How We Watch TV Now
By Heather Armstrong (from Dooce) on November 23, 2009
I've written a lot in the past about living in the age of being able to pause live television and how it's the most glorious time to be alive and living. There are few things greater than being able to pause the television to yell at my husband or children to please ZIP IT because two blonde imbeciles are about to argue over problems people living in the Third World would love to have, and if I don't hear that argument I won't know what to do with those extra 100 brain cells.
But
the next revolution is almost upon us where we can just pick whatever
we want to watch when we want to watch it. No need to download a whole
movie or TV series, we can now just stream it to the TV. My husband is
helping by buying every streaming/digital convergence device he can get
his hands on, hoping to find the next great thing to make our
waistlines triple the size of our brains.
Of the devices and cables he's installed in our bedroom for the TV there, the best has been a small computer (PC or Mac) to use for watching Hulu and other streaming offerings. If what you want isn't on Hulu, most TV networks have free video they offer, and the quality isn't bad. The only drawback is how much it costs for the computer and the cables to connect it to your home network and TV. Fortunately for me, I have my husband. He recently started asking me questions about something technologically related and I looked at him like I usually do when he starts with the tech talking. It's as though he's using a language not yet invented. I replied, "I don't use half the features of the stuff I own."
I
couldn't have struck a worse nerve with my husband. He started
twitching and shaking. After a few minutes, I offered to let him show
me a feature of some software so he'd stop writhing on the floor.
If you think that pausing live TV is great, wait until you can set your media PC to stream hundreds of Sesame Street clips without touching anything. My oldest daughter was enthralled for six days straight!
Having asked my husband about the kind of PC you need to hook to your TV, here's what he told me:
1. Needs to be at least a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo or equivalent
2. Needs to have at least 2 gigabytes of RAM
3. WiFi 802.11n or wired ethernet
4. A media playing software and/or browser plugins
5. Preferably an HDMI out, but a DVI, DisplayPort or Mini DisplayPort will work with an HDMI adapter. That's for the video.
6. For audio, if your small PC doesn't have an HDMI port, you'll have to get audio from it to your TV. Most PCs have a mini stereo plug that can then be hooked to an adapter. If you want the PC to hook up to your home theater, you'll want to talk to a home theater person for the right adapters and setup. HDMI is the easiest way to hook things together, but a lot of older gear won't have this port.
7. Time to watch all the awesome streaming stuff that is out there.
Hope this helps. It sure helps me get caught up when I miss too many episodes of House.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heather Armstrong is an award-winning blogger, New York Times bestselling author and listed as one of the top women in media by Forbes.
But
the next revolution is almost upon us where we can just pick whatever
we want to watch when we want to watch it. No need to download a whole
movie or TV series, we can now just stream it to the TV. My husband is
helping by buying every streaming/digital convergence device he can get
his hands on, hoping to find the next great thing to make our
waistlines triple the size of our brains.Of the devices and cables he's installed in our bedroom for the TV there, the best has been a small computer (PC or Mac) to use for watching Hulu and other streaming offerings. If what you want isn't on Hulu, most TV networks have free video they offer, and the quality isn't bad. The only drawback is how much it costs for the computer and the cables to connect it to your home network and TV. Fortunately for me, I have my husband. He recently started asking me questions about something technologically related and I looked at him like I usually do when he starts with the tech talking. It's as though he's using a language not yet invented. I replied, "I don't use half the features of the stuff I own."
I
couldn't have struck a worse nerve with my husband. He started
twitching and shaking. After a few minutes, I offered to let him show
me a feature of some software so he'd stop writhing on the floor.If you think that pausing live TV is great, wait until you can set your media PC to stream hundreds of Sesame Street clips without touching anything. My oldest daughter was enthralled for six days straight!
Having asked my husband about the kind of PC you need to hook to your TV, here's what he told me:
1. Needs to be at least a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo or equivalent
2. Needs to have at least 2 gigabytes of RAM
3. WiFi 802.11n or wired ethernet
4. A media playing software and/or browser plugins
5. Preferably an HDMI out, but a DVI, DisplayPort or Mini DisplayPort will work with an HDMI adapter. That's for the video.
6. For audio, if your small PC doesn't have an HDMI port, you'll have to get audio from it to your TV. Most PCs have a mini stereo plug that can then be hooked to an adapter. If you want the PC to hook up to your home theater, you'll want to talk to a home theater person for the right adapters and setup. HDMI is the easiest way to hook things together, but a lot of older gear won't have this port.
7. Time to watch all the awesome streaming stuff that is out there.
Hope this helps. It sure helps me get caught up when I miss too many episodes of House.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heather Armstrong is an award-winning blogger, New York Times bestselling author and listed as one of the top women in media by Forbes.
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