This is really a bit of a niche product, catering to those who really don’t want to miss something when they’re away from home, and can’t – perhaps because they’re abroad, or because the channel doesn’t have a catch up service they can access on their device – use a conventional web browser to view it.

Like you, I’m not honestly convinced that’s enough of a niche – but saying that, I’ve known people who ask me how they can get a VPN sorted out to watch Corrie when they’re on holiday abroad.

The saving grace of the Sling system is that it works easily, even though tricky network setups, and you don’t have to do much configuration. But set against that, you’re paying a £50 premium over the cost of the Humax 500GB Freesat recorder, and if you want the app for Android or iOS, another £20 for the client software too (which I think is really taking the mickey; a voucher for one copy at least should be in the box, if they’re insisting on charging).

But it begs the question, why would I pay for a device to convert satellite broadcast into IP-streamable content when it means that:
(a) I need to decide in advance which programmes I want to make available, i.e. by selecting them to record
(b) the availability is subject to the powering on of my home devices (router,STB) as well as the broadband service to my home (all of which the consumer has to pay for!)
(c) the quality gets reduced according to my home PC’s broadband upload speed rather than the consuming device’s download speed
(d) it gets subjected to the whims of the broadcaster via its use of the copy-protect flag (to be honest I’m speculating on this one, but Nigel will be able to correct me if need be)

It just feels so 90s. Like a sneakernet where people pass round floppies to distribute content. Why force the consumer to be responsible for this relaying/transcoding of content? It’s just unnecessary hassle and forces them to understand a level of indirection they don’t want or need to understand. And in the case of most consumers, they won’t be able to understand it and won’t use it.

We’re now in 2011. You can stream virtually any TV show broadcast in the last 30 years to your PC/tablet/phone if you know the right websites to type into your browser. Granny knows how to do this. By 2013 it will be even easier.

This is no criticism of the article. I welcome any education of users about these features. I’m just pointing out that the shelf life of the feature is limited.

And to end on a constructive/positive, if I were an STB manufacturer, I’d concentrate on making the UI flawless in the way that Apple UIs are (virtually) flawless. That means instant channel switches (aided by multiple tuners), zero-lag on remote operations (if I press CH+ 10 times per second, it should keep up), and in the case of FreeSat, getting rid of that annoying category selection you’re forced to make before entering the Guide. Now that’s something I’d pay for.