2006-7 All-Access

Just noticed a "temporary authorization" for $1.01 against my credit card placed by "College Sports Network - Carlsbad." I suspect this is an automatic renewal of the Cornell All-Access package. Anyone else experienced this? Anyone seen any information about the upcoming year? Planned event coverage? Cost?

Just sent an email to Jeremy Hartigan asking "whazzup?"

Just was told an announcement should be made today--not Monday, as originally was planned.

By the way, the Sun starts publishing on Monday.

Strange doings. First, a second "temporary authorization" appeared on my card, and now both have been removed but no charge has been posted. And no announcement yet for the upcoming year. Stay tuned.

Merchants sometimes make and remove a trial charge to see if the credit card is still valid.

Problem is, that's also a tool of scammers, making small chargers before ordering the plasma TV by mail-order.

Visa saw that and other oddball charge and decided to suspend card access altogether.

In my "junk mailbox" this letter arrived:
"CSTV Networks has spent this past summer improving Cornell's All-Access platform. As a valued customer, we know the NEW All-Access will provide an unparalleled user experience.

Your username from last year's product will not change, however, because of security improvements we have changed your password. As of Thursday, August 17, 2006 your subscription to Cornell's All-Access product will require a new password to access any content from this audio/video subscription product."

YOU NEED TO BE A WINDOWS USER. THAT JUST SUCKS (and more than Harvard does!). I have a 4 year old ibook that I probably cannot convert to be windows xp friendly. AAUGGHH. . Not my vision of an "improved platform".

From the FAQ page: [www.cstv.com]

8. Can I access All-Access audio or video on a Macintosh?
Though we understand that there are passionate college sports fans within the Mac users community, we are currently unable to support Macintosh computers or OS X. Though there are currently no solutions for viewing All Access in OS X, Apple has been working to create a solution that will allow Macintosh users to install Windows XP on their Intel based Macintosh computers. This solution currently referred to as Boot Camp is now in Public Beta testing. Apple will include this technology in their soon to be released OS X, Leopard. This software can currently be downloaded through this link provided by Apple.

[www.apple.com]

Here’s what you will need to install Boot Camp on your Intel based Macintosh:

Mac OS X Tiger v10.4.6 (check Software Update)
The latest Firmware update (check Support Downloads)
10GB free hard disk space
An Intel-based Mac
A blank recordable CD
A printer for the instructions
A bona fide installation disc for Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2, Home or Professional (No multi-disc, upgrade or Media Center versions.)

Once you have installed Boot Camp and installed Windows XP, Service Pack 2 you will be able to view All Access content on a Macintosh if you are using the Windows XP platform.

9. Can I use AOL as my browser when accessing my All-Access subscription?
You will not be able to use AOL as your browser. Please refer to System Requirements.

I have made a good living the last bunch of years explaining how to make PCs and PC notebooks work. If this Mac thing - ease of use, stuff like that - gets out of hand and starts reaching more of the market, I'll have to look for legitimate work. Fortunately, Apple stays sub-5% of the market even as its products get better.

Stuff like All-Access [sic] not reaching out to Mac users is nice for me. Kind of sucks for you, Rita. Sorry.

Actually, I'm almost thinking of getting a Mac as a Photoshop machine. OTOH, for nearly the same money, I can take an existing AMD-64 system that is pretty peppy and put on a 30-inch Dell monitor. If you think 21" is nice, 30" is beyond incredible. You can never have enough room for Photoshop tearoffs or more thumbnails.

[q]ALL-ACCESS >>> Dear xxxx

CSTV Networks has spent this past summer improving Cornell's All-Access platform. As a valued customer, we know the NEW All-Access will provide an unparalleled user experience.

Your username from last year's product will not change, however, because of security improvements we have changed your password. As of Thursday, August 17, 2006 your subscription to Cornell's All-Access product will require a new password to access any content from this audio/video subscription product.

Your new password is:
billxxx[/Q]

Call me a cynic, but when I get email like this, I think of two possibilities:

1. All-Access cares about my well being and security.
2. The dolts trashed their password file and couldn't recover it.

What's your vote ... ?

Note also they call in an unparalleled user experience. Not "unparalleled better" ...

