Comcast On Demand
 

Comcast just added the On Demand service in my area, and I have to say that this is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. You can watch movies, shows, and short clips at your whim, and you can even fastforward, rewind, and pause the programs! I thought for sure that picture quality would be awful, but it's no worse than regular digital cable. To top it off, most of the shows are free, except for the movies, but if you already have premium services, you get their movies and shows "On Demand" at no additional charge. I love it!

My question is how the hell do they do it? I'm not usually this ignorant about technology, but I have to admit that this new service caught me by surprise.

I'm pretty sure it's just some variation on downloading files via your cable line.

I was watching Neon Genesis Evangelion last night on Comcast on Demand and it was kicking a great deal of ass. . .

really? you don't have to pay for it? isn't there a fee-per-view charge?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that the on-demand thing is like pay-per-view, only you sorta pay xxx number $ and then you have the movie you selected for like 24 hours. And within that 24 hours you can watch, rewind, fast forward, etc. all you want.

Most of the ON-Demand stuff isFREE!

The Movies are pay-per-view, But I didn't spend a dime to watch Anime on demand for most of the night last night. There's a three- or four-step verification process to actually have to pay for an on-demand show that will cost you anything extra.

Oh ok cool. I didn't know that, but its good to know.

When you look at the detail on the listing, it will tell you how much it costs to view it. Most if not all of the stuff not listed under "movies" was $0.00.

Some of the on demand services are an extra... there are some that are FREE ala the drug dealer marketing method.

Most like HBO on demand are an additional $4.95 on top of your HBO subscription. IMHO Tivo makes the On Demand useless, as there is always something on demand, especially if you harvest shows properly you'll be able to find what you want without the additional fee.

BUT yes, it's very cool, especially if you don't have Tivo. On top of that some cable companies are going to be providing a tivo like service in the future.

I was fortunate enough to work on some of this technology a couple of years ago as a test. It works via multicast IP technology which your new digital cable box is capable of using. Large servers house all the video content, and it works very similarly to surfing web pages. In fact the digital box that I recently used with Cablevision was using a java front end.

We just got Video On Demand here in Toronto as well.

Although there is a large selection of free programs, most , if not all, of the movies cost about $5.99 for a 24 hour period (about $1 more expensive than PPV).

It's still really neat though.

God I wish we had Tivo in Canada.

We have had in demand for a while now in New York City, Time Warner Cable. It is great. I have one of those package deals with a cable modem and digital cable, so I get the on demand HBO and a few others included. It is kind of expensive, but still a lot cheaper than a night out in the city...

They just sent me something saying that they are now offerring a Digital Video Recording Box (like Tivo) for an additional $7 a month. I think I will get it, it holds something like 35 hours.

Sometimes I feel guilty about my TV viewing habits, but I think it isn't so bad if you have quality shows to watch...

I have Dish Network with a PVR (Personal video recorder) receiver. It works just like TiVo I guess.

Basically, I select all movies and shows that I want to record. The hard drive will hold 40 hours or something like that of TV. When I get around to watching the show I want, there is a listing of all the shows that I have recorded. It is really easy to use and very convenient. Also, there is a search function in case you miss something. It will search up to 8 days in advance by show title or by words in the description of the show.

I will never downgrade from this. It lets me watch all of the shows that I never had time for before. Instead of trying to find something to watch at 11 PM when I usually have time to watch TV, I can now just pick something that I recorded and WANTED to watch.

The other great feature is the fact that it is constantly recording. If the phone rings, you can pause live TV. You can also replay something if you miss it, like sports or a mumbled word by an actor.