Free NBC shows on the iPhone.. What is NBC Thinking?
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 8:58AM In a somewhat under-reported development (we're doing our part) Gizmodo announced that full episodes of "30 Rock" and "The Office" are now available for streaming on the iPhone (and iPod touch) for free. Without ads. If you want to give it a try, just head to nbc.com on the iPhone, and you'll be re-directed to the iPhone site, then click on the videos tab.
Bear in mind this is the same NBC that pulled its catalog from the iTunes Music Store, and also just signed an agreement to bring the content to the Zune for a price. The video, by the way, looks bad. As in worse than Youtube bad, and there seem to be severe issues with audio sync. You get what you pay for, I suppose. The question is, why would you pull your catalog of content that people were happy to give you money for, then offer it up in free, bad resolution? You're not hurting Apple, as people now have a new (albeit ridiculously small) reason to buy an iPhone, and not pay for your content.
The melding of old-school media companies and new technology continues to be a topsy-turvy affair...