New Sandisk invention set to widen piracy issue
The new Sandisk TakeTV will allow users to display computer files on a regular television set. The simple device uses a USB connection to a computer and a plug-and-play interface on the TV, allowing users to enjoy their shows on something other than a computer monitor.
For many this won’t make a difference. Many young adults don’t even own television sets, long ago realizing that everything they want can be routed through their monitor (and the money they save allows them to add a few inches and DPI to that central screen). Those people may remember programming the VCR for their parents, and this device could see a whole new generation of kids preparing video for their elders.
The gimmick of this gadget is bringing computer video to those who don’t understand it, those for whom anything technical is a bizarre world of rituals and flashing lights, but the TV is the core of the sitting room (and usually much bigger and more comfortably seated than the computer in the kids room).
A little thought will reveal that this could do for piracy what the Wii did for videogames. Once the parents understand that little Billy can get them entire series of CSI to watch whenever they want, why wouldn’t they? They wouldn’t see anything wrong with it: after all, they paid for the TV, and the TakeTV, and the internet connection. And if they can avoid paying the frankly extortionate prices for the the DVD set then vague allegations of "stealing" things they already saw on TV aren’t going to hold much weight.
The effects of this gadget will entirely depend on how successful it is. It’s a great idea for the modern family, with a host of entirely legal applications. Whether it forces the next stage in the TV-piracy issue, or simply causes DVD prices to drop a little, is all up to how many sell.
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