Okay, long-time since last post, but whatever.

I haven’t updated the planetscape on the IPTV revolution in a while, and things have been changing fast & furious.

Over the course of the past six months or so, the available offerings have ballooned considerably, and could very well be nearing a tipping point. When the “Big 3″ start to dip a toe in the water, one could argue it’s already happened. (One wonders what the iTunes Store folks think of this, since they have been *selling* the same episodes for a while …)

You have bona fide “new breed” services like Akimbo, now available as a software-only solution for your Media Center PC. There are 24/7 online “webcast” channels that qualify as “real” (compared to amateur vlogs, etc.) like ManiaTV. You have significant cable networks offering free, full-length programming from their web site like Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim Fix. Then there’s AOL’s In2TV site, where you can watch full-length ad-free episodes of classic TV-Land-esque offerings such as “Welcome Back, Kotter” and more recent programming such as “Pinky and the Brain.” All of this beside the rapidly-growing video-sharing sites like YouTube and Google Video.

For a long time, I have looked forward to the day when I could (with a straight face) say: “Who needs cable?”
It is starting to look like that day is almost here.
Really.

Last month, we started experimenting with the Vongo online service, from the folks who run the STARZ! movie channel on cable. In a nutshell, it is similar to NetFlix, with a few important differences.

On the plus side, it’s a download service, so there’s no mailing to mess around with, and no waiting. Also, you get a bonus of a free live-feed from the Starz! movie channel, so you’re getting a pay-cable benefit as well. Cost is very reasonable at $9.95 a month.

On the minus side, the library of titles is (at this point) small compared to the colossal selection at NetFlix. Vongo currently offers a rotating list of 1,000 titles. The list is a mixture of current hits, classics, and some dogs. There is plenty to watch, and titles rotate on (and off) the list every week. I haven’t yet figured out all of the nuances, but it seems like titles stay on the list a reasonable amount of time (at least a month or two) before disappearing, so you’ve got a reasonably long chance to view them. They do have some titles that are Pay-Per-View, at the typical $3.99 price point for 24-hours of viewing, but most of these show up on the “unlimited” viewing list after a while as well.

Certainly for titles you want to watch again and again for the rest of your life (your personal “Top 100″ or whatever), you’re going to want to own the DVD anyway (at least I do), so the fact that these titles eventually “disappear” is not an issue for me. For probably 8-out-of-10 films I watch, a single viewing is all I’ll ever need. I love the fact that we can get the movies (virtually) instantly, so whenever the kids want a Disney film or the wife & I want a movie, we can browse a generous listing and start viewing before the popcorn comes out of the microwave. (Typically the film is ready to watch in less than two minutes, and the entire thing has downloaded to your hard drive before you are fifteen minutes in.)

Titles are saved on your “Library” until they expire, so for any additional viewing (and if you have kids, you know that is a guarantee) there is no waiting at all. Picture quality is quite good. Easily as good as what you see on “digital cable” … about as good as a perfect-quality VHS tape. We watch full-screen on a standard-definition television (fed via the S-video out on the video card) and have been very impressed.

Between the movie selection (and convenience) of Vongo, the free classic TV available from AOL, and the new full-length offerings from places like ABC and Cartoon Network, we generally find more than we need to watch. Sure there are still some shows & cable networks (are you listening FoodTV ?) we would like to access, but at this rate, how long can it be before they jump on the gravy-train?

Companies like AT&T are launching full-blown IPTV services this year in select markets (coming soon to a metropolis near you) and when that happens we can all say – as our favorite Sith Lord – “The circle is complete. Now *I* am the master.”

It’s a good time!