Cutting the Cable Part 3

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Hardware

There are essentially two ways to get content from the internet onto your TV screen: Web Enabled Devices and Computers. 

Web enabled devices have some chips inside and a simple operating system (like Android) that lets them run apps. They basically work like a smart phone. The trend lately is to web-enable just about anything that holds still. Some TVs now come web-enabled or network-ready. They connect via an RJ45 network cable or wirelessly to your router and you use apps built into the TV itself to stream content. Other web-enabled options include game consoles (PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360), some new Blu-ray players, and set top boxes (like Roku, Apple TV, and Boxee Box).

Pros:

• Generally cheaper than a computer. Roku starts at just $60. 
• Easy to set up and maintain. Usually just 2 or 3 cables and a little network configuration.
• Few settings means few chances to make mistakes. 
• Apps keep themselves updated automatically.
• New apps are coming out all the time.
• Point and click interface = no keyboard or mouse. More user friendly.
• Some can also stream local content from a network. Others have USB ports for local media.
• Some devices do other things like play games and/or DVDs/Blu-rays.
• Some devices are very small or even built into the TV.
• Completely or nearly silent operation.

Cons:

• Not all sites have an app. No app = too bad for you.
• Many apps are only compatible with certain devices. What's worse, compatibility changes constantly. You can't be exactly sure which apps will work on your device next year. You would think that devices would only ever add apps, but sometimes they drop apps too. Boxee dropped Hulu...which is kind of a big deal if you planned on watching TV on your TV.
• Few settings means limited ability to customize the user interface and other options.
• Many devices, like video game consoles, charge a monthly fee of their own. For example, if you want to watch Netflix on your Xbox, you have to pay for internet, Xbox live, and Netflix every month.
• Limited support of local media. Some devices only stream online content, some add an optical disk player, and a few will let you stream files from your library or from a USB drive. Few do all of these. You can gain this capability by adding PlayOn media server software, which translates your local files into a format that your device understands and streams it over the network.
• Generally do not have the ability to store media files or record TV like a DVR.
• Non- or minimally upgradeable. Sometimes you can add memory, but that's about all.
• Some devices are network-ready, but you have to buy a wireless adapter separately. And you can't just get a $7 USB wireless-n dongle. Most require a specific wireless adapter and they can cost $60 or more.
• No input for an HD antenna. Generally, you can plug the antenna into your TV. But some HDTVs are actually giant monitors, not true TVs. The difference? A TV has a tuner built in that changes channels. A monitor just has video inputs- you need a cable box or computer with a TV tuner card to actually change the channel. Caveat emptor.

Computers have a fully functional operating system and various programs. You access the internet through a browser and use various plugins (like Java, Silverlight, ActiveX, Flash, etc.) to decode content. Computers are usually bigger  and more complicated than web-enabled devices, but there are mini PCs that are almost as small. The big advantage of a computer is versatility. You can add and upgrade lots of components to get what you want.

Pros:

• Versatility. A media center computer, or home theater PC (HTPC), can be customized to do just about anything you want it to do. It can access (nearly) all types of local and online media. The 'nearly' has to do with Linux. There is currently no Silverlight equivalent for Linux. Silverlight decodes Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected content, which includes Netflix. So, no Netflix on Linux. 
• Media center software (like Windows Media Center, XBMC, Boxee, etc.) organizes all your local and online content and displays it in an simple way, just like the web-enabled devices. In fact, some programs run plugins that are just like apps. Windows Media Center comes standard with Windows 7 and gets pretty good reviews. Boxee and XBMC are free.
• You can connect a remote control to your computer and brows your media center, so you don't always need a keyboard and mouse. Some media PCs come with a remote and a built-in sensor. You can even get a RF remote, which doesn't require line-of-sight like IR, so you can put your PC around a corner and still use the remote.
• If there's no app or plugin for something, you can always pull it up on a browser and play it in full screen. This means you can put anything you see online on your TV. Plugins and programs are available to play virtually any format of audio, image, or video file. 
• Add whatever drives you want. And you can rip and burn disks, or transfer files to a mobile device.
•  With a TV tuner card and software, you can record TV on your hard drive. 
• All your local media can be right there on the hard drive, or you can play filed from any networked computer.
• No additional fees like some devices.
• Quality. If you build your own, or buy a boutique brand computer, you can make sure the components are high quality.
• Upgradeable. You can't put more memory, a bigger hard drive, or a 3-D graphics card in most devices. You might be able to take a used computer and upgrade for cheap with a graphics card and a bigger hard drive.

Cons:

• Cost. It would be tough to put together an HTPC for less than the cost of most web enabled devices.
• Setup. It's most likely going to be more complex to set up and network a computer than a device. You have to track down the hardware and software yourself and get everything to work together. You'll also have to install all those browser plugins to decode your content, but they usually do it automatically now. If you buy a commercial computer, there's all that crapware to delete.
• Viruses. You'll need a firewall and antivirus programs, and you'll still accumulate some malware because you'll be surfing the web.
• Maintenance. You'll have to clean up files, update software, defrag the hard drive, and do other normal computer maintenance chores. Most devices pretty much look after themselves.
• Size. There are some micro PCs out there, but they often lack an optical drive and they're not that much more powerful than some of the better devices. A regular tower PC isn't usually welcome in the living room. HTPC cases sit horizontally and look like other video components, but are mostly available as an empty case or as part of a barebones kit.
• Noise. All those drives and stuff produce a lot of heat, which means cooling fans. You don't want to have to turn the volume up to hide the hum of the fans. Case design, heat sinks, and higher quality fans can eliminate this problem...for a price. Devices are generally all but silent.
• Complexity. The other side of the Versatility coin. Since there's no one program that can do it all, you may have to navigate several to view all types of media. This will make it hard for non-technically inclined people to operate the system. Sometimes you just want to hit the power button and start channel surfing.
• Windows. Since there's no Silverlight for Linux, and I'm not buying a Mac, I'm stuck buying Windows and dealing with its issues. 

Analysis:
Web enabled devices are easy to set up, maintain, and use. They occupy the low to mid price ranges. They do most of the things I want and are constantly gaining new apps. A computer is expensive to buy, harder to set up, more complicated to use, and requires some maintenance. But I know I can make it do everything I want, and do it well. In the next post, I will present several hardware/software configurations and analyze their actual costs and capabilities.