Speed, speed and more speed...

 

 

"Our cable company advertises 300MB of speed. Another up to 1GB. It makes me dizzy thinking about it..."

Yesterday we had a major upgrade performed on our cable system. All I have to say about today's technology is this - "We have come a long way, baby!" When the cable tech was here (and he was here for most of the day), I told him what TV was like when I was a boy. We had three channels and one crumby black and white TV. The big news when I was almost in Junior High School was a fourth channel broadcast was added! Party on! For most of my growing up years, my folks had one black and white TV (with rabbit ears) and four channels.

Flash forward to today. Our house (like most) has more than one TV. Many if not all, are flat screen and HD capable. We have cable. These days if you don't have cable or a dish, good luck. The broadcast signals are meant to be transmitted via cable or satellite for maximum reception and maximum channels. The speed (even at the lower end like we have) is blazing fast. And as for channel selection, it is a classic example of Alvin Toffler's premise of "over selection".

All the providers are gearing up for the "big dance". And what is that? Wireless. Everything wireless. A house will get signal coming in from either a cable or dish, it will run through the modem and then wireless router. Live TV and internet will be available on TV, PC, tablet, smart phone or whatever. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, it is changing everything. We are going from tethered to untethered and free as a bird.

So when will all this happen? Very soon. Another internet and TV provider has just asked Minneapolis for permission to compete with the existing cable company. If permission is granted, it will start early next year. The lines from this new cable company will all be fiber optic and the signal provided will be wireless. They advertise it will allow you to watch live TV on any device. Seems that the "big dance" might be right around the corner.

When the cable tech was here, I asked him if he understood the mechanics of networking. He looked at me and said it was black magic to him. How a signal came come into a house through a skinny cable, go into a modem and then become wireless through a router, goes into a TV, and then produces a high definition movie complete with surround sound. He and I were in total agreement - this is all black magic. This technology is so far over my head it is boggling.

The upgrade is now done, and all there is left to do is the "syncing" of some devices. Everything is working fine, so the Bird is able to do his daily rants on his blog. As more and more (and bigger) fiber optic "pipe" gets put into the IT infrastructure, the sky will become the limit for home entertainment. The only fly in this ointment is this - there are many times when I have gone through over a hundred channels and not found nothing worth watching. Jaded, I may have become...