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BBC iPlayer launches, but with limited viewer reach

There must be Heroes, just for 30 days

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The much talked about, Windows XP-only, Internet Explorer 6 or later, BBC iPlayer finally launched today.

The iPlayer gives viewers the chance to download the last seven days of BBC television programmes. They can then, at a time of their choosing, delight in the likes of Eastenders and Neighbours for up to 30 days afterwards.

However, much controversy has surrounded the iPlayer launch, with both the open source crowd and licence-paying viewers kicking up a stink about the Beeb's lack of foresight over its decision to make the service only available to Windows XP users.

This week, even the BBC Trust added its voice to the debate and called for the Beeb to give a little love to the open source community by making iPlayer available via Linux.

Anyway, for those of you out there not sat reading this on an Apple Mac Powerbook with Firefox as your browser, you can go here to play with iPlayer - oddly still in beta - to your heart's content.

But for the rest of us, it seems, we'll just have to continue to squabble over the remote control or get our square eye fix elsewhere. ®

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Latest Comments
Anonymous Coward

iPlayer.... what a cheek!

They call it iPlayer and it won't work with Macs - what a cheek!

"In Seattle, as part of a fact-finding tour of the U.S., BBC director General Mark Thompson and director of new media and technology Ashley Highfield met Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to officially sign the memorandum of understanding and discuss the BBC’s digital strategy. This includes plans for its online archive, for a radically re-invented Web site in the Web 2.0 world — a second generation of Internet-based services — and for ways to share its online content in the future."

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/sep06/09-28MSBBCPR.mspx

Very cosy.....

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Give me the choice not to contribute anything to M$ owned BBC

If the BBC intend to apply M$ controlled DRM to content and not provide libre software viewers for my OS of choice, thats great, go for it.

I say encrypt all of their content and give me the choice not to contribute to any of it. i.e Abolish the licence fee. They are providing no "public service" to me.

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Ashley Highfield: BBC director of new media and technology

Lets not forget who his best buddy is....

http://informitv.com/articles/2006/03/21/billgatespreviews/

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