Everyone gets a woody over this stuff until 3 years from now the internet costs $200 a month and the streaming quality is a fraction of todays cable TV.
Awesome.
Over the air TV picture quality is very good these days, for some channels slightly better than cable. And, the selection over the air is unbelievable. In Boston, there are over 50 channels available (some duplicates) over the air including ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, PBS, CW, HSN, Univision, Ion, LAFF, MOVIES!, thisTV, GRIT,... With digital channels, each over the air station can broadcast multiple channels. PBS in Boston broadcasts 4 stations on Channel 2 all with different content. All free. You are only missing sports, news like CNN/Fox News/MSNBC, and premium channels like HBO as well as some niche channels.
On my computers and TV, streaming works almost as good as cable, but the quality depends on the streamer. For example, ESPN is a better streamer than FOX sports, and Netflix is a better streamer than both ESPN and FOX although it is easier to stream archived content than live sports. I think streaming will improve over time as more companies invest in the service and internet providers upgrade their speeds. Probably the main reason people on this board have different perceptions of streaming is the quality of their internet service.
As for the cost of internet access, there is competition, although not everyone lives in a competitive environment. In my neighborhood, there are 2 internet competitors, Xfinity and RCN and they do compete on price and offerings. (I'm not counting Verizon DSL, but they may come in with FiOS in the future.) A couple of times per year, Xfinity and/or RCN knock on our door trying to get us to switch providers by offering us a great deal. RCN can be $5 to $10 per month cheaper than Xfinity, not including the unadvertised offers they make in person when they can add services. Plus, people can use wireless internet access, so I'm not buying that internet costs are going to go up a lot.
