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12/18/09
I'm just sayin...
12/18/09
12/18/09
12/18/09
It's a shame that Comedy Central has approximately $0 in their budget most of the time, but this is absolutely the right move for them.
Bravo!
12/15/09
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12/16/09
12/16/09
i'm not well versed in these things. But how does a tuner get shows. don't you still have to pay a cable company for a signal? Can you get specialty channels like showtime or setanta sports and stuff?
12/17/09
No. Broadcast television is free and in HD in most areas, now. With a tuner card, you just hook it up to an antenna (you CAN hook most of them up to cable also, though, if you want to pay for cable). If you have a really new TV, you wouldn't need a tuner card (unless you want your computer to be a DVR for HD versions of network shows), because you could just hook the antenna up to the TV like the old days. If you have a slightly older TV (my 1080p, 42" LCD bought in 2008 is apparently old enough for this, sadly), then you need a digital tuner / tuner card. In this case (my case), you can either 1) buy a tuner card for an HTPC, 2) not watch network TV, or 3) buy a set-top digital tuner box (~$30), which for some reason is a totally separate device from a set-top media box even though it's something that can fit on a USB stick (many tuner cards are just little USB sticks, though these are lower quality than actual cards).
"Most people don't have htpc and most don't see the need for it."
You're right, but the same people that don't see a need for an HTPC also wouldn't see a need for a set-top box like the one in this article. Thus, it stands to reason that the people who want a set-top box are the same sort of people who want an HTPC. It just seems like common sense to me for a manufacturer of one of these set-top boxes to go "Oooh...if I put a tuner card in there, then this becomes a DVR on top of everything else - suck it, HTPC manufacturers!" And even though I already have an HTPC, it's really just my gaming rig hooked up to my TV. I would totally spend the $100 on a set-top box and another $30 on an antenna and have my gaming rig devoted totally to gaming and net-surfing if the set-top covered all of my needs. Admittedly, my need for over-the-air HD broadcasts is minimal, but certain shows my wife and I watch together (Big Bang Theory, for instance), cannot be watched online with any sort of regularity or convenience unless you are a pirate, which I'm very much against, and other shows we watch that CAN be accessed online (The Office, etc) are 1) not in HD if watched online and 2) now owned by Comcast, a business that really hates people watching ANYthing for free. So, that's why I'm currently shopping around for a tuner card.
12/17/09
"Broadcast television is free and in HD in most areas, now"
see that's the rub. other then 30 Rock i pretty much watch nothing on those channels. Viacom properties like MTV are not even in HD. But i like the foodtvs, discovery, ect. I watch mostly cable, and specialty cable channels Like showtime or FSC or Setanta for soccer games. And i didn't see those mentioned. So i'm not sure it would be perfect. I do get the dvr angle but then you have to consider this has no hard drive so the manufacture is probably thinking he'd have to add one. And doesn't #1, buy a tuner card for your pc accomplish the same thing in a less integrated form? Regardless i feel your pain on a need not being met. I don't listen to FM radio. i do like AM sports talk radio but Apple refuses to put an AM radio in ipod.
" the same people that don't see a need for an HTPC also wouldn't see a need for a set-top box like the one in this article. "
This is where i'd disagree. like i said. i like this. all i want is to stream video and music from a hard drive. And i don't want a HTPC for several reasons. And trust me i've seriously considered building them. Even researched different OS's and tuner cards. But one, it's time consuming, two, can't justify the cost now just to have it sit under my tv, three, noise, i don't want to hear the fans and drives, don't want to have to buy more remotes or recievers, they look large and ugly unless you buy an attractive case which is more money. Last, i've no interest in doing anything on my computer on my tv.
not to mention. i have a dvr, get most of my channels, Now i still hate the cable company but that's a different matter. i'm probably getting the WDtvhd but like the popcorn and the stuff with extra hard drives just add more things i don't need and elevate the price to a point i won't go. I think a tuner would be a similar item at least from the perspective of a buyer in my situation. i'm not saying your tuner idea is bad, or that nobody needs it, just offering an explanation as to why they may think they don't need to integrate one. All that being said, my cable company does have some way you can plug a hard drive into the cable box and access media. but i think it's only pictures. it's a start though. Sadly from your perspective it's still coming from a crappy cable company.
12/15/09
12/07/09
12/04/09
12/04/09
The other thing is that this future full of "a la carte adults" may not materialize for one simple reason: Going a la carte (and buying content via iTunes, Amazon, whatever) is only economical for a single person. For a couple or family to do it, they'll likely pay more in individual micropayments than they would for a cable sub).
When you're in your 20s, waiting for 'Fringe' to hit Hulu or buying an episode over Xbox Live is convenient and cost-effective. But when you're 35 and need to sit the kids down in front of 'Dorah,' then 'Sponge Bob' and then 'Pooh,' those old-fashioned "all-you-can-eat" subs are going to be looking damned good.
12/04/09
My point being that it's entirely possible for people to pay just $50 for just Internet.
As far as the families with kids go, though, I think you're right. Tech-savvie parents like myself will have a media server with hundreds of hours of Dorah and the like, but most won't even in 10 years. Hulu and YouTube and others will move more toward having that programming, though, I guarantee it. My in-laws educational movie company already has a pretty nifty YouTube channel with just clips. I wouldn't be surprised if that was eventually replaced or augmented with some subscription or ad-based version.
12/04/09
12/04/09
2) They are leading the charge on getting rid of net neutrality so they can control what information you get and at what price.
3) They control an entire quarter of the ISP market.
4) They just bought NBC:Universal, meaning they control a good chunk of the information you receive and how you receive it.
12/03/09
12/03/09
12/03/09
12/03/09
12/03/09
Considering the fact that Comcast has such a reach into American televisions, it seems highly unlikely that this deal would be a bad one for Comcast - it is certain to eventually be a money maker, one way or another. However, it is not a given that it will be approved.
12/03/09
I know it's popular to never trust the big corporate machine, but Comcast really hasn't given me any reason to hate them. In the last 6 months, my HD channel lineup has increased by like 70 channels, the on demand content has expanded, and my internet has gotten about 6 mbps faster, while my bill has stayed the same. I know that Comcast could theoretically choose to start screwing me, but I'm not under contract, and I'll just cancel if they do. More likely this deal will cause more behind the scenes changes to save them money, and the consumer won't notice the difference.
The knee-jerk big corporation hate is getting old, people. Substantiate your opinions!
12/03/09
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12/03/09
Right?
12/03/09
12/03/09
[www.youtube.com]
12/03/09
Just for the record, I wouldn't mind having a Pandora-like pay option to skip the short adverts. Would a meager subscription fee be enough to offset advertising dollars?
12/03/09
12/03/09
Or did you mean something else? I can't tell.
12/03/09
12/03/09
Google search actually has the words "in the cards idiom" as a suggested search, but "on the cards" doesn't auto-drop at all.
[dictionary.reference.com]
12/03/09
12/03/09
Good to know.
12/03/09