I love Major League Baseball and I get a lot of use out of my DVR. I haven't bought into the Slingbox solution, but I can see where it makes sense, especially for anyone who's on the road a lot.
I use the mlb.com site several times a week and I really appreciate their free Gameday service that lets me keep an eye on any game currently in progress. I think MLB is all wrong though when it comes to this complaint about the Sling device. How is watching last night's game via your Slingbox significantly different from recording the same game on VHS tape, putting it in your suitcase and then watching it on a VCR in your hotel room? I don't hear anyone complaining about the VCR method of time- and place-shifting, so why the big deal about Sling?
This Wall Street Journal article would have you believe MLB has come to their senses. Bob Bowman, president and chief executive of MLB Advanced Media is quoted as saying, "the way to win this is with good content and good technology, not with lawyers." He went on to say that, "the music industry proved that to everybody." Absolutely, so go focus on making your mlb.tv service an even more irresistible product and leave Sling alone to do what they do best!
It's frustrating to see a group as innovative as MLB is in the interactive media space acting silly like this. Hopefully MLBAM will keep the lawyers out and let innovation proceed.
Posted by: Chip Griffin | June 06, 2007 at 01:08 PM
Hi Chip. You're absolutely right about MLB and the fact that their site is one of the most innovative ones in professional sports. Heck, I'm sitting here right now watching a Gameday window tracking the Yankees game; I probably wouldn't bother with this (free) service if it weren't for all the features and rich content access that's built into it.
Posted by: Joe Wikert | June 06, 2007 at 09:17 PM
"I'm sitting here right now watching a Gameday window tracking the Yankees game" -- proof that some innovation is evil! :)
Posted by: Chip Griffin | June 07, 2007 at 08:25 AM