re: All About the FCC's AllVidHa, I wondered if you'd chime in on this one to gloat.
I'm not ready to declare tru2way as dead, but I agree that its future at retail certainly will be if this NOI develops into a rulemaking if not sooner. I still think the major US MSOs are going to continue to support tru2way and use it as a common apps platform, to the degree in which they can truly make it common.
But I don't buy into conspiracy theories that cable wants to maintain the lease model to maintain those fees. If there was great demand for retail boxes I think they'd gladly trade all the capital they still spend on leased box inventory for the fees they get on renting them out. But tru2way and the initial CableCARD regime did nothing to really prove if such a market truly exists.
But we may get a better read on that if these new ideas prove any better. But, like you said, all that's still years out. If anything, I see at least 6,000 pages of FCC comments to read in my near-term future. JB
re: All About the FCC's AllVidSo, Jeff, NOW are you ready to acknowledge that tru2way is a 21st Century BetaVision? (Oops, at least BetaVision made it out of the box for a few years...more than tru2way will ever be able to claim. Actually, tru2way was a successGǪfor the cable companies. It seems pretty clear that the cable companies threw it out there to delay the development and sale of 3rd-party boxes so they could continue to overcharge for and make billions from renting their own boxes. It sure did the job, and will for another two+ years. I suspect the cable company execs are getting a good laugh out of all this and are already developing a new hoax to undermine the new FCC plan and keep those rental fees flowing indefinitely.)
I just bought an LG Infinia OLED TV. It's got all the interactive widgets you need, including channel guide, yahoo weather, stocks, etc., neflix, picassa, youtube, FB, twitter, and a bunch of other crap. Call me old-fashioned but I want to use my TV to watch stuff, so netflix, picassa, youtube, and regular TV is good enough.
Oh and it's got a USB for looking at pics or videos from your digital media world.
Just add ethernet and stir.
Oh, and switch to uVerse if you want decent service.
-desi
PS. Many newer TVs do this (check out the Samsungs and Vizios).
I have a Sony Bravia with the original CableCard and it's great. The TV hangs on the wall all by itself with the wires easily hidden since there is no box to wire in. It's in the bedroom, so it's low usage so DVR and interactive guide not needed. The only hassle is that Comcast isn't set up to support it remotely. Every time they change the channel mapping (about 3 times a year), a tech (or 2 or 3) needs to make a visit to fix it.
We've been waiting almost four years to buy two more TVs to hang on walls without boxes (the old 26 inch tube set in the living room is looking old), but with interactive features. Believe me, I really wanted tru2way to work. I promised my wife some time ago that the living room would get a new TV by this August. I'll now have to figure out how to include a cable box on the brick wall.
As for a conspiracy, I don't think anyone in the cable industry is crying over tivo's struggles. And as you wrote about what the FCC is saying, the cable industry sure appears to be making it as difficult as possible for new devices to receive certification. If they really wanted to dump the costs of buying boxes, they could have just posted all the needed technical information for tru2way on the CableLabs website and said, 'Here you go. Have fun.'
re: All About the FCC's AllVidSure, gleapman, no problems there. It's been a lively debate/conversation to have over the last year or so. But I have to admit it's rare to see the word "great" accompany a sentence about TVs and CableCARDs, so it sounds like your experience with the older unidirectional cable-ready TVs hasn't been too bad.
But tru2way has been a hard sell in many ways, at least when it comes anything beyond the top incument MSOs. Without broader interest and support, it simply can't become a CE standard despite the Sony MOU and the efforts to generate "common reliance." At the same time, I can understand why folks outside the cable industry would be reluctant to throw their weight behind a platform that is largely controlled by cable, despite tru2way's connection to Java, Blu-ray, et al.
But I'm also interested to see what cable will be able to do with tru2way (obviously on leased boxes for the most part) once all the big guys have their headends ready.
In the meantime, OTT seems to offer a pretty good path to some other apps like Netflix, widgets, etc. Been having some fun experimenting with a new Sony Blu-ray that has some interesting broadband-based bells and whistles, but it would be nice if some of that was integrated with the primary set-top box. JB
Thanks. I need to research TVs. Been out of the market for a few years. But the one thing that I don't believe exists without tru2way is a TV I can hang on the wall that will receive HD from Comcast without a box. I'm with you simple (21st century style) is good.
(And Jeff, thanks for being a good sport about my gloating.)
I'm not ready to declare tru2way as dead, but I agree that its future at retail certainly will be if this NOI develops into a rulemaking if not sooner. I still think the major US MSOs are going to continue to support tru2way and use it as a common apps platform, to the degree in which they can truly make it common.
But I don't buy into conspiracy theories that cable wants to maintain the lease model to maintain those fees. If there was great demand for retail boxes I think they'd gladly trade all the capital they still spend on leased box inventory for the fees they get on renting them out. But tru2way and the initial CableCARD regime did nothing to really prove if such a market truly exists.
But we may get a better read on that if these new ideas prove any better. But, like you said, all that's still years out. If anything, I see at least 6,000 pages of FCC comments to read in my near-term future. JB