Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
 ·PenTeleData
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
1 edit | I don't think they even care
Let's face it. The cable companies want to put a box in your house so they can keep charging that lovely rental fee.
SE Cable originally sold me cablecards but when I called to ask about getting more for another TV they told me that I had to rent them now. Seems to me like that monthly revenue stream is too good to pass up. |
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ajwees41
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE
 ·Cox HSI
| said by Eat Me  :Let's face it. The cable companies want to put a box in your house so they can keep charging that lovely rental fee. SE Cable originally sold me cablecards but when I called to ask about getting more for another TV they told me that I had to rent them now. Seems to me like that monthly revenue stream is too good to pass up. if you have money to spend every few years when new technology comes out you should be able to by the cable card/box, but there are still people who prefwer to rent and they are probably the majority. |
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n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
·Optimum Online
2 edits | said by ajwees41 :if you have money to spend every few years when new technology comes out you should be able to by the cable card/box, but there are still people who prefwer to rent and they are probably the majority. That is probably the same argument AT&T used for decades when people had to rent their phones instead of being able to buy them. Funny thing was, when AT&T was broken up in 1984, millions of people scrapped their AT&T phone, and the monthly rental charges, and bought their own phones (I was one of them - the lines at the AT&T Phone Center Stores were huge and there were piles of old returned phones everywhere).
A $50-$100 "open platform" box that can replace a proprietary cable company box would be worth it. That price is probably within the realm of possibility if the proprietary nature of the current boxes is eliminated and manufacturers can make an open one that works on any CATV system. Just look at the price of DTV converter boxes and how they have come down in price as more of them hit the market. Cablevision charges $10/month plus something like $2/month for the remote for one box. In less that 12 months, you could pay off a cheap box. If it breaks after two years, so what? Get a new one. Most people right now assume that you have to have a box because it is magical. Tell them they can stop paying monthly rental fees and I suspect a lot of people would jump at the chance. A cable box should be no different than a cable modem.
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I support the right to keep and arm bears. |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| reply to ajwees41
said by ajwees41 :said by Eat Me :Let's face it. The cable companies want to put a box in your house so they can keep charging that lovely rental fee. SE Cable originally sold me cablecards but when I called to ask about getting more for another TV they told me that I had to rent them now. Seems to me like that monthly revenue stream is too good to pass up. if you have money to spend every few years when new technology comes out you should be able to by the cable card/box, but there are still people who prefwer to rent and they are probably the majority. That would be true if they weren't charging a whopping $10 for the HD cable box, $15 for a DVR.
With 1 cablecard at $125 I pay zero monthly fees so I break even in a year and 15 days. |
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ajwees41
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE
·Cox HSI
| said by Eat Me :said by ajwees41 :said by Eat Me :Let's face it. The cable companies want to put a box in your house so they can keep charging that lovely rental fee. SE Cable originally sold me cablecards but when I called to ask about getting more for another TV they told me that I had to rent them now. Seems to me like that monthly revenue stream is too good to pass up. if you have money to spend every few years when new technology comes out you should be able to by the cable card/box, but there are still people who prefer to rent and they are probably the majority. That would be true if they weren't charging a whopping $10 for the HD cable box, $15 for a DVR. With 1 cablecard at $125 I pay zero monthly fees so I break even in a year and 15 days. how did you figure cable card at $125? you could buy a tivo, but no 2way communication sdv adaptor needed. |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to Eat Me
said by Eat Me :Let's face it. The cable companies want to put a box in your house so they can keep charging that lovely rental fee. Actually, they could care less.. think about it. Your statement is a little factually incorrect. If there is equipment in the house, or not, that they rent you, they're still going to charge you per-television anyway. If *I* were running the company, I'd gladly welcome this, remove the need to purchase, deploy, and maintain converters,... let the consumer buy their own stuff and still charge the $5 per set to authorize them..
The per TV fee will not go away until or unless congress finds a way to make a compelling argument as to why. Don't forget, the providers have rights too.. they have to protect their signals somehow. And, until XM/Sirius, DirecTV, Dish, and everyone else charging a per-item fee is forced to stop, they will continue the per-set fee. Otherwise, you'll have Jr. tossing on his parents sets to his account, or his friends.. etc.
