Cable had its day. Once it offered an alternative to normal rabbit ear broadcast television. You could get a static-free picture, although at first all you got were reruns. Later, the cable channels started offering original programming. Then, cable started offering many more channels than broadcast TV.
Things got good for cable. Providers started to pay for better placement on the cable box, called retransmission agreements. Then cable got greedy. Cable providers started bundling their channels. In order to get the channel you wanted, you had to also buy eight other crappy channels that no one wanted to watch. Cable started to act like a monopoly because there was only one cable provider permitted for each area.
Then came competition for cable. Satellite TV. You didn't need a cable. Just point a dish at the sky and you could get plenty of channels. You could cut the cord to cable and get a competitive price.
Then came the Internet. People spent more time online and less time watching cable. As modems got faster and phone lines switched to fiber optic, entertainment content started to be available as streaming media, cutting further into cable's audience.
Cable needed an edge, so they started to fight back against the phone companies by offering phone and Internet service over cable lines. But just then came improvements in wireless transmission. Why watch expensive cable if you can download a movie to your telephone? Software and Internet companies are now competing with cable for the connection to home TV's.
This year we will see Google and Apple set top boxes. You can download any show you want any time you want. Hulu will offer unlimited viewing for $10 a month to your phone, pad, TV or whatever. Soon cable may go the same way as the Pony Express.
In a world where people are dropping home telephones because cell phones are cheaper and portable, cable keeps increasing its prices. I don't see the logic. Video stores got creamed by Netflix and even Blockbuster is selling online. In a few years, coaxial cable might only be useful as a way to tie up old Christmas trees.
Let's hope wireless providers don't get cocky like the cable guys did. At the rate technology is advancing, maybe even they might get replaced. Did I mention you can now get high definition TV shows on a special portable TV? All you need is the small tuner, some batteries and a good set of rabbit ears. Funny how everything old is new again.
Marvin Wolf is a Newark bankruptcy attorney and debt relief agent who is a regular columnist for Local Talk. His website is www.wolfprotect.com.
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