 IowaCowboySupermarket Hero
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA ·Vonage
ARRIS SB6183
Netgear R8000
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One service has all the contentThere is one service that I subscribe to that has all the content and that is traditional pay TV. Much easier to deal with than two dozen or so streaming services.
I'm sure the streaming bubble is going to burst driving all the millieneals back into the arms of cable and satellite. |
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Motorola MG7550
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said by IowaCowboy:There is one service that I subscribe to that has all the content and that is traditional pay TV. Much easier to deal with than two dozen or so streaming services.
I'm sure the streaming bubble is going to burst driving all the millieneals back into the arms of cable and satellite. Cord cutter here since March 2015. I am NEVER going back to traditional pay. |
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 TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA |
to IowaCowboy
I'm not a millennial and I've been a cord cutter for 4 years now. I'm not going back to expensive Cable TV. I get the video entertainment I need from Netflix/Hulu and sometimes Amazon Prime or even YouTube. Anything beyond that I can borrow from my local library. Paying an insane amount of money for a ton of channels that I don't want isn't going to happen again. Even if Netflix and Hulu were shut down tomorrow, I'd just find other (legal) methods of obtaining video entertainment. |
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RH777
join:2018-03-06
United State |
to IowaCowboy
I'm not a millennial and I'm not going back to pay TV with their 2 year contracts, equipment fees, forced bundles and no "special pricing" because you're not a new customer, but you've been with them for 20+ years. |
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Roadkill
Premium Member
join:2008-06-17
united state |
to IowaCowboy
Troll much? |
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to TIGERON
No one is forcing you to. So, when the time comes and you are paying more or the same for broadband and streaming, but getting half or 1/3 the channels, and you are not getting the speed upgrades for free, remember, you said NEVER.  |
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TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA |
TechyDad
Premium Member
2018-May-10 1:29 pm
Using one monopoly service (broadband access) to prop up another service (cable TV) against competition (streaming, OTA, and satellite TV) is against the law. Ideally, the cable companies who try to do this (especially actions like slowing down users who don't buy packages with cable TV) should be prevented from doing so by the Federal government. |
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Ah BS. They are a business. They can bundle, cut prices, charge you bogus fee's or whatever. I'm not going to bang the corp drump for these pukes but Cell phone providers do it. Nothing is done. Car dealers do it. Nothing is done. Big cable and telco does it. Nothing is done. See the pattern here? So, when Dish, or lets say even Netflix wanted to give me FREE HBO if I subscribe to them vs Hulu or Direct TV, that's ok? |
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TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA |
TechyDad
Premium Member
2018-May-10 2:53 pm
You have your choice of cell providers and car dealers. If you want wired broadband access, though, chances are you have a choice of ONE provider. (If you're lucky, two providers.) When a company has a monopoly, there are restrictions on how they can use that monopoly in other areas. To give a relatively recent example, Microsoft had a near-monopoly in consumer operating systems and was using that to push their web browser over other browsers. They were struck down by the federal government (albeit not as hard as they could have been) and told that they couldn't use their OS monopoly to beat their browser competition. The same goes for cable ISPs. They can't use their broadband monopoly position to kill off their TV/video competition. |
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to TechyDad
But thats the point we are coming to. People who pay for broadband seem to think having to shell out money to a ISP for internet is not part of the financial equation of having a streaming service. Almost like saying you can afford a car, but can you afford the insurance, making your monthly car payment much more then what you see in the sunday paper. Then, there are those who have been loosing sleep over not getting a speed bump because they have broadband only. Guess I feel I deserve signature service at my car dealership when I roll up in my 10 year old beater because that brand new caddy from the same dealer gets it. (at least it sounded good in my head  ) |
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RH777
join:2018-03-06
United State |
RH777
Member
2018-May-10 3:55 pm
I decided to go with Comcast for Internet only and then sign up for PS Vue for TV. I also have Vonage for home phone because I don't want everyone calling my mobile phone. I may pay a little more doing it this way, but I have the freedom to switch TV providers on my terms. I don't have to get stuck in a 2 year agreement with DirecTV. Comcast and AT&T offered Internet service with no terms. AT&T was $70 for 50Mb, Comcast was $60 for 100Mb. I went with a 1yr term on Comcast Internet to save an extra $10/month. When my year is up, I'll re-evaluate if I want to stay with them or go back to AT&T. I'm not one to change my internet provider often so the 1 year Comcast deal works for me. I've already done DirecTV Now and I'm on PS Vue at the moment. If some other service seems better, then I can cancel PS Vue and go with the other service. This is how it should be. I was an AT&T customer for different products since I was in high school and they always gave me an excuse on why they couldn't give me "new customer" pricing. We're talking over 25 years as a customer. I only got offers to give me the best pricing when I canceled my service. Sorry this is so long, but if the AT&T's of the world keep this business model, they'll keep dropping subscribers |
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Anon690d2 to tc1uscg
Anon
2018-May-10 8:05 pm
to tc1uscg
said by tc1uscg:But thats the point we are coming to. People who pay for broadband seem to think having to shell out money to a ISP for internet is not part of the financial equation of having a streaming service. Almost like saying you can afford a car, but can you afford the insurance, making your monthly car payment much more then what you see in the sunday paper.
