Cutting the cord, is the industry finally getting it?
Does the industry finally get that the cable TV model is no longer sufficient? I think they are starting to get it very slowly. The USA Today does a pretty decent job of getting to the nuts and bolts of the subject. It is worth a read if you are considering cutting the cord.
Cable companies could raise prices across the board. Or they could begin to charge customers for the amount of broadband service they use, much as electricity, water and gas utilities do. Because video uses a lot of Internet resources, people who cut their pay TV service in favor of Web TV could end up paying much higher broadband fees.
Ok, maybe there is some work to be done.
Good article, I am a cord
Good article, I am a cord cutter. I am awaiting to see what happens in the up coming years.
Speaking of cutting the cord,
Speaking of cutting the cord, anyone have any insider info about the HDPrime? Although I don’t understand why they call it cutting the cord when you still need a thick broardband cable coming in. I pay 45 for the Internet and 20 for the cable. If I dropped cable they would hit me up for 10 dollars more on my internet access due to the loss of a multiple service discount. Thieves I tell you. The government needs to open up free highspeed wireless.
I don’t mind paying for
I don’t mind paying for quality. Sadly, my DirecTV PQ has degraded significantly as they’ve added more HD channels. I watched Cast Away recently and the PQ was as bad as an old AVI file from the AOL days. Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but you get the idea.
Pretty good article. I am
Pretty good article. I am also a cord cutter and find it interesting that every time I read an article about “cutting the Cord” people look towards Apple devices that dont really provide the what is necessary to cut the cord. Is it lack of research done by the writer or is it the consumer looking for something easy to solve the problem? I think the major issue we may be running into next year (2012) is that these cable/ISP companies will start to see more people switch to “web TV” and realize that now with the new FCC Net Neutrality ruling that they can screw the consumer making us pay an arm and a leg for internet access. I cant imagine being charged per gig of data I’ve Downloaded. I’m sure I’m pushing over 100 gig a month with streaming netflix, hulu, boxee, ESPN3, online gaming, plus other Downloads. So forcing consumers to switch back to cable since it will be a cheaper option. Going off on a rant a bit.
I think we are making a move in the right direction for “web tv” there are just too many options for the consumer to choose from right now.
THey could screw you on
THey could screw you on internet access pricing before. the net neutrality rules dont change that.
We need Google to team up a
We need Google to team up a UVERSE and start getting 10Gb fiber laid everywhere.
For a vision of a possible
For a vision of a possible future, look at what my local cable provider is up to. First of all they tried to introduce a 30Gb a month cap. The justification was that 95% of their users were uing less than 5Gb a month and everyone else was costing them too much. After a lot of protests, they grudgingly increased it to 100Gb. The overage charge is $1.50 per Gb. If you call them to complain, you’re reminded that they have movies on demand that don’t count againt your limit and that their VOIP doesn’t either.
Their next move was to buy the local CB affiliate and turn the power on the transmitter down to 10W. We’re about 4 miles from the transmitter and can barely get a 60% signal with a rooftop antenna. Every other channel comes in fine with a set top one. Again, call and complain and you are told that you can get the channel fine via cable.
They love to tout their 60 Mbps service. Nice speed and it comes with a special 150Gb cap for $90 a month. You could blast through that allowance in a grand total of 42 minutes.
I was never happier to ditch a business. I use Qwest DSL now. Lower speed and prone to the ocassional drop, but no hard limit to worry about (they reportedly have a soft limit of 250Gb). Sadly, that’s it for around here. A lot of people have not choice at all. It’s the cable company or dial up. I use around 130 to 140Gb a month. Considering we use a lot of online video services and our phone is through Ooma, I don’t think that is too bad.