Pushed out of the spotlight? (BBC iPlayer)

Member Name: jennikitten

Product:	BBC iPlayer
Date:	02/12/08 (6 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Watch programmes after they've been on TV

Disadvantages: Time restrictions

BBC iplayer is a free piece of software you can download from www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer. I had to write a guide for it as a task for an interview a few months back, which is when I first started using it.

You don't have to download it to watch catch ups of programmes as you can also view them online. However, downloading them is useful if you want to watch later or have a faster connection somewhere else. It's important to remember that they do expire after about a month though, so don't download more than you have time to watch!

You can download recent programmes from all the BBC channels. Some programmes aren't available to watch due to copyright restrictions, however, so it's worth checking whether you have to watch it on TV or not first so you aren't disappointed.

BBC iPlayer is popular, though I'm not convinced about useful it actually is what with things like Sky+ and Freeview+ which allow you to record and/or store programmes which you can then keep for longer than the time the BBC allows. Also, there are sites like youtube.com where you can watch a lot of these programmes, again with no time restrictions and without the need to download software. This is one of the reasons why I'm not a massive fan and don't use it often.

Summary: Interesting, but nothing to get excited about

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