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

[Bill McGonigle]

On Dec 14, 2005, at 19:57, Ben Scott wrote:

> So I assume your remark was
> intended to be about something more, yes?  :)

Yes, the ability to hack the hardware you own.

>> You would do this with signed code and a crypto provider.
>   Yah, we've seen how well that works for MSIE and ActiveX.  :-P

I know you're not crazy so we'll assume that's doubly facetious and 
you're not holding up MSIE as security done right.

>  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)

You're talking about Windows again and projecting its abysmal design 
onto computing in general.  See also Mac OS and Linux, but even those 
have way too lax of a security regime for something like a cable box.  
That's why I mentioned Java which already has everything built-in to 
ensure code that's coming in over the cable network has been signed by 
the cable provider, whether that's over IP or on a private network 
(doesn't matter - their networks can shuttle digital data just fine 
now) .  If the TV is based on embedded linux and Java you can put 
whatever your want onboard locally, not by downloading Gator from the 
Intarweb.

>   A TV
> set that can run arbitrary programs is not a TV anymore, it's a
> general-purpose computer.

That's what a cable box is.   You just don't have the keys and can't do 
what you want to with the product you're paying for.

>   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.  :-)

You're not reducing complexity - you're forfeiting all control of your 
machine to someone who doesn't have your best interests in mind and may 
manage that complexity differently.  Are you sure you don't want a Mac?

-Bill
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