Cut the cord!

Commander Quan · Oct 30, 2014

chamm said:
At least regarding Jeopardy, you can watch episodes the day after they air. If you watch with your wife, you can look up all the answers that morning and look like a genius when you watch it together.

Where are Jeopardy episodes that can be streamed?

Haggises · Oct 30, 2014

oh those rotten cable companies....

Going from 25HD channels to 125 HD in just a couple of years.
Providing voice cheaper than the old Telcos
Giving out millions of DTAs for free so that the old TVs will work on a digital signal (this was a federal pre-req)
Providing streaming of live TV over your preferred device.
Providing 10s of 1000s of hours of "free" content on demand 24/7
Raising HSD from a max of 6Mbps just 8 years ago to a base of 25Mbps and a max of 505 Mbps (depending on where you live)

Those wotten wascally wevolting wabbits.

(full disclosure, I work for a very big Cable company, so I'm biased, but seeing that we have never done anything good sticks in my craw a little)

jamesspo · Oct 30, 2014

Haggises said:
oh those rotten cable companies....

Going from 25HD channels to 125 HD in just a couple of years.
Providing voice cheaper than the old Telcos
Giving out millions of DTAs for free so that the old TVs will work on a digital signal (this was a federal pre-req)
Providing streaming of live TV over your preferred device.
Providing 10s of 1000s of hours of "free" content on demand 24/7
Raising HSD from a max of 6Mbps just 8 years ago to a base of 25Mbps and a max of 505 Mbps (depending on where you live)

Those wotten wascally wevolting wabbits.

(full disclosure, I work for a very big Cable company, so I'm biased, but seeing that we have never done anything good sticks in my craw a little)

I've never had any particular issues with any of the carriers. They seem to charge a reasonable price for Internet services. For me, it was just about the personal value proposition of the content vs price for the TV part (DirecTV in this case..no cable out in the boonies where I live). Most of the content is just not stuff I enjoy, so I prefer to pick (and pay) ala-carte, which is what I do now via Netflix DVD, and purchases. In the end I'm still paying about the same, but I get just the content I want.

Folks have a tendency to blame the "big scary companies" for everything...irrationally in most cases. They expect their own salaries to go up, but don't wish the same for the employees at the random big company, that are in many cases working very thin margins.

Cash_Stronomer · Oct 30, 2014

Edcculus said:
Where do you get free wifi?

Well it's included at home in my rent, plus because of work I'm in Cafe's a lot on the laptop, and at work if I'm not in the mood to be in the office, I'll go outside with the laptop. Because it's a College the connection is excellent.

chamm · Oct 30, 2014

Haggises said:
oh those rotten cable companies....

Going from 25HD channels to 125 HD in just a couple of years.
Providing voice cheaper than the old Telcos
Giving out millions of DTAs for free so that the old TVs will work on a digital signal (this was a federal pre-req)
Providing streaming of live TV over your preferred device.
Providing 10s of 1000s of hours of "free" content on demand 24/7
Raising HSD from a max of 6Mbps just 8 years ago to a base of 25Mbps and a max of 505 Mbps (depending on where you live)

Those wotten wascally wevolting wabbits.

(full disclosure, I work for a very big Cable company, so I'm biased, but seeing that we have never done anything good sticks in my craw a little)

I certainly don't dislike the people who work for the cable companies, but I despise the people who run them.

Most of the "generous" things you mention above are mandates from the government that the cable companies fought tooth and nail. My cable company charges $20/mo (on top of Internet service) for phone service. I can provide myself with the same quality land line for about $1.50/month, and I don't have the resources of a large cable company.

Internet service that they sell for ~$50/mo actually costs them about ~$10/mo, after you factor in all costs for cabling, installation, maintenance, bandwidth and peering agreements. (I have math to back this statement up.) Even with all that profit, they still whine to the government that they need tax money for "infrastructure upgrades." And despite these massive infusions of cash from the government, the US isn't even in the top 10 countries for Internet speed, price or coverage. Now they're lobbying Congress to make it legal for them to charge customers and providers for the same service. Then, when Comcast is caught red-handed throttling service from Netflix for the sole purpose of frustrating their own customers, they blatantly lie, knowing that most of their customers (and lawmakers) don't know enough about how the Internet works to get upset about it. On top of all that, every time a neighborhood, town or municipality actually does the math and realizes that they can buy their own back haul, run their own cabling, and provide 50+Mbps Internet to themselves for about 1/3 the price of the cable giants, they sick their lawyers and lawmakers on them and do everything they can to shut them down.

All of this stands in complete opposition to individual freedom, societal progress and the free market.

