the instant play capabilities of Video On Demand mean you can get started watching video right away, with little to none of the delay required for Unbox or iTunes downloads. Hard drive space is no longer a barrier to owning as many movies and television shows as you want. I had better watch my wallet…

Unfortunately, NBC Universal and their popular television series may be the deciding factor for some people between Amazon Video On Demand and iTunes, though this might to some extent be offset by Disney/ABC television series available only on iTunes. There is NO question that I will be watching the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica using Amazon’s service. Frankly, I have never understood why NBC Universal decided to settle for no further iTunes sales even while developing Hulu.com and propping up the offerings on Amazon. I still hope they will return to iTunes but this is no longer required for me to continue purchasing and watching my favorite NBC series.

With a movie library much larger than iTunes, similar television offerings, NBC Universal TV series, availability through most any browser with Flash on most any computer, a smooth transition for your previous Unbox purchases, and a beta of a service that will stream video to Sony BRAVIA televisions, Amazon Video On Demand is pretty fantastic so far. High definition video on demand will make or break all competing digital media services, a battleground I suspect all players will enter in a big way in just a few months. Amazon Video On Demand could be particularly successful internationally where many countries have far superior internet speeds to what we suffer through here in the United States. Verizon FiOS Internet customers in the United States might also be big winners, the lucky jerks.

We might see as early as next Tuesday how Apple plans to respond. I predict that I will make use of both services for some time to come. For there to be a clear winner between Amazon, Apple, and the other competitors, they will have to add new features including extras and high definition as quickly as possible, while maintaining and improving the quality of both the video and the experience. So far, I like what I see with Amazon Video On Demand.

[Commentary] | [Spoilers]

Credit: Hermit of the Mountain, LLC - Venus Rises promotional wallpaper: “Mars Warship Wallpaper“

A new surge in independently-produced online content is almost upon us even as existing media giants like NBC Universal begin to dabble in higher production value content intended for the web. Venus Rises, created by writer/director and Executive Producer J. G. Birdsall is especially noteworthy because this is not fan fiction. Based on an original idea, Venus Rises will be an ongoing series available online and on Illusion, a video-on-demand science fiction cable network. In development since the idea was conceived in 2002, a prequel to Venus Rises has finally been released, leading up to the series’ first episode.

The prequel is designed to introduce the universe in which this science fiction tale of two planets will play out. After the ecological collapse of the Earth, humanity fled to Mars and Venus, leading to class divisions across the vacuum. “Ikarus - Part 1″ explores the dynamics of a prospecting crew searching for resources in the Asteroid Belt.

Science fiction movies and television set in space have long been known for their scientific inaccuracies. Meanwhile, current scientific and technological progress underlines how reality can be stranger than fiction. Going into this prequel to a series I have been long anticipating, I admit that these two facts were foremost in my mind. How will independent science fiction producers deal with the same issues facing movie studies and television networks: cutting-edge movie-making technologies often paired with inane retreads of tired ideas?

The results are, in a word, mixed.

The opening credits really draw the viewer into the larger back story. Newspaper clippings and news reports hint at the seriousness of the disasters that befell Earth. As “Part 1″ gets started, the first CGI view of the mining hauler Ikarus is both tantalizing and a bit disappointing, especially after we enter the spacecraft. Inside the spacecraft, the set and onscreen graphics are top notch. Unfortunately, this makes the CGI outside the spacecraft stand out in contrast. For an independent production all the computer graphics, inside or out, are still noteworthy and show an attention to detail that is admirable.

Hard science fiction - that is, the kind of science fiction that gets into the nuts and bolts of science, discovery, and exploration - is underrepresented in movies and television. “Ikarus - Part 1″ is therefore refreshing in its attention to the spacecraft and other technical details. The remote sensing capabilities of the vessel are fun to watch. Asteroids, of course, are not really as close together as they are depicted here (and in most science fiction movies and TV, for that matter.)

