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Farewell to television as we know it...? Discuss
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Ham Sandwich
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Last edited by Ham Sandwich; Apr 23, 2020 at 09:04 AM.
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Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
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Offline
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You missed the elephant in the room. Cable has continued annual price increases, much faster than inflation. Even though people have many more forms of entertainment available, mostly at better prices, and tend not to like broadcast scheduling.
As people ask for more choices and competition, Cable continues big packages at ever-higher prices, ignoring growing competition. I'd call it a case of denial, and it's driving steady drops in cable subscriptions.
It's gotten so bad they're trying to push the rate increases onto the internet side, to hobble competitive options. Along with bandwidth caps, again to force people back to a choice they're rejecting. You can get generous bundle deals, where you almost get cable for free if you pay through the nose for internet. Or you can pay high prices directly for a solo service.
Whenever internet service becomes more competitive, the house will come crashing down. Possibly when SpaceX gets Starlink going. Test satellites expected in 2018, service beginning in perhaps 2020. It's also possible 5G will make cellular competitive for internet (stable speed, without caps).
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Status:
Offline
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Some further thoughts on cheap, big TVs.
TVs used to be repairable and last forever. The glass was so thick as to be near indestructible, now its paper thin flimsy and the tiniest crack means you throw out the whole unit. Even if you don't, you have a shortened lifespan. Plasmas are useless or dirt cheap now because they are all failed or failing, early model 40"+ TVs had 13" MacBook resolutions and the state of the art of HD still has a couple more jumps to go before they stop increasing it every five years. Software will be another life limiter as services come and go and merge and collapse.
VR is still a conundrum. Immersion is a nice idea for gaming, but I often have the TV on with my laptop in front of me and regularly picking up my phone as well. I'm far from the only one with this level of attention span issues.
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I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
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Offline
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I’ve bought a new iPhone every year since the 4.
Last time I bought a new TV, George Bush was still president.
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Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status:
Online
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I just don't see the appeal of watching media on anything smaller than an ipad, for more than a 2min cat video. Even an ipad isn't great, so I prefer a TV.
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Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status:
Offline
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The Verizon 4k streaming may be unlimited, but it's still subject to throttling, normally starting around the 22 gigs of data in a month mark.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Southern California
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Offline
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I enjoy watching movies on a huge TV in the best quality possible (audio included!), but I suppose I am in the minority.
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