http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/ Engadget HD Comments for http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/
They were intended to satisfy the FCCs desire for open access to cable networks for CE companies without forcing the cable companies to actually provide open access.

What the FCC and consumers want is to be able to buy and use flexible, innovative gear on their cable networks. Not just DVRs... gear that can use the cable signal to do truly special things, cheaply, and without having to beg the cable company to support it.

The cable companies have no intention of letting that happen. CableCARD was merely the first of many steps towards that goal, and that one step took 10 years of fighting to win. And even now, the cable companies are doing their level best to make sure it doesn't get off the ground by sealing CableCARDs in with boxes and by stifling approval of CableCARD devices.

So CableCARD has been a success... just not for consumers.]]>Oct 2nd 2007 12:19PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/Oct 2nd 2007 12:29PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/Oct 2nd 2007 1:54PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/
I had one in my TV for 5 days, and it was a disaster. All I wanted was the ability to watch HD television, no Tivo, no cablebox, just television. The installers were clueless and phone support really didn't understand what I was talking about.

Cablecard is going nowhere until it just works, right out of the box and that is never going to happen.]]>Oct 2nd 2007 2:46PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/Oct 2nd 2007 4:18PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/
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]]>Oct 2nd 2007 5:18PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/
And THAT is why the cablecard is DOA.]]>Oct 2nd 2007 7:10PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/Oct 3rd 2007 12:16PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/Oct 2nd 2007 10:44PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/
Personally, I think what the FCC should be pushing more for is allowing more stations on Digital Cable to be Clear QAM than just the local broadcast stations and certain music stations (usually the only digital cable stations that are Clear QAM, the rest are Encrypted QAM). More and more HDTVs and HDTV tuners on PCs are supporting Clear QAM and personally, it would be nice if those of us who have Clear QAM compatible TVs/tuners could just watch the digital stations we subscribed for, painlessly without needing a tuner box or a CableCARD and they could just block out the stations we didn't subscribe for. But knowing these companies and their DRM and whatnot, I seriously doubt that would ever, ever happen anytime soon...]]>Oct 4th 2007 1:13AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/Oct 5th 2007 1:33AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/02/are-cablecards-a-success/Oct 9th 2007 10:19AM