

I’m Giving Cable 6 Months To Live - dotBen
http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/18/cutting-the-cord/

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wccrawford
He's not calling the death of Cable. He's saying he's paying for cable for 6
more months to see if he wants to keep paying for it.

-yawn-

I realized a while back that I could -buy- the DVDs for my shows and save
money over a cable bill. That was when I pulled the plug. I'm quite happy to
see Amazon selling VOD now, even if it's a bit more expensive than I want to
pay. (It's still cheaper to buy the DVDs, but that's not HD.) It means I get
to watch the shows when my friends are, instead of waiting 6 months. It's nice
to be in on the conversations.

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dotBen
This post, like many right now, angles the 'disruption' against the cable
providers towards using Hulu/Apple TV/XBox Live (and Bit Torrent _\- there I
said it, seeing as no one else is 'fessing up to using it_ ).

I actually anticipate a bigger disruption beginning to emerge: cutting out the
TV out completely. It's such a waste of time and brain power. I'm sure the
average HN'er watches far less TV than the national average.

Clay Shirky once said that TV is the modern 'opiate of the masses' in a talk
"Gin, TV and cognative surplus" (vidoe: <http://blip.tv/file/855937/>) - it's
really worth watching.

~~~
evgen
The problem with this argument is that TV is one of the few mediums that is
seeing its usage rate increase. There was a recent survey that made news by
claiming that TV had dropped ten percent in the "most important gadget/device
in your life" list until people actually looked at the data and noticed that
over two years "flat-screen TV" (a separate item on the survey) had risen to
10% on the list... It is hard to make a serious claim that TV is not getting
better every year and the fragmenting of the market has brought niche
programming that would have been unheard of less than a decade ago. The claim
that TV was the new opiate of the masses was made long before Shirky came onto
the scene and it will continue to be made long after he is dead. The
television landscape is in a state of rapid flux, the delivery mechanism will
probably be radically different in ten years, but in thirty years when
children need to go to a museum to see what a newspaper looked like they will
still be watching TV.

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BrentRitterbeck
I went without television altogether for quite some time. I have since then
experienced both cable and broadcast content. Frankly, I find both services
lacking in quality content. The broadcasters seem content on offering mostly
reality television shows, legal dramas, and medical dramas. The few comedies
that are on can be watched on Hulu. (NOTE: PBS still has good stuff, but its
shows can be found all over the Internet). As for cable, since the Discovery
Channel stopped showing good science stuff and the History Channel stopped
showing history stuff, I see no reason to ever return to cable.

~~~
chopsueyar
Many of the good History documentaries are on Netflix streaming.

After again experiencing cable/broadcast, what was your feeling/experience
when vieweing commercials?

~~~
BrentRitterbeck
I usually pay zero attention to commercials. I'm not interested in being sold
something while I am trying to relax.

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donaldc
Whether or not the author of this article is able to cut out Comcast, he's
going to be at the mercy of one or another video content intermediary until
either football stops making exclusive deals with said intermediaries, or
until he decides that broadcasts of current football games aren't must-have
content.

I'm not holding my breath for either of those to happen.

~~~
chopsueyar
Slingbox at a friend's house for the football stuff.

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chopsueyar
Couldn't tell if he was sharpening his sword to do battle, or impale himself.

I have had Comcast for about 2 1/2 years now, paying around $70/month, only
for internet. I sometimes use an over-the-air ATSC box for some local
channels. Recently got the price dropped to $30/month (strange story).

I have an Xbox 360 that is seldom used for games, mostly a dedicated Netflix
device.

Not a sports fan, particularly. But, I do find it interesting when watching
cable/satellite tv at a friend's house or bar, somebody is paying to have
commercials served to them.

I actually do miss commercials, though not interspersed with the content I am
viewing.

I was probably the last guy to find out about the 'Old Spice' commercials.

Not sure why satellite is not an option for this guy, though. Dish network has
some pretty cheap plans.

Also, he could get a slingbox and a good friend that would let him install it,
maybe pay for the extra cablebox rental.

~~~
dotBen
_Not sure why satellite is not an option for this guy, though. Dish network
has some pretty cheap plans._

I know the building MG used to live in - it is a modern downtown condo and you
cannot install satellite very easily in those. If he is living where I believe
he is now living, it's the same issue.

I've heard that the FCC says everyone is entitled to erect a satellite dish if
they want but that's useless if you live on the wrong side of a condo building
or don't have a balcony. And expect flak from the HOA if you do, esp if it's
an up-market condo building.

What happens is cable companies do deals with the building developers to have
cable run to each condo ("cable ready") and in return the building agrees not
to let anyone install a satellite dish on the roof. Or they do have a communal
satellite but it doesn't have an HD-ready LMB, which was the issue in my old
condo.

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michaelhalligan
Slow news day.

