Join the Digital Age & Start Streaming

There once was a time when TV was free. In the late 50s into the early 70s, apartment dwellers and suburbanites installed TV antennas on their roofs and set rabbit ears on top of TVs. Homeowners fiddled with rabbit ears to get a good picture, and that was how we watched television — back in the Stone Age.

Television has evolved from various types of televisions available to different ways of delivering a television signal for viewing pleasures. Technology also continues to manipulate how and what we watch on TV. Streaming television through DSL and ADSL signals is revolutionizing our TV viewing experience. Most of us are already familiar with DSL, but understanding ADSL is a bit more complicated.

How does ADSL work? Internet is delivered to an Internet subscriber through a dedicated telephone line and microfilter that’s connected to the phone line. The digital cable signal is sent through the copper wires of your phone line, and then split through the filter so you can use your phone and still surf the Web. Depending on your service provider, ADSL is a good choice.

Meanwhile, streaming video is really catching on as a permanent trend. Free yourself from the clutches of your present cable provider, and check out the following streaming devices currently available on the market.

• Roku LT: Roku LT is affordable and offers services such as Pandora, Netflix, Hulu, and Hulu Plus. A search feature that covers multiple streaming platforms is also available.
• Apple TV: Apple TV provides the same options as the Roku LT except the device includes i-Tunes. Users can stream any content they own from the Apple Cloud, including music playlists and purchased movies. View them without any additional charges.
• Roku 3: Roku 3 offers a varied selection of platforms for TV viewing, including Disney, Hulu, Netflix, sport channels, and Pandora.

Gamers who own a Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii or X-Box 360 can stream content through services such as Netflix or Hulu right through the game console. Gamers can avoid the added expense of purchasing a separate streaming device.

And what about the costs of these services? Yes, you’ll still have to pay for Internet service, and each of these streaming services cost separately. The advantage is you’ll only pay for the services you actually use each month, which can be a more affordable option than what a cable or dish service provider offers with television packages. Watch out for rising prices from cable and satellite content providers, and be aware of higher charges after that first introductory year of service. If you haven’t replaced cable and satellite services with entertainment streaming, consider the costs. We’re living in a digital age that requires smartphones for survival, streaming may not only revolutionize how you watch and enjoy entertainment, it could save you big time.

(Photo: Apple TV, en.wikipedia.org.)