# One thing stopping me from Bolt...



## wyzard (Jan 17, 2003)

Really like the Bolt. Would like to use it for "everything" and not have to use a separate streaming box for Sling TV. Have cut the cord and am OTA. If the Bolt had that (and Hulu Plus) out of the box, it would be perfect for me. Any idea is this is something that is in the works?

Also, is the FireTV app available yet?

Thanks.


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## kisby (Mar 31, 2002)

I agree that would make Bolt a lot more attractive to cord cutters. I'd certainly like to see more _good_ apps such as CBS all access for watching Big Brother and Survivor.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

Let's see cut the cord so we can pay for SlingTV, Hulu Plus and CBS All Access etc.

Maybe one day we'll be able to buy just 1 tv package and have one bill and 1 UI? 

WE can dream I guess.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

trip1eX said:


> Let's see cut the cord so we can pay for SlingTV, Hulu Plus and CBS All Access etc.
> 
> Maybe one day we'll be able to buy just 1 tv package and have one bill and 1 UI?
> 
> WE can dream I guess.


LOL that would be so awesome. Only having to buy one large TV package with all the channels I want to watch. It would be even cooler if they figured out how to do it so I don't even need an internet connection to watch them.


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## Kremlar (Jan 22, 2009)

> Let's see cut the cord so we can pay for SlingTV, Hulu Plus and CBS All Access etc.
> Maybe one day we'll be able to buy just 1 tv package and have one bill and 1 UI?


Right. The way it is now, in my opinion, if you watch a variety of TV it's hard do match what the cable companies offer. There's not much of a cost savings to eliminating just TV the way that it is priced.

If you do eliminate it, I find many of the streaming services require you to have a cable subscription anyway - so what's the point??

We go with a middle of the road package with no premium channels, and supplement that with Netflix and Amazon Prime. I consider Prime no cost since we subscribe for shipping more than anything, only recently started streaming video from them. I hammer Verizon every year or two (when the discounts they give me are about to expire) to get the best price I can for the service I get.

I pay about $134/mo w/taxes, etc. for a middle of the road TV package, phone service, and decent internet plus 3 cable cards. I don't think that's too bad.


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## embryjim (Sep 16, 2015)

Kremlar said:


> Right. The way it is now, in my opinion, if you watch a variety of TV it's hard do match what the cable companies offer. There's not much of a cost savings to eliminating just TV the way that it is priced.
> 
> If you do eliminate it, I find many of the streaming services require you to have a cable subscription anyway - so what's the point??
> 
> ...


+1 for this... at the moment there just does not seem to be one "best" way. I do the same as Kremlar, middle of the road cable TV, 60/4 Internet and VOIP for (since the Tivo) around $120 (have to call every year when the discounted prices go up), Prime (mostly for shipping but there are surprisingly good choices here for free), On the fence about Hulu Plus but their "no commercial" option is intriguing (Free previewing it now, will see if it makes the cut). Off and on with Netflix (currently off).

The main thing Tivo did for me was to save me $55/month on the cable bill. 5 boxes at $7 apiece and the $20 "DVR" fee . It was a $780 outlay (refurbed Roamio w/lifetime during the sale +4 minis from Amazon @ $99 each and $80 for the MoCA adapters) but I'll make it back in about 14 months.

And the fact that I can now access all this from one device/UI. So yay Tivo!

Oh, and I fully realize there are other "non-standard" methods that will get you what you want, but they do require futzing over them quite a bit. Something I used to really love to do, now not so much.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Even if they offered a Sling TV app they wouldn't be able to record the live channels, so what would be the point? The one thing I really don't get about Sling TV is it's lack of a DVR. Most people who cut the cord are younger people who have grown up using DVRs or VOD services like Netflix. They don't want a service that only streams live TV, with commercials, with no option to record.

Playstation Vue at least has a DVR. However it has some limitations which make it less then desirable for those that like to binge watch and the cost really isn't that much better then the typical cable package. 

What we really need is for TiVo to come out with their own streaming service with prices akin to Sling TV but the ability to integrate the service into the TiVo hardware so the channels can be recorded. (or a cloud based DVR service instead)


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Even if they offered a Sling TV app they wouldn't be able to record the live channels, so what would be the point? The one thing I really don't get about Sling TV is it's lack of a DVR. Most people who cut the cord are younger people who have grown up using DVRs or VOD services like Netflix. They don't want a service that only streams live TV, with commercials, with no option to record.
> ................


But apparently that's what younger people want. Or so I've read. Personally I don't understand many of the new streaming services. It gives you a way to watch TV the way it was done back in the 70's and earlier. With no way to pause, rewind, etc. I started time shifting my TV watching back in 1984. I would rather stop watching TV entirely than go back to watching live TV.

