I've been gone for some time, but am happy to say that I'm back to writing "Cut Cable TV Cord".
Recently, I took a trip to the Riviera Maya in Mexico where I stayed at the Fairmont Mayakoba. A wonderful, high end hotel, but the cable TV?
I've done a fair bit of international (outside US) traveling and no matter how good the hotel, the cable TV is terrible. At best, one might get CNN international or the BBC world news. If one is SUPER lucky, one might get HBO. That's if one can find a program in English. While in Egypt before the revolution, the only show available was the Hosni Mubarak station where it showed him walking his dog 24 hours a day. Another time in Finland, the BBC replayed a local protest by fisherman every 40 minutes for 2 days. While I've talked about how bad cable TV can be at home, it's infinitely worse internationally.
Where cable TV is infinitely worse, Netflix via wifi is infinitely better. Free from US licensing restrictions, a whole universe of new content is available that one cannot get in the US. While in Mexico, I was able to watch movies and TV series like food at a buffet on a cruise ship. This got me thinking. Why do hotels spend the capital to outfit each room with a large LCD TV hooked up to expensive local cable TV programing, when an iPad or internet connected TV could offer better programming (compared to local dearth of shows), wider choice, on-demand. The hotel chain could put Netflix, Hulu+, or HBO Go onto a branded hotel App that combines this internet programming with functions that enable hotel services like room service and letting the maid know not to come at 6.30 in the morning.
Just another reason for Cord Cutting - now for the international hospitality industry.
