Qualcomm Missing the Point With Mobile TV, Too
Qualcomm’s interest in pushing its MediaFLO technology for broadcast mobile TV is pretty transparent. For a phone to get the broadcasts, it’s got to have a MediaFLO reciever — made, of course, by Qualcomm. The company pumps up MediaFLO as technologically superior to competing technologies, which it may or may not be. But great technology (assuming the it actually does work like it’s supposed to) can’t hide the continued lack of demand. People don’t find broadcast TV on a mobile device very compelling, particularly when they’ll have to pay a high price for it. There needs to be an element of customization and interactivity involved: if I have a DVR at home, I’m generally already watching only those shows I want. So instead of forcing me to watch whatever’s available on the air, why not let me access those shows I’m interested, that I’ve recorded at home? Qualcomm says MediaFLO allows “clipcasting”, which is basically video podcasting that updates content on a user’s device at a set interval. That’s great and all, but judging by the wonderful video content carriers are coming up with, it’s hard to be too optimistic about it. In a world where the broadcast TV model is falling out of favor with normal, sedentary viewers, why try to force the same model and the same content on mobile viewers?