After receiving this email, I went to check out the "new and improved" platform to find a slew of broken links and no All Access page. In reviewing the FAQ's I noticed that the service will now cost $15/mo or $99/yr! That a far cry from the $40 I remember paying last year for crummy service.

Maybe the new security still allows users to be logged in on multiple machines at once... who wants to split the subscription with me and 97 other folks?

Jeremy Hartigan is jh295@cornell.edu if you'd like him to know of your happiness with the All-Access program.

There is a vague disclaimer regarding the annual fee to the effect that college packages may differ in cost. But, not only didn't they give us an option as to whether to renew in the email, they didn't tell us what the cost would be.

[Q]Maybe the new security still allows users to be logged in on multiple machines at once... who wants to split the subscription with me and 97 other folks?[/Q]

I'm honestly totally in. What BS. Just the fact they don't support my Mac anymore. That's ridiculous. I can still watch on my gf's PC, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay full price when they can't get their shit together enough to support me, and then double the price as well.

I'll be emailing CSTV and athletics as well... grrr, I just want to smack them.

Small edit: I don't know if I completely believe them on the Mac thing. The requirements says you just need Windows Media Player 9 or 10. 9 runs fine on a Mac still... just like last year. They *could* be full of shit too. Especially for audio.

Just heard from Jeremy. He hasn't heard anything from CSTV, either, regarding costs, etc. Sounded as frustrated as we are.

Al DeFlorio
Just heard from Jeremy. He hasn't heard anything from CSTV, either, regarding costs, etc. Sounded as frustrated as we are.

Thanks, Al. I'll avoid spamming him. Although I'll probably send feedback to the generic athletics webpage. Just to have power in numbers. Did you mention the Mac issue too (I don't recall your platform preference)?

DeltaOne81

Al DeFlorio
Just heard from Jeremy. He hasn't heard anything from CSTV, either, regarding costs, etc. Sounded as frustrated as we are.

Thanks, Al. I'll avoid spamming him. Although I'll probably send feedback to the generic athletics webpage. Just to have power in numbers. Did you mention the Mac issue too (I don't recall your platform preference)?

As a Windows user, I didn't notice the Mac problem, so I didn't mention it in my first email. But I did in my response to Jeremy of 60 seconds ago.

Al DeFlorio

DeltaOne81

Al DeFlorio
Just heard from Jeremy. He hasn't heard anything from CSTV, either, regarding costs, etc. Sounded as frustrated as we are.

Thanks, Al. I'll avoid spamming him. Although I'll probably send feedback to the generic athletics webpage. Just to have power in numbers. Did you mention the Mac issue too (I don't recall your platform preference)?

As a Windows user, I didn't notice the Mac problem, so I didn't mention it in my first email. But I did in my response to Jeremy of 60 seconds ago.

Great, thanks. Keep us informed

DeltaOne81

Al DeFlorio

DeltaOne81

Al DeFlorio
Just heard from Jeremy. He hasn't heard anything from CSTV, either, regarding costs, etc. Sounded as frustrated as we are.

Thanks, Al. I'll avoid spamming him. Although I'll probably send feedback to the generic athletics webpage. Just to have power in numbers. Did you mention the Mac issue too (I don't recall your platform preference)?

As a Windows user, I didn't notice the Mac problem, so I didn't mention it in my first email. But I did in my response to Jeremy of 60 seconds ago.

Great, thanks. Keep us informed

Thanks Al for posting the email address. I just sent a letter to Jeremy addressing the lack of Mac access, the technical difficulties from last year and asking if they have been resolved and how much we will have to pay.

I'll send off a letter to CSTV later tonight.

The lack of Mac access has me ticked off. When I moved, I got the high speed internet access and an apartment with a fireplace. I had visions of me spending Friday and Saturday nights by the fire with a glass of wine watching Cornell hockey and whatever games are on the Direct TV sports pack. Someday I'll learn.

No way am I paying 99 dollars for the crap that they called All Access last year. I called tonight to cancel and they assured me my card would not automatically be charged.

I'm not holding my breath.

