DirecTV's New Broadband Download Preview > Yeah, right

Yeah, right

I feel this is probably only a short term solution until they can offer a real triple play package by either more satellites to increase available bandwidth for voice/data or setting up a WiMAX type solution.

I really think that if they can't offer a real ondemand service, like the cable and phone companies are offering now, they'll be dead in 10 or 15 years tops. People are moving more and more to watching their content when they want to, and more and more via ondemand as opposed to DVR. I'd bet the cable/phone companies will be able to work out some deal to allow a 'head end DVR' to allow people to record content and it be stored in a central location. It's a lot cheaper for the cable/phone companies to do that than put a big expensive box in everyone's living room.

Cablevision was ready to implement a "central storage" solution for all the reasons you cite, and got hammered. The content providers and a whole bunch of people screamed, threatened lawsuits, etc. etc. and Cablevision backed down and scrapped the plan (even if only temporarily).

The problem is the advertising $$ that keep the networks (and studios/content providers) in business. If you can skip/block the ads - then the $$ will go away - then what will you be left with?

It will be interesting to watch.
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If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
Living in "an optimized state of temporary chaos"

Do away with all advertising on TV and charge for all viewing "a la carte". Shoot, if they did that, I might only have to pay DirecTV $2.67 every month for as much TV as I watch.

reply to Tim2
The customer buying the equipment understands that they require a broadband connection for this to work. And it's nothing like TWC offering free ondemand but demanding you have their Internet service. That is buying another service from the same company, while DirecTV depends on you having service through another company. And no, DirecTV doesn't still own DirecWay. If a customer's willing to pay for a 6mbps connection, why is it that when they use it for DirecTV OnDemand it's suddenly the provider doing the heavy lifting? DirecTV still has to pay for the bandwidth the customers use. To me, that very simple comment makes you sound like you're against network neutrality. If someone wants to watch a YouTube video, is it the ISP doing all the "heavy lifting" for YouTube?
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