Technologizer

I keep talking about dumping Comcast, but I’m beginning to think it’s more inevitable than death or taxes. (I recently tried to cancel my Comcast phone line, and they told me that doing so would raise my monthly bill by $4. Checkmate!)

If I stick around with Comcast, I might as well enjoy it–and I’m guardedly optimistic about On Demand Online, the Web-based service which the company is cooking up. It’s signed up a respectable list of content providers: Time Warner, A&E, Starz, and others–and, most recently, CBS. They’ll provide programming for a Hulu-like site that’s supposed to start testing this month.

Unlike the free, ad-supported Hulu, Comcast’s service is apparently going to be available to paying Comcast subscribers only. I hope that means it’ll be ad-free and have access to some shows that Hulu can’t get–in other words, that it’ll be a true Web-based version of Comcast’s On Demand video-on-demand service. (Which, incidentally, I can’t get–it’s not compatible with my TiVo HD box.)

I persist in being perfectly willing to consider paying for content on the Web when opportunities arise–in part because vast amounts of content are simply going to disappear unless the people who own them figure out how to convince consumers to pay up. So even though I continue to flirt with the idea of canceling Comcast and subsisting on a diet of Hulu and iTunes, I’m actually rooting for On Demand Online to be really good. So good, in fact, that I stop talking about kissing Comcast goodbye.

Let’s get newsy, shall we?

Found: Atlantis. In Google Earth!

Intuit questions Mint user claims.

Greeeeaaaaat: Conficker worm variant appears.

Is this leopard a clue?

CBS and Hulu are squabbling.

Pirate Bay: YouTube pirates more.

Apple kills 20-inch display.

Senior citizen shoots analog TV.

NetFlix may offer streaming subscriptions.

Asus might make Android netbooks.

Apple: Buying all Samsung’s memory?

Hackers bump Xbox Live players.

YouTube said late Friday that it would begin to offer full-length television shows through the site, initially partnering with CBS. Among the shows now available are select episodes of Star Trek, The Young & The Restless, Beverly Hills 90210, and Californication, among others.

The TV shows would be provided at no charge and would include advertisements that would play before, during, and after the videos. CBS will sell the advertising for the show, and YouTube would get a cut of the revenues.

Here’s hoping that this deal is a sign of improving relations between the video site and the entertainment industry. As you may remember, CBS was formerly a part of Viacom, the company who sued YouTube for $1 billion in March of last year.

While Viacom no longer has anything to do with the production arm of CBS any longer (it only retains rights to MTV Networks, BET Networks, Paramount, and Paramount Pictures’ home entertainment operations), the ties are still there. This move could wrm Viacom’s heart ever so slightly, and may give YouTube a slight edge in any negotiations.

It also seems to be a bit of a concession on the part of the entertainment industry that it needs the leading online video site. While industry-backed sites like Hulu are doing okay, they aren’t even close to touching YouTube.

Maybe its time for the two sides to bury the hatchet, as it would be financially beneficial for all. As the old adage goes, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”