BBC iPlayer login will be required from 2017

[RS]

>From: Jim web
>Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2016 12:02

>> At present the BBC's attitude seems to be that if your Smart TV is more
>> than 2 years old that's tough; they can't be bothered to support it.

>I wish people wouldn't keep trotting out this misrepresentation here. It
>has been dealt with in the past.

>It is the responsibility of the *vendor* of closed commerial items to
>ensure what you buy works as it should. They may 'subcontract' that to the
>makers, who in turn may commission someone else to deal with it.

My apologies in advance to those who don't want to read off-topic comments. 
Please stop reading now.

My information was out of date, so I owe the BBC an apology.  Last time I 
looked for LG televisions in the BBC's list of supported devices for the 
iPlayer, it only went back to 2014 and there was a note which I took to mean 
it had no intention of going back any further.  I was going to link to that 
page, but I found that not only was my 2012 set now in the list, but the 
list went back to 2010.  My television does not even call itself a Smart TV, 
but it does support DLNA.

David suggested using get_iplayer to set up a proxy.  I don't claim to be 
knowledgeable about networks, so that would require some research.  I am not 
in a hurry to use the iPlayer on my television.  I am happy with I can do 
with get_iplayer and an external USB hard disk.  I suspect like many here, I 
came to get_iplayer because I was fed up with jumping through the BBC's 
hoops to use the iPlayer.  My biggest gripe was the size of the buffer for 
streaming.  I spent a lot of time on the iPlayer forum trying to persuade 
the BBC that a 1 min buffer was inadequate for real-life broadband 
connections.  As I was half a mile from the exchange my broadband was better 
than most.  I might just as well have been bashing my head against  a brick 
wall.  When downloads were introduced they could be watched within 30 days 
if downloaded within 7 days.  If I wanted to play them back on another 
computer, as usually did, it was necessary to download a licence on the 
other computer within the 7 days.  I often got caught out by that.  When 
they moved to Adobe Air I just gave up.

I agree with Alan that I prefer to rely on set-top boxes for new technology. 
He singled out 3D as a failed technology.  I waited for the price of 3D sets 
to fall before buying my latest television.  Apart from Titanic, Hugo and 
Avatar there does seem be very little 3D material available domestically. 
That seems strange given that 3D versions are often made for the cinema. 
The 3D synthesiser in my television is pretty good, although I don't use it 
that often.