Cut the Cable - Resources and Links

You need to buy RAM and storage for the NUC; the chromebox comes with that stuff. But yeah, you can find them for USD$130 around here.

Android performance is fine, really. The first-gen fireTV runs Kodi great, and the second-gen is even better. The nvidia shieldTV is even faster yet, and can do 4k video. It’s $200 here in the US though.

The Wetek Core is another excellent option, and may be cheaper in kangaroo-land.

Also keep in mind that the android devices are also great streamers for netflix, hulu+, etc, while the RPi2/NUC/chromeboxen can’t do much more than just Kodi.

Honestly, you don’t even need to worry about the skin you run on the RPi2, I run Aeon Nox on mine.

The problem with the rpi2 is that it’s actually not all that cheap. It’s not just the rpi2 itself, you also need a case, power supply, microSD card, wifi adapter, and remote control. Once you get all that stuff you’re looking at $100, and you can get a much faster android box for roughly the same price that will also run netflix with a nice 10foot UI. You can find nexus players for $50 on clearance-- they are the ultimate el-cheapo androidTV box.

I guess. I had pretty much everything needed other than the RPi2 itself, and made a case out of cardboard. Power supply is a standard 2A cell charger. Haven’t played around with a Chrome box (yet).

Lookie here, Google may be doing streaming TV early next year. First I’d heard of this, though obviously it’s been in the works a while if they’re in final discussions with CBS, Disney, and Fox for content.

Everybody’s been in discussions with everybody for years now. Apple, Amazon, and Verizon want it too. Only two have really succeeded so far and their products are compromised to various degrees-- Dish Network (sling) and Sony (playstation vue).

Streaming is without a doubt, the future pipeline for TV entertainment. Everyone is trying to position themselves for the best slice of the pie they can get. Even the networks are positioning themselves, with CBS at the front of that. This is also the reason why its important to keep up with how the government is looking at internet regulation. The corporations who become the gate keepers stand to reap incredible profits. The future of how we receive and what we pay for the internet is at stake.

Streaming still doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to pick and choose channels to build a package. I just see streaming as a different way to deliver a package. Google’s service is rumored to be $30-40, which isn’t a whole lot cheaper than a cable provider’s basic package. And it will probably have fewer channels.

Streaming does get rid of the need for the cable box, which saves a lot of money.

I just want to put together something that doesn’t have me subsidizing a bunch of sports teams I don’t give two craps about (I literally only tune ESPN in during the World Cup), or garbage TV channels whose main fare is those “reality” shows like “Real Housewives of xxx”<–honestly, who watches that crap?? I already pay for Netflix and Amazon so I don’t consider those additional costs upon dropping cable, which I’m this close to doing (hope Comcast doesn’t give me a lot of grief–I’m still stuck with them for internet with reasonable speeds, because CenturyLink won’t get its ass in gear and provide anything better on my street than 3 Mps–I kid you not)*.

*I’ve still got a land line with them, so I went to look at my bill just now and confirmed it: “Good (?!) news. You qualify for Internet speeds up to 3 Mbps!” I mean, COME ON, CenturyLink! What the actual F**K? Maybe you didn’t get the memo that it’s 2016, and the neighborhood has gentrified considerably in the last 20 years.

Its kind of funny to see that, after I mention corporations leveraging themselves as the gate keepers for streaming content, AT&T makes a 85 billion dollar offer for Time-Warner. Not funny ha-ha either.

Hulu is also looking to launch a new streaming service in early 2017. It is been mentioned that it will cost around $40 and may have the capacity to DVR content possibly like the cloud DVR that Vue has.

I was able to get a sweet deal when I moved into my new apartment for cable. That 60 Mbps internet is so sweet. Love cable internet speeds. And I am getting expanded basic tier (70 channels … NOT Cartoon Network for some reason) and DVR for 40 bucks on top of the internet a month. It is basically the price of Vue, which wasn’t available at the time. I can pay 10 more a month to get the next tier up with BBC America, Cartoon Network, IFC and the lot. Which I will do when Rick & Morty is back on. Got the price “locked” for 3 years no contract. Which I am sure when 3 years is up, I can just complain that I will cancel, and get the rates renewed.

Or, get one of the many streaming services sure to be available by the summer 2018.

Cable sucks, nothing good is on. But Cable with DVR is great. Snap up all the shows I want, and movies too. Extracting the 10% of good TV I will watch. That and live sports is nice. Brewers and Bucks games only on the Fox cable affiliate.

The math looks bad for ESPN. Have to imagine they’ll push for a big price hike… which would be passed on to cable subscribers and likely lead to even more cord cutting. Of course the major alternatives (Sling, Vue) are so attractive in part because they’re a low cost way to get ESPN, and that could be in danger too.

Interesting article. I knew ESPN was on a downward trend, but hadn’t seen all the numbers gathered up like that before. Looks ugly. I’m one of those low-cost alternative people (currently Vue, previously had Sling) but if the price goes up or ESPN drops off their available channels, I’d just do without, not go back to cable. And I expect most people in my situation are likely to do the same.

Oh, absolutely there with you on the beauty of cable with DVR. I’m on my second TiVo-- the first was a Series 2 (analog, SD, purchased Oct 2002) and the second is a Premiere (digital, HD) which I got in 2010 (so it’s getting a bit long in the tooth).

I ended up getting a deal for another year of what I have, + HBO, for 40 bucks+ less than what I’d be paying this month. When that expires we’ll see what my options are.

Á propos of the ESPN channels, speaking for myself I would drop them (and the “regional sports because-we-can fee”) like a bad habit if I could get the rest of cable without them, since I understand that they’re among the most expensive channels in the package.

Im not a fan of ESPN. They have become too powerful in the world of sports, to the point that they no longer just report sports, they affect sports. They can build up or break down a team just by the way they present them. But thats not even my biggest problem with them. They leveraged their popularity and started buying up sports properties. A lot of what people could watch nationally on over the air TV is no longer available unless you pass through the gatekeeper that ESPN has become. Monday Night Football is an excellent example of taking a nation wide tradition and forcing it behind a cable paywall.

I just don’t watch sports like I used to, so I can live without ESPN. I don’t have to because we have a nice employee discount for DirecTV, but at some point we will lose that and then we will probably cut the cord.

In St. Louis the big sports channel is Fox Sports Midwest. They carry the Cardinals and Blues games. That’s the must-have channel around here. A lot of people are unhappy with the NFL so I’m sure MNF ratings here are down quite a bit.

Live sports seems to be one of the pillars of cable that is keeping even more people from cutting the cord.

Well this suck. PlayStation Vue is kind of gutting parts of their service soon:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/11/08/new-channels-additional-lineup-change-coming-to-playstation-vue/

Looks like this Vue change is just the Viacom networks, which doesn’t really affect me, but it sucks for those who really used them. Comedy Central is the only one I’ll miss at all, and that pretty much only for South Park.

I expect to see a lot more of this sort of thing. As we keep seeing more and more streaming services, the providers are going to be jumping around to wherever they get the best deal. The competition is probably good in the long run, but it’s going to be pretty annoying to us end users.

Yeah for me personally I don’t mind since if I want to watch the Daily Show or South Park their own web site hosts most of that stuff. I’m just worried about the precedent it might set.