BR
If we're going for exactly what it says on the tin shouldn't it be "BBC Press Red - no not one, that's the off switch - down a bit, you know, the one next to the green. That's it."
The BBCi text service needs completely overhauling IMO - the content on the whole is there, but I think the transition from the analogue to digital versions of Teletext is pretty much seemless while BBCi Text is just all over the place.
Parts of the Olympics service are a complete mess - I think it's the schedule or something (not through the blue menu, but through p380) which lists several page numbers for info on certain events, but those page numbers exist only on Ceefax, not on BBCi.
noggin posted:
"Press Red" does what it says on the tin - though it presumably should really be "BBC Press Red" - to retain the BBC brand?
If we're going for exactly what it says on the tin shouldn't it be "BBC Press Red - no not one, that's the off switch - down a bit, you know, the one next to the green. That's it."
The BBCi text service needs completely overhauling IMO - the content on the whole is there, but I think the transition from the analogue to digital versions of Teletext is pretty much seemless while BBCi Text is just all over the place.
Parts of the Olympics service are a complete mess - I think it's the schedule or something (not through the blue menu, but through p380) which lists several page numbers for info on certain events, but those page numbers exist only on Ceefax, not on BBCi.
NW
I noticed this the other night when I was at a mates house who has Sky. Although I must say I was surprised how different BBC(i) is on Sky compared to Freeview, all the pages looked the same, ie there was no colour difference like there is on Freeview, plus it was painfully slow.
I don't see why they couldn't have used the Ceefax brand, give the viewers a bit of continuity...
I don't see why they couldn't have used the Ceefax brand, give the viewers a bit of continuity...
IS
Interactive TV seems to have passed it's peak now and things are being scaled back so it's done on the cheap.
It depends on what you call 'Interactive TV' - multiple stream services like those on BBCi aren't interactive.
Proper interactive TV never really caught on, no matter how many times it was attempted
Brekkie posted:
Interactive TV seems to have passed it's peak now and things are being scaled back so it's done on the cheap.
It depends on what you call 'Interactive TV' - multiple stream services like those on BBCi aren't interactive.
Proper interactive TV never really caught on, no matter how many times it was attempted
FA
Interactive TV seems to have passed it's peak now and things are being scaled back so it's done on the cheap.
It depends on what you call 'Interactive TV' - multiple stream services like those on BBCi aren't interactive.
Proper interactive TV never really caught on, no matter how many times it was attempted
That's a very good point, though isn't it still interacting with your TV rather than just to sit there and watch it, you are controlling what you read and what you see.
Though surely the closest successful interactive TV in this country has been the millionaire/1 vs 100/test the nation style playalong programme.
Inspector Sands posted:
Brekkie posted:
Interactive TV seems to have passed it's peak now and things are being scaled back so it's done on the cheap.
It depends on what you call 'Interactive TV' - multiple stream services like those on BBCi aren't interactive.
Proper interactive TV never really caught on, no matter how many times it was attempted
That's a very good point, though isn't it still interacting with your TV rather than just to sit there and watch it, you are controlling what you read and what you see.
Though surely the closest successful interactive TV in this country has been the millionaire/1 vs 100/test the nation style playalong programme.
NW
I remember when we got NTL Digital, they seem to milked to death the whole world of Interactive TV, including Shopping, Banking, Games etc etc, promising to revolustionise pretty much everything, but it never caught on, it wasn't fast, it wasn't really workable with a standard remote (especially the E-mail) and most services dropped out pretty quickly. I checked not too long ago and all that's left is the BBC, any Government related stuff and tons of Betting. And the painfully slow Two Way TV still exists.
Sky had Open... but that bombed, Sky ended up buying it in the end and it became Sky Active pretty damn quickly.
I guess people weren't ready or just didn't want Internet like things on TV, and just wanted more TV.
We also had interactive Fifteen To One for a while, which wasn't too bad.
Sky had Open... but that bombed, Sky ended up buying it in the end and it became Sky Active pretty damn quickly.
I guess people weren't ready or just didn't want Internet like things on TV, and just wanted more TV.
We also had interactive Fifteen To One for a while, which wasn't too bad.
IS
That's a very good point, though isn't it still interacting with your TV rather than just to sit there and watch it, you are controlling what you read and what you see. .
Only in the same way that deciding between BBC1, BBC2, ITV or channel 4 is controlling what you see.
Changing between different video streams is just changing channels, albeit tarted up with a fancy interface.
fanoftv posted:
That's a very good point, though isn't it still interacting with your TV rather than just to sit there and watch it, you are controlling what you read and what you see. .
Only in the same way that deciding between BBC1, BBC2, ITV or channel 4 is controlling what you see.
Changing between different video streams is just changing channels, albeit tarted up with a fancy interface.
GM
nodnirG kraM
nwtv2003 posted:
Sky had Open...
I believe you will find it was "Open....".
The extra dot was crucial.
JR
The fact was that interactive TV, as in NTL's services, never caught on, because one could use a cheap 128kbps broadband Internet service, which would be around twenty times faster, and would work on a (fully featured) PC, instead of a STB controlled with a remote control or a clattery keyboard.
The BBCi brand is still around (I think it appears on the splash screen when the multiscreen page is starting on VM boxes) despite the fact the name BBCi is not mentioned on-screen any more. However, it's starting to feel more dated than Ceefax IMO, and if Ceefax were to rebrand 'properly' (with a well-executed new logo and image) it could blow BBCi out of the water.
The BBCi brand is still around (I think it appears on the splash screen when the multiscreen page is starting on VM boxes) despite the fact the name BBCi is not mentioned on-screen any more. However, it's starting to feel more dated than Ceefax IMO, and if Ceefax were to rebrand 'properly' (with a well-executed new logo and image) it could blow BBCi out of the water.
PE
Pete
Founding member
I feel the problem with BBCi is its clunky and faffy and people are aware of this. I know very few people who use BBCi for headlines compared to the number of people who used to use Ceefax. Admittedly N24 and the web have decreased this but it just seems people hate it.
If I were them I'd go for a wholescale relaunch as "digital ceefax." Go for simplicity over flashness, the weather on ceefax was more useful as it actually told you the weather, the maps on BBCi were always slow, flakey and there were so few icons on them (to save bandwidth) it never was of any use.
In addition things like the four figure page numbers only made things more complex.
They should have digital ceefax as a basic service launched by the TEXT key and have interactive things launched by the bridge on press red.
Plus they should stop overcomplicating things. As nice as the interface for iPlayer on Virgin is, it doesn't work as nicely, or as quickly, as the internal menus. Why not just work with Virgin to have an iPlayer banner on them and use the app for search only?
If I were them I'd go for a wholescale relaunch as "digital ceefax." Go for simplicity over flashness, the weather on ceefax was more useful as it actually told you the weather, the maps on BBCi were always slow, flakey and there were so few icons on them (to save bandwidth) it never was of any use.
In addition things like the four figure page numbers only made things more complex.
They should have digital ceefax as a basic service launched by the TEXT key and have interactive things launched by the bridge on press red.
Plus they should stop overcomplicating things. As nice as the interface for iPlayer on Virgin is, it doesn't work as nicely, or as quickly, as the internal menus. Why not just work with Virgin to have an iPlayer banner on them and use the app for search only?