Gordion Knot of TV

TV is a Gordian Knot. Even from the standpoint of the consumer, the world is fragmented and confusing. We watch everywhere–on our phones, our tablets, our computers, or TV sets. We use a plethora of apps. Some of us are cutting the cord, deeming TV-over-the-Internet sufficient for our needs. Yet there is a constant hunger to simplify and to consolidate, to bring all the pieces of TV under one umbrella. One of my favorite lines I came across about the TV space lately was this: that fragmentation itself had become fragmented.

The problem is, what looks like Gordian Knot to the consumer looks like an even more confusing Gordian Knot to the folks in the business world trying to cut it. Nilay Patel over at the Verge has a very thoughtful look at how Apple or another tech giant could remake television.

MIT Tech Review

What's behind the cable bill?

Prisoners of Cable from The Atlantic

This is the best analysis I have seen on the war between the DIY tech innovators and the Cable TV establishment. I have been an obstinate cable customer for some time but I can appreciate the business side of the argument.

“The whole idea that there’s a lot of people out there that want to drop [cable] and just have a Netflix or an HBO—that’s not right.” And indeed, pay-TV services added 200,000 U.S. customers in 2011; HBO and Cinemax subscriptions grew by 7 million globally in the first half of this year...

Cord Cutting: Strike One

Silly cord cutter, you will pay for cable. Oh yes.

The rumors that Hulu may soon require subscribers to have a cable TV subscription is the perfect cautionary tale for why the companies that make and distribute content shouldn’t own the pipes that deliver that content. And if the rumors are true, it’s not just a cautionary tale, it’s the new playbook by which pay TV providers will force consumers to buy a special pipe for “the Internet” and a second pipe for TV, despite the fact that technically they are becoming the same thing.

Cable Cutting

Russ Neumeier

Cable (or Cord) cutting is a growing movement of fed-up cable subscribers who are savvy enough to satisfy their entertainment needs without being a slave to the cable companies.

GeekDad over at Wired is 5 months in to his cable cutting experiment and is clearly happy with his decision.

I wish I had the courage to get on the bandwagon because I really hate the cable company.

Survey: Driverless Cars or The End of Cable TV?

I hate sitting in traffic wasting time almost as much as I hate cable companies and their monopoly on TV content. I can hear them laughing at me for paying a ridiculous amount of money for what will someday be free, or close to it.
Today we can get almost anything through a broadband connection. The music, video, gaming, and other entertainment industries are all figuring out how to make money off nearly-free content. The market dictates what customers want and these companies are trying to adapt in order to survive.

So the question is, what will we enjoy first: a robot ride to work or great TV without the subscription?

Moving toward a cable-less world

Link

Marketplace: a la Carte TV

With CES 2012 going on, the tech blogs are on fire and the future of TV seems to be one of the hottest topics. Here is a recent story from APM's Marketplace radio show that is right on topic. The Way We Watch TV:

"When consumers have choice, and distribution options open up, these huge fat industries with big profit margins start to collapse and new players tend to emerge." 

Cord-Cutters: more people are cutting

More support for my crusdade against subscription cable TV.