New Technology Talk

First there were movies. And if you wanted to watch one, you had to get out of the house, cold weather or hot, rain or snow and go to the theater. And if you were early for a show, you had to wait, and if you were late to a show, then you either missed the first part, or you had to wait a LONG time for the next show. And if you missed a movie you really wanted to see, then that was really just bad luck. Then came TV and TV movies and even movies that had been at the theater may get a play once a week or so. Maybe you’d get to see that movie you really wanted to watch after all. But, if that didn’t fit in your schedule, then that was, again. Too bad.
Next came cable TV and the movie channels. HBO, Cinemax and Showtime were finally bringing movies to the home every day and you may get to watch that movie at last. But if you happened to be on vacation that month, or it was a movie that didn’t make their show lists, then? Too bad.

Finally they came up with VCR’s and that gave us the ability to time shift TV shows so we could watch them when we wanted to, and Hollywood released movie after movie after movie on VHS cassette. Finally you got to see that movie you always wanted to!
Then the DVD’s came out to replace the VCR’s. Almost. The DVD’s were more reliable, they didn’t wear out after only a few views like a VHS tape did, and the DVD’s were smaller, lighter and easier to mess with. The drawback was, you lost the ability to record TV shows.

And then they release DVR’s and PVR’s to take care of that. At last, the consumer had all the tools they needed to be able to watch what they wanted when they wanted. Right?

Almost. When movies completed a theater run, many times it took a year or more before it came to HO or Showtime. This meant that if you missed it in the theater, unless you wanted to spring for the DVD or make the same effort it takes to go to the theater to go to the local video store and rent it, then you were out of luck That is, until they came out with PPV’s. Pay Per View movies generally released about the same time as the DVD, or within a few weeks at worst. This gave viewers the same convenience that they had with HBO and Cinemax, but with movies they’d actually heard of in the last few months, not a year or so after it came to the theater. So, at last. Finally everything a viewer could want. Learn more about Time Warner Cable TV Deals.

Wrong again. Even with this level of convenience, if you have a tight schedule, or wanted to bring the convenience of being able to start the movie when you wanted to start it, just like starting a DVD, but you want to do that with a Pay Per View movie, you couldn’t do it.

But VOD fixes even that. Find the VOD channels, pick whichever movie you want to watch, and when you hit the “Go” button, the movie starts. When you want it to. Just like a DVD.

At last. This is the pinnacle of convenience for the home Digital Cable TV aficionado.