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Economist: Internet Television

April 28th, 2009

Really great article over at the Economist about Internet television steadily moving from the computer to the living room, and scaring cable companies in the process. This internet television thing is a likely foundation for the “digital video nirvana” situation I am personally jonesing for.

This part stood out to me:

“It costs only around $100 a home for the cable companies to upgrade their networks to the latest DOCSIS 3 standard — and that includes providing each customer with a new high-speed modem… but they are not doing so because they are afraid of the consequences. Cable-television companies make money by selling packages of channels. The average American household pays $700 a year for over 100 channels of cable television but watches no more than 15. Most would welcome the chance to buy only those channels they want to watch, rather than pay for expensive packages of programming they are largely not interested in.”

It’s pretty sad that the same cable company that provides many homes with cable television is also their broadband provider. So the cable companies, literally, a vested interest in not providing the fastest download speeds technologically possible, or if they do, will slap annoying bandwidth caps and make sure viewers pay dearly for every gigabyte.

The article continues to outline some new companies and technologies that are helping folks circumvent cable: Apple TV, game consoles, NetFlix Watch Instantly, Vudu, and ends with a glowing plug of Boxee. Last night I updated Boxee (yet again) on our Apple TV and Hulu is back. Yes, Boxee rules. All eight seasons of Red Dwarf recently showed up on Netflix Watch Instantly. I feel enlightenment slowly and steadily approaching.

The cable companies, like AT&T and the iPhone (or the music industry), are another one of these companies that most people do business with not out of any love for the company, but because they have no choice. But I believe if a better way presents itself, they will bolt.

And if enough people raise a stink about these bandwidth caps, they listen. Om.

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  • Dan
    I read this article too. It partly convinced my decision to go cable-less in my new apartment and instead get a dry loop dsl internet connection instead, at least for now. I've actually been getting HD channels, public television, and the local stations, all for free with a $10 digital antenna. Add netflix, a roku and a wireless router and I haven't really missed having cable at all.
  • Yep I think more and more folks out there are coming to the same
    conclusion. Netflix is awesome.
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