As the price creeps up, it could be a viable venture for someone else to compete with All-Access. Remember CSTV Properties gives (sells) Cornell a package that includes the website design and choice of colors (fortunately Cornell uses red, which is available). But it also means when renewal time comes, someone else could outbid CSTV.

Let's recap the technologies CSTV provides:

cookie cutter website design
low res video imaging of games
crappy QOS

How hard would it be to improve on that?

This is classic marketing. Most people either don't give a rap about this CSTV webcast stuff or simply must have it. And the must-haves for the most part will stick around at $49 or at $99 year. You are an exception. But the yield management experts know the falloff won't be half.

Tub(a)
No way am I paying 99 dollars for the crap that they called All Access last year.

It could be the $99 is for the whole All-Access magilla, and the FAQ does say: "School and Conference products may vary."

We shall see. Soon, I hope.

Until I see what kind of "improvement" they have made over the summer, I plan to pay by the month like I did last year. At least I think that's what I did, and I certainly hope that is an option this year.

Sorry about the Mac stuff. That sucks for those of you who don't have PC's if it is true. I hadn't noticed that part.

P.S. If I want a slide show of a hockey game, I will look through Age's pictures. They are far better quality and I won't get ticked off since I won't expect the players in the images to be moving.

Chris '03
After receiving this email, I went to check out the "new and improved" platform to find a slew of broken links and no All Access page. In reviewing the FAQ's I noticed that the service will now cost $15/mo or $99/yr! That a far cry from the $40 I remember paying last year for crummy service.

Maybe the new security still allows users to be logged in on multiple machines at once... who wants to split the subscription with me and 97 other folks?

I'll split it with you!

Just sent an email to CSTV's customer support outlining my problems with the service last year and asking specifically what improvements they'd made. (Also, if they'd made it possible for me to watch away games, assuming the other team was also a CSTV partner. I could never figure out why that wasn't possible or even preferable.) We'll see how they respond.

Would someone please post the CSTV Customer Service (sic) email? Thanks in advance.

Trotsky
Would someone please post the CSTV Customer Service (sic) email? Thanks in advance.

Ya lazy bum...

Email:
customersupport@cstv.com

Toll-Free Customer Support Hotline:
888-870-CSTV

What a load of fucking horseshit. They break their product so that it only works on one platform, and then offer you instructions on how to install Windoze on your Mac?

I suppose there's no hope for those of us who use Linux. Because god forbid everyone should just be able to choose their own operating system.

Do not waste the effort emailing CSTV. You will get a letter/email back that is cut and pasted from the initial email and the FAQ on installing windows on a Mac. Any particular concerns or questions raised are completely ignored.

Has anyone tried talking to a human at CSTV?

Rita
Do not waste the effort emailing CSTV. You will get a letter/email back that is cut and pasted from the initial email and the FAQ on installing windows on a Mac. Any particular concerns or questions raised are completely ignored.

Has anyone tried talking to a human at CSTV?

No, but I'm considering it. Their email to me was also cut and pasted (without even editing to clean up the random question marks that appeared when the pasting messed up the characters). I suppose the response was remotely relevant to one sentence in my email... I kept on hoping that they'd send me another email, though.

Sooo... The guy I talked to had NO IDEA what he was talking about. Hopefully he was taking notes, though.

- He thinks we'll have access to both home and away games. He checked with someone, but he still didn't sound sure, and I don't trust him.

- He says they've been working on resolution and presence/continuity of the feed, but they've still been hearing complaints about it. He agrees that most of the so-called improvements are actually of the "more games, more sports, more schools" variety.

- He has no idea what happened to the All-Access webpage.

- When I asked about whether it was really just a need to have Windows Media Player 9/10, he said, "Um, yeah, I think...Yeah, we don't support Macs."

- He agreed to pass on to the appropriate people my wish to hear pre-game shows, but told me there wasn't really any plan in place to show them unless "there's some big interview, or press conference or something." I reminded him that it's often a simple matter of turning on the radio feed 10 minutes earlier.

I suspect I'm going to be the "caller from hell" story he tells at lunch, because he was completely out of his depth during this call.

Not a freaking chance I'm paying $99 (or even $15/mo.) for this POS. With all the problems they had last year at $50 ($8/mo), what makes me think things will be any better, especially with the great signs they've shown so far this year.