Please don't mistake this for an attack on you. I worked for UUNet/WorldCom/MCI/Verizon for years. I have a great many friends, good people, who work for Time Warner. I have no doubt that you are a good employee and conscientious person, and you're just trying to make an honest living like most of us. Unless you're on the Board of Directors, my tirade above has nothing to do with you. It's just frustrating, because we could be literally decades ahead of where we are now if it weren't for the meddling of telcos, cable companies and wireless providers. They've used their power and influence to fight progress at every turn, and we're falling behind the rest of the world instead of innovating. All just to make a few rich people even richer...

Haggises · Oct 30, 2014

It's a good post chamm, but if I may counter a few points.
Only one of those provisions was a federal mandate. The rest are due to competition (Fios and satellite and netflix/apple/amazon/etc)
I dont know the exact profit margin on data but it's nowhere near 80%
Most countries that have faster cheaper internet than US have a few things in common - competition, huge government subsidies and a much smaller footprint. The competition you're seeing now is resulting in faster cheaper speeds, here and now.

VerbaVolant · Oct 30, 2014

I stopped watching TV in 2002 and...I dragged my whole family out of it. I chose to live a life instead.
Got rid of pagers and cellphones in 2008. I am still alive and well and found I don't miss them at all.

Senshi · Oct 31, 2014

chamm said:
I certainly don't dislike the people who work for the cable companies, but I despise the people who run them.

Most of the "generous" things you mention above are mandates from the government that the cable companies fought tooth and nail. My cable company charges $20/mo (on top of Internet service) for phone service. I can provide myself with the same quality land line for about $1.50/month, and I don't have the resources of a large cable company.

Internet service that they sell for ~$50/mo actually costs them about ~$10/mo, after you factor in all costs for cabling, installation, maintenance, bandwidth and peering agreements. (I have math to back this statement up.) Even with all that profit, they still whine to the government that they need tax money for "infrastructure upgrades." And despite these massive infusions of cash from the government, the US isn't even in the top 10 countries for Internet speed, price or coverage. Now they're lobbying Congress to make it legal for them to charge customers and providers for the same service. Then, when Comcast is caught red-handed throttling service from Netflix for the sole purpose of frustrating their own customers, they blatantly lie, knowing that most of their customers (and lawmakers) don't know enough about how the Internet works to get upset about it. On top of all that, every time a neighborhood, town or municipality actually does the math and realizes that they can buy their own back haul, run their own cabling, and provide 50+Mbps Internet to themselves for about 1/3 the price of the cable giants, they sick their lawyers and lawmakers on them and do everything they can to shut them down.

All of this stands in complete opposition to individual freedom, societal progress and the free market.

Please don't mistake this for an attack on you. I worked for UUNet/WorldCom/MCI/Verizon for years. I have a great many friends, good people, who work for Time Warner. I have no doubt that you are a good employee and conscientious person, and you're just trying to make an honest living like most of us. Unless you're on the Board of Directors, my tirade above has nothing to do with you. It's just frustrating, because we could be literally decades ahead of where we are now if it weren't for the meddling of telcos, cable companies and wireless providers. They've used their power and influence to fight progress at every turn, and we're falling behind the rest of the world instead of innovating. All just to make a few rich people even richer...

Chamm Guevara, patria o muerte!
El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!

chamm · Oct 31, 2014

Senshi said:
Chamm Guevara, patria o muerte!
El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!

Haha!

I know we don't talk politics here, but I will say I'm not a socialist or a communist or a capitalist or a fascist. It's not that I condone fascism, or any 'ism' for that matter. Ism's, in my opinion, are not good. A person should not believe in an 'ism,' he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon: 'I don't believe in Beatles. I just believe in me.' A good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to bum rides off of people.

Senshi · Oct 31, 2014

chamm said:
Haha!

I know we don't talk politics here, but I will say I'm not a socialist or a communist or a capitalist or a fascist. It's not that I condone fascism, or any 'ism' for that matter. Ism's, in my opinion, are not good. A person should not believe in an 'ism,' he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon: 'I don't believe in Beatles. I just believe in me.' A good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to bum rides off of people.

Please don't wreck my father's car

chamm · Oct 31, 2014

Senshi said:
Please don't wreck my father's car

Very good! Ten points to the gentleman from Motoyoshi! :-D

thematthatter · Nov 6, 2014

We are in the process of cutting ours this week. Our promotion period ended for our "bundled services" and our bill slowly creaped up from a little under $100 two years ago to last months bill of $210.
We have TWC and I bought a cable modem off amazon for $115 last week, to save on the monthly modem rental fee. It took 30 min on the phone with them to approve the mac address and to get it working but it seems to be working better than their old one.
My wife called and our internet only will only run about $60 a month now. We will still have the basic cable and it wont be charged.

We just got to go through the next step and return the equipment.