Caption: Screenshot from “Ikarus - Part 1″. Asteroids are only this close together in science fiction movies and television.

What follows with the introduction of the crew is confusing, slightly melodramatic, and potentially cliched (depending on how this all turns out…this is “Part 1″ after all.) The men are dicks and Aeriana Onaar, a character played by Julia Hiroko Howe who will also be in the series, is at their apparent mercy. She is a “dumb mute” according to one of the evil crew members but can read lips and land drones with precision on the asteroid. What happens by the end of “Part 1″ has nothing to do with space and everything to do with violence against women and just rewards.

Where is this going? If the series is intended to be as bleak as indicated, then it might be a bit tough going, especially if we do not learn in these space settings anything new about gender politics, disabilities, exploration, and survival. At nine minutes in length and with characters that are either extremely unlikable or not yet fully fleshed out, “Ikarus - Part 1″ makes it difficult to come to any solid conclusions about this prequel or the upcoming series.

I enjoyed the music and the editing was well done, but I think it is too early to make any conclusive statements about the acting, directing, and other filmmaking mechanics. There is much to admire here and I look forward to the next part. There is some difficulty in introducing the back story and the universe for Venus Rises, but this is balanced by the novelty of original science fiction, filmmakers and participants that are obviously passionate about what they are doing, a fascinating and claustrophobic set, and at least one character I want to know more about.

Image Credit: Star Trek: Odyssey promotional wallpaper, with Bobby Rice as Lt. Commander Ro Nevin and Michelle Laurent as Romulan Sub Commander T’Lorra.

[Commentary] | [Spoilers]

Before there was Star Trek: New Voyages there was Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, an ambitious online fan series that ran from 2000 through a final episode in the summer of 2007. Notable for its use of green-screen technology to place actors in interesting Star Trek settings, a diverse cast, and gay and lesbian subplots, STHF was successful enough to warrant a spin-off. The new series, Star Trek: Odyssey, like STHF, is set after the canon events of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager.

A new threat from outside the Milky Way has emerged within Romulan space and an uneasy alliance of Alpha Quadrant powers attempt to repel the invaders. The enemy is an alien race from the Andromeda Galaxy with the technological capability to build wormholes. Returning from STHF is Lt. Commander Ro Nevin (again played by actor Bobby Rice), a happily married and gay Bajoran Starfleet officer. After a successful attempt to destroy the wormhole, Ro and the surviving crew of the U.S.S. Odyssey are stuck on the wrong side and running from their enemies in the Andromeda Galaxy. Ro becomes captain of the starship and embarks on a journey back to the Milky Way and his husband reminiscent of the Greek hero Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey.

The gay-friendly storyline is perhaps the most promising aspect of STO, and in the pilot episode “Illiad”. Will Ro stay faithful to his husband or will he be tempted by others during the journey home? How will the sexuality of other crew members play out?

Bobby Rice took over the role of Ro from another actor during the run of STHF and effectively captured the character coming to terms with his sexuality. The series ended with his marriage to a fellow officer. On his own again and in command, the new story arc for Ro is also promising.

The episode begins with a confident new score and opening sequence, as well as a strong first scene that introduces Romulan Sub Commander T’Lorra, played very well by Michelle Laurent. Highlights include the interaction between Ro and his husband, Lieutenant Commander Corey Aster, reprised by guest star (and episode director) JT Tepnapa, including a hilarious but too-short scene of the couple trying to find a few minutes alone for sex before they embark on their mission, as well as brief appearances by other STHF characters. Matthew Montgomery is promising in a brief glimpse as Dr. Owen Vaughan.

However, the pilot episode is a surprising disappointment, especially after the vast improvements in acting and production values gained by the end of STHF. Bobby Rice seems to have lost some of his previous confidence in the character of Ro, with only glimpses of the natural and mischievous spark he previously brought to the role. I suspect this is mostly due to the exposition and speech-making the character is forced to make during the episode.

