You've been put "on notice." The Android-based streaming boxes are the thing of the near-future. https://qz.com/1480089/att-just-declared-the-end-of-the-satellite-tv-era-in-the-us/
Money. It costs money to send up satellites and they really can't be repaired. With this new streaming system, everything is land-based, so it's a lot easier to make repairs/upgrades. Hopefully it'll have full DVR capabilities with no delay. Every time I try to rewind/pause internet video, there's a delay. A 10-second rewind option doesn't work as advertised. I need to press it 2-3 times for it to actually go back. On my traditional service, pause/rewind are instant. So yeah, what this means is that if you have DirecTV, they're probably going to push you over to the new systems. Dish is probably going to take advantage of this. As for people who live in the boonies, they'll probably eventually switch to Dish, as decent internet (15 or faster) still isn't available everywhere.
Yeah, this is gonna easily drive customers to Dish/cable. They are still many with a crap connection so streaming is not feasible for them
There are some places where cable isn't even an option. This isn't a monopoly, but it *does* mean that many people only have one option.
As more things are made for phones and devices that I don't know how to use like Rokus rather than computers, I'm worried about technology changes that most people would call improvements. I like having a full screen, and I can't type well on a phone.
Now we know how old people felt who used telegraphs and radios as their primary communications and entertainments when they were replaced by telephones and televisions. Just have to adapt.
TV provides video that radio doesn't. My worry is if things can be done equally well on computers or phones, but the providers only make them available on phones because most people use phones.
We should "adapt" to the evolution of Television like 4K into 8K into ?, I'm sure someone smarter that DirecTv (at&t) will eventually figure it that out, I want to watch Soccer, NFL and everything else on my giant size screen at the best possible audio/video quality and yes I want all in one device, no river of cords everywhere, in my mind that is progress, you might say that can be expensive but I know a lot of people that spend more for cell phone service than Satellite to do nothing really anymore productive. Technology smart is like playing pool, some people live in the pool hall.
Many people have legit reasons as to why they can't get satellite service. Maybe they live in an areas with a lot of trees or in a NYC apartment. If they're fed up with their cable service, but can get decent internet, more options are always a good thing. The loss for the rural areas is a gain for the city.