This crap service exists to service the football/squeakball fans, and the rest of us are 3rd-rate citizens. In addition to demanding a certain OS, they also restrict you to using a certain browser. Unacceptable.

I would spend $50 for an all-hockey plan, which they did not offer last year. (But boy howdy, if you want to watch Big-Pro College FOOTBALL!! YEE-HAW!)

Cornell Athletics...dump this shitty CSTV service and their freaking annoying web site partnership. It sucks.

We just need to get WHCU to do an online broadcast so we can at least get audio without having to pay CSTV.

Jacob '06
We just need to get WHCU to do an online broadcast so we can at least get audio without having to pay CSTV.

That would likely violate the No Access contract.

It's really a shame that a great technology is being squandered by technical incompetence and a lousy business model. Consider that Age working alone for no pay did a far better job than these jackasses. Cornell Athletics should be ashamed.

Pricing update: For what it's worth, I was able to reach a customer service agent on the phone today without much problem and was told that there would be no price change. Still $49 per year, or whatever it was in 2005-06.

The Mac thing is disgraceful.

Trotsky

Jacob '06
We just need to get WHCU to do an online broadcast so we can at least get audio without having to pay CSTV.

That would likely violate the No Access contract.

It's really a shame that a great technology is being squandered by technical incompetence and a lousy business model. Consider that Age working alone for no pay did a far better job than these jackasses. Cornell Athletics should be ashamed.

Well, once upon a time, the games were on WVBR, which already had free web streaming 24/7.

For more info on "All-Access" see:
[www.sportsline.com]
Apparently, the $99.95 includes all All-Access games for more than 100 schools.
Also, I infer from what they're saying that the schools themselves have some say in the pricing for their games.
[Q]"Notre Dame games will be free, while Navy, Stanford and other schools will charge $4.95 to $9.95 a month each for an "All-Access" broadband channel that includes live audio and video feeds of some games, news conferences, highlights, play-by-play animation and other features."[/Q]

jkahn
For more info on "All-Access" see:
[www.sportsline.com]
Apparently, the $99.95 includes all All-Access games for more than 100 schools.
Also, I infer from what they're saying that the schools themselves have some say in the pricing for their games.
[Q]"Notre Dame games will be free, while Navy, Stanford and other schools will charge $4.95 to $9.95 a month each for an "All-Access" broadband channel that includes live audio and video feeds of some games, news conferences, highlights, play-by-play animation and other features."[/Q]

Kudos to Notre Dame for making their feeds free!!!! That is certainly one way to keep your alumni and fans happy.

I can now listen to ND football while at work tomorrow night.

Speaking of websites, I just clicked on the men's ice hockey schedule/results and found a page [cornellbigred.cstv.com] titled 2005 - 06 Men's Ice Hockey Tentative Schedule and Results! It's lame to not yet have this year's schedule up, but the concept of last year's schedule still being tentative is mind-numbing.

I wonder if the all access link security is as bad as the espn360 one is.. I dont condone bypassing security but if its obvious how to do it..

First football audio webcast should be next Saturday. We should see a "formal" announcement soon. I understand it will be $49.95 for the season. We shall see.

CSTV's audio feed for today's Notre Dame football game is working fine on a clunking PC desktop running windows XP. Notre Dame is making at least the audio feed for their sporting events FREE for everyone, alum or not. (BTW, 20-0 UND over Penn State at the half).

Miami of Ohio just missed upsetting the Purdue Boilermakers. Their kicker had 2 FG attempts blocked, including an ~ 30 yarder with 17 seconds left in regulation that would have given Miami a 3 pt lead. Purdue wins 38-31 in 1 OT. It was a fine day for a football game in the hockey-hell hole known as Indiana.

The Purdue band played the "screw BU song", in my head I was singing "screw BU, Miami too". How soon until the puck is dropped?

We're Sorry
But you will need Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 on the following systems in order to enjoy All-Access:

Microsoft Windows XP Home/Professional SP2, Windows XP Media Center 2005, Windows 2000 SP4; Media Player 9 or 10.


They won't even let me access the web page! I can't even try it!

Fuck them. Fuck them long, hard, and deep.

