My computer is connected to my flat screen at home and it looks great!
I personally don’t have a need for cable anymore between hulu, netflix (streaming) and itunes downloads. I get everything I want and cancelled my cable service.

Sorry comcast, embrace being the pipe or get out of the way. We’re still a long way from the average user hooking up their computer to their TV, but this is the inevitable future. Why? Because it’s SO MUCH BETTER!

Very nice article. Normally it wouldn’t have interested me much as I was never much of an internet video consumer (if you can call them consumers). In a recent attempt to trim down our monthly bills, I suspended our cable and kept only our internet service. We had U-Verse, so the savings of eliminating my DVR box rentals and service equates to $100+ a month. Obviously, the trade-off is I can’t access the content I want as much. When we initially cancelled our cable service, I used the logic of “most of the cable television shows we watch we can watch on their websites free of charge.” For the most part, this is true. We watch DWTS, Vampire Diaries, The Hills, etc. all on their respective websites. What I failed to realize was the absence of “live” content. I can’t watch the Mavs (I even explored NBA league-pass to resolve that dilemma, still looking for an alternate offering), I can’t watch Monday Night Football, etc. So in that regards, it is very difficult to say the dollar verse content is not justifiable. Still, I’ll trade the inability to watch certain content over paying for a DVR that is restrictive. Don’t get me wrong, I loved (have loved) every DVR I’ve owned (Dish Network, U-Verse) … it’s just for the features I could be provided, I’d rather not pay for the service when I can get many more features off-video enabled websites. Take NBA League-Pass for example, I can watch the game, keep track of my favorite player stats, check the standing updates, etc. all from the comfort and convience of one window. Are their implications to the Mavs losing this game, let me check the current standings. So, yes, it has advantages and I make this point on something that still costs money to provide the content. I don’t need that kind of content for average TV shows, but wouldn’t it be great for DWTS? I want to vote for Michael Irvin or you … give me the option to “click-a-vote” as I watch. Yet again, goes into your category of participation content and has nothing to do with DVR content (as obviously you couldn’t “click-vote” on time-delayed content). For the dollar, I don’t get the features I want from many of my providers. U-Verse gave me uninterupted signal that cable provides, but I couldn’t pause, rewind, etc. from ANY room in my house only on the main DVR. Dish lost signal during any major storm and lagged on content. Then you have your plus-side, U-verse multi-view … how cool is it to watch a game from 4 different camera angles (made me sad I cancelled service right before those pre-season games). I definitely like the direction of U-Verse and FiOS based services, but the cost for services rec’d is still a bit steep for premium content. Then again, that’s why it’s premium isn’t it? In the interim, I’ll use the internet to keep me up with certain aspects of pop culture, while I make the occasional trip to Buffalo Wild Wings to buy a soda and desert and catch the vital Mavs match-ups.

Add in Network DVR and you get more capacity, shared capacity, added customers who forgot to record, and easy access to those Internet versions of the shows. I banged my head trying to make that work, and trying to get the rights to do it, but customers loved what it would have given them. Back to simplicity, though – don’t mention Network DVR – let the consumers just see cool features on an easy-to-use interface.