Internet TV.... Not yet

I have been waiting forever for Internet TV but it still isn't quite there yet. Sure you can watch TV via the web now but the infrastructure is not there to support all of us watching web TV.

Just look at bandwidth limitations currently in place.... Even the high bandwidth providers limit bandwidth to around 60gb per month which is fine for most current users but if you are watching basic digital TV you are looking at approximately 600mb per hour of TV... Watching 2 hours per day on one TV will take up more than half your bandwidth... If you watch 4 hours you are going to be paying overage charges... If you have 2 TV's get ready to pay big time even if you watch the same shows. If you are like me and are on wireless highspeed you haven't got a hope... It costs a fortune for anything higher than 10gb per month on wireless. My house runs 3 TV's at least 4 hours per day so even with the best available options I would have to pay a lot for bandwidth. What if we talk about HD quality with 7.1 sound.... the bandwidth goes through the roof.

The infrastructure is not in place to support all of us getting on at 9pm to watch our favorite show. Just think of the bandwidth required for everyone to watch something like the Superboal in full HD? The entire system would collapse under the strain. We can't handle anything close to the required bandwidth yet but that is just a technical problem that will be resolved.
There is also the issues of content quality, availability and management. However, all the big players are setting up their own systems for content at a furious pace.

Whether we like it or not the web is merging all communication mediums. Soon we will laugh at the way people used phones and had to be home to watch a TV show. How did they do it...  ;)

Just think, YouTube users are apparently posting 31 minutes of video to the web every minute... and that is just one video content system... Many more are coming soon. Question is do we want to watch it?

Wireless Internet Sticks

If you are looking at getting the Rogers RocketStick or Bell/Telus versions of the same thing(Wireless Internet) here is some helpfull stuff I have found...

1. Rogers is by far fastest. I tested Bell and Telus sticks(latest) against Rogers HSPA(7.1mb) from the same computer in the same house using several web based speed testers. Rogers was consistently 10+ times faster then Bell and at least 8 times faster than Telus. Rogers has since gotten even faster with HSPA+(21mb)

2. DON'T GET YOUR STICK FROM ROGERS! If you go to Futureshop right now you can get a free netbook($299) if you sign up with the 2 year plan.

3. Make sure you get the HSPA+ stick even if service is not available in your area yet. It s a better quality stick. Model MF668... I think the old one is MF638.

4.If you don't watch video on the web you probably can get away with 500mb plan. You can always upgrade later without problem but you are penalized if you downgrade. You can get a real idea of your usage in first 2 months when downloads are "free"... Be careful, that is not quite true... They don't tell you that they will charge you if you go over 5gb(so I heard).

I got my HSPA+ stick from Rogers on Sunday only to find the deal at Futureshop on Tuesday. Deal only on for short time so if your interested go now. This might get more convoluted when I take the stick I bought on Sunday back to rogers today. Update you if there are any issues.