Video On Demand

I've been considering lately the possibility of ditching my satellite TV in favor on VOD, or video on demand. I'm not sure what the SAF, a.k.a. spousal approval factor, will be, but I suspect it'll be low.  We'll see.

There are many ways for us to enjoy entertainment these days; cable and satellite TV, DVD subscription services, YouTube, Hulu, Network websites, and the list goes on. I don't know about you, but in my world, consuming entertainment in the form of TV and movies sometimes has to come in 15 minute spurts. With a child under the age of one, and a very hyperactive soon-to-be eight year old, interruptions are simply a way of life.  If we want to enjoy time in front of the tube, it has to be late at night, early in the morning, or when the little ones are out of the house. Couple this with the fact that our favorite shows are pinned down to a specific day and time, and the chance of actually watching something regularly is nill.  Enter the concept of VOD. I've only owned a DVR for a little over a year. I've mentioned this many times to others, but if the satellite service I pay for didn't have DVR capabilities, I'd cancel it by the end of the day. DVR provides set-it-and-forget-it recording capabilities. Dish's version, at least what I have, works really well. The rub is, it's another monthly charge to the tune of $50-$100; paying for satellite service. I absolutely hate monthly subscription charges. I may go a few days without watching TV at all. Why should I have to pay for it? Anyway..... I feel like we are all caught in one of those in-between times when one day we'll look back, and think, "remember when we had to ...... to watch TV...."  Things are changing.  The way content is delivered is changing.  Just look at the digital music sales and what is going on in that market.  Its seems like every day someone else is coming out with video streaming capabilities and companies are partnering to offer such services.

I like where things are going in terms of the flexibility of entertainment consumption, but it does have its downside.  If one is going to stream content from a service such as Netflix, they'll require a broadband connection.  Many places in America still can't get broadband.  Satellite cable doesn't count as broadband, in my book, because of the download cap imposed.  With a satellite Internet connection through Hughes, you get, at most, 425MB of downloaded material per 24 hour period, then you are put on their FAP list, drastically dropping your speeds to near dial up speeds.  Try watching streaming content over that!  I should know, I've had satellite Internet for several years now.  But, I see a bad moon rising over my good friends at HughesNet, because a new sheriff is soon to be in town, and he's offering 3Mbps DSL, but I digress.

Continuing our discussion of the down side to video on demand, most of the content is delivered directly to your computer.  That are ways of getting content from the Internet directly to your TV, but many people have no clue how to do this.  It hasn't become mainstream yet.  The video in the link is a little out-dated, but it will give you an idea of how 'confused' the market is about this right now.  It will certainly make some people trash the whole idea of digital media, and stick with what they have.

I'm really considering looking at the Apple TV with the Boxee add-on.  I'm fairly pleased with iTunes, unlike many others, but I find it works well for my needs.  The downside to the Apple TV are many, but with the Boxee hack, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities.  

I've also considered buying a Windows Media Center PC, and use it as a dedicated appliance in my entertainment center inventory.  This would give me direct access to all Internet based content via a browser; in native format.  I just don't know if this is the best idea either.

Who knows where this road will lead, but I know I want to jump on the train at some point....