DeltaOne81
We're Sorry
But you will need Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 on the following systems in order to enjoy All-Access:

Microsoft Windows XP Home/Professional SP2, Windows XP Media Center 2005, Windows 2000 SP4; Media Player 9 or 10.


They won't even let me access the web page! I can't even try it!

Fuck them. Fuck them long, hard, and deep.

I went through the Notre Dame Football website and avoided CSTV's mainpage. I'm not sure what version of IE that PC is running (how do you find that out on a PC, where is the "get info" option?).

I am glad that ND is allowing access to the games for free. I would not have paid money for the game.

I'm sure I will be echoing your comments whenever I wish to watch/listen to a Cornell event from home rather than the lab.

Rita
I'm not sure what version of IE that PC is running (how do you find that out on a PC, where is the "get info" option?).

Help/About Internet Explorer. Look under "Version."

Can you post the link to the page you were trying to use when you got browser-sniffed, so I can follow it and complain when it doesn't work?

Also, Mozilla has various ways to masquerade as a different Browser/OS combination; you might want to try that in case they're just being stupid and it actually works on other platforms.

jtwcornell91
Can you post the link to the page you were trying to use when you got browser-sniffed, so I can follow it and complain when it doesn't work?

[www.cstv.com] (this it where the 'live games' link on CSTV.com brings you).

Then hit the big 'check it out' button.

Also, Mozilla has various ways to masquerade as a different Browser/OS combination; you might want to try that in case they're just being stupid and it actually works on other platforms.

Yeah, I'd heard of that. I did some searching and found this:
[addons.mozilla.org]

I'm gonna play around with it a little bit.

DeltaOne81

jtwcornell91
Also, Mozilla has various ways to masquerade as a different Browser/OS combination; you might want to try that in case they're just being stupid and it actually works on other platforms.

Yeah, I'd heard of that. I did some searching and found this:
[addons.mozilla.org]

I'm gonna play around with it a little bit.

So I set it to IE 6, Win XP and it no longer gives me the error, but neither does anything load.

I've seen the page on my gf's IE 6, Win XP computer, and its just a fancy flash-looking interface for the whole setup (chances are its not Flash or else it'd be cross platform, but that's what it looks like).

The question will be, I guess, if we can extract audio & video URLs out of the streams once it gets going, and if they then work.

If that works, and they just decided to make a fancy interface that doesn't, then that's just awful. Of course, its not much better to decide to pick an audio streaming interface that isn't cross platform either.

Heck, if they needed DRM for video for legal reasons, and Macs, Linux, etc could only hear their audio... I suppose I could live with that (at least if they gave us a cheaper audio-only subscription option). But streaming audio has been cross platform for over a decade, and its utterly inexcuseable that they can't make it such now.

Nobody needs DRM. Provide a product people want and don't be an asshole to your customers, and we'll pay you what you deserve.

Announced today, 9/14: [cornellbigred.cstv.com]

FWIW, here's the email I sent to customersupport@cstv.com with a carbon copy to Anita Brenner (I was not in a mood to mince words when I wrote it):

[Q]

Dear CSTV,

I'm an avid fan of Cornell hockey who doesn't live very close to
Ithaca, so I use on-line broadcasts to follow the Big Red.  I was an
All-Access subscriber last season, and was able to view and listen to
the broadcasts in my primary operating system of GNU/Linux.

This season it seems you have declared that you will only "support"
the platform of Windows and Internet Explorer, and go so far as to
generate a page declaring your inaccessibility if anyone tries to
access a broadcast from another web browser or operating system.  You
also have the gall to respond to the concerns of MacOS users (I
suppose Linux users do not exist at all) by telling them they can
install Windows on their hardware.

This is completely unacceptable behavior on your part.  You need to
stop trying to control what platform people use and go back to
providing the content that we pay you for in an accessible,
platform-neutral format.

                        Sincerely,
                                        Dr. John T. Whelan
                                        Cornell '91
                                        UC Santa Barbara Ph.D. '96

[/Q]

Emails like this SHOULD get you attention from their Customer Service Department. Unfortunately, it probably won't (though your cc'ing Cornell was something I didn't do).

