Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cable was a much better setup. The gems, and what I liked and watched, was always spread among different channels. But it was all on one bill, one programming guide, etc. And now that it's all DVR based, no ad is unskippable. Imagine Amazon or Google releasing a device that's so customer friendly that you can fully control the video stream.
> Cable was a much better setup No, thanks, the ability to pause/rewind/fast-forward, choice of sub/dub, and the ability to actually choose what to watch and when are something I am not willing to give up or negotiate on. With cable, you are watching a series that airs one episode per week, and then you missed an episode because you had something scheduled for that time slot the show was running on? Too bad, wait for…
FWIW, depending on the channel/show, one could do this with cable all the way back in the VCR era. Some shows had secondary audio programs with alternative languages and had multiple closed caption streams.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_audio_program
I do agree, loads of content never bothered with this though and for sure managing recordings with a VHS or even a DVR was a lot messier than just clicking "play" on a stream. Just pointing out the tech technically existed back then to enable those choice of sub/dub options
> Makes me often wonder what people clamoring for the “good old days of cable” are actually smoking.
Fully agreed on this point.