[mythtv-users] Apropos To The Recent Comcast STB Thread

[BP]

On 09/09/2016 08:44 AM, Kirk Bocek wrote:
> I hope this can fit into Myth somehow.
>
> https://www.wired.com/2016/09/fcc-wants-free-us-cable-boxes/

This is pretty much the cable companies' rebuttal to opening up the 
signal.  This will lock things down even more.  No access to the stream. 
No more cable card mandate.  No way to create a DVR outside the 
provider's solution.  No room to differentiate UI by third parties. 
We'll be stuck with the cable company's UI which will stagnate in their 
monopoly walled garden.  Just look at how much Comcast's X1 platform 
sucks.  Takes my boxes 20 minutes to boot after their near weekly crashes.

While this will open up tablets and phones to cable access (they already 
have apps today that let us do that, so really nothing new), it will not 
do anything to help insert competition to how we use content.  These 
apps are also streaming interfaces meaning that the content will use 
your internet bandwidth rather than your cable bandwidth.  Compression, 
bitrate  and latency artifacts could be worse.

Not to mention the apps will be developed by the cable companies.  How 
is a start-up trying to introduce a new media box supposed to convince 
Comcast and others to invest in developing an app?  Ideally we'd finally 
break away from having to even connect a box to a tv.  All these years 
of having PiP and more recently some apps and stuff on our tvs that we 
pay for and never use because the cable box became the tv interface. 
Will the cable companies write apps for all the tv brands?  Or will they 
be forced to use a common OS if they want a box free experience?  That 
seems like another way to stifle innovation and choice.

There's no technical reason the cable companies cannot set an access 
standard to the stream.  They want the control likely because selling 
your viewing habits is a nice revenue stream and they want the monopoly 
on that.