While Disney came out and stated their
bright outlook for streaming high-quality video on the web, Google, of all companies, warned at Cable Europe Congress that the Internet was not designed for web TV and that such services may cripple the Internet.
"The Web infrastructure and even Google's (infrastructure) doesn't scale. It's not going to offer the quality of service that consumers expect," said Vincent Dureau, Google's head of TV technology.
Can this be true? Google and the cable companies actually agree on one thing? Or perhaps this is a big ploy to get more content on Google Checkout?
However, in an
article by Reuters on the subject, Google said they would work with cable companies to "combine their video search and advertising technology" with the cable networks delivery of shows. Sorry? How does this better our situation for television delivery?
It's nice and all that Google came out to warn us of the potential demise of the Internet. But on the other hand, they also purchased YouTube, a site that single handedly
accounts for 2 percent of total network bandwidth use. While that places them in a position of knowledge, is Google really the right preacher for the Internet apocalypse?
Lastly, where is breaking point to all of this? MLB.TV already shows the entire baseball season online. NBC, CBS, and ABC show prime time television episodes online. World Cup soccer games were shown live online by ESPN360, BBC, and others who had the rights.
All of these media outlets are complimentary to their traditional television counterparts. Does Google foresee users turning off their television and turning solely to the Internet for video? Not likely. Will the NFL Super Bowl be broadcast only online next year? Not likely. Will the Internet crash anytime soon due to video? Not likely.