Most disappointing is the new alien race. Even accepting the human-like similarity between races in the Milky Way, I had hoped, and actually expected, the aliens from an entirely different galaxy to be radically different. Per usual in Star Trek depictions of aliens, however, they are human-like, with face paint and archaic speaking patterns offered as the only differentiation from humans. There are hints that the alien culture will be developed in future episodes (Are they bisexual? Newly ruthless?) and the alien vehicle and hardware designs are quite wonderful. Unfortunately, an opportunity for the fan filmmakers to truly strike out on their own with a unique Star Trek vision appears to have been wasted.

Some of the acting is top-notch, while some is surprisingly bad and ineffective. The plot meanders from long moments of exposition and technobabble to rather good but brief moments of character introductions (well, except for the Andromeda Galaxy aliens) and character development. There is no question that I will continue to tune in to STO, with hope that this series will not devolve immediately into the rehashing and lack of confidence and innovation of STV, which had a similar plot.

Image Credit: Promotional poster for Star Trek: New Voyages “World Enough and Time” episode

[Commentary] | [Spoilers]

There is in fact not world enough or time for me to express just how much I love the latest episode of Star Trek: New Voyages, the continuing adventures of the classic USS Enterprise crew in a fan-tastic fourth season. “World Enough and Time” now stands proudly with the very best episodes of Star Trek.

The first few episodes of Star Trek: New Voyages were great fan efforts: a little rough around the edges but enjoyable enough. It is obvious that the cast and crew have a deep love for Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry’s original concept, but when watching these fan films there is always that sense of “I wish the original was still around” and “I wish this were maybe a little bit more professional.”

Until now. “World and Time Enough” brings back George Takei, the actor who played helmsman Hikaru Sulu in the original series, for a time-bending adventure and emotional journey. With his return and new guest stars, the overall production values and acting have all improved. James Cawley finally becomes Captain James T. Kirk, especially in scenes with a lovely new visitor to the USS Enterprise.

Everything about this episode is wonderful. The plotting and pacing will have you at the edge of your seat, with moments to breathe and learn something new about favorite characters. The banter between Kirk, Spock, and Bones is as good as it gets. The special effects are breathtaking and often quite beautiful. The displays, the references to Star Trek canon, small moments and big moments, a new look at the USS Excelsior and her crew under the command of a certain captain, and so much more…

Christina Moses deserves special note. She captures perfectly the excitement, joy for life, and heartbreak of her character. Make sure you have something available to wipe away your tears…

The latest episode debuted August 23, 2007 to technical difficulties that have not yet been completely resolved. Right now the STNV website offers only a small streaming version of the video at the following link:

http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/weat_streams.html

I was very disappointed by this technical turn of events, though I commend the STNV team for being upfront about the issues. Still, I only grudgingly started the stream. Then, after just a few moments, I had forgotten all about these technical details and found myself completely entranced. If you do not get the stream right away, definitely try again later. Seriously. This episode is that fantastic.

There is also a preview of the next episode (STNV’s first two-parter!) which promises to take Star Trek in a direction Gene Roddenberry wanted to take but was allegedly not allowed to do so, except superficially, by the studio. Featuring one of my favorite actors you might not have heard of - Bobby Rice - and special guest star and fan favorite Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar from Star Trek: The Next Generation), “Blood and Fire” is at the top of my must-see-now list.

Fan films have come a long way in the past few years, and Frontier Channel has covered just a small portion of this activity. Fan series like STNV and Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, short films like Still Life, and original series like The Scene show how technological progress, and the rapid flow of once expensive technologies into the hands of everyday yet creative people, is expanding our entertainment options and threatening stagnant Big Media. Much of this work has in fact been wonderful, and with “World and Time Enough” I think such content has finally become a legitimate contender for my time.

