At first blush, it appears tru2way could be a boon for consumers; imagine not being forced to rent that crappy cable box from your cable company! This means consumer electronics and software companies will finally be able to develop compelling boxes that will introduce lots of swanky new features, merely hooking into the cable network for video, right?
Wrong.
Tru2way devices are forced to use the application suite supplied by the cable company. This means that while you may be using a Sony and your neighbor might be using a Samsung, both of you will still suffer through the same horrible program guide, on-demand menu, DVR, etc. that the cable company provides. Only instead of those features being supplied through a horrible cable box, they are now built into the TV.
Essentially, Tru2way works by smooshing the same shitty cable box you have now directly into the TV. So if you walk into a store expecting to be able to buy a nice new tru2way device to get relief from horrible cable company boxes, you'll be disappointed, because EVERY tru2way device is essentially a horrible cable company box.
For cable companies, it's a boon; they used to be forced to buy cable boxes from one vendor. Cable systems running on the SciATL/Cisco platform required SciAtl/Cisco cable boxes, and systems running on the GI/Motorola platform required Motorola boxes. With tru2way, cable companies can buy boxes from anyone, regardless of what system the company runs on.
For consumers, it's just a new way for the cable companies to shaft us.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
UnnDunn @ May 29th 2008 8:11PM
At first blush, it appears tru2way could be a boon for consumers; imagine not being forced to rent that crappy cable box from your cable company! This means consumer electronics and software companies will finally be able to develop compelling boxes that will introduce lots of swanky new features, merely hooking into the cable network for video, right?
Wrong.
Tru2way devices are forced to use the application suite supplied by the cable company. This means that while you may be using a Sony and your neighbor might be using a Samsung, both of you will still suffer through the same horrible program guide, on-demand menu, DVR, etc. that the cable company provides. Only instead of those features being supplied through a horrible cable box, they are now built into the TV.
Essentially, Tru2way works by smooshing the same shitty cable box you have now directly into the TV. So if you walk into a store expecting to be able to buy a nice new tru2way device to get relief from horrible cable company boxes, you'll be disappointed, because EVERY tru2way device is essentially a horrible cable company box.
For cable companies, it's a boon; they used to be forced to buy cable boxes from one vendor. Cable systems running on the SciATL/Cisco platform required SciAtl/Cisco cable boxes, and systems running on the GI/Motorola platform required Motorola boxes. With tru2way, cable companies can buy boxes from anyone, regardless of what system the company runs on.
For consumers, it's just a new way for the cable companies to shaft us.