Has cutting the cord jumped the shark?

I’m a 20 year TiVo user and I was a big advocate for it over the years. I’m currently on my third one, but it will also be my last. I find myself using it less and less, between the major streaming services and the free ad-supported ones like Pluto. I still like using it to pause live TV like news or sports, though. But I don’t need to use its streaming apps when similar - and better - ones are available on Roku or on my TV itself. Also, it’s clear that TiVo isn’t really releasing much in terms of new features anymore. For example, it used to be compatible with Alexa and you could use voice commands to pause, play or change the channel. TiVo removed that functionality about a year ago with no notice or much of an announcement. Things like that show that they’re not really investing in the product anymore.

 

I've been off cable for a couple of years and I wish I could go back to the old days. Probably not now, but years ago if you had a premium tier cable service you got all the major networks... HGTV, History, regional sports networks, NFL, etc. Now (where I am anyway) there's no service that I can sign up for that has all the channels I want. I have to switch between YouTube TV and miscellaneous third party apps depending on what I want to watch... I miss the days of just being able to change the channel to watch what I want. I know... "First World problem... quit your bitchin'!"

 

Yes, that's another negative thing Comcast has done. A few years ago they removed TCM from the packages that most people would have into something called "Sports and Entertainment" for an extra $10/month. That would be bad enough if the package they moved it to was actually a collection of like channels, but to put TCM in what's largely a package for sports fans just reeks of greed. I'm sure some people just pay whatever they have to in order to get all of the channels they want, but I opted to just lose access to TCM just like I don't have access to all of the channels they have moved to IPTV.

 

I miss the days when I was a kid and we only got 12 channels… but they were all GOOD channels. Now if you subscribe to basic cable there is no local programming except for maybe the news, there’s nothing to watch on Saturdays but informercials and half of the channels you get are garbage like QVC.

 

I quit cable in the late 90s, and I cannot imagine myself ever going back.

Besides, internet access is the new cable, right? The players are even the same.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

I still don't miss cable. I don't miss network tv. There are so many shows to choose from on streaming services that are far and away better than network shows. My only complaint is I can't get MLB Network without having cable, satellite, or an streaming service with an upgrade.

 

I went from paying $130 a month for cable to nothing but now I am paying almost $100/month for internet. They keep upping the price yearly. I'm sure the idea is that since they aren't making as much off cable, charge more for the internet. I never cared for cable due to the lack of on demand content. I want to watch stuff when I have time, not when its on and I don't want to have to worry about dvr-ing stuff. I pay for netflix and disney plus and in the end I don't think there is that much of a savings but its more convenient to watch on my own time.

 

Paying for the internet instead of cable tv isn’t a trade off. You’d be paying for that anyways as it has more or less become a necessity of modern life in a way that television has never been.

We’re currently subscribed to Netflix, Hulu, AMC+, Disney+, and Night Flight. I’d have to recheck current pricing but I doubt I’m paying more than $55. (And AMC is free for the next six months). That’s still a better bang for the buck than cable.

 

I'm talking figuratively; you're still bound to some media company(/ies.)

 

It doesnt help that a lot of services are dropping older movies/shows in favor of original programming, which does make sense since they want to be more than just a digital video store, but the problem is that having a huge library of known films is a major selling point for all streaming services, I cant think of a single one that's all original content.

 

Service Electric Cablevision | TiVo Is this available to anyone here?? This looks great , my Cable Company's DVR is very, very nice. But this looks a tad better.

 

The annoyances of streaming.

I started with a Smart-TV that turned out to be pretty dumb, meaning that upgraded services no longer were supported by it. It was also slow and buggy. Various Blu-ray players came along to update some of the services to more modern app capabilities. But when I really wanted to get the MLB.TV app, and the CBS All Access app, I found that I needed a Roku of some type. I bought a Roku streaming stick.

It worked for the new STAR TREK and I was mostly able to see the baseball games I wanted. It lasted about two-three years before it totally crapped out and stopped working.

On a Black Friday deal, I scarfed up three Amazon Fire-TV streaming sticks. The wife liked the interface, and we sort-of got used to it. Mostly, it worked. Sometimes a little glitchy in motion artifacts. An upgrade to a faster Internet service seemed to solve that.

I bought a new Roku to replace the broken one, as there were some things about the Roku's MLB interface that I liked, that wasn't on the Fire Stick's version. And after moving the sticks around for one reason or another, we've settled on the Roku on the main TV and the Fire sticks on the bedroom and den TVs.

Two nights ago, I couldn't get Paramount+ to load, nor Amazon. I ended up digging out a Blu-ray of what I wanted to watch. Last night, I tried again. Nothing. Both loaded very, very slowly with lots of blank screens and slowly moving loading circles. Finally, I got up and unplugged the Roku from all power and them plugged it back in. Suddenly it worked. But I'm not getting back the time I wasted trying to load crap on that Roku.

