OT: TV delivery alternatives (was: DirecTivo vs. 'New Direct TV DVR'?)

Ben Scott dragonhawk at gmail.com
Tue May 22 12:12:05 EDT 2007


On 5/22/07, Travis Roy <travis at scootz.net> wrote:
> Yah, that's really it.. What are your choices? Continue to get only a
> few HD channels for who knows how long then be forced to upgrade
> (probably without the discount) or switch to another provider of TV,
> all that are either more of a pain, cost more, suck worse, or some/
> all of the above.

  Alternative #1:

  Stop watching TV.  Radical idea, I know, not buying a product you
don't like.  :)

  "Look at her TV!  An off switch!"  "She'll get years for that!"  --
Max Headroom

  Alternative #2:

  I'm seriously considering dropping my cable TV service and just
using NetFlix or the Internet for everything.   I was checking
recently, and most of what I watch on TV now is available via NetFlix.

  There are benefits, too: No commercials to skip.  No scenes/frames
being deleted to squeeze in more programming.  No silly censorship.

  The money savings will be quite significant.  Even with basic,
analog cable, I pay around $45/month.  That's $540 a year!  For
commercial-laden TV, most of which is crap I don't want.  NetFlix
starts at $5/month.  Assume I go with the $15/month plan ($180/year),
it's still about one-third the cost.

  Sure, it means I don't get to watch programming the minute it comes
out, but I already time shift *everything* anyway.  I haven't watched
live TV in years, and I'm sometimes months behind on some programming.
 (I frequently batch episodes together, so I can watch several at
once.).  NetFlix will just mean I'm time shifting by a little longer.
It's not like entertainment is time-sensitive.  "House" and "Heroes"
will be just as good a year from now.

  Alternative #3:

  Internet distribution (the legal kind) is becoming more and more
viable all the time.  It's not there yet, but I'm watching closely (no
pun intended).

  In summary: I'm going to vote with my wallet whenever possible.
That's generally the best-heard kind of complaint.

-- Ben


More information about the gnhlug-discuss mailing list