Frustrated by the limitations of television, a couple of former Apple engineers and their friends started tossing around ideas. We knew that Internet distribution would provide Kinescope tremendous flexibility, but existing internet television was awful.
First and foremost, Kinescope needed to provide exceptionally high quality, full screen video, not some scratchy, stuttering postcard. Second, Kinescope needed to be easy; you shouldn't have to work for content. When you open Kinescope, great new shows should be waiting in your library. If you want to watch on a DVD player instead of your computer, that should be easy too.
As we began developing Kinescope, we realized that many of the limitations and conventions of traditional television were unnecessary.
Channels followed a schedule but there was no reason to dictate when someone should watch a show. And it didn't make sense that every episode of every show needed to fit into a 30 or 60 minute time slot. Wouldn't that result in good material getting cut or filler being added?
And why, as one engineer put it, "did a show like Firefly, which I and many others would gladly pay $10 a month to see get cancelled?" Why did a show even need millions of viewers, why couldn't shows with more modest production budgets and smaller audiences find a home?
Why couldn't I get news from my old home town, my college sports team? Why couldn't we build a feature to provide news selectively by keyword? It soon became clear that with Kinescope we could begin delivering whole new types of shows and channels.
We are just getting started. Stay tuned, or send us an email.Daniel Abrams
CEO, MassLight
da@masslight.com
468 N ST SW
Washington, DC 20024
1.202.333.7990
kinescope@masslight.net