Shame on CBS Paramount Television for not recognizing the potential in Star Trek fan fiction. Sure, they currently have a hand’s off approach as long as the fan creators do not make any money off of their efforts, but CBS Paramount Television could be doing so much more while helping to build their franchise in lucrative ways. Why not offer a license to Star Trek material for a 10% cut of all proceeds? Doing so would create a cottage industry of fan fiction filmmaking, with a wealth of new ideas as well as improved production values. The STNV team donate their own time and money because they love Star Trek, but there is the potential for so much more if CBS Paramount Television offered something, anything, to these creative people.

That aside, some fan fiction has already surpassed the worst of television, and even become worthwhile in their own right. Today I saw fan fiction that equals the very best of television, and Star Trek: New Voyages has me completely hooked.

When it is a vidcast. The number one and two podcasts listed in Apple iTunes’ “Today’s Top Podcasts” list are vidcasts, with three more in the top 20. There cannot possibly be as many iPods with video purchased yet as there are older video-free iPods; the new iPod came out a few weeks ago. Therefore, portability must not be the primary feature driving people to vidcasts. Despite claims to the contrary, people really are watching longer-form video on their computer monitors.

Simply put, we love video, regardless of where it comes from and where it is displayed. Do we love video more than we love music? Possibly. Podcasts went from nowhere to everywhere in less than one year. Vidcasts appear to be doing the same in half the time.

Personally, I cannot listen to a podcast if I know there is a video version available (Diggnation is a case in point.) If a favorite podcaster announces a vidcast versions of the show, I will jump immediately. Let me repeat here a prediction I made two months ago about the future of podcasting and vidcasting: Vidcasting will be huge, and it will dwarf podcasting. All the hype about podcasts that made many shake their head? It will all be realized with vidcasts.

With video now available for your iPod, your cellphone, your television, your computer, your car, your sunglasses, and your refrigerator, there is only one place left for video to go. Before I tell you where that is (it should be obvious by now,) let me highlight recent announcements about the future of video.

• NBC News will begin providing “NBC Nightly News” episodes on the Internet beginning November 07, 2005, just a few hours after the episode airs on network television.
• Federated Studios, the producers of popular cartoons like The Powerpuff Girls (a personal favorite) and The Fairly OddParents, began offering last week a video podcast called Channel Federator. Quoting from the Channel Federator site: “We really love cartoons and the people who make them. Because of our day job, we see lots of excellent stuff that never gets seen by most people. Channel Frederator gives all cartoons a shot at being shown to the wired world’s masses.”
• Apple claims one million video downloads in the first 19 days of $1.99 music videos, Pixar shorts, and series episodes from Disney/ABC becoming available in the iTunes Music Store. Steve Jobs is quoted in the press release as saying: “Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings, so that customers can enjoy watching more videos on their computers and new iPods.”
• Comedy Central is set to launch a broadband video channel called Motherload, consisting mostly of short clips from their existing cable network shows.
• MTV recently launched a broadband video channel called mtvU ÜBER with clips of their existing cable network shows, longer form content, and music videos, supported by advertising.
• Many technology news IPTV series are making iPod-compatible episodes and providing RSS feeds to automate downloading.

Meanwhile, vidcasts (another term for video podcasts) have become increasingly popular in just the past few weeks, as reflected in the increasing number of them rising in the ranks of the top 100 podcasts listed by iTunes. Several vidcast and IPTV directories have recently launched online to cover the burgeoning technology news and commentary series produced by amateurs and independent producers. Fan fiction and original fiction series are also increasing in number (as well as in quality) with Mighty Moshin’ Emo Rangers debuting today and Venus Rises coming soon, joining existing series like Star Trek: Hidden Frontier (completing its sixth season soon,) Star Trek New Voyages, The Scene, Red vs Blue, Stone Trek, and Ninjai: The Little Ninja.

Is this activity unrestrained hype or something significant? There is no question that the rapid-fire announcements coming from traditional networks and content producers are a knee jerk response to their uncertainty over piracy, consumer response to independently produced content, and the accelerating spread of Internet broadband around the world. The result is hype, as traditional content producers try to paint their picture of the future as if it was in their head this entire time.