My email:
[q]Question 1:
Can I now watch both home and away games that my school takes part in,
assuming the home team for the away games is also a CSTV partner? If not,
whyever not?

Question 2:
What other improvements have you made?

Honestly, the service last year was barely acceptable. There were frequent
outages in the feed, not to mention the usually choppy, always
low-resolution video. Video and sound might or might not have been
matched. Customer service was between unhelpful and incompetent. The
feed rarely included any pre-game or post-game footage and often missed the
beginnings of games. When your customers have betting pools based on how
many minutes (or goals) late the feed will start, you're not providing a
good service. If these problems haven't been addressed - most importantly,
the presence of the feed from the pre-game show through the post-game show -
I can't justify spending twice what I spent last year for what doesn't seem
to be an improved product.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Burnham[/q]

Their response, complete with screwy formatting and no signature:
[q]Thank you for your inquiry,

CSTV All-Access XXL provides more in-depth coverage of your favorite teams and sports than anywhere else!
? More than 90 schools and 12 major conferences
? More than 7,000 live games streamed to your PC- audio and select video
? 2,000 live video events?pep rallies, press conferences, coaches? shows, features and moe.
? More women?s sports than anywhere else online.
? More classic games in video and audio online for the vaults of Notre Dame and others.
? More than 20 men?s and women?s sports and more than 300 teams in conference and intersectional match-ups.
? More CSTV All-Access XXL video streaming exclusives!

All-Access allows college sports fan to experience the passion, tradition and excitement of our teams with comprehensive, easy-to access multimedia coverage.

CSTV.com will honor any refund request for an unused seasonal subscription made within 10 days of the purchase and any refund request for an unused monthly subscription made within 5 days of the purchase or within 5 days of the last billing.

Thanks,[/q]

Perhaps I should forward the conversation to Cornell so they can see the mess and put institutional pressure on CSTV to provide a decent service.

Liz '05
Emails like this SHOULD get you attention from their Customer Service Department. Unfortunately, it probably won't (though your cc'ing Cornell was something I didn't do).

My email:
[q]Question 1:
Can I now watch both home and away games that my school takes part in,
assuming the home team for the away games is also a CSTV partner? If not,
whyever not?

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Burnham[/q]
[/q]

For what it's worth at this point in the season, the list of football games to be videocast includes the away games at Penn and Brown. So perhaps we will be able to watch away games with teams that are also CSTV "partners."

[Edit: Oops, despite what the all-knowing All-Access site says, the Penn game will be played in Ithaca this year. So the only away game to be videocast is the one at Brown.]

"Cornell sports fans who utilize this best-in-class, easy-to-use platform will allow them to navigate the channel by sport, news, audio, video and countless other criteria."

#1: "Best-in-class?" F--k off.

#2: Ummm... editor?

It's all just so insulting.

All Access update:

Between some efforts from JTW, and a kinda username and password that I've been allowed to use for testing purposes, I still can't get access to anything.

In fact, it even seems to imply that I won't even be able to view GameTracker, which is accessed through the same interface (btw, I've figured much of this out using my gf's Dell).

The interface is basically an ultra fancy Flash interface, and it seems that Adobe (who bought Macromedia) has joined the group of companies supporting fancier features on Windows than on other platforms.

I can confirm this because by setting my browser to say its IE 6 on XP, and visiting several sites that use flash content (including the Adobe Flash Player webpage), and they have more Flash features that do not load, asking me to upgrade my player. But when I set it back to admitting that its Firefox on a Mac, it doesn't even try to load those extra features (MSNBC is one example).


The audio streams are embedded in the Flash player. I can't find anyway to access the URL of the streams. As best as we can tell, there's no WMP or Real player running (at least for the free audio stream we tested, haven't gotten access to any video yet), it just seems to be embedded within the Flash player.

The GameTracker is also the flash player, and when getting the URL (I managed to extract that), it still doesn't load in my browser... assumingly because it relies on the same Flash features.


So I see two ways to go about this. Once, it remains utterly ridiculous that they require Windows-only Flash features to go about accessing audio and video streams for which there is probably no reason that they can't run on Macs and Linux. I don't care if they have to give other platforms just a stupid text webpage with links to the streams. Fine, just do it. Cornell and CSTV need to hear this repeatedly.

