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Are You Ready to Kick Cable to the Corner?

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me.jpgWe’re seeing Tablets everywhere and for some time now it has been obvious that the move to Tablets (of all sizes) has been about consuming media. Those behind these devices are hoping you are ready to consume your TV, movies, magazines, books, and the Internet, while sitting on your couch (or in your bathroom) with a device in your hand. Of course all eyes are on Cupertino, even though we’re seeing other manufacturers come out with some interesting looking devices.

Many, myself included, believe that Apple has the marketing savvy to create not only a device but a market for this kind of device and behavior. Recent rumors have Apple ready to take on the cable industry and offer some sort of paid service for TV viewing. (In addition to creating a new vehicle for magazines, and conquering the eBook market.) While I think Apple has the muscle and the ingenuity to pull this off, I do wonder about the viability of the concept though. The principle reason I have doubts is that for TV viewing, in many homes that is still a family or communal thing, and couch surfing on a device is really a solitary solution. But perhaps it’s the ability to view different things at the same time in the same room that will appeal here. I have to agree with the thought behind the rumors though that Apple embarking on this sort of thing would be very healthy competition for the cable industry.

So, here’s a question for today. Actually a few questions for today. Are you ready for this kind of Tablet media consumption? Do you see yourself moving to this sort of couch or stall surfing? How could you view this fitting into your media consumption scenario?

Let us know in comments.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Will

    12/22/2009 at 10:44 am

    It’s funny that you bring up kicking cable to the corner. My wife and I just moved outside the Beltway as we needed something bigger with a backyard for the kids (yes, I still hurt from shoveling out the driveway, all 20 inches of snow!). We were really excited about getting FIOS, but let’s just say a couple of hours spent on the phone when Verizon was a no-show killed that idea. So we decided to stick with Cox, but they pulled a “we needed a bucket truck and didn’t feel the need to call and tell you” number after my wife sat at home all day waiting on them. As my wife needs broadband so she can remote in to work, we had to do something. So we decided to drop the TV and keep just the cable.

    We did this for a couple of reasons (no time to watch TV with kids, cost, etc.), but really, after a month or so sans TV, we don’t really miss it. Neither of us watched it much before, and we can now get our content online. I always said I’d get rid of cable when I could get my cartoons (thank you, Hulu) and sports (ditto ESPN 360) online. As often as not, I don’t watch the games (except for baseball); I just usually just keep the little autoupdating scoreboards up on my PC. Add in the Netflix subscription (and a nice Samsung Blu-Ray player that also streams Netflix, You Tube, Pandora, and Blockbuster), and we’re covered.

    I might eventually get an antenna so we get some local content, but at this point, I can’t see us paying for TV anytime soon.

  2. Tamas

    12/22/2009 at 10:54 am

    I think the being able to view differnet things in the same room at the same time concept is a good one. My wife and I don’t always like to watch the same programme.
    Also my family don’t normally watch things together – with small children it isn’t easy to find something entertaining for all of us.
    As for couch surfing, that’s what my wife and I do day in day out. We do have common interests but lot of the things we consume on the internet differs. Also beng wireless allows us to keep an eye on the children as they play. These times a tablet would be much preferred for its size and functionality. Unfortunatley slates are still quite expensive, so some cheaper, more browsing specific device would be brilliant.

  3. Tamas

    12/22/2009 at 11:00 am

    Re: Will

    Interestingly we pretty much did the ssame with Sky (in the UK). We were kinda fed up with the service and decided to cancel the contract. Luckily we can still get quite a good number of channels for free. To be honest there are only a few shows that we miss, but we can always buy them on DVD later…
    I think the traditioal TV watching with all the online streaming and serices is pretty much dieing – why pay money for a set of channels when most of us only watch certain shows/channels.

    Waiting for a NEtflix and Hulu like service here in UK…

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