Cutting The Cord - Part 12

All the signs point to television program delivery via the Internet. Before that can happen, we need to reach a tipping point. 

Author Malcolm Gladwell describes the Tipping Point as "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” The good news is that the idea for Internet distribution of television is well established. If the number of cities and towns who are developing municipal fiber optic networks is any indicator, the trend is definitely toward Internet-based TV. 

Just look around to see social behavior shifting away from traditional delivery mechanisms. Broadcast television virtually disappeared several years ago when the FCC re-allocated TV frequencies. Copper-based networks are hitting their physical limits at the same time "Internet everywhere" systems are demanding more and more bandwidth. DSL is now generally thought to be obsolete technology. Every new television set you can buy today is "Internet-ready."

In this series, we've discovered many independent, small- and mid-market providers who already have tipped. We've experimented with the hardware necessary to make it happen. It's just a matter of time.

Don't expect incumbent telephone and cable network providers to pass quietly into the night. They will defend their infrastructure investments mightily over the next few years -- to do otherwise would be a disservice to their shareholders. Nevertheless, I believe the most firmly established cable TV providers can easily be unseated by a new breed of fleet-afoot, cash-rich technology companies like Apple and Google.

Hang on to your cable TV and DSL service for a while longer. Watch for the tipping point when I expect municipal broadband networks to spread like wildfire, as Gladwell puts it. When a gigabit fiber optic pipe reaches your home, television on demand will rule the day.

David Brown, Woodstock VT


Read the  entire text of this series at:
http://www.aroundwoodstockvermont.blogspot.com/

Read Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point at: http://www.fspcol.com/ARTICULOS/Educativos/The%20Tipping%20Point%20How%20Little%20Things%20Can%20Make%20a%20Big%20Difference.pdf