We have an Apple TV, an internet TV and cable box. The cable box rarely get turned on. They consume a lot of electricity, and you get something like 200 channels of mostly rubbish. The problem is we would only be saving about $25 a month if we ditched it and just went with the 70 or so free channels.
Apple TV connects via wifi and has a much more user friendly interface. It’s also cheaper since the mainstay of it is Netflix. It offers movies, documentaries TV shows, podcasts, radio and connects up with your Mac. Unfortunately, we’ve seen many of the good news podcasts dropped, and movies are not updated as frequently as they should be. There is a dedicated sports channel. Hulu is an add-on to Apple TV and broadens the choice, but for the extra you pay doesn’t seem worth it IMO.
The Internet TV we have is a flat screen that can surf the internet. It’s a little like Apple TV, but has YouTube, Amazon movies and other mostly superfluous stuff. We’ve noticed the surfing speeds to be slow, so actual web-based TV is not good. It has no cable box so gets just the 70 free channels.
I believe TV on demand is the future, and cable will die a slow death if it doesn’t embrace on-demand. That way you just pay for what you want.
I live in a condo/townhouse complex and we all pay individually. This makes sense unless your association can negotiate big discounts. Individuals could then elect whether they want a cable box or not, and pay the difference themselves, or just go the Apple TV route and only pay the Netflix subscription.
Remember that cable is bundled with telephone and internet, and your provider may not offer much of a discount if you detached cable.
