Netflix is using “Lilyhammer’’ as bait, hoping to lure TV viewers to move from cable and over-the-air broadcasts to watching shows on the Internet. Everyone has jumped into this pool: Apple, streaming video for iTunes; Hulu, the streaming video site; even as I started writing this piece, Verizon and Redbox, the DVD-kiosk people, announced a streaming video service. Comcast, which provides both cable TV and broadband Internet service - thanks for the recent price hike, you swine - also wants to stream me shows and movies on my computer.
Like most Americans, I still watch TV on TV. I stream Netflix onto my dinky little netbook because its software hiccups on my other computers. Alas, only one person can view the tiny netbook screen. I understand that in some hypothetical future we’ll be downloading all our entertainment from the Internet. But I’m not quite sure how I will get there.
For instance, I devoured the Wall Street Journal’s recent how-to article called “Cutting the Cord on Cable.’’ I thought it would explain in simple terms how I could dump Comcast TV. But it didn’t sound simple, and it didn’t sound cheap. For one thing, I’d have to buy a new TV. The Journal recommends the Samsung D8000 3D, Internet-enabled LED Smart TV, “from $2,700.’’
My favorite magazine, Consumer Reports, tackles the nouveau TV question in its current issue. It reviews 83 new LCD TVs, of which only 16 are fully Web-enabled. None of the 14 plasma TVs reviewed is fully Web-enabled. There is a big exception here: Almost all of the 3-D models, which are pricey, display both streaming video and Wi-Fi feeds.
Even if your TV doesn’t stream the Internet, CR says, that’s no problem: “Just insert a thumb drive into the USB port [my TV doesn’t have one of these], connect a camcorder to the HDMI input, or put a memory card into the TV’s SD slot. . . . Even without DLNA capability, you can connect a laptop computer to your TV’s HDMI or VGA input to play content.’’
Gosh, I can’t imagine what’s holding me back.
