Boxee Brings Net-Based TV Just a Little Closer
Will the Internet destroy cable television? The question, which would have seemed absurd only a couple of years ago, is suddenly being taken very seriously, especially by the cable companies. The barrier to Internet-based television once seemed to be mainly technological. Increasingly, it is just a matter of working out some business issues.
Cable TV will be around for a long time, as will satellite and cable-like services from Verizon Communications (VZ) and AT&T (T). But all of them will soon start to feel competitive pressure from the Net.
The online availability of TV shows, new and old, has been growing rapidly. There are, however, two big issues. One is that content is scattered across dozens of Web sites with no centralized program guide. The other is that Web content is generally designed to be watched on a computer display, but people who have invested in big-screen televisions and quality sound systems prefer to watch TV on, well, a TV. In response, consumer electronics makers have been adding Internet capabilities to devices such as game consoles, TiVos (TIVO), and TV sets themselves, though no single product can show more than a bit of all the content out there.
