CableCARD 1.0 has yet to catch on, yet CableCARD 2.0 is already breathing down its neck promising features not found in the current version. CableCARDs were supposed to make our lives easier by letting us swap our bulky cable box for a tiny card we could install in our TVs, but things didn't work out that way.

Few companies allowed self installation and the cards themselves weren't bidirectional, meaning you couldn't get pay-per-view or on-demand type of programming. CableCARD 2.0 will allow for two-way interactivity and support up to six independently tuned TV channels. The new cards will make their first appearance in 2008, but the catch is you'll need new components to take advantage of them. That is, if they ever catch on in the first place. – Louis Ramirez

CableCARD: What You Need to Know [Electronic House]

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