they had that cable card thing but it never latched on like they hoped.
but we all know they do it to get that addtional box revenue.
They already do exist you big dummy
What does "Digital Cable Ready" (or "DCR") mean?
Today, a television designated "Digital Cable Ready" (or "DCR") is able, when used in conjunction with a separate CableCARD™ module, to receive one-way digital cable signals — with full image quality — without the need for a traditional cable set-top box.
Cable cards are the 'chips' that each cable provider uses to convert analog to digital tv. Cable cards are one way devices, which require tuning adapters for full 2 way support. 2 way support is needed for switch digital channels. Switch digital channels are channels that when you turn to them your cablebox sends a signal out saying hey I want to watch espn 2 and the broadcast is sent directly to your cable box and you see the picture in about 1 second. Channels that havent migrated to switch digital will soon become switch digital as it alleviates bandwidth and allows more channels to be added to the spectrum. Channels that arent switch digital are in a sense always being broadcasted to your residence even when your not watching them. Basically broadcast feed is off when not watching which alleviates bandwidth and on when watching.
If you have a tivo box, or a cable card in a pc, you will need a tuning adapter to get switch digital channels. cableboxes have all thats needed to get all the channels. just having a tivo box or a tv with a cablecard slot will allow you to see 1 way stream channels but nothing interactive, no on demand...im pretty sure you cant order ppv fights either
now the comcast boxes, cox, fios etc they are going to start to have apps and some already do, on demand, pandora and even more in the future. People can bytch about paying 10 bucks per box, and having 4 boxes...you have to ask yourself do you really need 4 boxes? I know some people do. The boxes arent cheap, the software interface isnt cheap, the infrastructure isnt cheap and channels and broadcasting....sheeeeiiiiit..
We are fortunate to live in a society where if our box breaks we can swap it out or have a tech bring one out, assuming you have tech insurance or are close to a store. The bulk of the cable bill is going to the broadcasters, the espn\disney\abc, cbs\showtime, viacom networks, etc.
Espn gets the contract for nfl and wimbledon, they go back to the distributors (comcast, cox, etc) and say "hey we have coverage of these events, we're going to have all these viewers, so either pay us $$$$ or we'll pull our networks from your lineups and your customers will suffer-- so every year or so the networks renegotiate with the distributors and slowly the bills increase $5- 10 bucks. They are damned if they do, damned if they dont. If they dont get the networks customers call and say "You guys dont have shyt blah blah blah"...if they have it and have to charge a little more you say "You guys charge so fukking much blah blah blah"....
When Kobe signs a huge contract, and the Lakers sign a deal with TimeWarner Sports Net then Time Warner charges a huge contract to other distributors so you can watch Laker games...I mean god damn...
. Eventually someone will figure out how to get these sports streams on these streaming devices without all the bullshyt pop ups. Ballstreams is dope but some cats who arent die hard fans don't wanna pay that $$ for games they wont watch.
coaxial cable, fukk a built in cable box i want every channel in 1080p