This is a step in the right direction and all, but now they just need some content. There's too much stuff I watch on Cable TV that just isn't there.
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Thank you for the back up and understanding me.
It is a non-starter for me now as well.
There goes my excitement about this for the day. lol smh
And am I then paying my cable company for the additional service? I use cox for my internet service. Could I just split the line and plug the cable into the tv without changing my service contract?
I'm not sure where you live, but in NYC I have an HD Antenna (bought it from Radio Shack for about $35 for my HDTV) and it gives me all the local channels IN HD. As far as CNN you could always check the latest headlines via your phone/app and I believe Apple TV has a 'channel' for the latest news.
Lastly I watch the Olympics every night on Channel 4 (here in NY NBC) and once again it's in HD and its free.
I only have an Apple TV box and my PS3 with Verizon Internet. I don't miss cable at all.
Sure if you live in the US.
Meanwhile for the rest of the world, the Apple TV is still a very expensive 'gateway' to purchasing/watching iTunes content.
I'm not really sure how it works if you are in contract. I have always used comcast, which is contract free. If they let you lower your plan, just get basic and give back the box and do the over the air route
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
It's easy to take the side against having any ads. I'd personally love to get whatever I want with no ads too. However, the other view of ads is that they represent someone else subsidizing the cost of the programming in exchange for showing us some ads.
Already in this thread, we have some people whining about the costs of cable, the costs of shows in iTunes, etc. It seems that what we want is dirt cheap prices of ad-free programming. But the programming we want isn't dirt cheap to make and is built upon a system of salaries, wages, etc not that different than any other business (for example, take a few minutes and sit through the credits at the end of a movie; the vast majority of those names got paychecks for creating that movie). As we wish for a scenario in which we pay 30%, 20%, 10%, 5% or less for the same stuff that currently costs us $XXX, somebody has to make up the difference or the quality of the product must plunge down to a level to better match up with the much lower revenues. In a dream in which it's just studios to Apple to us, one of the latter 2 must make up the difference. We know it won't be Apple.
Hate 'em all you want but ad money does pay for the production of the shows. That's someone else paying so that we can watch the shows for as little as free (or cheaper). Do away with ads and we do away with the subsidies. Guess who then has to come up with that money?
The dirt cheap programming alternative is stuff like youtube, where the actor, director, producer, writer, etc are typically just one person who's not in it for the money. We're not going to get an Avengers, Avatar, NCIS, Big Band Theory, etc if the revenue flows to the studios that make such shows are cut by 70%, 80%, 90% or more.
Yes please! That would be freaking killer if these two were to come to the AppleTV!
You really think once enough people have "cut the cord" cable companies won't raise your internet access rates to pretty much the same as getting their package deals? Enjoy it while it lasts, but just like the cell carriers they will just raise rates to compensate loss of income streams (no pun intended lol)
The problem with that argument is that you are not taking into consideration the content companies. When you pay comcast $70 per month for cable TV, they are shelling out the majority of that to Disney (ESPN is around $4.50 of your bill alone), discovery networks (DSC is about $3.50, APL is about $2.50, etc), Viacom, and the list goes on and on.
They can afford to discount your bundle because they gain efficiencies on installation, maintenance, and support...but only up to a point. Internet fee's have not increased much for the last ten years, but cable tv rates have due to the increased sub fee's the MSO's (cable companies) pay.
When people's cable bills go up, they usually are blaming the wrong people.
If you don't have cable it's a very viable alternative, however, at least it has been for me. Recent episodes of shows I want to see when I want to see them is pretty ideal.
The ads are a bit of a pain at times but they're far less of a pain than on regular tv.
have not used hulu in a long long time ... do they have better movie choices to stream than netflix? Cause netflix streaming service is a joke if you like movies.
i have Prime. i loaded it up to see what "free" movies i could get...was disappointed in the available content. nothing to be excited about.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
You're not alone. And this is far from just a Salt Lake City problem.
I doubt there can ever be such a (alternate) provider. If anyone or anything has a shot at eating into the the typical broadband monopoly or duopoly (in some cases), the established players just buy them out and/or crush them.
Even free city-wide wifi initiatives tend to get crushed by those big companies who prefer to sell broadband. A few cities managed to pull this off but many others try (or at least pretend to try) only to bail on the plan (probably after campaign dollars are exchanged).
Allow a cheap broadband player to get a solid stake in a market and they can eat up the broadband business of the major players. But it's not just broadband revenue at stake. Allowing the cheap alternative to flourish means also putting the video subscription model at risk. And, in cases such as city-wide free wifi initiatives, the 3G/4G cellular subscription model is at risk (by VOIP alternatives). The Comcasts, Verizons, AT&T, etc all like things "as is" much too much to allow any upstart to eat into their monopolies/duopolies in any given area.
