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Outside the Cable Box

Posted by michael on from the dust-bunnies dept.

An anonymous reader writes: "Interesting article from the Philadelphia Inquirer that talks about the Cable industry's goal of creating a tv top device that can work in any franchise. 'Some fear that Comcast will wield inordinate clout in deciding what kind of box customers will be able to buy.' It's only their goal because the government made them.

4 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Expense? by MiTEG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "... the DCP501 home theater system, a hybrid digital cable box, DVD player and high-end stereo that goes for $900."

    I'd be scared to spend that sort of money on any TV tuner because the widespread adoption of HDTV is on the horizon. Undoubtedly the tuners of today will become useless within a few years time with DRM being built into programming and all. I've always seen that as a reason not to buy combo systems; when one of the components becomes obsolete, you have to replace the whole thing.

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  2. Soft, not Hard by squaretorus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Surely the future of TV decoding is in Software, not hardware.

    Even my laptop is quite up to the job of decoding a DVD glitch free without a funky card on board.

    Sell me a licence to a bit of software that I can install on any hardware, that will allow me to watch certain channels. When I want to upgrade just send me a patch, so I can watch more football.

    Soon it will be cheaper to bundle the hardware with a DVD player, or CD plater, or the TV, or you kettle - so why persist in trying to get people to buy boxes. People are scared of wasting money on black boxes.

    Sell them a bit of software on the otherhand - and give them a free box with it - and away you go. They then know that when the software or the hardware start to limit their fun they can upgrade without having to throw the lot away.

    1. Re:Soft, not Hard by BrK · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The future of TV decoding will be in hardware for quite some time. Hollywierd and the cable co's *are* worried about some rouge software cropping up that allows you to consume for free. They have *NO* incentive to let you watch TV the way you want to.

      People may be scared of wasting money on black boxes, but they want their TV! So, most lemmings will buy a new black box so that they can watch the latest lame reality-tv series.

      Gawd-forbid the American public read a book, or go outdoors and excercise in their free time.

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  3. Easier said than done. by BrK · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, for one thing "they" are going to have to decide on a conditional access system (the part the encrypts/decrypts the premium content). The two big players, Motorola and Scientific Atlanta, both currently use their own proprietary schemes, and wield a lot of power on their own (after you spend several *illion dollars to setup a Moto system, switching to SA ain't cheap or easy).

    This whole thing sounds like it's going to go the route of HDTV in the US: it's going to keep getting pushed out further and further while Hollyweird and the current monoplies sort out how much they can gouge us, and how much they can minimize our use of the content.

    In the end, we all lose.

    I think I'm going to put my rabbit ears back on my tube, and tell 'em all to K.M.A

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