All this talk of DStv’s BoxOffice has got me thinking. More specifically, thinking about the future of television, which all seems rather unclear at the moment.

As is always the case when traditional media starts edging more and more into a digital media space, there’s a bit of uncertainty as to which approach to take in making that transition. Take a look at print, for example. On the one hand, there’s the view that ‘citizen journalism’, freelance bloggers, and social media will take the power away from the traditional publishers altogether. Then there’s the approach that says that digital is just a new distribution channel for the same content, and the fight between free and pay-walled services within that. Or that digital consumers expect something more in terms of content than traditional print consumers. And, finally (though probably not), the debate as to whether to continue to distribute things through your own channels with dedicated sites, tablet applications and the like, or let people get the content wherever they like (a la Flipboard), and to figure out that whole “how do we make money now?” issue later.

For television, though, the changes are even more disruptive.

How I watch

This is where the BoxOffice debate kicks in. In the days of old, the television experience was incredibly limited by the technology that could be utilized to actually provide the content. Locally, the launch of PVR finally allowed consumers to choose to watch their favourite content at a later time. BoxOffice is the next big step in this direction, allowing subscribers to once-off ‘rent’ a movie and watch it in on-demand. There’s one very simple reason that this is where it stops, really in SA – our broadband. But as this continues to improve, the changes to the way we actually watch television will continue to manifest.

On the one hand, the concept of a ‘connected TV’ is made possible, allowing content to be pulled into your television experience from all over the web, and an endless library of content streamed on-demand to your television screen. Google is very much leading this charge at the moment, but don’t count out (surprisingly) Yahoo yet (more on that later…). AppleTV opens up your television to the full on-demand power of the iTunes library. While Hulu, Netflix and the like make all of it possible.

On the other hand, there are a whole new range of devices themselves. While television used to be constrained to the living room, tablets and smartphones means that you may never have to switch your actual television on again. Better still, concepts like central cloud-based storage mean that instead of choosing what device you use based on where your content is, you instead choose which device you use based on where you are.

What I watch

In the same way as the news industry is discovering that consumers aren’t interested in the same sort of content online as they are in, for example, their Sunday newspaper, so too the video content people are interested in is different in a different space. While I’m not for a second suggesting that viewers will switch off their TV’s to Modern Family in favour of piano-playing cats in HD glory, a wider network of content with a lower barrier to entry for producers means that the space for a new style of content is endless.

Revision3 was founded some 6 years ago now and has grown to be the world’s most popular ‘Internet television network’, producing and distributing a variety of very niche shows, primarily for the geek community, including the beloved Diggnation. Touting millions of downloads every month, Revision3 represents a new possibility; content made especially for a new era of television.

What I do while I watch

According to Nielsen, a rather staggering 86% of mobile users are busy using (playing) with their phone while watching television, with almost 40% actually browsing the internet, and another 40% social networking. What this represents is an amazing opportunity to do something to augment the television experience, no matter how that is delivered, by making use of the ‘second screen’.

While services like GetGlue and Miso have tried to introduce the ‘media check-in’, in a way that FourSquare has done in the space of the ‘geographic check-in’, there is none more exciting than smartphone app IntoNow. This startup was recently picked up by Yahoo (remember them?) for a cool $20m+, and is essentially the ‘Shazam of TV’. Based on an underlying service called SoundPrint which identifies TV programs based on an archive of over 250 years worth of content, IntoNow ‘listens’ to whatever is playing, checks you in, and allows you to then view information about it, share it socially, and even comment on the show. Not convinced? Try it for yourself. Amazingly, it even works if the episode is being aired for the first time.

While still in very early days, the ability to chat to my friends as we all watch the F1 together in real-time is a hugely exciting prospect, and would go a great distance (to continue the example) to bring the television experience, or at least the experience surrounding it, into the digital age.

So where to from here…

As connected devices and, more generally, connectivity itself continues to improve, television is about to undergo a massive revolution. What does this mean to you? Hopefully, it’s as simple as the best experience winning – more available content, more conveniently, and surrounded by a much more enjoyable, engaging and interactive experience.

Got an idea of what your TV habit of the future will look like? As always, we want to hear it…

If you want to be able download Apps, Music, Movies, TV Series etc from the US iTunes store, even if you live in SA, here is how to do it.

My, how far we have come. To think about a year ago we were still paying through our noses for even the simplest ADSL data bundles. And then finally Mweb stepped up to the plate and made relatively affordable uncapped internet available. While uncapped packages at present do not really cater for power users due to heavily shaped bandwidth during business hours, there are still people who need to use their internet connection for everyday web browsing and email.

