Television: Almost A La Carte, a retraction
Apple events always prompt my lazy self to post, even disappointingly boring ones like today's "Let's Rock" announcement. If you missed it, new iPod nanos that are a throw-back to the old iPod nanos, new iPod touches that still don't make the thing a must-have, and a new version of iTunes. Shows are now available in HD ($2.99 an episode, right in line with XBLM). Oh yeah, and it looks like Apple and NBC made up. As I said to Dave earlier, welcome to 2006.
OK, so back in June I said I'd buy an AppleTV if Apple offered shows in HD and once again played nice with NBC. And while I have been tempted by the AppleTV of late, I may need to eat my words here. Football season's back (and just as pretty as last season). The Fall shows have begun, including the Amazing Race 13 and Project Runway, neither of which are available on any (legal) download service (true for Project Runway, we have yet to see about Amazing Race). Oh, and let's not forget that baseball playoffs are right around the corner.
But my unquenchable need to sync and simplify everything has got me thinking. Right now, I've got four boxes in the TV cabinet: a receiver, an Xbox, a Tivo, and the cable box. At least one of those can go, and I'm leaning on the aging Tivo. For a little less than what we pay for Tivo, I can just switch my Comcast box to a DVR. I know, I know! Boo, hiss, right? But we hardly use the Tivo anymore, and it has nothing to do with its interface and everything to do with its lack of HD-recording-ness.
Still, the AppleTV option is out there, so let me make a few other requirements (that I'll most likely be going back on in three or four months). I don't see myself buying [an AppleTV] until Apple offers sports (or some way to get it via NFL.com or MLB.com) and discounts for buying entire seasons of a show (similar to Amazon Unbox's 5%).
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Why they don't already have reals with MLB and NFL for season passes of individual teams is stupid, but it's probably because teams have broadcast monopolies and think they can do a better job on their own.
For example on Tivo's website you can get a refurbished one fairly cheaply: https://www3.tivo.com/store/webspecials.do
I've found them for a bit cheaper a few other places. Whenever I do decide to upgrade my Tivo/and or my TV to an HD set, I'll probably be picking up one of these (and moving the old box into the bedroom, so we can share programs and such betweent he two TV's). You can also get boxes with bigger hard drives than that, and can even get another hard drive to expand the storage using a SATA interface. (And using cable-card you dont' have to worry about the annoying thing of hooking up a cable box to the Tivo and having the Tivo try to change channels on the cable box, so you could get rid of one box).
And by buying service in a block like a year (or even lifetime subscriptions which are back) you can save a bit of money in the long run.
Of course if you don't want to spend the money for a new box, then it's all a moot point.
We'll have to see how things evolve, but Tivo has been moving more and more lately toward being exactly what you're talking about, a box for downloading and watching programs on demand. In addition to being able to rent and buy movies from Amazon, there are an increasing number of programs that are available for free download on Tivo boxes.
I currently subscribe to The Onion's weekly videos which are automatically downloaded for me whenever they become avaiable, as well as a few others I've tried out here and there. Most of these are pretty short, but there's no real reason that they couldn't be longer, and I think there may even be an option to subscribe to video podcasts. The newer Tivo boxes are moving even further in this direction, as the HD ones also allow you to watch Youtube videos, and other such things.
Now a lot of this might not pan out, especially if Tivo can't make more deals with other companies (I keep waiting for them to announce a deal with Netflix, which seems like a natural fit), but it's certainly not just a glorified VCR, and as they update the software, it will take on more and more options.
I also really truly hate every cable-company DVR I've ever used and would personally probably rather go without a DVR than use any of the ones I've had the displeasure of using. My mom has, for example, on several occasions throught that she was set up to record a show, only to find later that it didn't record for unknown reasons, some technical and some involving the interface not making it clear when you are actually set up to record a show. Wheras had she not had a buggy, hard to use DVR, she would have just watched the show when it was being broadcast and not missed it. But other people don't seem to mind their cable-provided DVR's so that may just be a personal thing, or maybe once I got used to it it'd be fine.
Of course if all goes well, soon Comcast will start offering DVR's with Tivo software on them to their whole customer base and that'd pretty much solve both problems right there.
Part of the problem with the evolution of ondemand programming is the amount of fiber that has been laid, specifically that which is laid from the hub to the house. The speed and volume needed for that stream is pretty big and many areas can't handle that stream to making programming really "on demand." But that will change as the cable systems upgrade. It is a tricky business right now because the financial outlay to upgrade a system is only worthwhile if companies know that their territories are protected because cable has proven time and again to be a natural monopoly and competition doesn't really thrive.
Mmmm, ok, enough from me. I am running on year old information. I haven't really kept up on the cable industry since my comm law class last year so what i typed could be completely outdated...but that is what I remember all the fun was about.
The DVR story is true. Damn do I hate the cable campany's interface.