My wife and I always complain about our insane cable bill, but we’re both TV junkies–so what’s our alternatives? Well, it looks like “internet-TV” is about to take a huge step forward. Via /. via NYT, Adobe is about to announce a new “Flash TV,” which would be a huge step in piping internet content straight to your TV. Got an internet connection? Got Netflix? Dump your cable. These days, even most professional sporting events can be watched online for a price.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t mention quality–and its direct correspondent, file size. Last year, I was closely following concerns over bandwidth–I have to believe that if streaming video goes anywhere near this mainstream, then this conversation will resurface will a vengeance. Especially since this other conversation won’t go away. The web is not, despite popular belief, an unlimited resource. It depends on material cable–and, if high density file formats such as streaming video or even flash video go mainstream, then ISPs are going to have a much stronger case against net neutrality. I only hope that, if net neutrality is doomed, that the increases in cost are at least shared between provider and consumer; and that those increases are closely regulated by the federal government to prevent gouging.