Then, there are those who have been loosing sleep over not getting a speed bump because they have broadband only. Guess I feel I deserve signature service at my car dealership when I roll up in my 10 year old beater because that brand new caddy from the same dealer gets it. (at least it sounded good in my head ) A big +1. Nothing more to say. |
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TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA |
to tc1uscg
I never said paying for Internet access wasn't part of the cost of getting streaming. That being said, for most people, paying for Internet access would happen whether they were also paying for cable or whether they were going the NetFlix/Hulu route. The way to calculate whether streaming works for you isn't to ignore Internet costs but to figure out whether the cost for the streaming services that you'd want/need is less than the difference in Internet Only vs. Internet + Cable TV. If it is less, then cutting the cord might be right for you. If it isn't, then you're better off on Cable TV.
I definitely wouldn't say that cutting the cord is for everyone, though I think a lot of people think they need to stay on Cable TV when they'd be perfectly happy switching to streaming only. A lot of people feel like they NEED all of the shows on Cable TV but if they actually examine how many they care about (versus just turning on a show for "background noise" or "to have something, ANYTHING, on), they'd have a much smaller number that could be handled by streaming. |
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tc1uscg
Member
2018-May-11 11:42 am
said by TechyDad:paying for Internet access wasn't part of the cost of getting streaming. That being said, for most people, paying for Internet access would happen whether they were also paying for cable or whether they were going the NetFlix/Hulu route Bingo. That seems to be the same thing people "cutting the cord" keep saying. "But I would still have the internet".. But the fact is still there, when your internet becomes your ONLY method of entertainment, it becomes a factor in costs. So, for your internet, did you pick the SLOWEST speed or something that allowed you to stream tv without buffering? I got the speed I have with WOW (500/50) not for inbound traffic but outbound (I watch my media server and HDHomerun tuners outside my home from time to time). said by TechyDad:a lot of people think they need to stay on Cable TV when they'd be perfectly happy switching to streaming I agree there are lots of channels I don't need. But they come with the package. Like buying a car. It comes with lots of features but how many times a year do one need rear DVD screens (my minivan has dual dvd players and came with 2 rear screens). They have been used maybe 5 or 6 times since 2011. It's not like cable where I'm paying a monthly fee for channels I might not watch, but just like my 4x4 (jeeps), 90% of the time, I don't need it. But when I do, it's nice to have. |
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TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA |
TechyDad
Premium Member
2018-May-11 12:00 pm
said by tc1uscg:when your internet becomes your ONLY method of entertainment, it becomes a factor in costs. But it's a cost that you'd have regardless of what you did. I wouldn't have gone without Internet had I kept cable TV. At best, you deduct the price of Internet Only from the price of Internet+TV. You don't say that the price of streaming is Internet+Streaming Provider while the price of cable is just Cable TV. said by tc1uscg:So, for your internet, did you pick the SLOWEST speed or something that allowed you to stream tv without buffering? I got the speed I have with WOW (500/50) not for inbound traffic but outbound (I watch my media server and HDHomerun tuners outside my home from time to time). I initially kept my same speed (15/1) for $35 a month. This was recently changed to 100/10 for $60 a month due to Spectrum's takeover of TWC and them wanting to standardize plans. Those were both the slowest speeds I was able to get at the time and still stream comfortably. said by tc1uscg:I agree there are lots of channels I don't need. But they come with the package. Like buying a car. It comes with lots of features but how many times a year do one need rear DVD screens (my minivan has dual dvd players and came with 2 rear screens). They have been used maybe 5 or 6 times since 2011. It's not like cable where I'm paying a monthly fee for channels I might not watch, but just like my 4x4 (jeeps), 90% of the time, I don't need it. But when I do, it's nice to have. When we were shopping for a new minivan, one with a rear DVD player was an option. We opted to go for the less expensive minivan that didn't have that, though. Yes, we might have been able to use it once or twice, but we've survived without it before and will survive without it now. When it comes to cable channels, if I only watch one program on Channel A once a year, then that channel really holds little value for me. If I never watch a channel, then it holds no value for me. I don't care if my cable provider adds a "Bulgarian Folk Dancing" channel just in case I'm ever in the mood to watch that. I'm never going to tune into that channel so it holds no value to me. When you weed out channels that you rarely or never watch, you wind up with a much smaller list of channels that your cable TV provider gives you that you actually care about. When you further break those up into programs that you really care about versus ones you could take or leave, the value of cable TV declines more. For some, this level of decline won't be enough to cut the cord. That's fine. The cord cutting movement isn't really about everyone ditching cable. It's about seeking out the best video entertainment value for your dollar. For you that might be cable TV. For me and my family, it's streaming video. |
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My daughter has Spectrum (over in the Ann Arbor MI area). I just talked to her this morning about her connection issues she's having. Shes got like 50/10 but she's got like 2 bars in her bedroom (she is using Spectrum's POS box). So, I have opted to "loan" her (yeah, ever loan your kids money? Kiss it goodbye lol) but I'll let her use my spare asus rt-ac66r and drop the extra 5 bucks they are charging her to use the her box's wifi.
When I had xfinity, she leached off my account to watch tv. Now, I'm on WOW. So, it's not as easy or not as much "content" to view.
I could go on and on but having 2 kids in college, and 2 more, one at home and one on his on. I'm supporting my house and the two in college because I want to, not because I have too. So, I've rigged up something on my HDHomerun 3 tuner box for live tv off net work watching, access to my media server remotely and so far, though not as easy to navigate as xfinity, it works.
As far as the van goes. Wife want specific items (like a heated steering wheel) so I had to get certain packages. Though we got a 2011 T&C touring L, it doesn't have sat tv, full sized spare and 3 row electric stow seats. But it has everything else. I'm spoiled though. I love the keyless entry/start. The DVD system came with the radio/nav system. So, I did end up more then I really needed. |
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