Related Sections: Future Tech Home Theater
Video Rebel, Part 1: Cable TV, you're fired! Netflix, you too
Fast forward to the future: What will life be like without cable TV, Blu-ray discs and DVDs, or any other spinning, removable disc-style means of entertainment delivery? What if you downloaded all the titles you watched, and got everything else you wanted free from the broadcast airwaves?
What do you say we find out? Starting now, I’ve canceled my cable-TV subscription and put my Netflix account on hold. For the next three months, my only electronic entertainment will consist of whatever I can download or whichever broadcasts are available over the air.
I’ll offer you weekly dispatches on my progress, filling you in on the sacrifices I’m making and showing you the benefits I’m receiving from living in the download and broadcast worlds, circa 2008. Why am I doing this? The awful truth (and how it affects you) after the Continue jump.
Next, I noticed that my local provider here in Milwaukee, Time Warner Cable, was not only obviously over-compressing the live signal of the CBS Final Four basketball games to us here at our Midwest Test Facility, but we were suffering from frequent dropouts of the signal altogether during all the games. This wasn’t experienced by viewers elsewhere in the U.S., nor was it seen by viewers receiving the broadcasts over the air.
Finally, the idea of dumping Netflix was solidified when first, HD DVD died an untimely death, and then the company's CEO, Reed Hastings, announced there would be an additional charge if you’re renting Blu-ray discs.
It’s only going to get worse. Cable providers will continue to compress their HDTV offerings, cynically thinking dumb consumers won't notice the difference, and now that HD DVD is dead, the companies behind Blu-ray will try to squeeze every extra penny they think they're entitled to.
- 1. Downloaded
- 2. Streamed
- 3. Broadcast
Tomorrow: In Video Rebel Part 2, I sink my eyes into fee-free (but legal) downloaded and streamed HD. Will it be tasty?
Video Rebel, Part 2: Free HD download guide
Video Rebel, Part 3: Kill your cable, get HD for free over the air
Video Rebel, Part 4: How to turn an old PC into a home theater monster
Video Rebel, Part 5: Download mania! Netflix, Apple TV, Xbox, Amazon Unbox and Vudu compared
Video Rebel, Part 6: BitTorrent and the dark side of downloading
By Multiuseless at 8:09 PM ON 05/05/08
A little late aren't you? I have been cable free for the last two years. Never watched videos in the first place so no loss there. The blogs and local on-line paper will weed out all of the useless news. And I got a line on streaming live sports. NBA NFL NCAA NASCAR etc... It will be fun to see what you discover that will suffice for entertainment.
By MacBeth at 8:24 PM ON 05/05/08
I've already been doing this for several years. I have basic cable but only because I have cable internet and it was a cheap addition, but other than that and the occasional DVD I have to buy for my collection I'm off the 'grid'.
Aside from Bittorrent two of the best internet video sites are Hulu (completely free) which has an ever growing library of TV shows, movies, news, and sports there is nothing better than it. To a lesser degree Netflix can be used for streaming movies and some TV shows and it actually works pretty well.
But Bittorrent is still the best way to go for 'Educational purposes'.
By BobMac at 10:04 PM ON 05/05/08
After I got laid off from my job, I took a look at my expenses. The first thing to go was Netflix and Comcast TV. You know what? We survived for a year without 'em. To be honest, I did download (sometimes illegally) some shows to watch on my Apple TV.
By guyla at 4:17 AM ON 05/06/08
Yep me too. I have high speed cable and the basic cable package is only a few dollars more. I had all the HDPVR crap and everyday with every new HD channel, my bill went up. I was paying $135/MNTH AT ONE POINT FOR ALL THAT! Now it's a manageable $42/mnth. Whew. I get all my educational material via bittorrent, and stream basic cable in over my PC. Sweet and cheap.
By ROBO at 12:45 PM ON 05/06/08
Destroy him!
By Traveler at 1:32 PM ON 05/06/08
Yes, online will EVENTUALLY replace disks (and maybe broadcast). But not anytime soon. There not near enough bandwidth nor has most of the worthwhile material been released for d/l.
By kubiaka at 8:20 PM ON 05/06/08
Even that guy that actually pretty much invented the internet said that in its current state it is not capable of supporting all this online media streaming when he was asked like a year ago in an interview. The entire backbone needs to be overhauled and replaced before anything like this will actually be worthwhile and do what most people expect it to do.
By RJ at 12:30 PM ON 05/17/08
If you still have a DVD player, you might check your local library system. I've got a standing waiting list of DVDS and, unlike Netflix, you can get a whole season box rather than one or two disks at a time. And it's free!
Oh, and if you go into the library, you can even check out the "other" entertainment: books :)
By Free Television at 6:46 PM ON 06/04/08
Also if you have a broadband connection, you can try services like http://www.freetube.us.tc which are gray services that stream Television Channels, some big like nbc,fox,abc, and lots of small channels for you to watch online. They require plugins but most people already have them. That combined with a tvjack from your pc to your tv makes it possible to watch it on your tv. not bad for free.
By khs at 3:23 PM ON 11/04/08
what about TVU? Not wide variety, but free....
on your cellphone!
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khs:
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