White shoes, FC gets a mention way at the bottom of this interview....
Sans Tektronix, Fjeldstad Broadens Horizons
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October 6, 1997
Now that Lucie Fjeldstad has left Tektronix [TEK] to return to her
private consulting practice, Fjeldstad International, she has become a
valuable resource for not only the high-end video community, but the
information technology industry in general. Fjeldstad tells us that for
the moment, she is not interested in assuming a high-level corporate
post. Instead, she prefers to go it alone for a while. With nearly 30
years of experience in development and marketing of information
products, including her time as a senior executive at IBM [IBM] where
she pioneered the idea of merging digital audio, video and data on a
computer platform, Lucie offers tremendous insight into the ongoing
march of digital technology. Contributing editor Judith Abrams, caught
up with Lucie recently to glean her comments on the major issues facing
the pro video industry:
VTN: With Microsoft [MSFT], Intel [INTL] and Compaq [CMPQ] into the mix,
how do you see the battle between progressive and interlaced standards
for digital TV shaking out?
Fjeldstad: How it shakes out will be driven by the network. To me it's a
triangle. I think the networks will drive the definition. On one side
are the networks, and for the most part they're concluding they really
are on the interlaced side. They will really drive it and starting again
with transmission see if they can use 601 and some of the routing
capability that's out there today and building on it in the future.
The second is the U.S. government. So far as those who use video in the
government, about a month and a half ago we at Tektronix ran a seminar
for them which came out of my discussion with them at NAB. Microsoft
came and gave their high definition strategy. The government said they
believe our architecture is where they would lean. If they ever decided
to lean toward progressive scan [Microsoft] can pack a mean wallop.
The third is Europe. They believe nobody has the room in their home to
put in a big television set so they don't need to improve quality.
They've watched the whole broadcast industry be clobbered by Rupert
Murdoch, so they believe progressive scan is good enough. They're
watching very closely what happens in the U.S. because if the U.S.
government is successful at selling spectrum then all the governments
are going to want to sell spectrum. They could force this to go another
way.
VTN: What kind of new industries do you see coming out of digital
television?
Fjeldstad: It's a big expense. Companies are going to have to change out
their factories, but I don't know if it really advances there ability.
It takes away effort on programming and new ways of doing business. The
people who are going to make a difference are those who say maybe what I
should also think about it is how I can be the media distribution
company in this area, not just television.
VTN: Is the Web going to help or hamper bringing together telcos, cable,
PC companies, broadcasters and satellite companies?
Fjeldstad: I just think it's another road. Anybody who thinks this is
all going to end up in one box is smoking something. There will be a
variety of different boxes, all hooked together because each will
provide a different avenue to do something. Now - because you're only as
fast as your weakest link - video over the network is crude at best. I
think because of the variety of network topologies, it's a good place to
cut your teeth. Maybe it'll be a good video pathway. Right now I look at
the Internet as becoming the breeding company of nw ventures thinking of
new ways to do new kinds of applications. That could be where the next
killer application comes from.
VTN: How is the Web being used in post-production circles?
Fjeldstad: There are a couple of companies that are trying to find a way
to build an infrastructure that includes the Web to hook post production
companies together. That's the major thing going on right now. HDTV has
really stopped everyone for a while. I think it will be a while before
people get started again thinking about other things.
VTN: Do you see the video post production market being dominated by
Windows NT or do you think video developers should support SGI?
Fjeldstad: I think ultimately they'll all be using the same platforms.
For SGI, I think they're very serious about it. Part of the reason is I
see the multimedia world, particularly the corporate part and the world
of post production, converging very rapidly. I think the problems ahead
are going to be severe in the whole networking arena... what network
topologies emerge, how to make video work over those topologies.
VTN: What do you see as being the dominant protocol on the Pro video
side?
Fjeldstad: Fibre Channel will probably become the standard of choice
within a studio. You'll still have serial digital routing. ATM
potentially will be eclipsed by gigabit Ethernet, that's already
starting to happen, as you go out of the studio. As you move back from
that, SCSI will probably rule the day. |
