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News » Meedio In The News » An Interview With Pablo Pissanetzky, CTO Of Meedio
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Computer Power User
January 2005 • Vol.5 Issue 1
Page(s) 103-104 in print issue
Technically Speaking
An Interview With Pablo Pissanetzky, CTO Of Meedio
Pablo Pissanetzky, the chief technology officer of Meedio (www.meedio.com), started programming on a Commodore 64 at age 13. He was a whiz and frequently battled with his college computer science professors, who sometimes landed jobs for him when he wasn't too much of a pest. One day Pissanetzky found himself with a TiVo, the first release of Microsoft's Media Center Edition, and a position at Enron that was about to evaporate. That series of events spawned myHTPC (which recently morphed into Meedio), one of the first and best media center applications available. Pissanetzky's story is a case study in how one guy with a lot of motivation can outflank the biggest names in the burgeoning media center space. 
by William Van Winkle
 CPU: Is it true that you finished the first version of myHTPC in only two months?
Pissanetzky: Yeah, but it was really cut down. I worked on the basics and then I started adding to it. The very first thing it could do was just pictures. You could browse your pictures and do slideshows and that sort of thing.
CPU: Had you played with other PVR applications for PCs, such as SnapStream, ATI, and all those?
Pissanetzky: I had, and at that time they were all just horrendous. At the time, people were just getting to grips with the whole idea. I can honestly say that [as of] December 2002, there were no full-screen interface apps that were halfway decent. MCE was really the only one. There was another called MediaBox that was kind of beginning the movement, but it disappeared right around that same time also. The first thing I did, obviously, was see if somebody else had done it so that I wouldn't have to write it. I could just use theirs. But I didn't find anything, so I went on my merry way to create my own.
CPU: And in looking at all these other PVR options, what did you find lacking?
Pissanetzky: Everything that I looked at didn't really have the full-screen interface. It wasn't big and easy. I think SnapStream-at the time they were on PVS2-didn't have a full-screen UI at the time. Sage was not even on the scene yet or was just barely starting. I don't remember what the status was of some of the other open-source options, like MythTV and Freevo. So really I was looking for anything that could do the TiVo and MCE things and would be easy, simple, and not have huge system requirements.
CPU: Did you have to compromise on anything in your program design?
Pissanetzky: I made probably two compromises. First of all I tried to use DirectShow-Direct3D for the application-and I found it to be too problematic. So I decided against it. Then I tried to work on the PVR side of things, and I found that to be very problematic, too, so I left that alone. I switched gears and decided that myHTPC was just going to be kind of a shell to let you launch other things. And that's kind of the approach that I took.
So myHTPC was unable to play video or play music by itself. It needed external players to do that. And that was part of its success because at the time, what people were doing is they were using Girder and a bunch of applications to create the idea of the remote-controlled PC. They would use Winamp and Zoom Player, all these different apps, and try to make them work nicely together to have an HTPC. If you gave them a shell that they could launch all these things from, it just made the experience that much better. At the same time, they could still use the best-of-breed video players, music players, and what not.
CPU: Is Meedio essentially an updated myHTPC?
Pissanetzky: With Meedio, we took a very different approach. We spent almost a year constructing tools we could then use to build applications. Meedio kind of preserves that myHTPC idea, that you can launch anything from it and you can make a whole bunch of different things work in concert together. But at the same time, there was a crowd that didn't want to do all that, that didn't want to mess with the external players and this and that and have to install 20 prerequisites before they could use it. Those people wanted everything to be built-in and integrated. So with Meedio we took that extra step and integrated a video player and music player, the slideshows, weather information. At the same time, we left it open so that if you didn't want to use those things, you didn't have to.
CPU: Is there a functional or quality difference between what comes built into Meedio and what you can get with a 'plugged-in' app?
Pissanetzky: Sure. Some people develop kind of a religious attachment to their favorite music or video players. For example, Zoom Player is a very popular video player that has very good quality, great support for a variety of formats, and it works really, really well. The people who use Zoom Player want to stick to it, so they may not want to use the built-in video player that we have. Our video player is definitely not as mature as Zoom Player, so there are some drawbacks to using it.
CPU: You went from being a garage effort to a full-blown LLC. How'd that happen?
Pissanetzky: myHTPC just drew a lot of interest. I started to get phone calls from companies that wanted to license it. I started getting phone calls from some big names around the industry. It was just startling how much interest there was and from the kinds of entities interested in it. At the same time, I knew that I needed a job after the Enron gig was all over. So it was the combination of those two things that made me consider it as a business venture.
I'm really a programmer by nature, and when it comes to business affairs, license agreements, dealing with lawyers, and things like that, I'm not at my best. So through a mutual friend, I found our CEO, Victor Koosh, and I offered the opportunity to help me take it commercially. We formed the company in September 2003 and started working toward the commercial venture.
CPU: After playing with Beyond TV 3.5, MCE 2005, and all the other latest contenders, why pick Meedio?
Pissanetzky: The Meedio approach is different because we have a toolkit that we can use to develop any kind of big-screen interface application. Right now we're focusing on creating a media center, HTPC-type program, and the toolkit can be used for that. We can also use that same toolkit to develop other types of applications; kiosks, point-of-sale software, you name it. Things for children, people with learning disabilities, the elderly. There are a lot of different possibilities for that toolkit.
We see two separate markets. One is using the toolkit to develop assistance for large-screen or touch-screen interfaces. Another one is the media center software market. And in that segment of the market, we're different from the competition in that our offering is completely customizable. With Meedio, you can change it, tweak it, add to it, make it behave the way you want it to. It's not just a static application.
