Yes, in my opinion, like a lot of companies offering data services, they assume that a large majority of the people that subscribe have no specific needs and will quickly under-use their plans after the novelty wears off. (How much web-browsing, video streaming would you realistically do on a 2-4 inch screen?)
This allows them to offer large or unlimited packages even though technically their networks can't really manage it.

So, when Hardware/Software comes along that's makes utilizing that data/bandwidth much easier and more useful; that large majority of under-utilized data/bandwidth starts to quickly diminish and risks exposing the technical inadequacies of the underlying network.

The solution is to wrap this concern in a subterfuge of legalese about how said Hardware/Software violates usage policies and TOS.

Comparable markets would be Cable Internet providers that restrict outgoing port 80 traffic or charge more for "Business" accounts; when you boil it down, you're supposedly purchasing bandwidth, but really you're purchasing a share of a limited resource and the more freedom you want to use that resource, the more you have to pony-up.

As I understand it [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings] ratings are only gathered from a *representative group* of volunteers - so the average Joe, (like you or me), with or without a DVR has no impact on the ratings at all.

Isn't the real problem here the rating system that's used to determine whether these shows are doing well or not?

I consider myself a pretty average Joe when it comes to TV choices, but over the last 10 years I feel less and less represented by my demographic.

Personally, I feel Fringe, SGU and Caprica are all great shows, well written, well acted - all round entertaining. It really stinks to find out 2 of those shows are now cancelled and the 3rd will likely follow suit.

Sure it's possible that the majority of people don't share my tastes and think these shows should rightly be canned (some of the comments here would sure support that), but what if I'm in the majority? Then those networks are throwing good money down the drain and ruining my *escape* outlet in the process.

It's even more disheartening to think we're in an age where reaching your target audience is easier than ever with the internet; how can the studios/networks continue to base their decisions on archaic methodologies?

And as alot of people have already mentioned - what about those of us that don't watch the show "over the air", but prefer to watch them on our own schedule using services like Hulu and Netflix? Dont' we count?

For me, it's getting to a point where I'm wary of investing time in any new shows that have more than an in-the-moment gratification effect; Game Shows, Reality TV, Slapstick Comedy, etc... And those kinds of shows don't typically interest me anyway!

So don't bother digging into character backgrounds or relationships or back-story, don't bother with large scale plots and twists - I don't want to know, because you'll probably be cancelled before anything is resolved/concluded - I may as well pick up a book instead.

Solve crimes with more efficiency? Not on my dime! No, lets make the police go out and make their own photos of the shoes, of course they'll have to buy some and there's travel involved... Who's paying for that you say? Me? Oh...

This would put a whole new spin on the Immolate spell in World of Warcraft...

I knew learning all those keyboard shortcuts would eventually pay off!

"... and you can start slowing down earlier." or speeding up (seems more likely.)

I'm reluctant to move to e-books for similar reasons, but do see the advantages of an e-Reader. Perhaps if the technology gets cheap enough, they'll start giving away e-Readers and instead concentrate on selling the e-Books, then I for one wouldn't be as concerned about lock-in, I'd just end up with a half-dozen e-readers on my coffee table instead of a wall of bookshelves.

Now I'm going to have to down 5-hour Energy Drinks just to listen to my iPod!

What is the deal with pouring resources into developing the social networking aspects of an MMORPG? Maybe I'm the only one who plays just because it's an awsomely addictive game, while everyone else is there to make new friends and socialize?? RealID would have been way at the bottom of my list of things to improve in WOW... How about taking care of the vulgar character names or the gold sellers ability to generate characters with garbage names for the sake of flooding chat with SPAM?? Blizzard need to collect themselves and get back to basics with WOW, improve and expand the content, period. Otherwise, I feel the game may have peaked and they're just going to milk it for every drop before it fizzles into oblivion.

... "Ask the Magic 8-Ball" http://av.vet.ksu.edu/flash/8ball/

... Works for Drugs right? Oh, wait... Well at least they'll see a drop in imported pornography and, err, people visiting Australia.