Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!lll-winken!sun-barr!newstop!sun!amdahl!netcom!maffett
From: maffett@netcom.UUCP (Tim Maffett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: CDTV Idea!
Message-ID: <11963@netcom.UUCP>
Date: 12 Jul 90 01:22:49 GMT
References: <9007110253.AA17651@jade.berkeley.edu>
Organization: NetCom- The Bay Area's Public Access Unix System {408 241-9760 guest}
Lines: 41

In article <9007110253.AA17651@jade.berkeley.edu> FILLMORE@EMRCAN.BITNET writes:
>The concept of broadcasting software over cable TV has been tried before-
>here in Ottawa several years ago.  A company called NABU set up the NABU
>network, which broadcast software over the local cable system.
>There was only one flaw with the idea - you had to buy one of their
>Bob Fillmore, Systems Software & Communications     BITNET:  FILLMORE@EMRCAN
>  Computer Services Centre,                         BIX:     bfillmore


    This discussion is a little tiresome.  In the US at least, (maybe Canada),
most cable systems offer something called X-PRESS.  It goes to all subscribers
as part of the basic service, and to access it you buy a box ($99.00) which
takes the cable as input and outputs a 9600 baud serial line to computer X.
Broadcast 24 hours a day are news stories from around the world (AP, UPI,
TASS, .....) along with weather, recipes, sports, stock info (every 1 hour, you
can pay more for a decoder which allows you to get 15 min stock updates).  
   Anyway, to cut to the chase they also broadcast software for a variety of
machines, they post a schedule of what will be broadcast that day/week, and
you can set the software up to capture the the files you are interested in.
The files range from shareware to software updates for the capture software.
It works fine for me, I imagine that each packet is sent several time, but
it is completely transparent.  I do know that even the articles have checksums
and that if there is any error the program skips that article and waits for the
next.
   They provide software for a variety of computers (Amiga, ibm, mac, atari st,
apple ii...) which provides the capture/browse data/save data interface.  The
software for the amiga is the best however (naturally), because the capture 
dirver runs in the background gathering data, and you can bring up the viewer
at any time to look at what has been captured (for other machines the software
takes over the machine (but we already know the wonders of multitasking :)).
   Anyway, I use it for the news (I get home and the newspaper is waiting 
inside of my amiga, I can search it, print articles, ....) and also for the
stock info (daily plots of CBM stock).  The price for my box was $99.00
and that is all I ever have to pay (other than the same old cable bill).
It is one hell of a bargain for a 24hour 9600baud data link to the outside
world.
  Oh, you can find out if you cable system has X-PRESS by dialing
1-800-7PCNEWS, this is also how you order it.
   tim
(I have nothing to do with X-PRESS, just heard about it by chance on a local
BBS).