The era of paying a cable company a monthly subscription fee for television content is coming to an end. Thanks to devices such as the Apple TV, current generation game consoles and many other gadgets, it now makes economic and practical sense to ditch the cable companies and get television content on the Internet.
It used to be that if you wanted to watch media content from the Internet on a TV, you had to hook up a computer and essentially treat your TV like a large computer monitor. Most consumers have an aversion to this because few are accustomed to keeping a keyboard and mouse in the living room. Also, computers are prone to all sorts of problems, whereas using a TV basically amounts to a few simple, easy controls.
All of the name-brand Internet television devices offer multiple ways for users to view content, such as buying, renting and streaming. There are numerous types of content available for these devices. Some of the more popular providers include Netflix, YouTube, Major League Baseball TV (MLB.TV) and media stores such as iTunes Store and Amazon Video On Demand.
The newest, and perhaps most innovative, Internet television device is Google TV. As of now, the product will be built into TVs and Blu-ray players from Sony and available via a set-top box made by Logitech called the Revue. Google TV represents what its company does best: helping you search for information. The service sifts through a plethora of content to find just what you are looking for. "The idea is that you don't need to know whether the video originates from Netflix, your cable box, YouTube, or a random Web site," as reported by the technology news website CNET.com.
"Google just finds it." Google TV will also have applications, which will allow users to extend the device's functionality and give them another way to get content.
The shows, movies and other content on each device depend entirely upon which content providers sign on to a particular device or media store - and luckily for consumers, the list of available content is growing rapidly for each of them.
According to CNN, "the average digital cable customer already pays almost $75 a month ... And many subscribers pay more than $100." Paying a cable company to run a wire directly to your TV is no longer necessary. The pricing for all these devices differ, and many cost less than $100. When the price of an Internet television device is less than what many people pay for one month of digital cable, cutting the cable has never made more sense.
David is a College student. He can be reached at d.rabinowitz@cavalierdaily.com.
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