tatiyants.com Goodbye to Paid TV - One year later

About a year ago we finally decided to cancel our expensive satellite service and switch entirely to online streaming. So, what have I learned from this experience? Let’s go to the video tape stream.

You Usually Get What Your Pay For

First round: Roku

When we first switched, I got a Roku box. On paper it looked great: cheap, tiny, easy to use, had all the channels we wanted (and more).

Unfortunately, Roku turned out to be a dud. Aside from a lackluster user interface and flaky software, Roku’s hardware was just bad. About 4 months into it, it lost its ability to connect to the internet (it could still turn on and connect to the wireless network, just not the Internet). For a device whose only job in life is to connect one to the internet, this proved to be a fatal flaw.

I’ve wasted many hours trying to fix (or at least diagnose) the problem. In the process, I became aware of the poor reputation Roku has developed online. Apparently, it breaks early and often and there’s isn’t much you can do about it. And so I gave up and moved on.

Second round: Apple TV

Next at bat was Apple TV. Its appeal was similar to Roku’s: just as cheap, even tinier, easy to use, had most of the channels we wanted. Also like Roku, it too had a few fatal flaws.

For starters, Apple TV didn’t have Hulu Plus, which is a real problem if you want to watch TV. It would also regularly lose its connection to the wireless network, which made watching things on it really frustrating. By the way, I found this especially surprising considering that I use Apple Express for Wi-Fi.

Final round: Xbox 360

Finally, we decided to get Xbox 360. Unlike Roku / Apple TV, Xbox is much more expensive and much larger. It also works a lot better, has a really nice UI (at least as of December of last year), and has everything we need: Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, and other stuff. Oh and you can also play games on it.

I must admit that I was somewhat surprised that Xbox came out as our top choice. After all, we weren’t even considering it when we made the switch. Yet somehow the Xbox won us over, even taking into account its terrible Netflix* app.
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By the way, why couldn’t Netflix just follow what others are doing on the Xbox? Did it really have to create such a uniquely crappy interface? Come on Netflix, get your act together!

Things I Miss

There are of course things missing in this new world of online streaming. Most notably, there are gaps in what you can stream: sports (NFL, a lot of college games), a lot of cable channels (we miss you Food Network), real-time news, and so on.

There are also minor, but notable things you can’t get. For example, we couldn’t watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. I realize that it’s pointless and dumb, yet I seriously considered getting an HD antenna just to hear the countdown and to see those poor people freezing their butts off in New York. Good times…

Then there’s the whole channel surfing thing. I don’t know why, but I really miss not being able to mindlessly switch between channels for hours on end. Sadly, I almost forgot what that felt like until a recent stay at a hotel brought it all back. As I sat there seeing channel after channel blink by, a wave of nostalgia washed over me. Good times…

Things I Gained

Probably the best thing about using online streaming is being liberated from having to be in front of a TV. I’d estimate that at least 70% of our video watching happens on an iPad. Moreover, we can watch different things at the same time. Good times!

Another great thing is the number of commercials I have to endure. On Netflix, there are none. On Hulu, there are typically two (depending on what device you watch it on). Once you get used to this, watching regular television is really painful.

On a separate note, have the commercials gotten drastically weirder in the past year or is it Hulu? I am frequently amazed at how odd the ads are on Hulu. It’s almost like advertisers are using it to test out all of the crazy concepts they’re afraid to put on normal TV.

Finally, there’s the cost. As it turns out, I quite enjoy not having to spend an extra hundred bucks a month for cable or satellite. Great times!

Goodbye to Paid TV – One year later