The Doctor Will See You Now — Online [NYT Bits Blog]
The information revolution that broadband Internet has created continues to change paradigms. Today's change is the visit to the doctor, which a company named American Well aims to transform into a video conference that can be conducted from a computer. If your health insurance opts to participate in American Well (and at least one will by January), you simply log on to American Well and you're directed to your virtual exam room for a ten minute consultation with a doctor. Doctors in the American Well system have access to your electronic medical records and can even prescribe medication through the system.
While it sure sounds like a big change from making an appointment and traveling to a doctor's office, a system like this is perfect for people on the go who need to consult with a doctor about a non-emergency issue. Plus, this article indicates that the system will have doctors available after regular office hours and on weekends.
Netflix movies are now available for live streaming from Microsoft's Xbox gaming console. If you own an Xbox 360, are a member of Xbox Live Gold, and you're a member of Netflix, you now have access to watch 10,000 standard definition and 300 high definition movies using your Xbox. This new feature is part of a larger operating system upgrade that Microsoft is releasing for its gaming platform. For its part, Netflix has
released some of the technical details of the streaming service on its blog.
Even though it has fewer users than Google's YouTube, Hulu is expected to match YouTube's revenues next year. Hulu is a partnership between News Corporation and NBC Universal, offering popular television programs like The Office and The Simpsons along with some feature-length movies. Hulu's video offerings have commercial breaks, and display some of the same commercials you'd see on regular television.
Even though YouTube has 83 million users and Hulu only has 6 million, it appears that Hulu has developed a successful revenue model while there are still questions about YouTube's ability to monetize its content. Some experts say the difference is that advertisers are more willing to spend ad dollars on a site with professionally produced programming rather than one with user-produced content. For the record, YouTube is working to move into the professional content space with a recent announcement that it is working out agreements with studios to show full-length feature films.
Tru2way promises to make televisions more like computers, allowing users real interactivity with applications that run on a television. But as televisions become more like computers, at least one company is betting that consumers want their computers to be more like televisions. According to this article, Silicon Mountain Holdings has developed six different computer models with all components integrated into an LCD display that varies from 32-inch to 42-inch, depending on model. The displays look just like an LCD television, and they're even wall-mountable. The computers are being marketed as systems ideal for watching online video from iTunes or sites like Hulu.
The strength of TiVo is their nttiraluey. It doesn't matter whether you get your signal OTA or through cable, over the internet or satellite, they are trying to build a system where consumers can aggregate all of the content together. By doing so, they're able to offer the best of all worlds. Every other solution requires you to lock into a single system. What if you like something on Hulu, but can't watch it on Netflix? Right now, you have to switch platforms whereas TiVo is in a position to serve up both sources of content. It would not surprise me one if we see Hulu on TiVo by the end of the year. By creating an even playing field, TiVo is able to adapt to all of the fragmentation. These internet sites aren't competitors, they are future partners.
Posted by: Linda | Saturday, August 11, 2012 at 06:10 PM