• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Steep cable price hikes could soon make cord-cutting a reality

Google Fiber for one. Aren't there some pretty big wireless initiatives out there too?
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
Cable TV is going the way of the DoDo Bird, and I seriously doubt the free market will simply allow for Cable companies to just transfer all of their current profitability over to the ISP side of their business.
Click to expand...

That would be an awesome point if we had a free market, but we don't.

Barring some amazing new technology that nobody has dreamed up, the providers and the media corporations are going to hold on just fine. Too much money and infrastructure is at stake.

And the bottom line is that there isn't enough quality content out there to satisfy consumers without behemoth schemes like the cable industry.
 
One major difference is cable companies have huge lobbying influence in local and federal government. The laws are written to stifle competition.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Google Fiber for one. Aren't there some pretty big wireless initiatives out there too?
Click to expand...

Wireless initiatives like what? Through wireless spectrum? There's no way it could support the weight of an entire nation streaming HD quality video on its televisions and laptops and mobile devices.

Google Fiber is a cool concept, but to roll it out nationwide would take an extraordinary effort and amount of money.
 
bigdoublezero said:
That would be an awesome point if we had a free market, but we don't.

Barring some amazing new technology that nobody has dreamed up, the providers and the media corporations are going to hold on just fine. Too much money and infrastructure is at stake.

And the bottom line is that there isn't enough quality content out there to satisfy consumers without behemoth schemes like the cable industry.
Click to expand...

Innovation doesn't stop so that corporate behemoths can catch up, no matter how much infrastructure is at stake. Lobbyists also propped up the major telephone companies for a while too, but that didn't stop that technology from dying.
 
bigdoublezero said:
Wireless initiatives like what? Through wireless spectrum? There's no way it could support the weight of an entire nation streaming HD quality video on its televisions and laptops and mobile devices.

Google Fiber is a cool concept, but to roll it out nationwide would take an extraordinary effort and amount of money.
Click to expand...

No need for facts. It is easier just to think internet prices will remain the same once it becomes the main mechanism by which individuals get their entertainment. Much like TV prices have not gone up at all and the market is flooded with competition to keep prices down.
 
BigTreeDeac said:
No need for facts. It is easier just to think internet prices will remain the same once it becomes the main mechanism by which individuals get their entertainment. Much like TV prices have not gone up at all and the market is flooded with competition to keep prices down.
Click to expand...

Not sure where you're going with this, but tv's are dirt cheap right now in the historical context of that technology.
 
I mean, the fact of the matter is that wireless companies are shitting their pants with the smartphone revolution because their networks can't support the exponential use of data. The physics just doesn't work if you model it out. The same can be said for the wired providers. The innovation is happening on the front end with tech, not in the infrastructure.

The only options they've figured out are through wires or without wires. That's what we've got. Maybe someday they'll find a way for everyone to cut the cord and plug their flat screens into the toilet and send the data through the plumbing, but until then, we either wait for someone to imagine something that hasn't been imagined yet, or we deal with reality.

It's fun to think that media and telecoms are going to crash and burn and we'll just get everything for freeeee, but it's a fantasy.
 
Knight said:
Just give me the chance. I'll shit right in their mouths.


...soon...
Click to expand...

I would like to nominate this as post of the decade as long as this is directed at Time Warner Cable.
 
bigdoublezero said:
I mean, the fact of the matter is that wireless companies are shitting their pants with the smartphone revolution because their networks can't support the exponential use of data. The physics just doesn't work if you model it out. The same can be said for the wired providers. The innovation is happening on the front end with tech, not in the infrastructure.

The only options they've figured out are through wires or without wires. That's what we've got. Maybe someday they'll find a way for everyone to cut the cord and plug their flat screens into the toilet and send the data through the plumbing, but until then, we either wait for someone to imagine something that hasn't been imagined yet, or we deal with reality.

It's fun to think that media and telecoms are going to crash and burn and we'll just get everything for freeeee, but it's a fantasy.
Click to expand...

Don't put words in my mouth. I said that the free market wouldn't allow for Cable Companies to transfer all of their current profits from a fading cable tv industry into the ISP business. They are going to lose profits as cable dies and home telephones completely disappear.
 
Just got the Mohu HDTV attenna and it is awesome!

That, plus google fiber internet and my monthly fee for TV and internet is $0.00. Incredible.

