Here & There Column 1-12-10

Alternatives To Price Increases

Every time we turn around we see price increases to things we do and items we use on a daily basis.
If it isn't increases in the cost of newsstand prices for daily newspapers it's the increase in tolls on the New York State Thruway and we're willing to bet that the recent cable TV standoffs definitely will threaten our viewing costs.
As one state legislator said recently, we need to "get a grasp of reality."
With the economic challenges we now face we just can't have increases in taxes and spending and many folks also cannot afford probable increases in their cable or satellite television rates.
But those cable and satellite television rate increases are most likely to be seen in the near future now that Fox and Time Warner Cable settled their dispute which refocused attention on the law that allowed broadcasters the right to charge fees to cable and satellite operators for their programs.
An organization known as The Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group, is calling for some sort of government oversight over the cable industry but many say government has their hands in too many of our pockets already.
It's really not right that consumers are put right on the firing line when it comes to cable operators and broadcasters which forces us consumers to bite the bullet with the price increases because its a habit most of us enjoy using on a daily basis.
While visiting with a local businessman recently we noticed a very large computer screen in his office on which he was watching a baseball game. He indicated that this could be the economical future for all television viewers.
I've noticed for some time now various e-mail advertising suggesting that that we can turn our computer PC into a super TV. These e-mail ads say that we can watch Satellite TV on our computer without paying high monthly fees and that its 100 % legal.
We viewed some of the many PC-TV offers that are available and can see that this might be the new standard for television.
One of the PC television advertisements we viewed offered over 3,500 channels with a low one time fee only, no subscriptions or monthly fees, no hardware to install and one of the most interesting aspects of this program is that "you can watch TV right from your laptop or desktop computer anytime or anywhere in the world or connect your computer directly to your TV set."
Sometimes we just have to look at alternatives in life. Finding way's to save money is second nature......it's interesting whats out there.