I’ve been watching TV over the Internet since its very early days. Today, I own, and use, an Apple TV, a network capable Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray Disc Player, and a Roku KDS. I also subscribe to Hulu Plus and Netflix. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. I know, like and watch TV over the Internet all the time
That’s why I’m not happy to report that for many people, TV over the Internet still isn’t good enough. Oh, it’s not the video quality. With a high-speed connection, like my own Charter cable 25Mbps (Megabits per second) connection, 720p HD video comes in just fine. Oh, in the future, it may be another story. There’s not enough Internet to go around for everyone to watch TV over the net. Even now, Netflix alone is taking up an insane amount of available Internet bandwidth, but that’s not the problem I see most people having with the currently generation of video streaming services.
No, the real problem is in content. As most of you know, most sports aren’t available over the Internet. There are some exceptions, such as ESPN3, which I see is now showing—I’m not making this up—high school field hockey. And, as a baseball fan, I like that I can watch baseball both on my PC and on my Roku via MLB.TV. Past that though, the pickings get scarce.