Cordcutting Thread

[bigheadfred]

And, why am I paying for TV AND commercials?

All your base...

All I watch is Youtube now. And that is lessening.

[corbe]

   Been putting off for months, reinstalling KODI (v 17.4), I'm a bit of a Techie and it is a Bitch to configure, but well worth the 3 hours to cram it into a Win10 box and seems stable also.

   link to program:

https://kodi.tv/

   There are plenty of youtube videos on how to configure it.

[kevindavis007]

Egg-cellent!  I hope cable and satellite starve to death.

Same here.

[kevindavis007]

As long as we are batting ideas about, I can see sports channel consolidation, or network channels offering a range (Fox with business, sports, news, adding an entertainment channel or two and selling that package). I can see the clusters of channels getting smaller, but will that mean more variety in clusters of channels, or will it mean every group will try to be 'the one' you subscribe to, with their smaller variety of related channels? That could put things like TBS, TNT, together with CNN and an 'old shows' network in one clump, NatGeo, Sci, Discovery in another cluster with their own news channel, or add in a weather channel on any of them (there are a few different ones, some just local).
I'm not sure some of the more special interest nets would go away, just get folded in and the whole package thing happen on a smaller scale. In fact, that's where I think things will likely go, and the bigger groups like OWN may have a variety of packages which support their lesser feeds to keep those alive and pad out the package.

While the channel packs may get smaller and even more specialized, I think they will try to give a cluster of channels with a little broader appeal in order to pull more people in and give the appearance of giving more for  the price of that smaller package than just one channel for 7 or 10 bucks a month.

Face it, there are few channels out there that people are going to want to shell ten bucks a month for that aren't offering premium content, and even the movie channels go flat after a month or two because of repetition. It would not take long to watch all the 4+ star IMDB 5 or higher movies or shows on any one offering group, and you can only watch so much mediocre TV.

That could happen.  The reality is this, I was spending $100 for just a few channels and to top it off, I was paying for the infomercials, and very very obscure channels that will fade away.

[Ghost Bear]

   Been putting off for months, reinstalling KODI (v 17.4), I'm a bit of a Techie and it is a Bitch to configure, but well worth the 3 hours to cram it into a Win10 box and seems stable also.

   link to program:

https://kodi.tv/

   There are plenty of youtube videos on how to configure it.

Wait... you went to the trouble of installing Kodi... and then you chose to put it on a Win10 box?

...Why?

 :huh?:

[Smokin Joe]

That could happen.  The reality is this, I was spending $100 for just a few channels and to top it off, I was paying for the infomercials, and very very obscure channels that will fade away.

Yep. Keyword: "was".I already had Amazon Prime. I got the prime stick and enhanced my viewing options considerably. Ditched previous cable provider and got an upgrade to fiber internet which let the prime stick work, and was bundled with landline and teevee for about 60% of what I was paying for all three with less bandwidth. I'll be checking into Kodi, too, for the little Win 10 machine I picked up recently (so I could learn something newer than XP).

[Smokin Joe]

Wait... you went to the trouble of installing Kodi... and then you chose to put it on a Win10 box?

...Why?

 :huh?:

Curious, but why not?

[Ghost Bear]

Curious, but why not?

JMHO, but Win10 sucks.  Kodi would be much happier on a little Linux box. In fact, there are Linux distros preconfigured to run Kodi, including versions that run on the Raspberry Pi.   

[kevindavis007]

Also, an FYI.. Do not get a Smart TV (at least a Samsung one).

[Smokin Joe]

JMHO, but Win10 sucks.  Kodi would be much happier on a little Linux box. In fact, there are Linux distros preconfigured to run Kodi, including versions that run on the Raspberry Pi.   

I haven't run the machine yet, but that is what I have heard about Win10. I was wondering if there were other reasons. Unfortunately, I can't authenticate the still wrapped versions I have of XP anyway, and the other software out there forces an update to something new. I still have a bunch of XP machines. Never moved 'up' to Vista, 7, or the 8s. Vista was a nevermind, 7 didn't seem to do much XP couldn't that I needed done, anyway, and the 8s were cussed out of the box. That means, though the computers I am running are getting like the B-52 fleet.

