Cutting the Cable?

In Winchester Patch’s Question of the Day last week (http://bit.ly/mReGAg) , Daniel Marra asked us if we would be willing to cancel our Cable TV subscriptions to “save a few bucks”. I can tell you that I did it, don’t miss a bit of it and have never looked back.

March 25th, 2009 shall forever (in my house at least) be celebrated as “Convergence Day”. This was the first time I ever took a computer, hooked it up to my living room television set and streamed a full length television program for my family to watch. The fact that the program happened to be “The Partridge Family” is something about which you can make fun of me at some other time. Watching this show got the wheels of inspiration turning and I began to formulate the idea that TV could become UNBOUND!

Nothing much irks me more than paying for something I don’t really use. Out of the 250+ cable channels I received, we may have been watching 12 on a regular basis. The more I poked around on the Internet, the more shows I found that were available for streaming play or for download. We started to make a list of the shows we watched most often and sure enough, most of them were available to be watched on their respective network’s websites. At the time, there was even a new website being tested out called Hulu™, which promised to offer hundreds of shows, from many of the top networks. Back then, it was by invitation only, but eventually caught on and continues to add new shows all the time.

The next step I took was to install a TV tuner into my computer. These are available as add-in cards for desktop systems and also as USB devices for laptops. With a rabbit-ear antenna, I am able to receive all of the local stations for free. They come over the air in HD. This lets me watch all of the locally broadcast news and sports. If you choose, you could even hook your cable connection and watch the basic, local stations, paying the minimum monthly fee. A computer running Windows 7 even has the built in “Media Center” which gives you the ability to record shows just like a Tivo™ DVR.

Add a Netflix™ subscription and you have all the makings of a custom home entertainment center. Hey, while you are at it, connect an inexpensive webcam and using an online calling program like Skype™ you turn your living room into a video phone center.

So if one night you see someone watching The Daily Show, projected up onto a 10 foot screen, that’s me, enjoying TV for free. I’m watching the shows I want, when I want them and just hitting pause whenever I need a cool drink. The 21st Century will be televised and TV is Unbound!