While I’m on the soapbox about exclusive rights, I think the lack of streaming video segments from the Olympics was a poor decision. I understand the fear of piracy, but considering how poor coverage is, the Olympic committee needs to do something about this for the next set of games. It would be spectacular to be able to see a particular competitor’s performance by watching a short video stream. Imagine being able to see Chris Witty’s victory in the 1000m speed skating event on demand. The technology exists — but NBC and the Olympic committee have prevented it because they fear it will erode their ability to sell commercials.

Get a grip, people. Start each streaming video clip with a 15 second commercial. Use a 100k video stream that keeps the quality low enough that no one will want to pirate it, but high enough that you can get a sense for how the event came off.

The 20th century media mentality must end.