So.. in the end, it's really a wash.. OCAP isn't a way for you to discard the box fee.. it's a way to have a choice in equipment you choose to use in your home is all. |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to Eat Me
You buy a Tivo, (let's not even get into that 'whopping charge in total) you still pay a fee to Tivo, and often a fee to the cable company to lease/rent a card.
You buy an HD cable box, and pay a "whopping" $500 for it.. you are still going to wind up paying an authorization fee per month AND get to be burdened with all the headaches of ownership, repairs, etc.
You were lucky you got to buy your card.. its VERY rare to find a company, big or small, that sold them.. Comcast, in many systems, gave the first one or two to the customer at no charge... |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| reply to ajwees41
said by ajwees41 :how did you figure cable card at $125? you could buy a tivo, but no 2way communication sdv adaptor needed. That's what Service Electric cable charged me for a cablecard.
They do not have SDV nor do they have plans to deploy it as far as I've been told. besides, the sdv tuning resolver is free with most providers.
TiVos are not the only devices to use cablecards. Moxi dvrs and even some TVs have them. I have a cablecard TV. |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
1 edit | reply to fiberguy
said by fiberguy : You buy a Tivo, (let's not even get into that 'whopping charge in total) you still pay a fee to Tivo, and often a fee to the cable company to lease/rent a card. You buy an HD cable box, and pay a "whopping" $500 for it.. you are still going to wind up paying an authorization fee per month AND get to be burdened with all the headaches of ownership, repairs, etc. You were lucky you got to buy your card.. its VERY rare to find a company, big or small, that sold them.. Comcast, in many systems, gave the first one or two to the customer at no charge... Tivo is not the only option. Moxi sells cablecard DVRs as well.
You can also buy a TV or media center PC with cablecard capability.
As for lease versus purchase - that was the point. Lots of companies used to sell them but then they realized that it was killing the rental revenue stream so they started supplying them as lease only.
quote:
you are still going to wind up paying an authorization fee per month AND get to be burdened with all the headaches of ownership, repairs, etc.
Tivo is on a lifetime subscription.
Repairs to the TiVo are as simple as replacing a drive. The cablecard repair is a gamble I take but so far in 2+ years not a single problem.
The only "authorization fee" I get charged is 50 cents per additional outlet, starting with your second outlet. Since I only have two TV outlets active, (living room, bedroom), total for that is 50 cents. |
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DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
·Comcast
·Patriot Media
| reply to Eat Me
The cable cos , should just charge you for the card, and warranty it for a year, since you cant get it anywhere else. The monthly device fee is the ultimate rip. They are using separable security as a service, just to use their service. A customer should be able to buy a card, from a retailer. The cable company is using it, as an excuse for a not charging for a box. There should be a one-time setup fee, and warranteed for the duration of service. I have no love left for cable.
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They Live... We Sleep...
“Spreading the wealth around” never results in a better outcome for people. It always results in destruction.
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
1 edit | reply to fiberguy
said by fiberguy :said by Eat Me :Let's face it. The cable companies want to put a box in your house so they can keep charging that lovely rental fee. Actually, they could care less.. think about it. Your statement is a little factually incorrect. If there is equipment in the house, or not, that they rent you, they're still going to charge you per-television anyway. If *I* were running the company, I'd gladly welcome this, remove the need to purchase, deploy, and maintain converters,... let the consumer buy their own stuff and still charge the $5 per set to authorize them.. Right now I have cablecards, and the only fee per TV I pay is 50 cents per additional outlet. First outlet is free. They don't charge for the first standard def boxes but HD boxes are definitely chargeable.
Only other charges are programming.
My total cable bill with 10 meg HSI was $108.55 including franchise fee and taxes for two TVs and HD package. Included in that was the 50 cent outlet fee.
Regardless of the cost reason, I just hate cable boxes. They are ugly and not an elegant solution for wall mounted TVs in rooms where you just want the TV on a wall without an ugly box on a shelf somewhere.