[Ghost Bear]

I haven't run the machine yet, but that is what I have heard about Win10. I was wondering if there were other reasons. Unfortunately, I can't authenticate the still wrapped versions I have of XP anyway, and the other software out there forces an update to something new. I still have a bunch of XP machines. Never moved 'up' to Vista, 7, or the 8s. Vista was a nevermind, 7 didn't seem to do much XP couldn't that I needed done, anyway, and the 8s were cussed out of the box. That means, though the computers I am running are getting like the B-52 fleet.

I held onto XP on my home system as long as I could, but finally had to upgrade to 7 as too many new applications no longer supported XP.  That being said, 7 will probably be the last version of Windows that I run at home, as I dislike both 8 and 10.

[roamer_1]

Also, an FYI.. Do not get a Smart TV (at least a Samsung one).

Yeah. I have one. I can't believe how much bandwidth it took from my router! Finally pissed it off by declaring it needed a fixed IP and then gave it an IP to nowhere. So it's busted. Now, with a standard windows computer hooked up to the tv (in tv mode), it uses tons less bandwidth.

[bigheadfred]

Aren't the Samsung Smart TVs the ones that have all the spying tech in them?

[kevindavis007]

Aren't the Samsung Smart TVs the ones that have all the spying tech in them?

I think so, however, the problem is that they don't get updated.

[roamer_1]

I think so, however, the problem is that they don't get updated.

They sure don't when they don't have network... Works for me.

[corbe]

   I was in the PC Business till Win 10 came out, Retired.
   I had an old dual core with Win10 locked in (no win 7 number) sitting around and decided to try it, It suxs. 
   But my ol lady gets lost in youtube videos for hours and I am one happy camper, sans Linux.

   PS: Dwight Yoakum still suxs, too.

[roamer_1]

   I was in the PC Business till Win 10 came out, Retired.
   I had an old dual core with Win10 locked in (no win 7 number) sitting around and decided to try it, It suxs. 
   But my ol lady gets lost in youtube videos for hours and I am one happy camper, sans Linux.

   PS: Dwight Yoakum still suxs, too.

@corbe ...Ah, Win10 is alright, once you get all the spyware crap shut off, and if you use a local user...

[corbe]

   @roamer_1
   I still work on Win10 boxes, I always throw Classic Shell on first, It was time to retire for me, anyway, even had they called it Win 9.
   Do hope I'm still here for Win 12 or Broken Windows, whatever their brilliant Marketing department can come up with to sell the crap.

[kevindavis007]

Good news:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/comcast-shares-down-on-subscriber-loss-news.html

[ABX]

I just discovered a new app on Roku and Amazon Fire (can't find it on Apple TV). Pluto TV. It has hundreds of channels combined into one with a launchpad and a schedule bar very similar to a cable box so you can see what's on. It isn't just junk channels either. They have a lot of great news channels like Sky TV and Newsmax. Plus, they stream a lot of network affiliate channels from around the country (CBS/ABC/NBC).  You can also browse the guide to see what's on while watching a show in a sub window. And.. it is free.  It just has ads, but so far, they aren't constant annoyances.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Wait... you went to the trouble of installing Kodi... and then you chose to put it on a Win10 box?

...Why?

 :huh?:

Why not?

[Ghost Bear]

Why not?

Asked, answered.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Asked, answered.

I find Windows 10 perfectly usable, use it every day at work.

I also use a number of Linux machines.

[Ghost Bear]

I find Windows 10 perfectly usable, use it every day at work.

I also use a number of Linux machines.

Just because it's usable does not mean it doesn't suck, and it doesn't mean that it would be the best (or even a decent) choice for hosting a Kodi install. When I set up Kodi (or similar program) at home it will most likely be on a Linux box. But everyone has their preferences, I'm not looking to reignite an OS discussion on a thread which should be about cord cutting.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Just because it's usable does not mean it doesn't suck,

Well no, it doesn't suck either, maybe not your cup of tea, but it works well if you know what you're doing.

Same with Linux.