91–100 of 254 posts
With Chromecast (or something similar to connect your computer to TV), and a decent Antenna, you do not really need anything else. Plus, most of the things that we watch are on-demand anyway - we don't have patience to sit through commercials for 1 hour to watch 20 minutes of a Sci-Fi episode.
This kind of TV is the 'default' here in the UK (Freeview) - we get about 50-60 digital channels and 10 HD channels. I suspect cable TV is actually on the rise here, but can't find stats to back that up.
Isn't satellite more common here than cable? Americans get cable, we get Sky.
If you are in an an urban or a rural area in the lower 48 you can get a satellite package that is roughly equivalent to a cable package -- although you might need to cut down a tree or win a fight with your landlord, homeowner's association, etc. The only real drawback is that fading can get bad when it is wet (say you are staying at home watching TV because of a snowstorm but you can't get any TV)
For TV-only service there is definitely a price war situation with cable in urban areas, but all the services differentiate themselves as best they can. If you can't get enough of American Football, for instance, you can get the "NFL Sunday Ticket" from DirectTV which gives you pretty much all the football you could get without violating some law.
Get internet service from cable provider with basic cable plus HBO for less than the advertised price of the internet service alone. Have to call back every year to get the promotional price back, which sucks. But we almost never watch the cable channels. Local channels in HD with a couple low-end antennas in the attic. And tend to watch HBO GO on a Roku, where we also have Netflix, Prime, etc. Doing Sling during foo…
Interesting. What's your cable provider?
I love the idea of using an antenna. HDTV with 5.1 surround for no cost other than a rooftop or set top antenna? This is the future! (or the past) Only one problem, what if we live in an area where we are blocked from a signal? Could a community pool their money and buy a shared antenna? (as was done in the 1970s - this is how the cable companies go their start) No. We could not. The cable companies (and others) woul…
On a home we purchased, the house antenna that was mounted on the chimney picks up clear HD channels of the local stations that look wonderful. Paying for TV doesn't make sense nowadays. If a home doesn't have an antenna on the roof, I would recommend it as an upgrade for anyone interested in the local channels.
With Chromecast (or something similar to connect your computer to TV), and a decent Antenna, you do not really need anything else. Plus, most of the things that we watch are on-demand anyway - we don't have patience to sit through commercials for 1 hour to watch 20 minutes of a Sci-Fi episode.
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There's precedent for things that get delivered to you being yours to use, even if you didn't order or pay for them. While I am aware that it is absolutely not the same thing, there is a law that anything sent unsolicited to you in postal mail is yours to keep, no questions asked. This is to prevent a type of now-dead fraud that involved doing that, then billing people for it. It's really the responsibility of the ca…
I understand your point, but I think there's a difference between the cable company "correctly filtering service" and a person getting additional hardware to bypass the cable modem demarcation. It does get muddied by them allowing customer cable modems, which means there's not a clear a demarcation point anymore.
The demarcation is generally clearly marked (plastic box often called a 'network interface device') and is almost never located at the modem itself.
Typically, the legal demarcation is on the exterior of houses. For a multiple dwelling unit (apartment complex) or commercial building, the demarcation is usually inside. ISPs try to choose a demarcation that is accessible from the outside, so as to not require being allowed into the building to test signal leading to the premise. This cuts down on cancelled repairs due to 'no access'. My point in all this is that for most coax and twisted pair services, the indoor wiring is usually the property owners and not the ISP's, especially at the point where it connects to the modem. For someone to add a splitter to wire that is their responsibility and property is almost certainly legal.
I worked for one of the bigger ISPs up until last year, so I speak only from my personal experience. For more details:
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Interesting. What's your cable provider?
Comcast. No complaints about internet service. I get 50mbps, which I believe is advertised at $80/mo. With the basic cable plus HBO promotional rate, our bill is about $72/mo.
I am always stunned of how USA are both forerunners of new technologies, and very backward as well... for credit cards with chip, digital television, gsm diffusion, etc etc... Also, in most of United States you can not get an european level ADSL.
The US is very, very big, and very, very empty compared to Europe. Outside of the I-95 corridor on the East Coast, some islands of density in the midwest, and the coastal zone of California, Oregon, Washington, it's overwhelmingly rural or uninhabited.
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I suspect that, for many people, getting cable (or satellite) has just become sort of the default. Of course, many do watch sports which often (though not always) run on non-network channels. Also, not everyone is able to get TV OTA or is in a position to install an attic/rooftop antenna. I personally can't get anything OTA. I regularly toy with cutting back to a very basic bundle but haven't seriously pursued yet.
That's a bit misleading. Most NFL games are only available on network channels, not ESPN/Fox Sports/Univision. I'd hardly call that minor.
I don't watch much in the way of sports in any case, but a lot of people buy cable and satellite sports packages.
I actually agree with the basic point up-thread though. I do think a lot of people probably pay for their monthly cable package without a whole lot of thought about how much value they're getting and what alternatives there might be.