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Cutting the Cord on Cable

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Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#21

Post by tomjen3 »

ams6110 wrote: post #12
watty wrote: post #6

The author claims he cut cable yet pays $340/year to get NFL Sunday Ticket on his PS3 - really? The only reason I still have cable is for ESPN. They have live sports that are exclusive to ESPN and the only way to get ESPN is to have cable.

Yeah I cut the extended subscription last year and no longer have ESPN which I sorely miss but am living without. If I could have a-la carte channels I would definitely be back on board, as there are about half-a-dozen channels I would be willing to pay to get, without 150 other crap channels.

Lets not stop at choosing your own canals -- which my TV provider has started to do, except the channels worth watching are not part of the offer -- and let me choose my own shows. That is what could have been so nice about iTunes and it would have enabled me to watch more SciFy.

But no, no then they would make less money.

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#23

Post by tomjen3 »

jmduke wrote: post #3

I think at this point, my primary (and perhaps only) reason to stick with the traditional TV delivery paradigm is HBO. That being said, I would be ecstatic if they introduced an HBO Go-only price plan.

You could just pirate the shows worth watching. That seems to be popular these days, or so I hear...

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#24

Post by jmduke »

tomjen3 wrote: post #23
jmduke wrote: post #3

I think at this point, my primary (and perhaps only) reason to stick with the traditional TV delivery paradigm is HBO. That being said, I would be ecstatic if they introduced an HBO Go-only price plan.

You could just pirate the shows worth watching. That seems to be popular these days, or so I hear...

As a poor college student I can't really deny the appeal of piracy but:

a) Saying 'hey, I can get this illegally for free' isn't really a valid economic argument. b) Pirating HBO just, I dunno, feels wrong. They're a company with a unique economic model that consistently produces amazing television; even if it's on an incredibly micro scale, I think they should be rewarded for that.

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#25

Post by MarkTraceur »

I saw this in the paper yesterday, but I was immediately disappointed to see that their primary forms of switching away from cable not only required cable Internet connection (because let's face it, DSL and others have no way to stream that quickly), but also required nonfree software (Silverlight for Netflix, Flash for Hulu). The world can offer so much more to these people who have been wronged by corporations, but for some reason, they keep moving from one bad corporation to another! Even the Occupy movement, who are supposedly protesting against the influence of corporations, are using nonfree, corporation-run sites to spread their propaganda. Why are people so blind?

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#26

Post by mdda »

hieronymusN wrote: post #13

But where is the author getting his internet service from? For instance, I live in Brooklyn, and the only reliable high-speed internet service is via Time Warner Cable. I currently get their WideBand service (50mbps down) bundled with basic cable and an VOIP phone I never use in a 12-month promotion. This costs me $118 p/mo. When that 12-month period was up I called to cancel stuff and they extended that promotion fo…

One thing that TWNYC doesn't readily admit to is that they have to allow other broadband providers access to their cable. If you insist on hearing about Earthlink rates (rather than the RCN(?) deal) they will probably 'fess up to something cheaper. Plus, the friendly cable guy will probably hook up 'over the air TV' via cable (no monthly - but all the TW paperwork will be done right and he'll have $20 in his pocket).

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#27

Post by jseliger »

pmorici wrote: post #17
hieronymusN wrote: post #13

But where is the author getting his internet service from? For instance, I live in Brooklyn, and the only reliable high-speed internet service is via Time Warner Cable. I currently get their WideBand service (50mbps down) bundled with basic cable and an VOIP phone I never use in a 12-month promotion. This costs me $118 p/mo. When that 12-month period was up I called to cancel stuff and they extended that promotion fo…

Clear 4G is a dream to setup though. No shady install guy and 4 to 8 hour window. You get a box in the mail next day and plug it in.

Unfortunately, it's not a dream to use: http://jseliger.com/2008/02/25/another-public-service-announ... . Maybe things have improved since then.

BTW, like the OP, I have expensive Comcast service because I have no other effective choice, and they just sent me a box and let me set it up too.

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#28

Post by philwelch »

MarkTraceur wrote: post #25

I saw this in the paper yesterday, but I was immediately disappointed to see that their primary forms of switching away from cable not only required cable Internet connection (because let's face it, DSL and others have no way to stream that quickly), but also required nonfree software (Silverlight for Netflix, Flash for Hulu). The world can offer so much more to these people who have been wronged by corporations, but…

The point of not using cable isn't to spite the corporations, it's to improve your own quality of life.

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#29

Post by hieronymusN »

pmorici wrote: post #17
hieronymusN wrote: post #13

But where is the author getting his internet service from? For instance, I live in Brooklyn, and the only reliable high-speed internet service is via Time Warner Cable. I currently get their WideBand service (50mbps down) bundled with basic cable and an VOIP phone I never use in a 12-month promotion. This costs me $118 p/mo. When that 12-month period was up I called to cancel stuff and they extended that promotion fo…

Clear 4G is a dream to setup though. No shady install guy and 4 to 8 hour window. You get a box in the mail next day and plug it in.

I have a Clear4G mobile box sitting right here next to my keyboard. I have this as a backup since my TWC connection completely crapped out for 3 days and I work remote. While it is easy to install (walk to BestBuy and purchase, turn on) I've found the speeds to be highly variable, sometimes losing bandwidth all together. I live in an area zoned for "Excellent coverage" so not sure what the issue is.

Re: Cutting the Cord on Cable

#30

Post by hieronymusN »

mdda wrote: post #26
hieronymusN wrote: post #13

But where is the author getting his internet service from? For instance, I live in Brooklyn, and the only reliable high-speed internet service is via Time Warner Cable. I currently get their WideBand service (50mbps down) bundled with basic cable and an VOIP phone I never use in a 12-month promotion. This costs me $118 p/mo. When that 12-month period was up I called to cancel stuff and they extended that promotion fo…

One thing that TWNYC doesn't readily admit to is that they have to allow other broadband providers access to their cable. If you insist on hearing about Earthlink rates (rather than the RCN(?) deal) they will probably 'fess up to something cheaper. Plus, the friendly cable guy will probably hook up 'over the air TV' via cable (no monthly - but all the TW paperwork will be done right and he'll have $20 in his pocket).

Interesting... I used to get Earthlink over TWC cable but abandoned it to get TWC's WideBand service (had to switch to RoadRunner). Earthlink does not (or didn't at the time) have anything close to those speeds. Still, I've haggled TWC down before by trying to cancel services, won't hurt to try again.
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