I do like BBC iPlayer, I like the fact that I can catch up with old BBC programmes that I have missed that week or can catch up on series that I may have missed. I like the fact that I can watch BBC iPlayer on an iPod touch and that I can connect the iPod touch to my TV and watch that way.
However there are a few things I don’t like, some of this is down to BBC iPlayer, and a lot down to my poor ADSL connection.
I don’t like the fact that not everything on BBC is on BBC iPlayer. I know that ITV and Channel 4 content won’t be on iPlayer, but their versions are nothing like as good as iPlayer and as easy to use. They also don’t work as well on the Mac and there are no iPod players either. Of course though a lot of BBC content is on iPlayer, not all of it is. Films I understand, however why isn’t The Day Of The Triffids on iPlayer? It’s currently on BBC Four, however no triffids on iPlayer!
I don’t like the fact that some of the BBC content is on BBC iPlayer and is available through a web browser, however that same content is not available on the iPod. For example 12 of the 13 episodes of Robin Hood
are available on my iPod touch at the time of writing, however episode 13 is not available!
Why?
Well I know it’s probably a rights issue or something. The same thing happened with Outnumbered
series two, again with the final episode.
I have mentioned my slow ADSL connection before, as broadband has got more popular my connection has got slower and slower. I did once have nearly 4Mbps, today my speed is less than 1Mbps! The other problem is that BBC iPlayer is quite popular and so at peak times it is almost impossible to watch!
I was though quite intrigued to see that BBC HD is now on BBC iPlayer in HD!
So tried to watch Torchwood – Children of Earth on BBC iPlayer HD and got this message:
Well my > 1Mbps connection is way too slow for this HD content, not even close!
I guess I could download it, but it’s large at 1.3GB.
Of course I then have the issue that my ADSL connection has a bandwidth cap, which is another problem I have with BBC iPlayer.
I do like BBC iPlayer, I have issues with some of the rights issues, however most of the problems I have with BBC iPlayer are mine and my ADSL connection.
Maybe I just ought to get Torchwood on Blu Ray instead of trying to watch it on BBC iPlayer HD.
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