Second, as best i can tell, the primary cause if the difference between the Flash player abilities, so bugging Adobe might be worth it to see if they have any plans to make them equal.


Edit: I take back the Gametracker thing. If I get a direct link to a GameTracker feed, and *don't* have my browser pretend its Windows, then it loads fine. Small consolation of course, but at least its 'proof-of-concept'

I was wavering whether to sign up for Cornell All-Access, but tonight's equipment failure at the football game finalized my decision to not purchase it this year. Still not sure why CSTV and Cornell Athletics can't get this to work when the webcasts of other schools have been up and running for years.

Here's a link to the PR statement about tonight's broadcast snafu,
[cornellbigred.cstv.com]

bP
Here's a link to the PR statement about tonight's broadcast snafu,
[cornellbigred.cstv.com]

At least they acknowledged it. I guess that's progress.

jtwcornell91

bP
Here's a link to the PR statement about tonight's broadcast snafu,
[cornellbigred.cstv.com]

At least they acknowledged it. I guess that's progress.

But not even an apology for the inconvenience.

So does anyone have a sense of the technical issues going on behind the scenes here? Are the features CSTV is trying to use part of Flash 8, which Adobe hasn't seen fit to release for Mac and Linux?

Here we see a weakness of the theory that the marketplace automatically leads to superior products. If last year's webcast could compete with this flash crap, it would win. But Cornell and CSTV only provide one option, so the choice is watching Cornell hockey via this interface, if it's even possible, or not watching at all.

And actually I'm facing this decision; since I have dual boot on my laptop, I could probably access the webcast in the platform they're trying to force us into, but it would mean 1) crippling my ability to do anything else with my laptop at the same time and 2) sacrificing my principles to enable their bullshit programming practices. I guess it's stightly easier to stand up to them since the games start at 1am my time. (Although if it were just this personal sacrifice, I would make it. Further sacrificing my principles is another question.)

BTW, there's some indication that there will someday be a Flash 9 release for Linux (and possibly for OSX); who knows, maybe these will be able to play the "All"-Access webcasts:

[weblogs.macromedia.com]

I suppose the most sensible option is to cancel my account now, and subscribe later if a Linux solution becomes available.

jtwcornell91
1) crippling my ability to do anything else with my laptop at the same time

you mean you do other things besides breathing and cheering while watching cornell hockey?

jtwcornell91
Here we see a weakness of the theory that the marketplace automatically leads to superior products.

Actually what we see is confirmation of the theory that monopolies distort markets and stifle development. There are no actual market forces at work in the "Cornell sports broadcasting" market because Cornell has the right to exclusively deal with CSTV.

ugarte

jtwcornell91
Here we see a weakness of the theory that the marketplace automatically leads to superior products.

Actually what we see is confirmation of the theory that monopolies distort markets and stifle development. There are no actual market forces at work in the "Cornell sports broadcasting" market because Cornell has the right to exclusively deal with CSTV.

Right, but in a free marketplace monopolies clearly develop. Look at how every university has an exclusive deal with Coke or Pepsi to provide beverages on their campus because the kickback they get benefits them more than letting students make their own choices would.

ugarte

jtwcornell91
Here we see a weakness of the theory that the marketplace automatically leads to superior products.

Actually what we see is confirmation of the theory that monopolies distort markets and stifle development. There are no actual market forces at work in the "Cornell sports broadcasting" market because Cornell has the right to exclusively deal with CSTV.

I was about to argue with you since it's not Cornell's monopoly that is making CSTV go with a poor platform. That decision is based on a different market problem - the limited number of software options for streaming audio/video and the excessive strength of Microsoft that encourages (dfirectly or indirectly) software companies to only provide Windows support. But then I realize the real problem here is the Cornell monopoly. When faced with poor CSTV service we have very little ability to provide market feedback to them and Cornell because there is no substitute product. Cornell fans aren't going to suddenly watch or listen to the Clarkson game because we can't get Cornell. (Well, there is the option to use the opponent's feed, which I generally do.)

