[mythtv-users] HDPVR for $169 at buy.com

[Brian Wood]

On Thursday, June 24, 2010 11:13:38 am Eric Sharkey wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 12:45 PM, Mike Perkins
> 
> <mikep at randomtraveller.org.uk> wrote:
> > From anecdotal evidence on this forum, good luck getting a Cablecard that
> > actually works with that gadget...
> 
> I suspect that your evidence is skewed.  Silicon Dust has shown
> themselves to be a competent company and if TiVo can pull it off I
> have every confidence that SD can do it as well.
> 
> Most of the reports I've heard of people trying to get cable cards for
> devices that need them eventually end in success, even if it takes
> three or four visits by a technician to get it set up.  If you have
> the perseverance to keep pushing the cable company, they will get it
> working.
> 
> That said, it doesn't really help us out much.  I suppose you could
> use it as a build-your-own ownable cable box, with cable -> HDHRP ->
> Windows 7 -> HDMI -> HD Fury 2 -> HDPVR -> mythtv, with custom
> software to do channel changing on this "tuner", but that sounds like
> a lot of work to get running smoothly.
> 
> Sometimes it almost seems like the cable operators must want us to use
> bittorrent.

Indeed. Several media players now incorporate torrent clients, which seems to me to be asking for trouble.

Of course there are legal torrents, but most people seem to equate torrents with piracy.

Of course the cable companies like the STB rental revenue, but what they really want is control. Since the cable companies 
and the MPAA members are getting closer and closer to the same thing, the idea of a system that actually lets you do what 
you want with your purchased content seems to bother them.

Some of the problems with CableCards are the training requirements for cable company employees. They seem to like to hire 
no-nothings and "train" them, rather than hire competent technicians, I guess they can get trainees cheaper than educated 
technical types, and anything that increases the training time/cost is something they want to avoid.

I asked about CableCard at my local cable office, and they had to go get "the guy" who knew anything about them. Note the 
singular.

PS: "The guy"  knew essentially nothing.