a question for the technogeeks
(I say that with the utmost respect, because I wish I knew more.)
In my recent campaign to save money (or, more precisely, to pay Rogers less of my money) I have decided that $47/month for basic cable is ridiculous. Satellite isn't any better when it comes to the most basic of the basic. So, some questions.
1. (probably more for fellow Canucks) are the major Canadian stations still available for free? Back in the day when we lived in the middle of nowhere and had neither cable nor satellite, we still got a whole seven channels over the airwaves (CBC, CTV, Global, City, TVO, CFMT, CHCH, if memory serves). Considering that probably 95% of my usual shows are available on CTV, Global, and City, it seems faintly ridiculous to pay almost $575/year (!!!) for a handful of shows on W, the ability to watch CP24 during commercials, and timeshifting. Did the free-ness survive the switch to digital?
2. does anyone have any experience with live/internet media streaming on their TVs? I have looked very very briefly at devices such as Boxee Box and WD Live TV but I'm not entirely sure if they're worth the money and hassle. I'd mainly want it to watch shows available on TV stations' sites or YouTube or the shows I, ah, acquire that I can't get using my current cable package. (This would probably require me to bump up from basic internet to the next tier, but that's still only $15/month more rather than $47, so it's still a win.) Also, how does one know if one has an "internet ready" television? (I'm guessing if I don't know, mine probably isn't. Also, I've had it almost 3 years and this is probably something newer than that?)
There's probably more I should be asking, but that's a good place to start. And even if I just get enough information to fake it, I can bluff my way into a discount with Rogers by threatening to go this route if they don't lower my cable bill. ;)
In my recent campaign to save money (or, more precisely, to pay Rogers less of my money) I have decided that $47/month for basic cable is ridiculous. Satellite isn't any better when it comes to the most basic of the basic. So, some questions.
1. (probably more for fellow Canucks) are the major Canadian stations still available for free? Back in the day when we lived in the middle of nowhere and had neither cable nor satellite, we still got a whole seven channels over the airwaves (CBC, CTV, Global, City, TVO, CFMT, CHCH, if memory serves). Considering that probably 95% of my usual shows are available on CTV, Global, and City, it seems faintly ridiculous to pay almost $575/year (!!!) for a handful of shows on W, the ability to watch CP24 during commercials, and timeshifting. Did the free-ness survive the switch to digital?
2. does anyone have any experience with live/internet media streaming on their TVs? I have looked very very briefly at devices such as Boxee Box and WD Live TV but I'm not entirely sure if they're worth the money and hassle. I'd mainly want it to watch shows available on TV stations' sites or YouTube or the shows I, ah, acquire that I can't get using my current cable package. (This would probably require me to bump up from basic internet to the next tier, but that's still only $15/month more rather than $47, so it's still a win.) Also, how does one know if one has an "internet ready" television? (I'm guessing if I don't know, mine probably isn't. Also, I've had it almost 3 years and this is probably something newer than that?)
There's probably more I should be asking, but that's a good place to start. And even if I just get enough information to fake it, I can bluff my way into a discount with Rogers by threatening to go this route if they don't lower my cable bill. ;)