Another great idea that needs more development and rolling out and real world testing, particularly in rural areas, To play devils advocate , Ie content producer side, the idea of a set top box in which everything come in is prime for DRM and monitoring whats being watched ect.. Another interim idea until Iptv gets worked out is tvs with internet access built in, ie, wireless, or wired,,and a build in web browser, and possibly coming with a wireless keyboard, letting you surf the net and watch youtube and stream content directly to the tv without going through a computer. The idea of a pvr built into a tv doesn’t appeal to me , as I know, from past experience, pvr hard drives work the hardest of any hard drive out there and tend to fail, thus replacing a pvr hard drive built into a tv could be a challenge.

http://kenenthlawson.blogspot.com/

If I remember correctly, UVerse can only send one HD channel at a time to your location. What if I wanted to record 2 HD channels with my DVR and watch a 3rd HD channel at the same time?

As more and more channels become HD, this is becoming more of a reality.

I’m sure people are replacing their bedroom TVs with HD as well as the one in their living room. That still doesn’t include the home theatre some will have in their basement

Another important point…not really having to do with IPTV per se, but maybe having to do with interactive IPTV….if such a thing ever exists…

I was reading an article a few years ago where the author stated something like…“the internet will not fully function to its full potential until all services are symetrical…”  After reading that statement I thought..how RIGHT this was.  What this means is “until all speeds are the same down and up”.  Let’s say you have 5mHz down and 5 mHz up or 20 mHz down and 20 mHz up.  This day is finally here, although symetrical service has a higher price right now, at least it is now offered. Maybe as it becomes more common, and more competively offered by different services, it will become more economical.

You’ll be able to run a website off your PC or upload that large TiVo movie file in a flash, etc…  All interactive technology will be much better, interactive games, services, etc…

Maybe for owning One TV Grampa’s house, but NOT for me.  I have two (2) Cable Set Top boxes and two (2) PVR’s.  One PVR has two tuners with two cable cards inside (1.50/mo.) and needs no STB.  (The other PVR stands with one of the cable boxes in another room.)  OK, these are the ones I have to pay a monthly fee for.

Now I also have 5 other TV’s in different area’s (other bedrooms, shop in basement, etc.) receiving free local and unscrambled channels over Cable.  I also have an HTPC with multiple tuners (4) all receiving FREE local and unscrambled channels. I pay NOTHING for all of these!

Also, I can ALREADY access my two (2) PVR’s and my HTPC to change or make recordings.  You DON’t NEED IPTV to do that, anybody can with the right unit.  Soon I will be able to access lighting thru the network. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it will be a Great Picture (or it better be) if they’re only sending me one signal over IP at a time.

But there are things unanswered by this artical and need to be looked into and/or considered…

1. Let’s say I lost all my marbles and went ahead with IPTV and payed for every signal I needed/or that I have now.  Having more than 8 IPTV boxes, each requesting a different channel, would all the channels still look as good at the same time?  Would all signals being sent down the IPTV start being compressed to handle the situation?
Would I start receiving messages like “Please wait while the buffer fills up…blah blah blah.????

2. What about all that equipment that people have already bought with cable cards?  Will IPTV honor them/work with them?

Please don’t get me wrong, I love stuff over IP.  But I feel, in the present day, that cable gives the most quantity free service.  What I am striving for in the next couple of month’s (since my area is now FIOS to my door ready) is to have everything over IP, except TV.  I would like to get a pkg from Verizon for 20mHz down/5 up, Phone Loc/LD, and Cell, and even EVDO for Laptop when I am in NYC at work in the field.

Right now unless IPTV allows for viewing of all local and those “80 lower channels” with no per box fee and no loss in signal, I would NOT choose it.