CableCARD: a primer

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: CableCARD: a primer
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 21:48:19 -0500
From: Peter Bachman <peterb () cequs com>
Reply-To: Peter Bachman <peterb () cequs com>
Organization: Cequs Inc.
To: dave () farber net
References: <43EB34F8.2090102 () farber net>

Dave,

Cable card is a great alternative, when it works. There's not a lot of
incentive for the
cable service industry to fully support the cable card spec because they
prefer to have
people dependent on boxes. Configuring boxes, moving boxes, etc. provides a
lot
of jobs. And when it cuts into the movies on demand revenue stream,
that's a
further
disincentive. All that said, the set top boxes with the built in DVRs are
pretty nice with
dual tuners and HDMI connections. The scaling and picture seems to be
better
when you go
in directly via the card, versus using the box. But that does have its
drawbacks.

And as Brad notes, it's all about the DRM. But a 500 gig DVR with a built in
CableCard slot that records 60 Hours of High Def with a free on screen
program guide for less than $300.00 seems more attractive for most users
rather than dealing with Linux open source or a Microsoft proprietary
system
that
requires using a computer. But then again, HD VCR never really took off and
they also eventually ended up around the same price point.

The success seems to be in making the user interface very easy to use. I
like
the idea of open source DVRs and hope people will continue to innovate with
them,
I hope that a POD or software interface could be simply jacked into any
device, and
once you paid for the rights to watch or listen to something, that would
not
require
any additional authorization when you moved from the living room to the
bedroom or
your car.


> CableCARD: a primer
>
> By Nate Anderson
>
> Monday, February 06, 2006
> Introduction
>
> We know that you'd like nothing better than to get rid of that set-top box 
> sitting on your DVD player. It's ugly, it's clunky, and it has its own 
> remote. Extra cables snake about the back of your entertainment center, 
> providing ideal conditions for some type of electrical fire, and the matte 
> black box clashes with your brushed silver aesthetic. To top it all off, 
> you have to pay for the privilege of using this thing-if you want digital 
> cable, it's the only way to go.


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