ajwees41
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE
 ·Cox HSI
| reply to Eat Me
Re: I don't think they even care
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. |
|
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.
--
I support the right to keep and arm bears. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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... |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
ajwees41
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Omaha, NE
·Cox HSI
| 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. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| 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. |
|
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. |
|
fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20 | reply to Eat Me
Me thinks you need to re-read the post, stop flying off the handle, and get your facts straight before you make a fool out of yourself.
hint: "The equipment for satellite was NOT $500, at least not within the last 10 years or so." |
|
fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to DaveNJ
So then you're saying the gamble worked for you.. there are people out there that will tell you the same in reverse.
As I raise my hand, the Tivo we got our parents a few years ago had a "lifetime" subscription on it - 18 months later, it died... as did the "lifetime" subscription... "of the unit"...
Guess the outcome isn't the same for everyone, huh? |
|
Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
·PenTeleData
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| reply to fiberguy
said by fiberguy :Me thinks you need to re-read the post, stop flying off the handle, and get your facts straight before you make a fool out of yourself. hint: "The equipment for satellite was NOT $500, at least not within the last 10 years or so." My facts are straight, buddy. You're just full of it and hate to admit when you're wrong. |
|
keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA
·Teliax VOIP
 ·WestPAnet Inc.
·WestPAnet Inc. CA..
| I remember buying a sat dish and receiver for over $500 in 2000 or so. I set it up myself, hooked it up, all was well.
Now, the receivers you buy are not $100, they are a lot more, but are subsidized by the contract with DirecTV. For example, you can go to solidsignal.com and buy a receiver for $99 BUT it requires a contract addition. Normally they would cost a lot more.
DirecTV, cable companies, everyone that has proprietary hardware out there has made a deal so the boxes could be bought at a cheaper price NOW and get more customers.
Currently, if you buy your own box or have them come and do a full install, if you cancel, you return the "purchased" box back to DirecTV or pay $350 for each box not returned. Sounds like it is STILL about $500 (the dish is $25 if you want to be anal about it, so it is more like $468 unless you get an HD DVR, then you are over the $500 range).
Backed up by both research and my own personal experiences  |
|
fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to Eat Me
said by Eat Me :said by fiberguy :Me thinks you need to re-read the post, stop flying off the handle, and get your facts straight before you make a fool out of yourself. hint: "The equipment for satellite was NOT $500, at least not within the last 10 years or so." My facts are straight, buddy. You're just full of it and hate to admit when you're wrong. Okay.. let me embarrass you now..
I'm wrong huh?
I said: "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."
You said: "The equipment for satellite was NOT $500, at least not within the last 10 years or so."
I then said: Me thinks you need to re-read the post, stop flying off the handle, and get your facts straight before you make a fool out of yourself.
hint: "The equipment for satellite was NOT $500, at least not within the last 10 years or so.""
and then you tell me to get my facts straight..
Ummm.. I don't know what planet you're on, but I was talking about CABLE TV EQUIPMENT and then you come in on wings and a prayer with your Satellite equipment argument referring to SATELLITE EQUIPMENT and said "The equipment for satellite was NOT $500, at least not within the last 10 years or so."
And then I tell you not to fly off the handle and get your facts straight and then you tell me that I'm full of it..
Seriously.. are you kidding me with this?
You're off in left field on some tangent and you're trying to make me look a fool?
Grow up.. you're clearly off base here and if you say otherwise, you can be a fool all you want..
You were TOTALLY off topic and now you're trying to be an ass about it.. bravo! |
|