We have nearly 15,000 users right now and they've been developing all sorts of plug-ins and themes for Meedio. I think it's over 100 different plug-ins and themes in a couple of months. We're selling a platform that can grow and adapt and be customizable.
CPU: Given that set-tops are getting smarter and media center PCs are getting better about feeling dumb, if you take our meaning, do you see the set-top of PC form factor ultimately triumphing in the media center world?
Pissanetzky: That's the thing: PCs are becoming more like set-top machines, and set-top machines are becoming more like PCs. The lines are blurring. Obviously, if you're going to have something in your living room, you want it to be quiet. You want it to be cool and look good and never fail. I think we're getting to a stage now where PCs can actually fulfill all those requirements.
We're also at a stage where people want more from their set-top boxes. A dumb set-top box with a 100MHz CPU that draws an ugly EPG on the screen is not enough for people these days. The next two years or so are going to set the pace for what happens.
CPU: The one wrench to throw into that duality is the extender, right? Extenders are dumb boxes in many regards. And with the extender model, we've got one big "uber box" sitting in the basement or closet dishing up media throughout the whole house rather than something with smarts sitting at each TV. Which approach do you favor?
Pissanetzky: The extender approach has a lot of benefits, but it's also a little bit pricier and it requires more know-how. You've got to have a home network that's running well and that uber PC that does it all. I think that's the way to go for the future, but a lot of people aren't quite there yet. With Meedio, that's one of the things we push. We say, 'Well, you already have your beige Pentium III. Just download our software, install it, then move it to the living room or run a long cable. You can get the same kind of experience now just by paying $59.' But in the future, the extender will probably be the way to go.
CPU: Do you see extenders vanishing when TVs get LAN ports in them?
Pissanetzky: Quite possibly. Hopefully, if the standards bodies can collaborate on that, they can become smarter and a lot of this technology can be built right into the TV.
CPU: Have you had to deal with TV companies, content providers, DRM, and all that?
Pissanetzky: Yeah, definitely. But we haven't delved very deep into it just yet. There's a DRM standards war being waged out there, and we're quite happy to see who comes out on top before we jump on the bandwagon 100%. We're watching it very closely, and we plan on supporting probably the top two standards that emerge out of it.
CPU: You as a consumer, what do you think is legally proper? How should you be able to use your media?
Pissanetzky: It's tough. Me, personally, I'm with just about anybody out there. I should be able to copy my own stuff, and if I want to have it on several computers or on a server in the house, I should be able to do that. But I've also come to the realization that DRM is a necessary evil. It's unavoidable, and it's the only way we're going to be able to get the really good content available at good prices in a widespread market. It just has to be kept in check so that it doesn't get out of control.
CPU: Well, that's kind of the kicker, isn't it? Because obviously the trend in the last five or six years has not been to impose many checks on that.
Pissanetzky: The FCC and other bodies have to step up and allow the consumer voice in how these things are going to work. It's an issue of convenience vs. rights. If you've got a media center computer, it's easier to just do a couple of clicks and get a movie from Movielink than it is to get in your car and drive down to Blockbuster. You have to sacrifice a little bit for that convenience. I think that the few sacrifices we'll have to make in order to get that convenience are worth it in most cases.
CPU: Which two of the DRM technologies do you see emerging as the most prominent?
Pissanetzky: Obviously, Microsoft is No. 1. It's still difficult to put a finger on number two. There are a lot of companies vying for that second spot. Apple has its own DRM scheme. DivX is working on a scheme, as well. And then there are other companies that have proprietary schemes they're using in smaller areas. So it's tough to see what those top two are going to be.
CPU: If you look five or 10 years into the future, what PVR technology do you see being in your living room?
Pissanetzky: I definitely see something similar to an extender, maybe a little bit smarter. I see that home networking is going to be a necessity, and I think that there will be a home server that will hold all the content. That content will be available in every room in the house at a very high speed to everyone. And everyone in the house will have the ability to have their own experience with the content. So regardless of whether the kids are in their bedroom or the family room, they'll be able to experience the media there. That will translate also to mobile devices, to phones and cars and palm computers. You'll be able to take your content and have your own experience with you no matter where you are.
[Home] servers will be there with lots and lots of content. A lot more content will come from the Internet-movie rentals and music-and I think that home networks will be connected to each other so that the whole peer-to-peer networking thing will take a whole new spin and will be used to connect home networks to each other. My home network can be connected to my parents' and grandma's and uncle's who are all in Pennsylvania. That experience extends to groups of people.
CPU: You can just broadcast, 'Hey, I downloaded the new episode of whatever, do you want to look at it?' Then you just beam it over to them?
Pissanetzky: Yep. And you'll not only just beam it to them but let them watch it from where it is. So if, in my circle of friends, someone records 'Survivor,' not everybody has to record it. It's available to all of us.
CPU: But the content companies will have a fit.
Pissanetzky: Sure, sure. If you think about it, though, it's essentially the same thing. If I record 'Survivor' on a VHS tape and have a big party where 30 of my friends come over to watch it, it's essentially the same thing. Once home networks establish themselves, then they have to be linked up into small groups. And then it won't be a case of copying the content but of viewing it remotely.
CPU: Is Meedio working on designing that?
Pissanetzky: Yes. The whole goal of Meedio is to allow for things like that, for custom experiences that travel with you and allow you to control, not just your media, but your home also. Home automation is another one of our focuses. So the whole media experience-watching TV, looking at your pictures, playing your music, controlling your home, etc.-can go with you and the experience is persistent no matter where you are. The idea of linking up with other groups of people is a pretty obvious one that we can all benefit from. It just needs some legal battles to be fought and some improvement to the broadband infrastructure to make it all happen. I think we're on the brink of that.
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