Cutting the Cable Part 2

Media

I was explaining this project to my Mom last night and she, not surprisingly, didn't quite understand exactly how it could work. I asked her for an example of something she watches on cable so I could explain how to get the same thing online for free or for cheap. I was hoping for a specific TV show that I could pull up on Hulu to prove my point. Instead, she said "News channels like CNN and MSNBC." And it struck me that most people don't naturally separate the media content, the format, and the source. In a way, she's right. Cable TV stations don't have a simultaneous online stream the way many radio stations do. Who would pay for cable if they did? But, as an example, she could go to msnbc.com, click on 'Maddow', and watch the last few Rachel Maddow Shows in their entirety whenever she wants. It's the same content, but it a different format and from a different source than she's used to. In this installment of the project, I want to lay out the various types of media, the various formats they come in, and the various sources they can come from. You have to know what you want in order to get it.

Types and Formats of Media

We typically consume the following types of media in the following formats:

Print: Physical print includes newspapers, magazines, and books. All three are transitioning to digital media. Most newspapers are available online. There are also a few online-only newspapers like the Huffington Post. 

Rupert Murdoch's The Daly is available only as an iPad app. Many magazines are available online and some are only online (eZines). Lots of books are available in various digital formats (eBooks) that you can access on a computer or a eReader.  In the digital-only print category are the various informational websites (like wikipedia, cnet and instructables), shopping sites (like amazon), blogs (like this one), and social media websites like Facebook.

Print media doesn't really lend itself to the big screen. Most people seem to like to consume text-only digital print (such as books and newspapers) on low-glare, tablet-style readers like the Kindle. Print that includes color graphics and photos (such as magazines, informational websites, and social networking) seems to be mostly consumed on desktop and laptop computers, iPads, and the like. Reading text off the TV doesn't seem like it will ever catch on. It might be nice to be able to check a website between shows or during a commercial without having to get up and go to another room, but this is not necessarily a requirement of the system.

Static Images: Photographs, paintings, macaroni-art, et cetera. Everyone has a digital camera and thus a collection of digital images. We also share photos on Facebook and sites like Picasa and Flickr. Organizing and editing images is best done on a computer. I would probably never stick a memory card into my media center and pull up a bunch of raw files. But it might be nice to put together a slideshow of family or vacation pics and have it on when people come over. It's also a good option for a screen saver or something to have on if you're just playing music (instead of the trippy media player 'visualizations'). Again, not a requirement for the system, but something we might use from time to time.

Audio: This includes playback of music, sound, and voice recordings, and the audio component of TV shows, movies, and games. It could also include inputs. I don't really want to record and edit music, but it's conceivable that we might use a microphone jack for karaoke or controller inputs for games like Rock Band. 

Formats have changed radically over the years. I'll start with local, physical formats. Since I'm going to use a stereo receiver (or upgrade to a surround sound unit) to drive the system's speakers, I can use analog RCA or optical cables to connect most devices. This includes turntables, 8-track and cassette players, standalone CD players, and MP3 players (via headphone to RCA cable or iPod dock). We rarely use physical audio formats except for the occasional CD, so an optical drive is the only option we might need. Since DVD and Blu-ray drives also play CDs, there's no need for a dedicated CD player or changer. If I need more than a few songs, I want to stream a playlist. Albums and mixes are also available on micro-SD memory cards from slotMusic and slotRadio. I don't see them catching on, but if they did I would most likely rip the songs to my digital library or put them on an MP3 player rather than playing directly off the memory card. 

There are numerous legal and illegal sources of digital music online- too many to get into here. More and more, we're downloading audio and playing it through a media player. This also works for podcasts and digital audiobooks. These are local files, not streaming online. The benefits of local media (physical or digital) are 1) no commercials and 2) you own it forever...or until you can't upconvert to a new format and have to buy yet another copy of Dark Side of the Moon. With digital libraries, you may not have to keep re-purchasing the same music unless.  The downside is that your selection is limited to what's in your library, which is in turn limited by the time and money you're willing to put into building and organizing it.    

Then there are real-time and on-demand audio sources. Real-time sources include AM and FM radio, HD radio, and satellite and internet radio streams. The Tuner has AM and FM, which I could upgrade with a better antenna. I could also get an HD radio receiver- there are about 15 stations in Springfield. Internet radio is generally free and plays through a prowser or app. Satellite radio like XM and Sirius require special hardware and subscriptions. For completeness, I'll mention the music stations that are built into cable and satellite TV packages. I don't use them, but someone must. The upside to real-time audio is that someone else picks the songs, so you sometimes hear new stuff that you might not otherwise be exposed to.

On-demand audio sources are things like Pandora, Grooveshark, and Playlist. Some let you pick exact songs and build a playlist, others (like Pandora) let you have input but pick the songs themselves. 

They are mostly free and play through browsers or apps. 

We listen to FM radio, music from our digital libraries, and CDs. None of these functions run through the cable box, so they won't be disrupted. Adding free internet radio, podcasts, and ebooks would be nice, but are not absolute requirements. Same for controlling the audio library from the living room.

Video: TV, movies, home movies, web videos. These break down more or less the same as audio: Local media, Real-time streaming, and on-demand streaming. 

