Wired is not something natural to human beings--we don't like being "tethered" to anything as a dog is chained to a tree. We like freedom and we've certainly had it with smart phones and other wireless devices, wireless vacuum cleaners, bluetooth, and more. Especially with TV. Satellite is wireless, but it is still a "tether" to a satellite.
We recently are testing a our Ooma phone system--untethreed from a wall outlet or even a cell tower.
But most of us probably spend more time watching the tube than talking on the phone, so here's the latest cutting the umbilical cord--it was necessary for our early development but we don't need it now.
Nikola Tesla--all we need is his technology to break bonds to electric power--I hear there is some small version of it for charging smaller wireless devices!
Chicago Tribune--Dec 26
Robert ChannickContact ReporterChicago Tribune
Streaming becomes mainstream as cord-cutting accelerates
Cord-cutting is not just for millennials anymore.
Fed up with high prices and bloated packages, millions of Americans cut the cord on cable TV in 2017, finding refuge with a growing number of streaming services, which deliver lower prices and a competitive channel lineup over the internet.
.......Internet television, also known as over the top, bypasses cable and delivers video directly to viewers through a broadband connection. Major players include subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Amazon Video and Hulu as well as livestreaming services such as Sling TV and DirecTV Now, which air dozens of cable channels in real time.
...“The genie is out of the bottle, and it’s not going to be put back in,” Moffett said. “The media companies are now dependent on the (over-the-top) providers to sustain their distribution, so they have no choice but to steam forward and make their content available.”
Traditional pay-TV providers — cable, satellite and telephone companies — lost 1.7 million subscribers in 2016, and the pace is accelerating, with more than 2.6 million cutting the cord....
....“I had Comcast for a long time, and the bill just kept rising on me, so I switched to Hulu Live TV,” he said.
Napier still gets internet from Comcast, but he is saving about $15 over his $160-per-month cable and broadband bundle with the nascent Hulu Live streaming service. He supplements his service with Netflix, Amazon Prime and a TV antenna to watch the Cubs on WGN-Ch.9 over the air for free.
Sling TV broke new ground when Dish Network launched the service in early 2015 as a slimmed-down streaming alternative to satellite and cable services. Last fall, competing satellite provider DirecTV, owned by AT&T, launched its own streaming service, called DirecTV Now.
PlayStation Vue also was early to the game, launching its live streaming service more than two years ago, but the livestreaming category blew up in 2017 with new offerings from Hulu and YouTube joining a suddenly crowded field.
YouTube TV went live in April in five markets, including Chicago, and has since rolled out to dozens of cities across the U.S. Hulu Live launched in May.
Streaming devices such as Apple TV, Google’s Chromecast and Roku make streaming services feel very much like cable, easing the transition for cord cutters. But for many, the biggest reason for taking the plunge into streaming is price. The average cost to subscribe to traditional pay TV is more than $100 per month, while the average bill for a streaming TV service runs $35 to $40, on top of the cost of an internet connection.
A report published this month by digital video recorder manufacturer TiVo found that 85 percent of cord cutters cited bills that were too expensive as the primary reason for canceling their traditional TV subscription.
...Etsch also adds subscription video-on-demand services Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO Go to his homemade bundle, all of which he accesses through PlayStation Vue. He is far from alone.
...Owning the pipeline to streaming TV services may be even more valuable in the wake of the Dec. 14 decision by the Federal Communications Commission to roll back Obama-era net neutrality regulations ensuring equal access to the internet. The regulatory approach adopted by the FCC gives broadband providers latitude to charge more and limit access to certain websites.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @RobertChannick
To read the remainder of this article, please get the Dec 26th edition of the Chicago Tribune.
Fed up with high prices and bloated packages, millions of Americans cut the cord on cable TV in 2017, finding refuge with a growing number of streaming services, which deliver lower prices and a competitive channel lineup over the internet.
.......Internet television, also known as over the top, bypasses cable and delivers video directly to viewers through a broadband connection. Major players include subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Amazon Video and Hulu as well as livestreaming services such as Sling TV and DirecTV Now, which air dozens of cable channels in real time.
...“The genie is out of the bottle, and it’s not going to be put back in,” Moffett said. “The media companies are now dependent on the (over-the-top) providers to sustain their distribution, so they have no choice but to steam forward and make their content available.”
Traditional pay-TV providers — cable, satellite and telephone companies — lost 1.7 million subscribers in 2016, and the pace is accelerating, with more than 2.6 million cutting the cord....
....“I had Comcast for a long time, and the bill just kept rising on me, so I switched to Hulu Live TV,” he said.
Napier still gets internet from Comcast, but he is saving about $15 over his $160-per-month cable and broadband bundle with the nascent Hulu Live streaming service. He supplements his service with Netflix, Amazon Prime and a TV antenna to watch the Cubs on WGN-Ch.9 over the air for free.
Sling TV broke new ground when Dish Network launched the service in early 2015 as a slimmed-down streaming alternative to satellite and cable services. Last fall, competing satellite provider DirecTV, owned by AT&T, launched its own streaming service, called DirecTV Now.
PlayStation Vue also was early to the game, launching its live streaming service more than two years ago, but the livestreaming category blew up in 2017 with new offerings from Hulu and YouTube joining a suddenly crowded field.
YouTube TV went live in April in five markets, including Chicago, and has since rolled out to dozens of cities across the U.S. Hulu Live launched in May.
Streaming devices such as Apple TV, Google’s Chromecast and Roku make streaming services feel very much like cable, easing the transition for cord cutters. But for many, the biggest reason for taking the plunge into streaming is price. The average cost to subscribe to traditional pay TV is more than $100 per month, while the average bill for a streaming TV service runs $35 to $40, on top of the cost of an internet connection.
A report published this month by digital video recorder manufacturer TiVo found that 85 percent of cord cutters cited bills that were too expensive as the primary reason for canceling their traditional TV subscription.
...Etsch also adds subscription video-on-demand services Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO Go to his homemade bundle, all of which he accesses through PlayStation Vue. He is far from alone.
...Owning the pipeline to streaming TV services may be even more valuable in the wake of the Dec. 14 decision by the Federal Communications Commission to roll back Obama-era net neutrality regulations ensuring equal access to the internet. The regulatory approach adopted by the FCC gives broadband providers latitude to charge more and limit access to certain websites.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @RobertChannick
To read the remainder of this article, please get the Dec 26th edition of the Chicago Tribune.
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