Axxess has just announced a R99 uncapped deal called “just Surf”. This is of course for a 384kbps line version. The user is still responsible for getting an ADSL line from Telkom, which these days is becoming the most expensive part of getting an internet connection at home. Pretty sad considering that an ADSL line is not really even a seperate line going to your house, its merely frequencies being isolated in a traditional phone line.

Here is Axxess’s statement:

In a radical and very exciting move to offer the average South African uncapped Internet, Axxess DSL have launched their new uncapped offerings. The new addition to the current uncapped offerings is called the Axxess “just Surf,” Uncapped Internet Account. The name pretty much sums the account up, as it is targeted to the user that merely wants unlimited internet surfing capabilities without having to be concerned about how many gigs they have used, or when they are going to hit their cap. It is truly affordable to anyone who has an ADSL line, at R99 it is cheaper than a case of beer, and lasts for the whole month!

Pricing is as follows:

R99 per month            384Kbps

R149 per month          512Kbps

R249 per month          1024Kbps

Wired’s cover story for September is quite a big one – Charles Anderson argues that the Web is dead – and this might sound ridiculous. But he does make quite a few very good points. Slowly but surely, we are moving away from a Web only use of the internet, and starting to choose to use the internet in “App form”. Instead of  accessing sites using our PC browser we are preferring to use dedicated applications devoted to a task – which in most cases improves our user experience of these services.

Instead of going through the schlep of logging on to Facebook, we instead choose to use a dumbed down, well designed app on iPhone or Android. We prefer to access Twitter through dedicated apps on our phones than going to the Twitter site. Same can be said of music services, and the recent boom in location based services also drives the point further. The interface is better, its easier to use, and the functionality is focussed.

He goes on further mentioning that the traditional “open is good” mindset is not necessarily the most successful anymore. I am not referring to iPhone vs Android, but instead that people like using closed systems in general, nevermind the ethics or “lock in” problems. Good examples include the iTunes store, but Facebook is a prime example. Its closed nature is perhaps what made people want to use it – the fact that your activities are generally kept away from Google’s crawlers makes the platform seem more welcoming. Of course I realize there is a lot wrong in that sentence – you be the judge:

Enter Facebook. The site began as a free but closed system. It required not just registration but an acceptable email address (from a university, or later, from any school). Google was forbidden to search through its servers. By the time it opened to the general public in 2006, its clublike, ritualistic, highly regulated foundation was already in place. Its very attraction was that it was a closed system. Indeed, Facebook’s organization of information and relationships became, in a remarkably short period of time, a redoubt from the Web — a simpler, more habit-forming place.

The company invited developers to create games and applications specifically for use on Facebook, turning the site into a full-fledged platform. And then, at some critical-mass point, not just in terms of registration numbers but of sheer time spent, of habituation and loyalty, Facebook became a parallel world to the Web, an experience that was vastly different and arguably more fulfilling and compelling and that consumed the time previously spent idly drifting from site to site.

Even more to the point, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg possessed a clear vision of empire: one in which the developers who built applications on top of the platform that his company owned and controlled would always be subservient to the platform itself. It was, all of a sudden, not just a radical displacement but also an extraordinary concentration of power. The Web of countless entrepreneurs was being overshadowed by the single entrepreneur-mogul-visionary model, a ruthless paragon of everything the Web was not: rigid standards, high design, centralized control.

I highly recommend you go read it here. It makes you think twice about the way we will use the internet in the future.

Internet users in South Africa, and MWEB uncapped adsl clients in particular, now have one more reason to be happy. At last South Africa has a Video-on-Demand (VOD) service, thanks to a partnership between MWEB and MultiChoice.

The service is being offered exclusively to DStv Premium subscribers, and they will be able to access it free of charge via both their PVR decoder and MWEB ADSL broadband.

1. The DStv On Demand HD PVR offering, accessible via PVR decoder, will provide 20 hours of the most popular TV series, sporting shows, magazine shows and movies, for up to 7 days after their broadcast on DStv Channels.

2. The DStv On Demand online offering, available exclusively to MWEB ADSL customers (both capped and uncapped), will provide 800 hours of premium content including blockbuster movies, award-winning series, all the best sporting action, kids’ shows and documentaries.

Programmes are chosen for the On Demand service based on monthly consumer surveys. Content will be continually updated after each show appears on DStv channels; international series will be available for 7 days, and local content and movies for 30 days. The pilot episode will always be included.

MultiChoice says of their partnership with MWEB, “DStv Online is committed to delivering the highest possible quality of service to our subscribers. As a result, we request certain guarantees from our ISP partners – the most important of which is uncapped broadband access. MWEB was the first ISP to offer an uncapped ADSL service in South Africa and to meet our quality of service and technical requirements. We are excited to partner with them to offer you unlimited viewing pleasure at no extra bandwidth costs.”

