10:40 AM -- The industry that gave us the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (Docsis) and the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) is apparently of the belief that the Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) doesn't exactly qualify as a very good consumer-facing label for a technology that enables cable's entire universe of digital set-tops to run simple polls, interactive ads, and some gaming applications.
No argument here. EBIF kinda stinks as a consumer brand... unless the goal is to confuse people.
Just as the OpenCable Platform was officially rechristened as tru2way in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, it was mentioned several times at this week's Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) Summit in Boston that cable's marketing minds are getting together to come up with a new name for EBIF, which Mark Hess, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK)'s SVP of product development – video, referred to as an "application engine" during a panel on the topic. But that's clearly an functional description, and not a brand. (See Comcast, TWC Plan for EBIF.)
As a civic duty, let's all use this message board to contribute some other ideas. The catch is that you have to offer up your ideas for free.
msilbey, User Rank: Blogger 12/5/2012 | 3:26:59 PM
re: Renaming EBIF Let's combine your third and fourth suggestion and go with "iTV 'n Stuff". Or how about "Interactive Shminteractive"? Or "On Ramp to iTV"? Or "iTV 3000"?
Really- it's been around for a decade, why not go retro and just call it iTV?
re: Renaming EBIF Actually, just going with something as simple as "ITV" is not a bad idea. It has some baggage, but most of that baggage is from within the industry after all the hype that surrounded it in the late 1990s and the early part of this decade. JB
Michael Harris, User Rank: Light Beer 12/5/2012 | 3:26:57 PM
re: Renaming EBIF If we want follow ITV in the way-back machine, wasn't ordering pizza through the TV going to be the "killer app"? LOL! As an homage, let's just label that button "PIZZA."
nodak, User Rank: Light Beer 12/5/2012 | 3:26:48 PM
re: Renaming EBIF iXX (XX=Pod, phone, TV, etc) has too many ties to Apple. It is bad enough they dominate the MP3 player business (try finding a speaker dock for anyone else).
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