On a tangential note, I will never understand pro sports blackout rules. If I have a satellite dish I can't watch the Yankees game on YES when there's a local Giants or A's game on. This assumes that I simply want to watch baseball and will watch the local team when I can't watch the game I want, which is just not true most of the time. Yes, there is the premium service market that blackouts help prop up (e.g. MLB Extra Innings) but the blackout rules predate these services.[/rant]

KeithK
On a tangential note, I will never understand pro sports blackout rules. If I have a satellite dish I can't watch the Yankees game on YES when there's a local Giants or A's game on. This assumes that I simply want to watch baseball and will watch the local team when I can't watch the game I want, which is just not true most of the time. Yes, there is the premium service market that blackouts help prop up (e.g. MLB Extra Innings) but the blackout rules predate these services.[/rant]

The old blackout rules are in force to help sell local advertising and to protect weak markets from nationally popular teams like, say, the Yankees. The local fan base and expected viewership are factored into local ad rates. Part of those negotiated rates is the expectation that there will be no simultaneous baseball options. Not surprisingly, this is done to protect the revenues of teams and networks at the expense of fans.

It really shouldn't be surprising because this is the same industry that took decades to realize that broadcasting their games (on the radio! and then the debate revived again over television!) wasn't competition to ticket sales, but rather advertising for home games.

I have it on good authority that All-Access works best on a PC using an Intel processor, Microsoft Windows XP operating system (MS Media Center Edition is permissible), Microsoft Office 2003, and Windows Firewall. Running Service Pack 2, of course, and forced (Microsoft) automatic updates turned on. Also, you should be using a Microsoft-brand optical mouse; a Microsoft laser mouse is acceptable if you're a gamer. Rather than unproven software such as Adobe Premiere, one should stick with Microsoft MovieMaker. It is considered acceptable to have borderline applications such as Acrobat Reader (Adobe Acrobat Reader not Acrobat) installed.

Life is better for All-Access when you follow the rules.

KeithK
On a tangential note, I will never understand pro sports blackout rules. If I have a satellite dish I can't watch the Yankees game on YES when there's a local Giants or A's game on. This assumes that I simply want to watch baseball and will watch the local team when I can't watch the game I want, which is just not true most of the time. Yes, there is the premium service market that blackouts help prop up (e.g. MLB Extra Innings) but the blackout rules predate these services.

Just fyi, you can't watch a Yankees game on YES ever... no matter what else is or isn't on at the same time.

The idea definitely is to support local fanship for the local team... thereby getting people out to the park and get ticket and food sales, etc. Does it work? Well, that's another question. But with the option to pay more for sports subscriptions (or mlb.tv), it certainly makes even more sense now.

ugarte
It really shouldn't be surprising because this is the same industry that took decades to realize that broadcasting their games (on the radio! and then the debate revived again over television!) wasn't competition to ticket sales, but rather advertising for home games.

And Bill (f---ing) Wirtz just got the memo: this year, he's being so generous as to put 5 WHOLE HOME GAMES on (cable) TV. Wowsers!

John, your very example contradicts the idea that the free market is the source of monopolies. The university's cutting of the exclusive deal that locks out the competitors creates a subsidized market. This is equivalent to the government getting involved to distort the market, which results in artifically picking winners and losers, and likewise the politicization of the market, with suppliers paying as much to bribe the overseer as it does to manufacture and market their product. I hope Andy at least got a "happy ending" out of this deal.

Your example also points out why monopolies are inherently suicidal. By insulating CSTV from competition from other service providers, Cornell guarantees that the service will become more expensive and inferior in quality, which will drive down the market for Cornell hockey games, which will hurt Cornell in the long run. The best model for Cornell to follow is either (a) to grant non-exclusive rights to carry the product and let the competitors fight for audience share every week (which would also be the best for the consumer, since we would see immediate improvements in service and pricing), or (b) renegotiate the one-year exclusivity deal every year, opening the bidding to all competitors, and cutting out the lap dances or however else the sad sacks at CSTV closed this time.

So does "you do not have access to this content" mean they dudn't actually re-subscribe me? (BTW, thanks for making me watch an ad before telling me I don't have access, fuckers.)

Also, is the actual video really going to be 1/16 the size of my laptop screen?