Freedom from cable isn’t free: Flood of streaming services will make cutting the cord more complicated

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/freedom-from-cable-isnt-free-flood-of-streaming-services-will-make-cutting-the-cord-more-complicated/2017/08/11/01f9ade0-7d1f-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html?utm_term=.33f6fe4d2e5a&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1

I was thinking about this today, I'll be trading one monthly bill for a few others.

To me it's the principle of paying a monopoly like cable companies vs. these other services that are more capitalistic.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Disney, the juggernaut behind ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and the recent additions to the Star Wars franchise, shook the entertainment world this week with an announcement that it would remove many of its offerings from Netflix. The company said it would create a service — or multiple services — for its films and shows, and another for ESPN.

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As a result, a Netflix user who enjoyed access to Disney content — plus all of Netflix’s other content — on one site may have to turn to three or more sites to get it all. “It’s all in discussion,” said Disney chief executive Bob Iger.

[dfwgator]

It's a question of how many services you really need.   

What I find is for my entertainment purposes,  I pretty much can get it solely from YouTube.

[Wingnut]

There is some solace in being the master of your own domain.  You can chose who you pay and for what.  Options are good.   Cable/Direct TV Bad.

[Cripplecreek]

One word.

Choice.

[GtHawk]

Disney, the juggernaut behind ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and the recent additions to the Star Wars franchise, shook the entertainment world this week with an announcement that it would remove many of its offerings from Netflix. The company said it would create a service — or multiple services — for its films and shows, and another for ESPN.



In other words Disney is just planning on doing what they have done for decades, though at an accelerated rate this decade, find the optimum way to screw the customer out of the maximum dollars possible. I will never pay into the pockets of the Disney monster, I rarely ever go to Disneyland, and if it wasn't for the fact that the BIL works there and on the rare occasion he's feeling generous and gives us a couple of free passes the visits wouldn't be rarely, they'd be non existent.

[roamer_1]

I'm tellin y'all... Just buy a used computer and tie it to your TV. A late WinVista era or early win7 machine will run a <48" just fine, with no real mods. Figure out LAN/WLAN and buy a wireless keyboard/glidepad.

Do it before you cut the cable, and give yourself a couple months to get used to it, and get some bookmarks made. It won't be long, and you won't be using the cable at all. The final cut was not painful for me in the least.

It's *all* out there, for free.

But as it is, with the exception of a recent binge on Longmire, I really haven't paid much mind to TV shows in the last year or so - once you get away from them, the hypnosis wears off, and you wonder why you needed it so bad. By far and away, I am watching Youtube and Steemit. I don't really care about TV and movies much anymore.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I'm tellin y'all... Just buy a used computer and tie it to your TV. A late WinVista era or early win7 machine will run a <48" just fine, with no real mods. Figure out LAN/WLAN and buy a wireless keyboard/glidepad.

Do it before you cut the cable, and give yourself a couple months to get used to it, and get some bookmarks made. It won't be long, and you won't be using the cable at all. The final cut was not painful for me in the least.

It's *all* out there, for free.

But as it is, with the exception of a recent binge on Longmire, I really haven't paid much mind to TV shows in the last year or so - once you get away from them, the hypnosis wears off, and you wonder why you needed it so bad. By far and away, I am watching Youtube and Steemit. I don't really care about TV and movies much anymore.

Apple TV has a youtube app actually. And it will play movies on your local computer. Only $100.

[thackney]

I'm tellin y'all... Just buy a used computer and tie it to your TV. A late WinVista era or early win7 machine will run a <48" just fine, with no real mods. Figure out LAN/WLAN and buy a wireless keyboard/glidepad.

Do it before you cut the cable, and give yourself a couple months to get used to it, and get some bookmarks made. It won't be long, and you won't be using the cable at all. The final cut was not painful for me in the least.

It's *all* out there, for free.

But as it is, with the exception of a recent binge on Longmire, I really haven't paid much mind to TV shows in the last year or so - once you get away from them, the hypnosis wears off, and you wonder why you needed it so bad. By far and away, I am watching Youtube and Steemit. I don't really care about TV and movies much anymore.

Not for those of us limited by internet via satellite...

[roamer_1]

Apple TV has a youtube app actually. And it will play movies on your local computer. Only $100.

My current TV computer is a WinVista era box that I bought for 25 bucks, and came with onboard HDMI and a Blu-ray DVD. I literally plugged it into the tv, plugged in a WLAN N/USB, plugged in the wireless KB and away I went. And the youtube main site beats the crap out of any app I've seen.
and, And, AND... That puter will do SO much more.

[roamer_1]

Not for those of us limited by internet via satellite...

Alright, but streaming is streaming, no matter what you use.

[thackney]

Alright, but streaming is streaming, no matter what you use.

And on the 3rd day of the month, my monthly data allowance (max available) is used up, and it is like dial-up for the next 27 days....

[roamer_1]

And on the 3rd day of the month, my monthly data allowance (max available) is used up, and it is like dial-up for the next 27 days....

If that's all you've got, that's all you've got.
Have you explored cellular services?

[thackney]

If that's all you've got, that's all you've got.
Have you explored cellular services?

Max available is 40GB   @ $150.  Our last year of "wired" internet usuage was ~250 GB/month.

[roamer_1]

Max available is 40GB   @ $150.  Our last year of "wired" internet usuage was ~250 GB/month.

The only other thing I have for you is what some hillbillies did up here...
One guy had a garage down by the highway where he parked his truck in the winter time... Cable is there, and he got hooked up in that garage.

There's line of sight to another feller up the holler a ways, then another, and another... I think there's five or six of them altogether... They got a hold of some old equipment - i think it's microwave - And they're all running on that single cable connection. The last guy up the mountain is the guy who owns the garage, but they all use the connection and split the costs.

Dunno for sure what they did, but I can find out if you have an interest.

[thackney]

The only other thing I have for you is what some hillbillies did up here...
One guy had a garage down by the highway where he parked his truck in the winter time... Cable is there, and he got hooked up in that garage.

There's line of sight to another feller up the holler a ways, then another, and another... I think there's five or six of them altogether... They got a hold of some old equipment - i think it's microwave - And they're all running on that single cable connection. The last guy up the mountain is the guy who owns the garage, but they all use the connection and split the costs.

Dunno for sure what they did, but I can find out if you have an interest.

If it wasn't for the trees surrounding us, I would have unlimited via Skynet (Advanced, microwave fixed wireless technology), but that requires line of sight.  That was the plan when we bought the place, but only discovered after we moved we were blocked by trees.

http://www.skynetwisp.com/index.html

I do appreciate the ideas.  We have considered spending $5,000 to build a tower to get over the trees, but that becomes an issue with having to higher tower climbers for any maintenance and we are in a rather lightning prone area.

[roamer_1]

I do appreciate the ideas.  We have considered spending $5,000 to build a tower to get over the trees, but that becomes an issue with having to higher tower climbers for any maintenance and we are in a rather lightning prone area.

Sounds to me like you need a tree-climber... That's how we do it here...

Another guy I know of built a retractable tower... Three sections... the bottom is bulletproof and guyed out... If the wind gets to a particular speed (or maybe he is measuring the stresses on the tower itself, I don't really know), the upper sections automatically retract into the base.

It's for a big moonraker beam antenna (CB/HAM), and his CLR2 sits on the very top... When retracted, he can't get out very far. I can always tell when it's blowing out his way. Did it with big acme screws and a chevy starter or two...

But, unless you get imaginative, its the price you pay for being out in the boondocks.