The final Rose Café of the semester focused on cutting the cord and using internet based entertainment such as Netflix or other streaming services. The talk was timely because earlier this week I had talked to my parents about canceling our TV service in favor of a service such as YouTube TV. Luckily, my family has internet service that can support streaming services, so we have the opportunity to consider alternate services. However, the speaker stressed the importance of bandwidth and latency in internet services.
The speaker’s research focuses on determining consumer’s willingness to pay for increased bandwidth or decreased latency. This is a difficult problem because many consumers do not understand the differences and even when explained they might give inaccurate information when their money is not on the line.
It seems natural that more and more people will cut the cord and shift towards online options. I can easily foresee never subscribing to cable or landline phone in my life. Besides live sporting events, I almost never miss TV at school with online options such as Netflix. I am excited to see how these online services will enhance the user experience with TV instead of just moving the same content to a new device.
That sounds like a really interesting Rose Cafe! I wish I was there for it. I actually don’t have a super clear idea of increased bandwidth vs. decreased latency so that sounds like a super interesting topic I can read more into.
Netflix killed Blockbuster, and soon basic cable will share the same fate. The internet is the new medium, and it’s important to explore the ways we can improve this technology that will no doubt only continue to permeate every aspect of our lives.
I totally agree with you; soon cable television will be something of the past. While I’m away at college I hardly find the need for cable television, because even the shows that I do watch on T.V. can be found on the internet. In addition, if I ever find myself in need of a movie night, netflix is the perfect source. As previous comments have mentioned, we have already seen the effects netflix has had on certain companies such as Blockbuster.
While I agree with that we will definitely see a shift from the things like cable to just internet-based entertainment, I don’t know if I’ll be as willing to let go of certain things. When I go home, I enjoy watching live TV (just the local channel offerings though, no extra cable things) and I like the idea of stability that comes with a landline (and sometimes I choose to use the phone with a cord and dialtone rather than a wireless device to make calls).
That’s not to say I don’t fully use and enjoy new media and technology. I just don’t feel completely comfortable with a full switch over yet because of the vulnerabilities that didn’t use to exist as well as the dependence on ISPs – and hopefully, we continue to have net neutrality and perhaps better service overall through good-old-competition in certain areas.