Of true significance is the rapidly changing habits of televisions viewers growing accustomed to the Internet. The Internet is consuming television whole and transforming passive viewers into active participants. These new viewers want to watch AND create video content. They want to participate in the story, which they can do increasingly through video games. When they do passively watch video they want to do so on their own schedule on the device of their choice no matter where they are located.

And these desires, unleashed by the Internet, herald the radical change that will make this entire era of video transitory. Convergence will reach its logical conclusion inside of us. The devices – media player, television, radio, cellphone, camera, etc. – and their capabilities – mobile telephony, image taking, media playing, etc. – and their larger significance to communication, entertainment, and education are all coming together inside of the human body. The cyborg that results is not the Borg of fiction but a melding of technological capabilities with organic beings. It is not that the iPod of the future will be embedded in your body; instead, your body will become imbued with the capabilities of that iPod.

Of course, by that time the iPod itself will be a distant memory, it capabilities swept up into descendant technologies, not all of them physical and many of them purely digital. The leap from technology outside of our bodies to technology inside of our bodies may seem at best esoteric, but please stay tuned. I will continue to explore this idea here on Cybernudism.

Tivo and Bittorrent have allowed viewers to cull through the dreck of mainstream network television and the onslaught of nearly 18 minutes per hour of commercials to create an experience they will not give up easily. With vidcasting, viewing video entertainment has become an absolute joy again. Of special note is Rocketboom, hosted by the luminous Amanda Congdon, with two episodes last week that showcase truly creative and cutting-edge video art.

The first was on Tuesday, September 27, 2005. The brilliant use of yesteryear science-themed tunes, a recent astrophysical discovery, remakes of remakes of remakes of physical mechanics in motion, the blurring of image and reality, and Fidel Castro’s rant on American beer…beep, beep, indeed

Then, on Friday, September 30, 2005: silent film-era host/disco diva Amanda and a postmodern music video in BASIC…beautiful ground, indeed.

Other fantastic Rocketboom moments have included Amanda’s dance through Saint Petersburg, Russia, and her impassioned two-word impeachment plea.

There are a great many video weblogs and Internet television series available now that are interesting and better than most of the crap on over-the-air, cable, and satellite television. Unfortunately, you have to download episodes of each show manually (a few weblogs can be automatically downloaded through videocasting which is similar to podcasting), find them in their individual folders, watch, and then click too damn much when one ends and you are ready to watch another.

What I want is an Automated Internet TV platform that automatically downloads and stores episodes of my favorite series and creates a channel that randomizes the shows while keeping the episodes in order. For example, I want a channel with “Star Trek: Hidden Frontiers”, “Rocketboom”, “The Scene”, and independent films, but set on shuffle, with episodes of each show coming in the right order.

There IS Winamp Internet TV, which you can surf through like regular television channels, but the content is generally poor and you cannot mix up shows by individual episodes from different channels into your own playlist. A couple of organizations, Brightcove and Participatory Culture Foundation, are working on improved Internet TV platforms but little is known about their user interfaces and features.

Once this dream platform is created then I want it to become so incredibly popular that television series created for the networks and cable jump ship and become available over the Internet. I’ll even pay a fee. How about US$1.99 for each new episode, US$0.50 for older episodes, or a $19.99 yearly subscription with unlimited reruns of all episodes prior to the latest?

Of course, once that becomes incredibly popular, then prices will start falling and packages of several different shows will become available for less than $19.99 a year. By then, there will be many more shows available than now, a level playing field for independent, public, and corporate-funded programming, and little need for the middlemen networks and cable companies. While we’re at it, throw in the entire movie, television, video, and DVD library since each were invented and make the Internet the ultimate video storage and jukebox.

Oh, believe you me, an exhaustive Automated Internet TV platform IS coming, no matter how hard the middlemen try to fight it. Unfortunately, I wanted it now. Now I have to wait, and that makes me a little angry. Time to watch more “Rocketboom” and decide whether or not I have a crush on host Amanda Congdon.