Notice how broadband is an evolving, rapidly-growing market (more and more people continue to switch from dialup to broadband), yet how many new "lower price" competitors for that business have popped up in your town over the last 5+ years. The "make it up on volume" concept would certainly apply in a growing market like broadband. So why aren't no-name competitors popping up like cell phone kiosks?
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
To see if you have access to clear QAM channels, it's easy enough to try it and see what happens. Just plug the cable in and do a scan.
Contractually, you'll have to review the contract and see what it says.
I booted cable over a year ago and haven't missed it one bit. I picked up an amplified Terk indoor HD antenna and now receive all the locals ie NBC HD, ABC HD, CBS HD, FOX HD and many PBS HD channels all in glorious uncompressed 5.1 HD and the best part of this is that it is FREE over the air HD. Add an AppleTV w/ Netflix & HULU and it is a hell of a lot cheaper than cable.
I'm in Richmond, Va and 'cut the cord' awhile back. Like most here, I'm running Netflix and other streaming options. When I did cut the cord, I removed the cable cord from the box and plugged it directly into the back of my HDTV. I now get all the major networks plus Discovery, NatGeo, TNT, NBATV and others free and in HD.
At first I thought I was 'stealing' cable, but after some web searching I found that certain channels have to be offered 'free' either through the cable or, as others have mentioned, over the air. I like the cable option better because I always had signal-dropout issues with the antenna.
Just my $.02.
At first I thought I was 'stealing' cable, but after some web searching I found that certain channels have to be offered 'free' either through the cable or, as others have mentioned, over the air. I like the cable option better because I always had signal-dropout issues with the antenna.
Just my $.02.
So you're getting a _phenomenally_ more expensive service, yet you want it to cost less? Interesting approach, I guess.
This is true. Because everyone knows Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, AirPlay, etc. definitely don't work outside of the US
And really expensive? Perhaps Apple isn't for you if you think the Apple TV is "really expensive". In fact, perhaps technology isn't for you. I have some string and tin cans that you can entertain yourself with, if you're interested.
I do not discount your position. I would venture a guess that most people coming from the position I have stated are people who don't feel they are getting the proper value for the money they pay. They probably watch less tv than average. As amazing as it sounds, I did the math for me and my girlfriend. The shows we watch purchased by individual seasons would cost us HALF of what we pay to the cable/satellite company. I believe our list included something like 20-30 shows. The only thing that kept me from making that change this past spring, was Game of Thrones. If I could go to sleep for a year, wake up and buy season 2 through itunes, I would happily be a year behind. That makes no difference to me. But I'm "in" it right now. If i could buy HBO without the middleman, I would be out.
And that is another point I would like to make in the discussion. I have no problem paying for HBO every month. Quality programming, no commercials... I feel i get value for my money. HBO is able to pay everyone, afford to make good programming, and turn a profit. Others *could* do the same in theory, no?
I think this all became a problem with the more is better philosophy as far as channels go. A la carte would encourage competition and quality programming. Hopefully we would have far fewer channels, and more of them would be HBO type quality.
Or maybe I'm just being naive.
Welcome to the UK....
Aquiss Internet
AAISP
Beaming
Be Broadband
BT
Dark Group Ltd
Demon
Eclipse Internet
Exa Networks
Fast.co.uk
Firefly Internet
Firenet Internet
Freedom2Surf
Gravity Internet
Green ISP Broadband
Greenbee Broadband
ICUK
IDNet
INTERDSL
Karoo
Lumison Limited
MacAce.net
Madasafish
Namesco Ltd
Netplan Internet Solutions Ltd
NewNet
NewNet Direct services
Nildram
O2 Business Broadband
Odyssey Systems Ltd
O2 Home Broadband
Orange Home
Pipex Homecall
Pipex Internet
PlusNet Broadband
Polestar Interactive Ltd
Post Office Limited
Rutland Telecom
SAQ - Service Access Quality
Sky - Satellite
Solutios
Stream Networks Ltd (StreamNET)
Surf Anytime
TalkTalk
TalkTalk Business
The Phone Co-op
Tiscali
Toucan
Twang
UK Online
Vivaciti
Virgin Media - Cable
Waitrose Broadband
YSH
Zen Internet
Be careful. HBOGO only works if you have an active account via a cable or satellite provider. This is assuming, of course, that you play within the Terms Of Service.