A co-founder of Spreety TV Online, Ron Laughton shares his perspectives of watching TV online.
Perspective is a fickle thing, and my personal opinions may be best expressed by an observation. My kids don’t understand why they can’t watch their favorite shows immediately at grandma’s house. When I reference a guide to find the time a show will be on a channel, and then try to explain it’s not available at this time, my kids don’t understand.
My kids are accustomed to anytime, anywhere, which is the promise of online TV.
It’s not just us. Recently, movie night at a friend’s house was streamed via Netflix Watch Instantly over a Wii game console. A few years ago, that would have been a trip to Blockbuster to wait in line to rent a DVD.
At the gym, an instructor asked me what my favorite music was. Using his iPhone, he streamed Gershwin via Pandora radio into the gym’s speakers, which was quickly vetoed, and someone else suggested Black Eyed Peas.
Life is good. I don’t set up a DVR to record my shows. If there is a power outage, I won’t miss my shows. If a game does into overtime, it does not cut short or into something else.
I have one remote control (Gyration) that I use for a PC with Spreety TV Online connected via HDMI to a monitor with surround sound. Gone are the cable TV box, DVD player, DVR, 6 CD changer, radio tuner, amplifier, second set of speakers, video game console, and remotes to each. We now store a comfy set of blankets where the hardware used to be.
My entertainment PC plays music via iTunes and home videos. When I sit on the couch, I read Yahoo news, emails, blogs, and surf Picagon’s Funny Pictures. The screen saver is, of course, photos of the kids.
While creating Spreety, I have met amazing visionaries for revolutionizing online TV. NDAs prevent the details, but there’s lots of cool stuff on the way.
Occasionally, I ask myself what I miss about the old TV. It’s just entertainment, so the million substitutes online heavily outweigh the short list:
- Super Bowl Live (The game is available online as a replay.)
- NBA Finals Live (The games are available online as a replay.)
- Live Finales to Reality TV Shows (The shows are available online as a replay.)
While there are free solutions to the above, such as over-the-air transmissions, some people live in a zone that has poor reception to HDTV signals. Being in such a location, it will be nice when the local stations broadcast online for the IP addresses in the neighborhood.
When I unplugged the cable TV in 2007, it was a simple economic decision: I just didn’t feel it was worth $70 a month. Spreety went live in April, 2008, and most recently, the Spreety Challenge gathered the opinions of others. In the coming months, the results of the Spreety Challenge will be shared. My views are my own, and for each Spreety Challenge participant, the same applies.
Perspective is a fickle thing, and sharing multiple perspectives will be entertaining.
Editor Note: We appreciate Ron and other Spreety Challenge participants sharing their choices. However, these choices are not endorsements by Spreety, as Spreety TV Online is friendly to all entertainment choices.