Local video is your collection of reel-to-reel, Hi 8, Betamax, and VHS tapes; your Laserdisk, DVD, HDDVD, and Blu-Ray disks; and whatever digital video files are stored on your camera or computer hard drive. You can also rent disks at Blockbuster and Redbox, and get them by mail from Blockbuster and Netflix. Pros and cons are similar to local audio. Unlike music, we don't have a large collection of digital videos on our computers. In the future, it would be nice to stream local videos to the TV, but it's not absolutely necessary right now. We're probably going to write off anything earlier than DVD format, but The new system must have an optical disk drive because we've got a bunch of DVDs. Another reason to have an optical drive is that not everything is available on-demand from subscription sites (especially new releases and obscure stuff). We could keep the current DVD player, but Blu-ray is much better on a big screen and doesn't cost extra from Netflix or Blockbuster. And, it looks like Blu-ray may be the last physical video format because there's not much point in upgrading the quality. It's already near the limit of our sensory perception. Blu-ray drives for computers are cheap, and standalone players are coming down too. Some units can also access streaming content or are built into game systems (more on that later).  

Real-time streaming video includes digital broadcast channels, cable TV, satellite TV, and any real-time webcasts. Pros and cons are similar to real-time streaming audio with a few important exceptions. First, radio is mostly free, but TV is mostly subscription...and cable and satellite can get expensive. Second, no one gets upset if they turn on the radio and 'Freebird' is halfway over, but most people have favorite shows that they try to keep up with. Third, we don't put the TV on in the background while we're doing something else like we do with music, so we're more upset when there's nothing on. The current popular solution is to pay for enough cable/satellite channels to satisfy your content needs and get a DVR (Tivo, upgraded cable box, computer with tuner card) so you can watch it all when it's convenient and fill in the times when there's nothing on. Since cable and satellite also have some on-demand content, this is the solution most people are choosing right now because it's relatively simple, reliable, and solves most of their entertainment problems. My only big issue with them is the cost. I don't think I should pay more than $1000 a year to be entertained. 

Digital broadcast  is another story. This is not your grandparents' bunny ears. Networks broadcast in full digital HD. And it's free, all you have to do is buy an antenna (and a converter box if your TV is from the bronze age.) I went to Antennaweb, typed in my address, and it told me what channels I should be able to get and their compass direction. If you get stations from different directions, you'll need a multi-directional antenna. Digital broadcast is a good way to fill in stuff you can't get online: PBS, local news and weather, network shows in real-time, and popular sports. If you hook your antenna up to a TV tuner card on your computer, you can record stuff to your hard drive. This will probably be part of our final solution.

On-demand video is available with most TV and Satellite packages, and from a variety of internet sources. The internet sources break down into three groups: 

1. Free (YouTube, Hulu, ESPN3, TED, and the various networks' websites like NBC.com). There's a lot of free content here, but you may spend some time trying to find what you want. You can often only see the most recent few episodes. If you're not picky, you may be satisfied with this option. Some are available on platforms other than a computer. Hulu is computer-only. Combine this with an antenna and you're doing better than basic cable without a monthly bill.
2. Subscription (Netflix, Hulu Plus, Blockbuster, Amazon Prime) More content, especially movies. You can often get whole seasons of shows and past seasons as well. Netflix starts at at $4.99 for one disk only or $7.99 for streaming only. Streaming plus disks cost more. The Watch Instantly options on Netflix change frequently, but if you stick something in your Instant Queue, it will still be available to you after it goes away for everyone else. Hulu Plus goes for $7.99 a month. Both are available through apps on a variety of platforms other than a computer. Blockbuster is a bit more expensive than Netflix, but offers games in addition to TV and movies. This might be a good option if you access your content through a game console. Amazon prime gives you unlimited free shipping with no minimum orders, $3.99 one-day shipping, and unlimited streaming of certain content from their on-demand site. It costs $79 a year, or about $6.60 a month. If you shop Amazon a lot, the shipping deals alone might be worth it and the video content would be a bonus. Overall, subscription sites offer way more content for way less money than cable or satellite. The hard part is getting it to your TV. I'll look at hardware and software in future posts. I want to mention here that the only way these companies are allowed to stream good content is because it's DRM-protected. That means you generally can't (legally) record and/or burn streaming content. To decode DRM-protected video on a computer, you usually need to run Microsoft Silverlight. Or Silverlight for Mac. There is no Silverlight for Linux (yet). So if you thought I was leaning toward a cheap, highly-efficient, Linux-based media computer...I was, but that's not currently an option because Bill Gates is a greedy bastard. 
3. Pay-per (Amazon video on demand, iTunes, Blockbuster). The Pay-per sites have some content for free and some you have to pay for. Some content streams over the internet, other content can be downloaded temporarily or permanently. If you watch the same thing over and over, you may want to just own it. If you're mostly happy with free content or other services, it may be cheaper to pay for the occasional download rather than maintain ongoing subscriptions. The iTunes store seems expensive, but it's an all-in-one content solution for some people. Blockbuster allows you to stream, download, rent a disk, or buy a new or used disk all from the same place. In general, this type of content source doesn't seem like a good deal for us. 

"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

Our entertainment system must do the following:

• Play a good selection of TV shows and Movies from the internet. Bonus points for more content, online music content, ability to play whenever we want, fewer commercials, High Def, and other features. Double bonus points if it's not limited to a list of certain sites or has a fully-functional browser. Any subscriptions must add up to less than our current cable bill.
• Play CDs and DVDs. It would be tough to talk me out of including Blue-Ray as well.
• Stream music from my digital library. Bonus points if it can do pictures and video files.
• Give us local news, weather, and sports. Essentially, our local broadcast networks. Bonus if we can record and play these back or watch them on demand.

The more additional capabilities, the better, but we'd like to keep the interface manageable. Ideally, we'd still like to accomplish most functions with a remote rather than a full-on keyboard and pointing device. There will likely be a trade-off between simplicity and flexibility. Cable, satellite, and Tivo are successful because they are fairly simple to set up and use, not because they give you the most content for the best price. In the next post, I will lay out the major hardware and software options that are available and discuss the pros and cons of each.