One year over-the-top, part 2

Last week, we examined some of the notable consumer trends coming out of my makeshift over-the-top (OTT) video lab. This week, and as promised, a bit more – starting with the remote control clutter multiplier.

The window ledge in the lab is already piled with more than a dozen hard, plastic remotes. We’re all wearily familiar with the desire for fewer remotes, but with over-the-top, there’s a multiplier: Software-based remotes.

Nearly every gadget in the lab comes with a software version of its guide. Which means alongside the “hard clutter” of the remotes on the ledge is a lot of “soft clutter” of remotes on the iPad, Droid and iphone screens.

Broadband usage in the lab: We all saw the kerfuffle, in May, right before the Cable Show, about Netflix not liking Comcast’s foray into the Xbox. That’s the one where Xbox users can view subscription video via the Xfinity app, and the bits consumed don’t count against their broadband bit cap, which was upped to 300 Gigabytes per month.

Here at the lab, it’s a little hard to fathom using 300 Gigs. (I realize I will eat my hat for this someday.) Comcast’s online account tools show that we used 10 GB in April, 16 GB in May, and 9 GB in June. Granted, the lab only goes over the top on OTT video activities one day a week, when my trusty assistant, Sara, comes in to put the 15+ boxes through their paces.

So last week, we turned everything on, and kept it on. At press time, the meter had jumped from 10 GB to 22 GB – 8 percent of the cap — even though the Roku timed out sometime over the weekend. Extrapolating that out, we’d spend maybe 60 GB a month, if everything streamed constantly.

Lastly: Finding signal for everything is “non-trivial,” as my engineering friends would say. Granted, most people don’t fiddle around with a dozen gadgets, all for the purpose of consuming television. But as this column has noted before, the more IP-connectable stuff you get, the more you’ll start thinking about signal.

In the case of the lab, this meant not just installing a second cable modem (IPv6!), but also an HDMI switch, to move around between the different devices. It’s not extraordinarily difficult, but it does involve a lot of futzing….someone hand me the remote?

This column originally appeared in the Platforms section of Multichannel News.