Marc's Voice

Getting the BBC focused on the right things

I’ve been waiting until my book was almost done before I wrote this post.  The BBC Future Media & Technology group now has a new boss named Erik Huggers and he created post on Open Video standards for Video and Audio on the web on the BBC blog.

In this post Erik talks about digital media codecs a subject near and dear to my heart - what was it - 15 years ago?  Yes absolutely these issues are important and if the BBC can get rid of Flash, let alone Silverlight and Quicktime - then congratulations.  But these are issues that don’t directly effect end-users.

No one cares if YouTube uses Silverlight, Ogg or Flash.  It just doesn’t change the end-user’s experience.

To think that this battle is still raging is not only saddening but also tell-tale to the state of the BBC and what they’re focusing on.

I don’t know Erik Huggers - have never met the man - and he seems like a nice enough chap but I do know that much is riding on his leadership, vision and direction. And his ability to execute.   He’s the boss who’s been charged with implementing the digital media strategy of one of the world’s leading media empires.  The Beeb has over 300+ web sites, ranging from program guides and affinity niche networks to amibitious social media services.

The Beeb  has it’s own player, 100’s of programmers and has been tasked with ‘opening up’ in a big way.

So Erik - I gotta tell yah - I love yah and all that, but talking about digital media codecs is the wrong thing to be talking about (at least in terms of OUR priorities.)  Sure sure sure - not relying upon locked in proprietary formats like Flash is a good thing, but what about OpenID, oAuth, OpenSocial and Portable Contacts?

As we say out here in California “Come on DUDE! - get with it!”

All around you - the walled gardens are coming down.  Even MICROSOFT is opening up!  The vision and leadership the BBC exerted years ago when proclaiming ‘Open Data’ and the Open BBC - have long passed. Many many of the leading thinkers and developers who created knowledge management systems, media sharing apps and developed this revolutionary strategy - have left the Beeb.

Why do you think they left?  Because trying to get the BBC to actually implement this startegy is allot harder than talking about it.  Look at how hard a road it’s been for Yahoo?

The BBC is a government unit who have been charged with opening up - by law.  As government policy, and as one of the world’s leading media entities, it is your DUTY to open up, first for British citizens - around the world - and then for the ‘rest of us’.  It’s almost as if you’ll be the United Nations of openness.

This is a big task, and big job and that’s why this Yank it bitching at you - about talking about digital video codecs and not OpenSocial and OpenID.  As Spike Lee says ‘do the right thing!’

The ramifications are frightening because correct execution will change the world, while dormant, lack luster, slow execution will just create more of - the same thing.

Its been years since the BBC made it’s original proclamations - and talking about digital video codecs is so - so - so 1990s.  Come on Erik - get with it!

Lets do a Data Sharing Summit in London - for christ sakes!

Lets get your underlying identity platform connected to not only your 300+ web sites, but also the rest of the on-line world. Lets develop a series of promotions, contests, personal data mining, persistent ID presence so that real-time communications, on-line content and the Cloud can all embrace in a virtual ‘Piccadilly Square’ of interaction.

I’m looking forward to the day that the BBC takes it’s right place next to the other behemoth BigCos - only this time it’s paid with British tax dollars, but slimey banner ads.

I’m about to head over to Holland and we had hoped to do a Data Sharing Summit - sponsored by the BBC - at your offices in Shepherd’s Bush. But that didn’t happen.

Perhaps this post will get you supporting OpenID, sponsoring Data Sharing Summits and building OpenSocial apps or perhaps you’ll see me as some whacko, ranting in his blog - which you can easily ignore.

Well that’s how they treated me in the 1980’s - BEFORE - Bill Gates and John Sculley discovered multimedia. Then they called me a genius.  Then I had my :15 minutes, was discarded and now it’s starting all over again.

We actually built a product with the BBC back then. Ask Kevin Marks about it.

For now - lets get past this worrying about digital video codecs stuff and on with the real work of making ‘Open the new Black‘.

Please

I won’t be at IBC, but I will speaking at emerce day.

And staying on a houseboat on Da Costakade.