Buzzword Bingo Creates Tomorrow's Most Talked-About Products
We’re hitting an interesting time for innovation in streaming media, with a number of technologies being touted around the market that seem to produce video content that only machines can benefit from.
When folks started humorously noting that to watch 4K you need to sit closer than 8' away from a 10' diameter display, we all laughed a little, but still started working out how to mention 4K in our marketing to ensure that we didn’t seem inferior to our peers and competitors.
When 8K came along, we started to think about justifying TV sets for our trade show booth displays that would cost as much as the home that any consumer might put them in.
With AR and VR, we are always referring to the shortcomings as “limitations of today’s iteration, but boy won’t it be immersive when that technology catches up.”
And with HDR, we are all upgrading our workf lows and pipelines to support colour ranges that exceed human perception or at least are far beyond the eyes of the average consumer.
But rather than get into a bun-fight with the religious over each of these (which I am sure will be fun in the proper setting!), let’s look ahead and see if we can seed a few new ideas into the market. It’s quite simple, really. All we need to do is select a bunch of current buzzwords, write them on bits of paper, and draw them out of a hat.
Here are the buzzwords: AI, big data, deep learning, tensor flow, autonomous, containerised, microservice, low latency, high scale, hybrid cloud, ultra, dynamic, range, carrier, OTT, X, lossless, low bandwidth, high security, sensory, IoT, blockchain, DRM, GPU compression, software-defined, and 5G. (Don’t understand some of the acronyms? That’s a feature, not a bug!)
From these, I am going to create three new products for 2018. You will notice that the ubiquitous term “edge” is not among the choices. In fact, I am going to include that with each.
You can see the results in the photo, right (click for a larger image).
Then I asked my colleagues at id3as to pick one row each and give me a 50-word product definition:
First out of the box is the 0.9 release of TensorFlow GPU Microservice. The product will be released through Kickstarter (raising more than any previous Kickstarter project) at a random date (to be determined by a roll of the dice) next year.
TensorFlow GPU Microservice
Using the power of our high-density GPU units, we will create a low-maintenance and remote TensorFlow-based intelligence that will be there when you need it the most—paying for the decisions only when you want them. Introducing AI to your business workflows has never been this easy.
The Edge release will of course follow and be suited to IoT and MEC environments.
Software-Defined Containerised IoT
Redefining IoT to mean “Intelligence of Things,” we will take the concept of hardware out of the IT equation, relegating the need for silicon to the past. In fact, we aim to ensure this product redefines IT to Information Software (IS), and, likewise, IoT will become Intelligence of Software (IoS). You will be able to scale down your platform to non-existent at will, protecting your investors while occupying your competition in a faux war they cannot ever win.
The Edge release will be completely intangible.
Lossless Deep Learning DRM
Bringing together data mining at scale with blockchain to preserve all the transactional logging relating to a file’s use, we will offer a DRM like no other. It will endlessly increase the data payload that the content will need to carry to be usable. This will increase the friction (network distribution will become increasingly more expensive and less efficient), meaning that pirates will be disincentivised to rebroadcast the content even if they share security keys or otherwise manage to redistribute the content. After merely a few copies, the files will be guaranteed to be so large and full of transactional logging information, they will be too expensive and time-consuming to transfer efficiently over even the largest multi-terabit submarine cables.
The Edge release will be available as a browser plugin and guaranteed to cripple even the most advanced supercomputers.
We will be offering all the IPr to the MPEG-LA for oversight and seeking to get the ITU to ratify the APIs as standards.
I’m looking forward to seeing what other Buzzword Bingo results readers come up within the comments on the online version of this article.
[This article appears in the Winter 2017 issue of Streaming Media Magazine as "Buzzword Bingo."]
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