DStv plans to roll out this service to the rest of Africa shortly. They are also investigating the feasibility of launching a Transactional Video on Demand (TVOD) service, which would allow subscribers to have access to the latest movies on a pay-per-view basis, before they are screened on DStv.

Find out more about the DStv On Demand online offering.

A joint effort by Cape Town Partnership and wi-fi hotspot provider Skyrove means that Capetonians will now be able to make use of free wireless internet at Greenmarket Square in the city centre.

Henk Kleynhans, CEO of Skyrove says, “Businesses on Greenmarket Square will see a significant increase in the number of people lingering in their establishments, as more locals will schedule meetings outside of the office – or linger over coffee – while they enjoy wireless internet in the cosmopolitan bustle of this 300-year old heritage space.”

The provision of free wi-fi will also certainly be of benefit to tourists, particularly those wanting to access data services on their smartphones while travelling.

The project will run for an initial six months, and individual users will be allocated 10MBs of free internet each day.

Terri Carter, Senior Project Manager at Cape Town Partnership, says promisingly, “We hope to roll out similar projects around the city very soon.”

Net Prophet 2010 will be taking place on 13 May from 8am to 5pm at the Old Mutual Business School, in Pinelands, Cape Town. Net Prophet, hosted by the RAMP Foundation, is a one-day conference where internet experts and successful entrepreneurs offer insights, data, sound business advice, and practical ways to turn knowledge into profits. This year the conference has a strong focus on digital innovation in Africa, as well as on building a globally competitive IT economy in South Africa.

“The opportunities that the internet provides in South Africa and Africa for businesses are simply too important to ignore,” said Tim Price, marketing manager for the RAMP Group. “This year’s event is a celebration of digital success in Africa, and also intends to empower delegates with the knowledge to go and create new success stories, and become our future Net Prophets.”

Speakers at Net Prophet 2010 will include Erik Hersman (Ushahidi, AfriGadget, TED Fellow – a.k.a. ‘White African’) talking about innovation and technology in Africa, Vinny Lingham (yola, Clicks2Customers) talking about building global technology start-ups, and Stuart Ntlathi from the Stuart Ntlathi Institute of Science and Technology explaining why it is so important to encourage previously disadvantaged South Africans to choose technology as a career path.

World Wide Worx’s Arthur Goldstuck will share his latest online trends and stats with the Net Prophet attendees, including World Wide Worx’s latest connectivity and mobile statistics. He will also chat about strategies needed to succeed in the mobile internet space, and share some valuable lessons about how today’s youth are acquiring digital skills.

A recent (and exciting) addition to the speaker line-up is Sarah Lacy, editor-at-large for TechCrunch.com, the largest blog on tech entrepreneurship in the world.

View the full list of Net Prophet 2010 speakers.

Speak to anyone who attended last year’s event and you’ll hear the same story: this is one conference that is not to be missed. Mike Stopforth from Cerebra, who spoke at Net Prophet 2009, described the event as “how conferences in SA should be run.” And it’s not just for geeks: Net Prophet should be attended by anyone wanting to tap into the power of the internet to grow their business.

The conference is free to attend, but delegates must pre-register at www.netprophet.org.za. Only registered delegates will be allowed access to the conference.

The last word goes to Jack Kruger, head of digital at Old Mutual: “Free access to enabling knowledge is the true killer app. As platinum sponsor of Net Prophet 2010 we are proud to be associated with an event that makes it possible.”

Web Africa is busy working up its new network, and the South African company has just announced a trial for its new tier 1 ADSL network. The company is inviting anyone with an ADSL line and a router to take part in the trial and is offering a 10 GB free bandwidth to those who accept.

Clearly, the offer will have a number of people interested — since everyone loves free bandwidth — so they have capped the number of free accounts to 5,000.

The company says that the new network will allow it to offer better services to its customers, as Web Africa will no more be required to adjust with the requirements of other providers. Also, this free trial will help the company to fine tune the network and ensure that they don’t run into any problems when the service officially rolls out.

“The decision to launch our own ADSL network has been made specifically with our customers in mind,” says Matthew Tagg, CEO of Web Africa. “Not only will we now have more freedom to offer new products and services to our users, we will be able to offer the very best service at an affordable price. Our goal is to optimise our network according to what our customers need for their various internet usages.”

Their plan is to make the shift to the new network as smooth as possible, once the trials are over, existing customers will be moved to the new network, without any change in services offered, subscriptions, and/or the pre-paid costs.

Have you made it to the 5,000. How is it?