This morning, I wanted to see an interview on CBS. My den TV has very little reception, and to get CBS, I use the Paramount+ app to access my local CBS station. When I turned it on, the Fire Stick told me I needed an update on this app or that app. These updates take time, and I'm losing patience in waiting for them to download and install.

Meanwhile now the Roku is bugging me to update something or other as well.

I liked the days where I could just turn on a TV and it worked.

 

Back when I worked for a mom and pop tv shop I always told customers that when buying new TVs to always ignore the smart features and focus on picture quality and number of inputs because internal smart features are just computers and like all computers they will be outdated in 6 months while the TV itself could last a decade or longer. A dedicated streaming box is always the way to go. I wish there was a company that would have even one model that focused on build quality with no smart features, like a videophile version of what a lot of us here have for high end stereo systems. Alas, no, it’s all a bunch of cheap throwaway unserviceable junk now.

 

Oh and btw, if you buy a Roku and subscribe to any app through their service, if you switch to something else like an Apple TV (which I did this last weekend) you will no longer have access to those apps even if it appears that you do. You’re going to have to unsubscribe and then resubscribe from the app’s website. Very annoying.

So again: NEVER subscribe to a service through Roku because its untransferable. Always go direct to the app’s website.

 

This kinda feels like a thinly veiled euphemism for dating.

 

I think one of the better boxes for tv apps is the Nvidia Shield TV Pro. Easy to use and decent interface.

 

My tech buddy in Silicon Valley swears by the Nividia shield. I have a Roku TV from a little over 3 years ago that I bought based upon reviews from CNet and rtings.com I definitely recommend rtings.com for anyone eyeing to buy a smart TV. I'm very happy with my TV except for the problems Roku had with an update about six months ago when I had no TV at all for two weeks. That was a butcher job! I also have a Plex Media server that makes me very happy. The Plex and the Roku have a ton of free stuff.

On my TV I can do a search on Robert De Niro or whoever and my TV will give me what is free for anyone, what is free on my subscriptions and what I can buy or rent. That is very cool, especially when I can do my search with my Roku voice remote, which also died for weeks when Roku had their problems.

 

We have a computer connected straight to our TV via HDMI. This ends any debate. Any streaming service, free or paid, is available via a browser. No need for any of them to strike deals with anyone other than content creators and copyright holders. If we want to watch a disc, we either use the original in the computer's optical drive or we play a backup of that disc from a hard drive. Perfect for TV shows with more than one season, especially continuing shows. And it all just works. PAL or NTSC. Standard definition or high definition or ultra-high definition. And music.

 

I have smart tv's but prefer to use the shield instead of the smart tv apps. i have kodi on the shield which with add ons, you can watch anything you want for free but it also is a great media player. i have a bunch of movies and shows on a hard drive and connect it to the shield and watch through kodi. works great.

 

I’ve subscribed to Xfinity’s streaming service (still in beta mode after several years!) with very good results and have kept it due to its relatively cheap price as well as no need for a cable box, no additional cost for multiple TVs etc. But my service just got a major price increase. Called them and - once again - the phone reps have no clue what I’m talking about when I tell them I have the streaming service so I’m going to their local customer support office Monday. Unless they roll back the price I’ll be cancelling.

It is now a very viable option as I watch little ‘cable’ TV and for those channels I occasionally watch (METV, H&I, and a few others) I just found a free Roku streaming app that carries them. I’ll pick up Paramount+ to get local Bears games. With that, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Pluto, Hulu (free w/my cellular phone plan), Tubi and others I’ll be more than good. And the PBS app for their programming.

 

I like the Apple TV but it’s just so stupid that it doesn’t have any kind of audio out. I need to use an HDMI audio extractor if I want to listen to music from it without the TV on but I’ve yet to figure out a way to connect one without unplugging something else. I already have 10 things plugged into that wall socket!

 

I also have external drives but one on them is now reading "The parameter is incorrect." There are YouTube videos that show how to fix this but I'm going to have my friend fix it, I hope. I have 100 documentaries and another 50 music documentaries on there and I really want them back. My friend uses a program called Team Viewer and he can take over my computer and fix any problems, at least so far.

I'm on a site that is invite only and password protected and that's what I use. There are 1,038,904 files as of now but multiples of most stuff. I snagged Green Book 2019 today and there are 36 of them, different sizes and so on - that's a lot. I also snagged Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol 2011 22 copies, also a lot. I'm going to get some advice on SSD drives, not these WD drives I'm using now. I don't want any problems.

 

SSD drives are more reliable. The platter kind of hard drives are more prone to failure as they spin to work. i always keep double backups of important stuff though i'm not too worried about losing random movies and tv shows but my personal pictures and videos are all double or triple backed up.

 

If you subscribe to an IPTV service you will get all the 'regular' network channels as well as every other channel imaginable.

 

For most people it would not seem practical to have a computer connected directly to their TV, at least in a regular sized living area. Unless you don't mind running a cable across the floor.