I did make an exception back in 2001 with HD. I could only record HD OTA broadcasts but any HD from DirecTV I had to watch live. There were only a handful of channels, but I couldn't imagine doing it again. When the DirecTV HDTiVo came out in 2004, then that ended any live HD watching I did on DirecTV.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

aaronwt said:


> But apparently that's what younger people want. Or so I've read. Personally I don't understand many of the new streaming services. It gives you a way to watch TV the way it was done back in the 70's and earlier. With no way to pause, rewind, etc. I started time shifting my TV watching back in 1984. I would rather stop watching TV entirely than go back to watching live TV.
> 
> I did make an exception back in 2001 with HD. I could only record HD OTA broadcasts but any HD from DirecTV I had to watch live. There were only a handful of channels, but I couldn't imagine doing it again. When the DirecTV HDTiVo came out in 2004, then that ended any live HD watching I did on DirecTV.


You are in steps with 85% of the viewing public and half of those with DVRs watch Broadcast live.
Only 15% of the viewing public time skip and only half of those with DVRs.

I have been pretty much opposed to streaming probably because my internet was so poor.
Now I have 88Mbps and I have become a big fan of classic TV shows, most all in SD.
For the last few weeks I have been watching one of my all time favorite shows, Doctor Who. I have been a fan for about 4 decades. but the show is over 50 years old.
so I started watching the old classic Doctor Who on Hulu Plus.
I got a free one month trial.
so I am now up to Season 10.
Loving it.


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## embryjim (Sep 16, 2015)

zerdian1 said:


> For the last few weeks I have been watching one of my all time favorite shows, Doctor Who. I have been a fan for about 4 decades. but the show is over 50 years old.
> so I started watching the old classic Doctor Who on Hulu Plus.
> I got a free one month trial.
> so I am now up to Season 10.
> Loving it.


I fall into this category as well. I'm not a young person who wants to stream live TV, I'm older and want to recapture my youth by watching the old shows I thought were long gone. So we fall into two camps, millennials who want everything streamed and don't care/remember the good old shows (WKRP anyone?) and the older generation who can magically relive their childhood memories via streaming technology. Its quite wonderful actually.

And BIG thanks to you zerdian1 for your work with NASA, I can still remember going over to my neighbors house the night of July 20, 1969 and watching into the next morning (getting chills writing about it now). I was 8 at the time, if I had only known the immense historical implications.


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

Streaming is just part of the on demand culture. Why shouldn't they watch TV the same 'whenever they want to' way like they listen to music, or text or video chat with their friends. They don't understand the concepts of appointment TV (you had to be there at 8pm Sunday to see it) or waiting to buy a record/tape/cd to listen to new music. Or how you only had one phone in the house and had to wait your turn to call and leave a message at a friend's house or worse send a letter.

I think a DVR or cable is a luxury to them that many don't think they need. I am not that old but I still view TV as schedule/season based and use my DVR to gain some control over it. My kids watch less TV as they get older (and they've only ever watched TV on a DVR) and go to sources like youtube for their entertainment since it is on demand and has a social aspect with likes and comments. I find that level of entertainment lacking in quality and prefer TV/movies in a superior format but I feel like I am part of a dwindling number.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

aaronwt said:


> But apparently that's what younger people want. Or so I've read. Personally I don't understand many of the new streaming services. It gives you a way to watch TV the way it was done back in the 70's and earlier. With no way to pause, rewind, etc. I started time shifting my TV watching back in 1984. I would rather stop watching TV entirely than go back to watching live TV.
> 
> I did make an exception back in 2001 with HD. I could only record HD OTA broadcasts but any HD from DirecTV I had to watch live. There were only a handful of channels, but I couldn't imagine doing it again. When the DirecTV HDTiVo came out in 2004, then that ended any live HD watching I did on DirecTV.


I am with you on not understanding the step back and my experience mirrors yours with HD. Maybe commercials are not a big deal to younger users because they use that time to visit Twitter, Instagram, etc.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

They may not mind the commercials but if Sling TV is live streaming only it sort of breaks the whole ondemand aspect. Even if the DVR prevented FF I'd think that would be better then having to watch live TV. I know a LOT of younger people who's main source of TV is VOD or network websites. They don't seem to mind the commercials, but they certainly don't want to conform to the schedule.


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## embryjim (Sep 16, 2015)

thefisch said:


> My kids watch less TV as they get older (and they've only ever watched TV on a DVR) and go to sources like youtube for their entertainment since it is on demand and has a social aspect with likes and comments. I find that level of entertainment lacking in quality and prefer TV/movies in a superior format but I feel like I am part of a dwindling number.


Makes one wonder where the market lies, of course there will always be connoisseurs, but I wonder if achieving ultra high end video (4K, 8K, 16K, infinity-K) will be wasted on those who simply want it on their handheld device, and that may be the majority all too soon, if not already.


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## mem_tiger (Sep 30, 2015)

I in on the sling tv. If the bolt offered it I would by one. The live TV from sling is a pain but I only subscribe to it really so that I can get espn. The wife doesn't like having to change inputs just to watch her TNT and TBS. It would just eliminate an extra box for me.


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