There are two sayings that are often at odds with one another:
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
And
Keep moving forward.
One warns that tinkering with something that is already perfect will only make it less perfect. While the other warns that sitting still is stagnation. And stagnation is death. It is apparent that the television industry has tried their best to enact both pieces of sage advice at the same time.
On the one hand, the traditional model of TV is not broken. You can still purchase a box and connect it to an antenna to get free OTA broadcasts. That is the same as ever, except the picture quality is greatly improved. You can subscribe to a traditional content package and get more channels and services than ever before.
Order DIRECTV or any of the other big providers and you will get a very comfortable and familiar package of local and cable channels, music channels, and movie channels. The only difference between what you get today and what your grandparents got back in the day is how much more of it you get and a much better quality for a comparatively lower price. No one can honestly look at that and call it broken.
On the other hand, the established companies have new competitors that are offering a slightly different take on TV. They offer less a replacement for traditional TV and more an enhancement. Even the traditional providers are taking on these new features and new ideas. They know they have to keep moving forward.
Here are some of the new things you can add to help you advance your TV viewing to the next level:
Make It Smarter
It started with smartphones, then smartwatches. Now we have smart TVs. You can buy a TV with something like Android TV software installed. Or you can buy a set-top box from Apple or Amazon to add intelligence to your TV in the form of a speech-enabled digital assistant, media search, and apps that bring content and games.
These smart add-ons range in price from $30 to about $200. Some offer little more than access to Netflix and other popular services. While others offer a full range of content in 4K HDR, advanced accessibility features, and content stores. This will not replace your TV service. But it definitely takes it to the next level.
On-demand
All the major TV content providers offer some form of on-demand TV and movie availability. But let’s face it: Those offerings will never fully get the job done for the serious TV watcher.
Services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime offer subscriptions to content libraries that tend to be much more encompassing than what traditional providers offer. Apple does not yet offer a subscription but has a massive library of shows, seasons, and episodes you can buy. And their movie rental and purchase library is massive.
While third-party on-demand providers tend to have more content, they do not have the most up to date content. Nothing beats the program you recorded on your DVR. It is exactly what you want to see. And you can watch it the same day it airs. In most cases, you can skip right past the commercials. It is not a matter of choosing one on-demand method over another. You need both to get true on-demand TV.
Take It with You
One of the biggest advances in TV is the ability to take it with you whether in the house or beyond. If you have an iPad, you already have one of the best portable TVs ever conceived. The picture is likely better than it is on your big screen.
You can watch it on the go or just set it up in another room. And there is a good chance your traditional company has some type of app that allows you to watch most of your channels away from home on mobile devices.
Traditional TV is not broken. But it has also progressed. Keep it moving forward by making it smarter, watching it on your demanding schedule, and taking it with you for enjoyment whenever and wherever you find yourself in a TV frame of mind.
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