"Microsoft seeks patent on monetizing buttons of TV remote"

[grahamhgreen]

Last edited Sun Mar 18, 2012, 02:26 AM - Edit history (1)

How much would you pay to watch a replay of a great play, or skip a bunch of television commercials? And should you have to? Those are a couple of the questions raised by a newly surfaced Microsoft patent application. It’s called “Control-based Content Pricing,” and the basic idea is dynamic pricing of video content, based on the preferences of the user at any given moment — essentially setting different prices for different functions of the TV remote.

Here’s an excerpt from the filing.

For example, if a user initiates a navigation control input to advance past (e.g., skip over) an advertisement, the cost of a requested on-demand movie may be increased. Similarly, if a user initiates a replay of a sporting event, the user may be charged for the replay control input and for each subsequent view control input. This provides an advertisement revenue model that reflects user viewing choices and selections during playback of requested on-demand media, and enables targeted advertising and media content delivery, while maintaining consumer privacy. …

Control-based content pricing allows for user-personalized pricing where price is a direct function of user viewing interaction. Further, the pricing may be expressed as a debit function, such as a debit to receive an on-demand movie, or as a credit function, such as a credit to watch an advertisement or infomercial before receiving the on-demand movie. The credit and/or debit functions of the pricing may also be based on view control inputs, such as content navigation inputs, received as user-input commands initiated with a remote control device. http://www.geekwire.com/2012/microsoft-monetize-buttons-tv-remote

So let's say I'm reading a book, and I want to go back and re-read the last paragraph - should I now have to pay for that? Hell NO!

Or say I'm reading a magazine and I skip the full page ads - should I now have to pay for that? Hell NO!

Worst idea of the moment.

[arcane1]

1. Do they have to put a price on EVERYTHING???

"So let's say I'm reading a book, and I want to go back and re-read the last paragraph - should I now have to pay for that?"


I'm sure the makers of e-book readers would LOVE that idea!

[izquierdista]

6. Just wait until they write breathing machine software

"Please deposit $1 for the next ten breaths."

[grahamhgreen]

7. Or if you want to use your brakes in your car - $1 per pump.

[3waygeek]

9. Yes they do...

because they value nothing.

[Bjorn Against]

2. I think Microsoft is going to get a huge PR backlash from this

I have a feeling Microsoft is going to have a lot of remotes they can't sell, most people won't want this.

[shanti]

10. UNLESS

they sell the idea to the cable companies, hello!

[Bjorn Against]

11. I would expect a mass exodus from cable if they did that

Online streaming will soon make cable obsolete anyways, if they tried milking their customers for more money it would only hasten the demise.

[emulatorloo]

3. Microsoft's problem is they are obsessed with "dominating" all industries

This sounds like a pretty big over-reach.

[Odin2005]

4. Corporations are all about domination by definition.

Corporations maximize profits by increasing their control over the economy via monopolistic practices and the bribery of politicians. They are giant, parasitic slime molds.

[MadHound]

5. Go for it Microsoft,

Such a pricing model will keep the DVD business going strong.

[shanti]

8. oh, this is some bullshit!

they have realized that most people ff thru the commercials and they want to make money off of it. if this passes, i will definitely dump my teevee.

[woo me with science]

12. Ooh, just think of the possibilities.

How about monetized buttons on the car? So much if you want to listen to the radio, more for certain stations. Air conditioning? Insert credit card.

Microwave oven buttons! Maybe a few cents per minute, more if you use high power or one of the specialized buttons for popcorn or defrosting.

Toilets? I can't even bear to think of how that one would be broken down.

[grahamhgreen]

13. Toilets by the second? 10 seconds for $1????