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

[Thomas Charron]

On 5/22/07, Ben Scott <dragonhawk at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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

  No product is going to be 100% what one would like.  Personally,
there are many programs that I enjoy tremendously that are quite fun
and informative.  :-)  Ok, so maybe Mythbusters blowing up a cement
truck till it simply vaporized has limited education..  :-)

  But throwing away an entire product simply because it isn't as
convenient as one would like is kind of overkill.

>  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.

  It's a valid option for some.  But personally it is even more
inconvenient then the product choices we have with Satellite.

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

  And a one week lead time.  :-)

>  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.

  Then go forth and do it.  :-)

>  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).

  We already do it via tvtorrents.com...  Oh wait, you said legal....  :-)

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

  Let us know how that goes.  I'm really not saying it isn't a valid
option for some.  I'm just saying, most aren't going to vote that far
away from convenience.

-- 
-- Thomas