Phog Allen · Nov 6, 2014

Gents. another thing to consider is the Fire Tv's ability to sideload apps. I downloaded a small gui called adbfire that allows fast and easy installation of any apk you have downloaded. Now mind, this is not some pirate ware that rips paid apps from the Play store. It simply installs apk files you have donwloaded. I managed to get Chrome working via some site that generates a download of it from the Google store and then quickly installs it with adbfire. I have no idea how well it is made but it seems to have no malware in it. There is a dedicated site called http://sideloadfiretv.com/ that got me started with it. I originally installed XBMC and Firefox mobile. FF mobile is a pain on Fire Tv but Chrome seems to work nicely with a combo keyboard mouse from Logitech. XBMC too for that matter. This allows you to browse for things there is no app for in Amazon's Fire Tv store. The adbfire has compact version of Android's adb/sdk applications which is enough for installing apks. Do look at it but use it at your own discretion. I found out about adbfire at another forum, not Sideloadfiretv. If I can find the site I will post it. The Fire Tv is a heck of a little box for 100 dollars. I think right now it is $84.99 so maybe worth a look. Amazon has sure made it easy to work with.

asutke781 · Nov 6, 2014

I haven't had cable for three years now. We have a roku with Netflix and Hulu plus and that works well for us. For the programming I want but can't get there are a couple work a rounds I use like logging in with a friends cable username and password. For live sports I use sports devil with XBMC or find streams on reddit.com/r/NFL. I pay 55 dollar a month for FiOS 50/50 service without a contract.

soccerguy83 · Nov 7, 2014

The wife and I are seriously looking into this now, we are with Comcast (hate them) and our bill is near $250/month. The only thing stopping me is college football.

malocchio · Nov 7, 2014

Isn't there a new "dongle" coming out that will stream "anything" you can see on your computer monitor ?

Kazeryu · Nov 7, 2014

malocchio said:
Isn't there a new "dongle" coming out that will stream "anything" you can see on your computer monitor ?

No dongle required if you have an HDMI-out port on your PC. I have an older laptop which actually lives behind the TV and is permanently hooked up to it, along with a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Having a real computer serve up your media gives you far more horsepower, flexibility, and storage space than any box or dongle ever will. You're never stuck with certain formats or certain providers, and since you control the software you can switch to a different program if the current one doesn't work for you... the sky's the limit!

Side benefit: Many "HD" boxes/dongles are actually limited to 720p, although this is (finally) starting to change. Unless your computer's a total dinosaur you will have full 1080p with no problems whatsoever. (And you can bet that you'll be able to buy a laptop supporting 4K before you can buy a set-top box or dongle that does it, too!)

Phog Allen · Nov 7, 2014

soccerguy83 said:
The wife and I are seriously looking into this now, we are with Comcast (hate them) and our bill is near $250/month. The only thing stopping me is college football.

Holy bat guano! That is some pricey package. I don't blame you for seeking the alternatives.

Kazeryu said:
No dongle required if you have an HDMI-out port on your PC. I have an older laptop which actually lives behind the TV and is permanently hooked up to it, along with a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Having a real computer serve up your media gives you far more horsepower, flexibility, and storage space than any box or dongle ever will. You're never stuck with certain formats or certain providers, and since you control the software you can switch to a different program if the current one doesn't work for you... the sky's the limit!

Side benefit: Many "HD" boxes/dongles are actually limited to 720p, although this is (finally) starting to change. Unless your computer's a total dinosaur you will have full 1080p with no problems whatsoever. (And you can bet that you'll be able to buy a laptop supporting 4K before you can buy a set-top box or dongle that does it, too!)

I really do agree with you on this. I have the Fire Tv and it honestly is a great product. What I would eventually like to do is have a Windows machine as a back end media server and a Linux or Android box or laptop at the telly for receiving it. The biggest issue with using a straight up computer on the telly is remote control issues but even that is nearly a moot point anymore since most of the newer OS's are adaptable rather easily. Other than that a small laptop is much more robust than a streaming box. The only reason I need a Windows back end is for three Windows only programmes. PlayonTv, Netflix(Linux just doesn't work here no matter what you see on the net) and AnyDVD(eventually) for media backup. Yes, I could include these in a powerful laptop and stick it behind the telly permanently but with optical drive needed for editing and playing and such it would be better to have it separate. Other than that a good used modern laptop is a fine solution. Good call.

mikey · Nov 7, 2014

Pagers were still around in 2008?

Thanks,
Mike

VerbaVolant said:
...Got rid of pagers and cellphones in 2008...

VerbaVolant · Nov 7, 2014

mikey said:
Pagers were still around in 2008?

Thanks,
Mike

Absolutely.
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Cut the cord!

Commander Quan

Commander Yellow Pantyhose

Haggises

jamesspo

Cash_Stronomer

chamm

Haggises

VerbaVolant

Senshi

chamm

Senshi

chamm

thematthatter

Phog Allen

asutke781

soccerguy83

malocchio

Kazeryu

Phog Allen

mikey

VerbaVolant

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