Wikipedia in print, Sky-fi and Video Ezy does VOD

Ars Technica is reporting the inexplicable news that German publisher Bertelsmann is to release a print version of the German section of the Wikipedia online encyclopaedia - in German.

Entries will be culled from the German version of the website which reportedly boasts 750,000 entries. But only a fraction of them will make it into the hardcopy of Wikipedia. And many of them will be out of date by the time the weighty tome hits the shelves. So what exactly is the point?

The great thing about Wikipedia is the embedded web links that lead you onto other related entries until you've ended up reading 10 or 12 articles instead of just one. That doesn't quite work in print form.

Sky-fi

The petition to get the Sci-Fi Channel in New Zealand has rocketed past the 600 signature mark in less than three days - which shows just how much demand there is for good-quality sci-fi drama in the this country.

If Sky isn't convinced by that it never will be. Come on, it's an easy decision. Australia has it and it is broadcast there on Austar and also Foxtel, which is related to Sky! It is a no-brainer, really!

Bike crikey

The email that came through yesterday was titled "Payment Notice from Thorn Chan Thoeun" and I almost moved it to the spam folder before I remembered the name.

Thorn is the bike mechanic in Cambodia I lent money to through the micro-financing website Kiva. Of the US$1000 around 20 of use lent Thorn to buy spare parts and get his bike repair shop fully functional, he has now repaid US$112.

I'm very impressed at the swift repayments (this is the second one in two months). So far my micro-financing experience has been a very good one.

Ezy VOD?

Computerworld is carrying the news that video rental chain Video Ezy is to roll out a video on demand service to its stores across Australia and New Zealand later this year. How will it work?

According to Computerworld: "The main components of the electronic rental service includes an in-store kiosk with movie library, branded USB or iPod-type storage system and an in-home Java set top box. Customers simply plug the USB or iPod into the kiosk to select movies to rent for later playback on the Java set top box."

So let me get this right, you still have to go to the Video Ezy store to download your rental to a digital device and you'll need a dedicated set-top box in your home to play it? Sounds like it's not really worth the effort.

I can see Video Ezy's interest here - broadband isn't good enough yet for true IPTV services to the home but people are increasingly demanding movies in digital form. But it would seem that there's one layer too many here.

If I could download a movie to a USB flash drive at Video Ezy then plug it into my PS3 or media centre PC back at home and play it, I'd be very interested in the service. It would mean the best of both worlds for movie fans - you still get to browse the shelves at the video store, but you don't have to worry about taking the movie back after you've seen it because the copy simply expires after you've played it.

Irish company Digisoft has developed Java-based set-top box middleware that looks quite sophisticated from the information on its website. But unless it can design the middleware to work on existing consumer electronics devices in the home, I doubt the VOD service will be a major hit. Who wants another set-top box to go with the Sky decoder, DVD player, Freeview box and game console?

CNet Australia suggests the dedicated hardware you'll need in your home will cost around A$550. At that price I'd expect the guy from Video Ezy to hand deliver movies to my front door!