The first thing you notice about the Home of the 21st Century in Orlando, Florida, is that it's big. The second is its incredible media center. As you settle down on the plush sofa that sits squarely in front of the huge television screen, your hand clutches the custom-designed remote device that runs the system, and you're all set to test-drive Time Warner's Full Service Network.
The Carousel Navigator, the three-dimension graphical interface specially developed for the Full Service Network by Silicon Graphics, provides the gateway to the many services offered, including movies on demand, interactive shopping, video games and an interactive program guide. The Carousel itself is actually a spinning cylinder that stops when you click on your selection. If you choose the Home Video Theater selection, you can pause the movie, rewind it, skip ahead in 10-minute intervals, and generally treat it as you would a videocassette. The one catch is that you're allowed access to the movie for a specific time period -usually about one and a half times the length of the movie-so you can't stop it, go to bed and watch the rest the next morning. But you do have plenty of time to answer the phone, make popcorn, get drinks and deal with other distractions.
The FSN set-up includes a Hewlett-Packard color DeskJet printer, an Atari game unit and a set-top box (Home Communications Terminal) the size of a VCR. The printer is used to print out such things as instructions for the 13 Atari games included on the system, fact sheets on Chrysler automobiles and trucks, and coupons and "value-added" information, such as recipes, provided by companies that hawk their wares through the home shopping option. Future uses will include printing out course materials when the Education Services option becomes operational.
How Much?
So what's the total cost of the package? "Well, we don't really look at it that way," says FSN VP Tammy Lindsay. "You can figure out what off-the-shelf products like the HP printer cost, but the terminal isn't available on a mass production basis yet, so its cost doesn't in any way reflect what we think people will be willing to pay for the service. That's part of what this trial is all about-finding out what people want and how much they'd be willing to pay for it.
"Orlando was chosen because of its demographics, and because Time Warner already had a lot of fiber laid in this area. It's a high growth market with a large number of households with children, and an excellent school system," continues Lindsay. "By the end of the year, we hope to have 4,000 households signed up, to give us the type of statistical sample we'll need to extrapolate from."
Right now, the FSN services are being offered to existing Time Warner Cable subscribers at no extra monthly charge. Users simply pay for the movies, games and any merchandise they order. The company isn't sure when it will change that arrangement, or what the new charge might be, but it has made a commitment with US West to upgrade 85 percent of Time Warner Cable's operations to be FSN-equipped by the end of 1998. When the issue of anticipated revenue comes up, FSN representatives aren't talking, but Time Warner clearly has its sights set on the stratosphere, citing 1992 statistics that show $14 billion in revenues for videocassette rentals; $54 billion for catalogue shopping; and $105 billion for telephony. In contrast, annual revenues for cable TV are approximately $20 billion.
The "ME" channel
To capture some of those billions, future FSN services will include extensive retail, grocery and drug store shopping; news on demand; HBO on demand; sports on demand; interactive music services; health services; food delivery services; telephony; and a voice recognition option that will allow users to access FSN's services by voice command. "This is by far the most comprehensive interactive TV trial underway anywhere," says Lindsay. "The other companies may be testing bits and pieces of what we're doing, but we're the only one that's doing everything." Where other cable trials advertise 150 channels, or 500 channels for near-video-on-demand, the number of digital channels on FSN is essentially unlimited. With the ability to switch individual video programs and information to each home, the channel becomes dedicated to the user for the period of time it's in use-a sort of "ME" channel. "It's one virtual channel or doorway to a lot of choices for our customers," says Lindsay.
In ramping up for the big time, FSN will increase the number of available movies from the current 80 to 120. When you see the speed and flexibility of the movies-on-demand function, you start to wonder how many people the system can handle before it hits gridlock back at the Network Operations Center. "Well, if you're talking about how many people can watch the same movie at the same time, it depends on the number of copies we have on the server. That will vary, based on how recent and popular the movie is. But if you mean, how many people can watch any movie they choose simultaneously, our system is designed to handle 1,000 people accessing the computer server at the same time. We figure that's 25 percent of our trial base-and we'll continue to monitor usage patterns during the trial and make adjustments if necessary. No customer should ever get a video busy signal!"
In addition to the impressive entertainment set-up, the 3,700-square-foot home features a children's work/playroom and a "Home Office of the Future," equipped with the latest tools and toys for the Electronic Age child or work-from-home professional.
"Toodleoo"
Perhaps the most clever feature of the futuristic scenario, however, is Alfred, the Electronic Butler. Alfred is pre-programmed for a variety of home maintenance tasks, such as raising or lowering the lights and temperature, turning the security system on and off, and playing soft music on cue. Alfred resides on a monitor in the kitchen where you can click on functions such as "Tea Time" (Alfred raises the temperature, lowers the lights and starts a CD of soft classical music), or "Toodleoo" (Alfred lowers the lights and engages the security system). Alfred can also be accessed via wall-mounted touchpads and from an outside phone. In addition to his pre-programmed persona, Alfred can be customized to your particular scheduling needs, offering gentle reminders to take out the garbage, call a relative, keep an appointment or add something to a shopping list. He can also turn on or off any plugged-in appliance, such as a coffee maker or dishwasher.
The Home of the 21st Century is now on the market and although there have been lots of curious visitors, a buyer has yet to materialize. With the owner contemplating lowering his price even further, it will be interesting to see whether Time Warner's Full Service Network trial ends up like the house-lots of lookers but no buyers-or if they can do what other entertainment companies to date have not, which is to find the magic formula for packaging slick, fully interactive services at a price that people are willing, and even eager, to pay.
Arnold Davis writes on information technology subjects.