5 ms·

Marc Cuban Is Psyched About Cable

12 points by noor420 18y ago

richcollins 18y ago
I recently cancelled my cable because internet video has acceptable quality, unmatched variety and isn't marginally more expensive than my existing internet bill.
Caligula 18y ago
Tru2way is a crock of shit. It is the re-branding of OCAP that was touted as the internet killer for a decade but never got deployed. I got sucked into wasting time about three years ago learning it. Tru2way sucks because the MSOs' control all the apps that can be deployed. There is no room for 3rd party developers. You cannot have background processes. Development tools cost 10k per license. Did I mention I doubt it will ever be deployed? All cable has going for it is the content but sites like Hulu give the content creators control over distribution and they would like nothing more than cutting out the middleman.
- wmf 18y ago
  Tru2way is a crock of shit. True, but at this point it's the only way to watch HBO On Demand on Tivo/Moxi. For third party apps the Intel/Yahoo widget platform is supposed to be the answer although I'm not optimistic about it either.
- briansmith 18y ago
  In most places, the only high-speed internet ISPs are cable companies. So, ultimately the cable companies are in control over distribution of video--including internet video from Hulu and similar sites. Right now I can get all the TV content I want OTA (yes, using an antenna) or over the internet except for HBO. Accordingly, I don't subscribe to cable. But, that will change as soon as my ISP (a cable company) starts capping my internet access. Then I will have to start paying a cable company to get my favorite shows. For example, Time Warner is taking the lead with internet-video-killing caps of 40GB/month. That's less than 15 minutes of HD video a day. So, regarldess of what you think of the cable technology, the cable companies seem to be firmly in control of residential video distribution. Whenever they want, they will crank up the price until cable looks cheap. That is exactly what the wireless phone companies did with text messaging; the price of a text message used to be borderline bearable; now, they are so expensive that $5+ messaging bundles are relatively affordable.
  - jrockway 18y ago
    In most places, the only high-speed internet ISPs are cable companies. Seriously? There are very few places in the US that don't have DSL. And I don't think capping DSL is very popular these days; my ISP definitely doesn't do it, and I haven't heard much complaining from others either.
    - briansmith 18y ago
      The only DSL provider in my area is a cable company (AT&T); I think that is pretty common as the bigger companies buy up their competition.
sjs382 18y ago
Really, CNBC? You're going to have an article with a famous name in the title and completely ignore the spelling? It's Mark Cuban.
kierank 18y ago
Additional bandwidth will help, but Cuban's point is that there's too much uncertainty in the ability to deliver video over the web (let alone high def video). HD is certainly possible over the web. (see my profile page if you want). It's just there's a stigma amongst people that produce HD for TVs that you to use TV bitrates and TV encoders for it to look decent.

12 points by noor420 18y ago

I recently cancelled my cable because internet video has acceptable quality, unmatched variety and isn't marginally more expensive than my existing internet bill.

Caligula 18y ago

Tru2way is a crock of shit. It is the re-branding of OCAP that was touted as the internet killer for a decade but never got deployed. I got sucked into wasting time about three years ago learning it. Tru2way sucks because the MSOs' control all the apps that can be deployed. There is no room for 3rd party developers. You cannot have background processes. Development tools cost 10k per license. Did I mention I doubt it will ever be deployed? All cable has going for it is the content but sites like Hulu give the content creators control over distribution and they would like nothing more than cutting out the middleman.

wmf 18y ago
Tru2way is a crock of shit. True, but at this point it's the only way to watch HBO On Demand on Tivo/Moxi. For third party apps the Intel/Yahoo widget platform is supposed to be the answer although I'm not optimistic about it either.
briansmith 18y ago
In most places, the only high-speed internet ISPs are cable companies. So, ultimately the cable companies are in control over distribution of video--including internet video from Hulu and similar sites. Right now I can get all the TV content I want OTA (yes, using an antenna) or over the internet except for HBO. Accordingly, I don't subscribe to cable. But, that will change as soon as my ISP (a cable company) starts capping my internet access. Then I will have to start paying a cable company to get my favorite shows. For example, Time Warner is taking the lead with internet-video-killing caps of 40GB/month. That's less than 15 minutes of HD video a day. So, regarldess of what you think of the cable technology, the cable companies seem to be firmly in control of residential video distribution. Whenever they want, they will crank up the price until cable looks cheap. That is exactly what the wireless phone companies did with text messaging; the price of a text message used to be borderline bearable; now, they are so expensive that $5+ messaging bundles are relatively affordable.
- jrockway 18y ago
  In most places, the only high-speed internet ISPs are cable companies. Seriously? There are very few places in the US that don't have DSL. And I don't think capping DSL is very popular these days; my ISP definitely doesn't do it, and I haven't heard much complaining from others either.
  - briansmith 18y ago
    The only DSL provider in my area is a cable company (AT&T); I think that is pretty common as the bigger companies buy up their competition.

sjs382 18y ago

Really, CNBC? You're going to have an article with a famous name in the title and completely ignore the spelling? It's Mark Cuban.

kierank 18y ago

Additional bandwidth will help, but Cuban's point is that there's too much uncertainty in the ability to deliver video over the web (let alone high def video). HD is certainly possible over the web. (see my profile page if you want). It's just there's a stigma amongst people that produce HD for TVs that you to use TV bitrates and TV encoders for it to look decent.