Are we really ready to cut the cord?

By Chelsea Irwin

I had no problem abandoning my landline phone service a few years ago – I mean, I couldn’t even remember my own number half the time. As soon as mobile phones became reliable and convenient (and not just REALLY LARGE phones that made you look cool in middle school), there was no need for a landline.

Carol Wilson recently wrote in Telephony about a similar phenomenon that is happening with cable and online video. Her article got me thinking - am I ready to end my TV service to watch “my shows” on the Internet? I do watch some shows online: The Office, 30 Rock, Hannah Montana. (Am I joking about Hannah Montana? You’ll never know.)

This fad is much like the mobile phone situation. At first, everyone had a mobile phone, but needed the peace of mind that a landline was still available. (What if you flush your mobile phone down the toilet? Did that happen to me? Perhaps….)

Bottom line: while we all like to watch TV online, we aren’t ready to completely cut the cable cord.

My prediction: most people will be “so over cable” in five years. Thus, cable will be the next landline.

Comments

[Molly M. Miller]

Awesome graphics that really bring the point home!

[TravisV]

I agree with your prediction. I think there are two specific changes that are going to help make this happen (my own two predictions). First- the most sought after content types (like sports) will be made more available in HD internet. We're already seeing this with MLB TV and the Master's golf tournament this year. The picture quality is starting to go beyond acceptable, and approaching equal quality as regular TV. The second thing is that we will see better Internet set top boxes that tether the tv to the home Internet network, and are designed to serve up video content from the Internet.

[Chelsea Irwin]

Thanks – and I agree with you on sports. When March Madness hits you can bet your broadband is working harder than anyone in the office.
But here’s the question… do we currently have enough broadband to accommodate HD over the internet? YouTube and Hulu is one thing… but full length HD movies?

[Andrew Flick]

I haven't had cable for five years. I hooked a laptop up to my TV for streaming video and bought an over-the-air, digital-ready HD antenna for NFL and local news. Saves me about $100/month at least!