*Note: Live in Kansas City and Google Fiber has 3 tiers of internet/tv packaging, but the basic internet is free for at least 7 years once you sign up. The super fast internet is still 70ish bucks a month.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
Don't put words in my mouth. I said that the free market wouldn't allow for Cable Companies to transfer all of their current profits from a fading cable tv industry into the ISP business. They are going to lose profits as cable dies and home telephones completely disappear.
Click to expand...

Cable isn't really dying, like, at all. And when people go online to get their media, they're largely looking for the content that was produced by the corporations, not independent or homemade stuff. The most incredible source of video content in the history of anything imaginable already exists, and 99.999999999% of its content is essentially unwatchable. That's not even considering the aforementioned media and telecom lobbies.

Like BigTree said, the providers are going to raise and scale rates, and we'll pay it, because information is the most important thing in our lives next to bare necessities and there are currently ZERO alternatives.
 
bigdoublezero said:
Cable isn't really dying, like, at all. And when people go online to get their media, they're largely looking for the content that was produced by the corporations, not independent or homemade stuff. The most incredible source of video content in the history of anything imaginable already exists, and 99.999999999% of its content is essentially unwatchable. That's not even considering the aforementioned media and telecom lobbies.

Like BigTree said, the providers are going to raise and scale rates, and we'll pay it, because information is the most important thing in our lives next to bare necessities and there are currently ZERO alternatives.
Click to expand...

Cable TV subscription is most definitely on the way down, and is currently at 1992 levels.

Screen%20Shot%202013-05-21%20at%208.27.57%20AM.png


276072
 
TravelingDeacon said:
Just got the Mohu HDTV attenna and it is awesome!

That, plus google fiber internet and my monthly fee for TV and internet is $0.00. Incredible.

*Note: Live in Kansas City and Google Fiber has 3 tiers of internet/tv packaging, but the basic internet is free for at least 7 years once you sign up. The super fast internet is still 70ish bucks a month.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, there's no OTA Game of Thrones.
 
Right, due to an increase in content delivery systems (satellite, wireless, internet-only). That doesn't mean that "cable is dying." Content itself has been expanding. And there are no large-scale delivery alternatives.

When your comeback about what your alternative to paying for a content provider is "they used to say the same thing about the milk man," that means you have no alternative.
 
bigdoublezero said:
Right, due to an increase in content delivery systems (satellite, wireless, internet-only). That doesn't mean that "cable is dying." Content itself has been expanding. And there are no large-scale delivery alternatives.

When your comeback about what your alternative to paying for a content provider is "they used to say the same thing about the milk man," that means you have no alternative.
Click to expand...

Right now I could stream ESPN 3, Hulu plus, Netflix, Amazon Primevideo, and redbox instant to my phone via 4G and mirror that on my television.

also, my milkman comment was in response to your "it's a utility?" post.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
Right now I could stream ESPN 3, Hulu plus, Netflix, Amazon Primevideo, and redbox instant to my phone via 4G and mirror that on my television.

also, my milkman comment was in response to your "it's a utility?" post.
Click to expand...

Yes you could, and you'd be propping up the media and telecoms while doing it. This isn't 2002. Publishing and music got absolutely gutted by the information age and are just starting to figure it out again. The corporations are much more savvy about this stuff now. They're going to get your money. Maybe not today, but they will eventually.

You're also a younger, fairly well-educated and well-off person who can mirror things from your phone to your television. By the time the rest of the country, which is filled with morans, figures out how to do that, they'll be making crazy money off of that while you've moved on to the next technology.

it all comes down to content. content is not cheap. if people stop paying lots of money for it, it will disappear.
 
bigdoublezero said:
Yes you could, and you'd be propping up the media and telecoms while doing it. This isn't 2002. Publishing and music got absolutely gutted by the information age and are just starting to figure it out again. The corporations are much more savvy about this stuff now. They're going to get your money. Maybe not today, but they will eventually.

You're also a younger, fairly well-educated and well-off person who can mirror things from your phone to your television. By the time the rest of the country, which is filled with morans, figures out how to do that, they'll be making crazy money off of that while you've moved on to the next technology.

it all comes down to content. content is not cheap. if people stop paying lots of money for it, it will disappear.
Click to expand...

Media production companies and content providing cable companies are separate businesses that just happen rely on each other. Cable companies are simply the delivery man, delivering content to home televisions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top