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Web-Like Variety at TV Speeds

"Because we are downloading massive amounts of data, we can provide 30-fps video clips at full screen, and there's no such thing as an hourglass," says Brian Klosterman, Geocast's vice president of marketing. Not only is the download faster, the material is sufficiently varied to mimic the Web experience better than PointCast could.

"We plan on having such a wide breadth of data, chances are we're going to have what people are looking for," Klosterman says. Initial emphasis is on video programming not generally available on the Web. As with early push technology, you'll be able to complete a user profile that will help filter the material of greatest interest.

The Thomson receiver will come with a multi-gigabyte hard drive, but it won't take long to fill; and older data will be deleted automatically. To surf the Web at large, or to complete e-commerce transactions, send e-mail, and chat, you'll still have to connect through an existing modem and an Internet service provider.

But installation is much easier than with other broadband solutions, Klosterman says.

"You'll be able to walk into a consumer electronics store and buy a Geocast box for no more than $299, bring it home, plug it into the Universal Serial Bus port of your PC [Pentium II or higher], run the auto-install, and you're rolling," Klosterman says. "The service is free; the revenue model is driven by ads and e-commerce."

Standards Challenges Remain

The biggest immediate obstacle to Geocast and its competitors stems from a standards war over the Advanced Television Systems Committee's recommended 8-VSB modulation standard. Sinclair Broadcasting recommends scrapping 8-VSB due to the poor performance of early models, and instead adopt the European COFDM standard. Most American vendors are sticking with 8-VSB, insisting technical problems will be solved.

Some skeptics claim the technology may require roof antennas instead of smaller antennas mounted on desktop receivers. Unless the next round of 8-VSB equipment performs better, the entire DTV market could slow down to a crawl.

Easy installation and no-monthly-payment offers could lure consumers. They may be particularly attractive in many urban areas that will not get cable or digital subscriber line broadband for some time, Kaufhold notes.

"If they hit the market right they could become the Yahoo for rich media," Kaufhold says.

Klosterman expects Geocast will drive adoption of cable-modem and DSL broadband, rather than compete with it. As Geocast customers become accustomed to working in such a fast, media-rich environment, they won't want to switch to a slow 56-kbps connection to surf the Web, he says.

Yet, given its past attempts, push technology still has much to prove, even at 5 mbps. Web-surfing is essentially aggressive and exploratory--people seek out specific information to accomplish particular tasks. Geocast may find a better home on a TV set-top, where the experience is more passive and we're accustomed to selecting from a smorgasbord of passing media. Or maybe this time there's just enough bandwidth to pull off the illusion.