MULTIZ321
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
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- 33,102
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- FT. LAUDERDALE, FL
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- BLUEWATER BY SPINNAKER HHI
ROYAL HOLIDAY CLUB RHC (POINTS)
Cutting the Cord: Streaming Instead of Cable TV Means Complicated Choices, and some Trade-Offs/
By Paul Andrews/ Business/ Technology/ The Seattle Times/ seattletimes.com
"Xfinity vs. CenturyLink, Roku v.s. Hulu vs. YouTube TV and others — cutting the cord requires planning, decisions and flexibility. And you may save some money. Here’s one local resident’s journey through the maze of options.
Like a lot of people, I’d been thinking about cutting the cord for some time. But it wasn’t till my cable bill jumped by $46 over a two-month period — a 23 percent increase — that I got motivated enough to make the move.
I’d been more or less satisfied with cable over the years. But the bills kept going up. And I’d been forced to buy hundreds of channels to get the few I actually watch.
Cord-cutting — dropping cable, phone-company or satellite TV in favor of streaming live TV over the Internet — sounded fantastically liberating. No more contracts, no more nickel-and-dime taxes and fees. No more dealing with the impenetrable bureaucracy of a de facto monopoly.
Ultimately, though, it turned out to be like everything else in life. There are trade-offs, and experience is different from promise.
I did wind up saving money. Overall, my bill dropped by a third to $120 a month for combined Internet and TV. I only get 45 channels for that, but — major point — it includes all the channels I want. My TV access, in other words, hasn’t suffered.
But cord-cutting is complicated and confusing. Plans vary so much from one provider to the next — and keep changing on almost a monthly basis — it’s impossible to compare apples to apples.
Little word-of-mouth guidance exists. I found it was hard to poll my friends about which plan works best because few if any had taken the step themselves.
Then there’s the learning curve. New software, new hardware and a new way of thinking about TV...."
(Gabriel Campanario / The Seattle Times)
Richard
By Paul Andrews/ Business/ Technology/ The Seattle Times/ seattletimes.com
"Xfinity vs. CenturyLink, Roku v.s. Hulu vs. YouTube TV and others — cutting the cord requires planning, decisions and flexibility. And you may save some money. Here’s one local resident’s journey through the maze of options.
Like a lot of people, I’d been thinking about cutting the cord for some time. But it wasn’t till my cable bill jumped by $46 over a two-month period — a 23 percent increase — that I got motivated enough to make the move.
I’d been more or less satisfied with cable over the years. But the bills kept going up. And I’d been forced to buy hundreds of channels to get the few I actually watch.
Cord-cutting — dropping cable, phone-company or satellite TV in favor of streaming live TV over the Internet — sounded fantastically liberating. No more contracts, no more nickel-and-dime taxes and fees. No more dealing with the impenetrable bureaucracy of a de facto monopoly.
Ultimately, though, it turned out to be like everything else in life. There are trade-offs, and experience is different from promise.
I did wind up saving money. Overall, my bill dropped by a third to $120 a month for combined Internet and TV. I only get 45 channels for that, but — major point — it includes all the channels I want. My TV access, in other words, hasn’t suffered.
But cord-cutting is complicated and confusing. Plans vary so much from one provider to the next — and keep changing on almost a monthly basis — it’s impossible to compare apples to apples.
Little word-of-mouth guidance exists. I found it was hard to poll my friends about which plan works best because few if any had taken the step themselves.
Then there’s the learning curve. New software, new hardware and a new way of thinking about TV...."
(Gabriel Campanario / The Seattle Times)
Richard
