HDTV geektalk - (was: Voip teleophony - Anyone know Packet-8 or others)?

[Ben Scott]

On 12/14/05, Bill McGonigle <bill at bfccomputing.com> wrote:
> On Dec 14, 2005, at 15:02, Ben Scott wrote:
>> On 12/14/05, Bill McGonigle <bill at bfccomputing.com> wrote:
>>> ... (or even better - Java) ...
>>
>>   Oh, great, as if PCs full of spyware aren't bad enough.
>
> Do cable boxes have spyware problems?

  No, for the reason #2 you suggested (cable company controls
everything).  And if the cable company controls everything, it doesn't
matter to the rest of us if the cable box uses Java, Python, Perl,
Visual Basic, or IBM 704 assembler.  So I assume your remark was
intended to be about something more, yes?  :)

> You would do this with signed code and a crypto provider.

  Yah, we've seen how well that works for MSIE and ActiveX.  :-P

>         3) new features, your control
>
> Did I miss any?

  It seems to me that you appear to be deliberately ignoring the fact
that a great many of the world's computers are not, in fact, under the
control of the nominal owner of said computer.  (Spyware, adware,
viruses, Trojans, zombies, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad naseum)  A TV
set that can run arbitrary programs is not a TV anymore, it's a
general-purpose computer.  Sometimes having that kind of flexibility
is a good thing, but we can already put a PC in the role of
entertainment center if we want to.  I suggest that retaining the
ability to keep the PC *out* of that role would also be a good thing. 
KISS and all that.  :-)

-- Ben