I've heard of comcast ripping people off with $6 AO fees, which is just plain ridiculous IMO. |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| reply to DaveNJ
said by DaveNJ :The cable cos , should just charge you for the card, and warranty it for a year, since you cant get it anywhere else. The monthly device fee is the ultimate rip. They are using separable security as a service, just to use their service. A customer should be able to buy a card, from a retailer. The cable company is using it, as an excuse for a not charging for a box. There should be a one-time setup fee, and warranteed for the duration of service. I have no love left for cable. That's what they did with me - sold me the card for $125 and warranty for a year (mfg warranty from motorola). |
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ajwees41
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE
·Cox HSI
| reply to Eat Me
As for lease versus purchase - that was the point. Lots of companies used to sell them but then they realized that it was killing the rental revenue stream so they started supplying them as lease only.
cox omaha and a local retailer used to sell the Motorola HD boxes, but there wasn't a market for them. I have heard of a us cable company selling a cable box or card. |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to Eat Me
Correction.. Tivo HAS a life-time "of the unit" subscription OPTION... meaning, you can purchase a life-time subscription, but if that box goes bad, or you upgrade or buy a new one, that subscription goes with the box.
And, not all repairs to the Tivo is as simple as replacing a hard drive.. not sure where you got that from. |
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DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey | I have a replaytv unit, that is 10 yrs old. Really tivo probably will last the same length, and if it doesnt in 3 years i would have spend the same renting. |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to ajwees41
said by ajwees41 :As for lease versus purchase - that was the point. Lots of companies used to sell them but then they realized that it was killing the rental revenue stream so they started supplying them as lease only. cox omaha and a local retailer used to sell the Motorola HD boxes, but there wasn't a market for them. I have heard of a us cable company selling a cable box or card. Not quite sure where you're getting this information from, but It's not very accurate, at all.
Not speaking about Cox in Omaha, rather in general, "lots" of companies did not sell them.. U.S. Cable companies never, as a rule, sold cable boxes.
As for Cox in Omaha that you speak of, the reason they probably stopped selling them was because there was no market in consumers wishing to purchase a $500 cable box - a bad investment. It's also pretty much the same reason satellite started leasing the boxes as well. When satellite started leasing equipment, they saw an increase of new subscribers again. Many consumers didn't like the hundreds of dollar upfront investment in new converters...
No matter what the minority of people here believe, more people do not like upfront costs. This is pretty apparent every day when you log into BBR and see the overwhelming number of people complaining about equipment fees, etc. But hey, maybe I'm wrong.. maybe it's more just that people hate spending money and want it all for free and think a monthly service fee should cover everything including set up, the service itself, repairs, and everything else they want/need. |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| reply to fiberguy
said by fiberguy :So.. in the end, it's really a wash.. OCAP isn't a way for you to discard the box fee.. it's a way to have a choice in equipment you choose to use in your home is all. What choice? With OCAP the only thing that will be different is the button layout and color of your remote, and the size and color of your cable box. The entire interface, behavior, and features are defined by the cable company's Java applet. If that applet is as fucking slow as Vista on a Pentium 2, or is as intuitive to use as a nuclear reactor control room, there nothing you can do about it. |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| reply to fiberguy
said by fiberguy :When satellite started leasing equipment, they saw an increase of new subscribers again. Many consumers didn't like the hundreds of dollar upfront investment in new converters... That's a load of bull.
The equipment for satellite was NOT $500, at least not within the last 10 years or so.
When I had DirecTV it was $50 or less per box, with some places offering free equipment. Even DVRs were only $99.
As for leasing the equipment, the upfront fee is about the same as what you'd be paying if you owned the box outright.
The reason that satellite companies have been seeing increased sales is because of rising cable rates and cable's piss poor selection of HD channels at 3 per QAM poor quality like Comcrap. That's all it is. |
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ajwees41
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE | reply to fiberguy
the first part was what Eat me said. the cox part was what they did when hd first arrived in Omaha via cox. |
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cameronsfx
join:2009-01-08
Pensacola, FL | reply to Eat Me
SO SHOCKING! DID IT MAKE THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NY TIMES? I BET SEN. STUART SMALLEY HAS STARTED AN INVESTIGATION! I BET THEY'LL BLAME IT ON BUSH! THE FCC IS INVESTIGATING! |
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