
Unbundle our archaic cable TV system - davewiner
http://scripting.com/stories/2010/11/08/unbundleOurArchaicCableTvS.html
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mikeryan
I'm a bit unclear on this one. He wants cable unbundled but then ends up
complaining about the bad Comcast UI.

If you want ala carte cable you can get most every show you want via Amazon or
iTunes, maybe with a Netflix and or Hulu plus subscription. Don't complain too
much about the cable co's not allowing ala carte subscriptions, the large
networks don't want you doing this either. They negotiate their carriage deals
with large cable operators across all their properties so if you want Scripps
Food Network you're going to have to get HGTV and DIY too..

If you want a better UI then look at GoogleTV. It ads a new layer on top of
your existing guide to enhance the experience.

Also look at Comcast's Fancast and TV Everywhere initiatives (TV Everywhere is
not Comcast specific) they are allowing subscribers to stream a lot of TV over
the web negating the need for a Slingbox.

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joelhousman
Wow, did you actually just say "If you want a better UI then look at Google
TV." as a sentence? Just...WOW.

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mikeryan
Compared to Comcast's current guide? Yes.

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jessriedel
For many products which have zero marginal cost, bundling turns out to be
_much_ more efficient from an economics perspective than a la carte selection.
This link illustrate the idea with a very simple model of New York City parks:

[http://makeanysense.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-choice-is-
less...](http://makeanysense.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-choice-is-less-choice-
strange.html)

This is a very handy model to keep in mind when thinking about zero-marginal-
cost economics.

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JustinSeriously
This issue has gone all the way to congress a couple times, but no real fix
has ever come of it.

Fortunately the market has already solved it for us. With Itunes and Hulu and
DVD season box sets, we've gone all the past a la carte per channel and
straight to a la carte per show and per episode.

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logich
I say that each person simply vote with cash and unbundle yourself from the
system. As a consumer, use your power and control what you consume. So long as
people just complain but still keep the system profitable by staying as
customers, then we will get the economically efficient bundles that we
dislike. You may miss a few shows, but you can catch them in a year or two. If
you really love live sports, reconsider radio or even go see a game in person.

~~~
wangluxiaoyu
Excellent suggestion! And to extend that logic yet further, if you like using
the Internet but don't want to pay for unwanted services bundled on top of
Internet access (voice, etc.), you can simply dig your own trench from your
home or business to the nearest neutral data center, drop a fiber pair in,
light it on both ends, buy some routers, negotiate an arrangement with the
data center and interconnection agreements with the other networks onsite, and
then run the whole thing yourself forever! Hey, you might miss a few
generations of programming and media formats completely, but that's the price
of freedom! And there's always better to come... no need to weep if you end up
missing HDTV or 3D altogether, because in the long run fully immersive
holographic TV will be so much better anyway!

Alas,if only we could have always had the courage of your convictions! Back in
the mid-1970s when the private corporation AT&T was the only national-scale
provider of any kind of communications service in the US, a bunch of short-
sighted whiners argued that forcing AT&T to unbundle was necessary to improve
existing (voice) services, drive down extortionate pricing, and give the
universe of non-AT&T employees a shot of their own at at innovating. But
anyone who remembers those days knows that the complaints were LIES: everyone
had access to a wide variety of alternatives, ranging from CB radios to
postcards to tin cans interconnected with string! So what if that whining
ultimately made it possible for the Internet grow beyond the confines of a few
university campuses, and for the US to become the world leader and hub of
Internet development? Now all of that growth and wealth and innovation will
forevermore be tainted by by poisoned circumstances of its illegitimate
origin. Ahh, if only we could turn back the clock so that we might do it right
from the beginning.... Four decades later we might still look a bit like those
countries in landlocked Africa or Central America that are still waiting for
widespread consumer access the the Internet and other services, but at least
our virtue would still be intact!

Given the fact that any Internet-based response would be inherently self-
contradictory, please don't sully yourself any further by replying!

