The Internet = TV 2.0

[MonsterX]

Anyone else getting all their programming off the internet instead of network television? My wife likes to watch scrubs and a few other shows streaming off the internet and I watch the daily show and south park on the internet. We have the cheapest available netflix subscription and we primarily use it to stream movie directly to our big screen tv.

The thing I like so much about internet tv is that everything is on demand. There so schedule or anything, you pick when you want to watch what. Hulu is a site with a bunch of shows and movies which is slowly getting better and better and AMC just launched “BMC”, (B-movie classics) online. www.dreadcentral.com/news/31198/amc-launches-bmc-online

Has anyone else given up network television for the internet? Now I can watch documentaries all night instead of sitcom crap.

[Mod City]

I'm not. I hate watching television or movies on a computer. I only download or watch online if, for some reason, I miss an episode of something and I fail to record it properly. It's handy, but by far not my preferred method of taking in my entertainment.

That said, it's obvious that the trend is heading toward online distribution of entertainment. I don't like it, but that's progress.

[Captain Hygiene]

I'm with Mod City - I love having it available to catch up on missed shows, but I don't like it as my primary means to watch shows.

[The Mad Plumber]

While the rest of my family has not lost their romance for television, it is something I very much can do without. I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on their streaming internet sites. I can also watch Robot Chicken online and several of my favorite television shows (Mystery Science Theater 3000, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Married ... With Children, M*A*S*H) are available on DVD or VHS. The only thing I watch television for is PBS. On PBS, I can catch art shows and The Red Green Show.

I've grown tired of sitcoms as I believe that most of them are all the same. I guess I'm a person who doesn't fit the model of the typical television viewer anymore. Everything I liked has been cancelled and I find myself repulsed by all the cliche programming that is drawing popular appeal.

[Torgo]

My computer is slow as hell, so I definatly would never even attempt to download television shows online. Not to mention my computer room definatly isn't all too cozy, so even if I could, I probably wouldn't.

For on demand service, I have DVR. I have no reason for internet download at this time.

[siamesesin]

I like Hulu. The stream is actually very high quality. I check out a lot on Adult Swim and Comedy Central, although both sites need a little tinkering to improve the quality. The big networks have crap for library and quality-in particular, NBC's site sucks.

[Mighty Jack]

Yes, I haven't paid for cable in a while, which means I don't see anything unless I do a DVD or whatnot. I watch the handful of my fav shows (Life, Bones, CSI, Dollhouse) on the PC . Vista gives me a lovely picture and I sit here at work in between rounds and watch. I haven't had problems with NBC but Fox will hiccup and give a bad picture every once in a while.

[BilLumberg]

I watch everything on a PC. I have three different configurations though.

The easiest one is using the svideo out to a twenty year old 26" TV set. Instead of speakers I feed the audio to the TV input. Set up the svideo to clone, and you can't tell if you are watching a PC or a DVD player. With zoomplayer set to use the overlay you can even minimise the player and still use the PC normally on the PC monitor without effecting the picture on the TV.

The second is a 32" LCD that I use as my regular PC monitor. Just fullscreen the player and you are watching a 32" TV. Most LCD TV's will accept a VGA input. Or use a newer PC that can output a HDMI signal. And you still have all the other regular inputs on the LCD for regular use.

The last one is a digital projector that is basically just a LCD monitor to the PC, but it projects a 130" screen on the wall. It simply is a big 1280X720 computer screen. Feed the digital audio from the PC to a reciever and you have a home theater. The PC upscales anything you watch to 720p. Even DAP avi encodes look good five feet tall. And once again the projector will still have inputs for a DVD player or sat/cable box for regular TV use.

Many laptops have svideo and VGA out. So many people may just need a few cables for any one of these configurations.

[Gripweed]

The only shows I actually watch on TV anymore is this British car show called Top Gear. Also, NCIS. Everything else I get from Youtube or DVD.

[Skyroniter]

I'm still a TV person. Sitting in front of my computer and watching streaming video doesn't do it for me.