“Still, if the dates slip further, Microsoft could take a hit to its already threadbare credibility in this arena; for nearly a decade, it has been trying to bring interactive TV to fruition. More delays also could be a setback for SBC, which hopes to use the technology to help prevent customer defections to cable. They could also become a factor as players like BellSouth weigh the decision to roll out IPTV.” reports BusinessWeek Online in a very uncomplimentary article about the super slow rollout of Microsoft’s IPTV product.
There is little doubt that delivering digital television signals over Internet Protocol is a probable future of television. However, most people who are intimate with the way this is done will tell you that Microsoft’s products have some extraordinary problems. A Microsoft product that doesn’t exactly work and really isn’t best of class … what a shock!
“We did have doubts that IPTV would be delivered this year,” says Verizon Communications spokesman Eric W. Rabe.
Strong words coming from a company that just made a multi-billion dollar bet in the space. 