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What Will Replace the Cable Box: a Better Box Or No Box at All?

posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday November 10 2015, @12:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the cord-cutters-unite! dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

The cable box, a crucial part of home theaters for decades, might be on the way out. Casual TV watchers say it's easier to find something to watch through online services such as Netflix and Hulu than it is to flip through hundreds of channels in hopes of finding something interesting. Other viewers complain that the boxes are poorly programmed and difficult to use. Even Congress doesn't particularly like the cable box: Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recently decried the high cost most customers pay to rent one from their provider.

Cable companies are of two minds about this trend. Some, such as Comcast, are trying to find ways to make cable boxes better. Instead of ugly units with clumsy remote controls, they're scrambling to produce sleeker boxes loaded with software that makes it easier to get straight to TV shows and movies.

Are the cable companies missing the forest for the trees?

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 10 2015, @01:36AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 10 2015, @01:36AM (#261022)

    make monitors!

    Then you can get a chromecast or roku or fire or appletv.... or your home computer / xbmc / rpi and do what you want.,

    This smart TV (that could replace the set top box) is a waste of money toss into the screen. Yes the other functional is nice, but SIMPLFY the process. One cable between decoder (PC /roku ...) and the screen. No need to sixteen inputs and 3 remotes or buy a specail remote. Monitor comes on when a picture is presented period.

    I have my Changhong 50" connected to my PC right now. When the screen saver mode kicks in the "tv" turns off. When I wiggle the mouse it comes back. Open a browser Netflix, YouTube, Amazon...

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 10 2015, @08:25AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 10 2015, @08:25AM (#261137)

    I sort of agree.

    My ideal system is:

    Monitor
    HTPC with tuner PCIe card and/or cable/sat interface PCIe card (standard protocol req'd)
    Integrated amp + speakers

    No set top box (card suffices; USB gadget could be used instead of PCIe card) and no AVR - the HTPC replaces that. No separate DVD/BD player - that's in the HTPC. Chromecast/Roku is not needed with the HTPC, unless you want to connect a phone/laptop for some reason.

    Simple and probably cheaper that the sort of redundant crap the home electronics industry dumps on us now.