It doesn't *have* to be a dedicated PC or even one PC - the front (display) / back (record/database) ends can be split.
Then you have to buy two more computers: one to use as the back end and one to use in the living room as the front end. Or which pre-configured MythTV back end device for recording OTA video and which pre-configured MythTV front end device for the living room should a non-technical user buy?
Download and install MythBuntu
Onto what computer? Can someone install it on a household's only computer without A. losing ready access to the PC applications on which one depends or B. harming the recording in progress when the computer restarts for security updates? Non-technical users expect home entertainment equipment to be as reliable as a DVD player, cable box, or unmodded video game console. No, "get your ass off Slashdot if you're not a technical user" is not a constructive answer because if MythTV is not for non-technical users, non-technical users will continue to fill the coffers of the pay-television establishment.
MythTV even supports USB and Firewire devices
All makes and models, or is it like the "winmodem" era where Ubuntu has no driver for a lot of the devices out there?
and can even use your cable decoder, if it supports USB/Firewire
Even if the cable box encrypts the FireWire output with DTCP?
(which, I believe HD units are required to by law - in the US anyway).
"Sure, but HD units require HD service, which will be another $18.00 per month."
I can record your shit OTA for free.
That depends on how much you want to pay TiVo per month for DVR service.
It costs a minimum of $35/month for me to get basic cable with 20 stations
Is that alone, or on top of what you already pay the cable company for high-speed Internet access?
My oldest son's latest YouTube love? Watching people play video games on YouTube. He loves video games, but we can't afford every game/gaming system out there. So he can see how a game progresses as someone plays each level.
And now you know why some video game publishers have decided to take down or at least claim ad revenue on Let's Play videos on copyright grounds. You have admitted the existence of a demographic for which a complete playthrough video substitutes for buying the game itself.
If you were paying for [original streaming television series] directly, expect to pay what HBO charges
Hence HBO's recent announcement of plans to expand HBO Go into a standalone over-the-top service, because people have shown themselves willing "to pay what HBO charges", just not what the local multichannel pay television provider charges.
it's pretty blatant that Microsoft wanted to just flat out copy Apple's mobile model. Problem is they apparently missed the memo that Google had already outdid Apple in that arena, and did so without using a walled garden
And Android gets the reputation among news outlets for being the most malware-filled mobile operating system precisely because it doesn't use a walled garden.
Why don't the cable companies don't do something like youtube, where show producers just upload new episodes onto the service once a week or whatever
Here they call that "Hulu Plus". But you still need to buy suitably high-speed, high-cap Internet access from the ISP (which is often also the cable TV company), and that alone can be as expensive as or more than an Internet+TV bundle.
Cobol programmers are down in the dumps.