Connecting your HDTV to the Internet
Today it is not enough to have standard TV sources like over-the-air (OTA), cable or satellite, to watch video. We need Internet connections as well. That way we can watch video on demand (VOD) from sources such as Amazon VOD, the Apple iTunes store or Netflix. There are many ways to do this. Some are better than others. None are perfect. All have their pluses and minuses.
Many of my clients have purchased HDTVs that have an Ethernet connector that lets them connect the TVs to the Internet. Others have purchased Blu-ray players with similar capabilities. These solutions are limited ones. You are confined to Internet sources that the vendor allows. If they have a deal with Netflix then you can watch that. If they do not, you cannot watch Netflix. These services are subject to change at a moment’s notice. I can easily envision a dispute between SONY and Netflix in the future that plays out the same way that the Cablevision – Food Network dispute played out last month. Cablevision’s subscribers were caught in the middle as the Food Network pulled their programming from Cablevision in a contract dispute.
These devices are simple to connect to your home wired Ethernet network. Plug an Ethernet cable into the device and your router. They are much are harder to connect using WiFi. Most Internet capable HDTVs and Blu-ray players do not have built-in WiFi adapters. Therefore, the homeowner is responsible for purchasing and installing the correct device. You will have to check if the wireless adapter will work with your HDTV or Blu-ray player and know how to setup a wireless connection. You also need to make certain that the wireless network’s signal is strong enough and fast enough to deliver VOD this way. It is best to replace older 802.11g wireless capable routers with newer, faster 802.11n capable ones.
An alternative to the above is to purchase a dedicated Internet capable device. They have names like Apple TV, Popcorn Hour, Roku or TiVo. You have to pay for and install the device. Programming content is additional. They all provide some free content. Amazon VOD, Netflix, or the Apple iTunes store, all require either pay-to-play or subscriptions. TiVo is far superior to the other devices. It provides a great easy-to-use interface. It has one of the best remote control devices and can easily integrate with your cable TV subscription.
You can also use gaming consoles to watch video on an HDTV. The choices for gaming consoles are the Microsoft Xbox, the Nintendo Wii and the SONY PlayStation 3. The latter has a built-in Blu-ray player. As above, your choices for Internet video content are limited by the console’s manufacturer.
Connecting a computer to your HDTV provides unlimited Internet access. It also magnifies the issues of device selection, connecting the computer and controlling it. A computer connected to an HDTV should be unobtrusive and quiet. You do not want to hear the computer’s fans or see bright, flashing LEDs in your bedroom or home theater. You also do not want an ugly computer box marring the decor.
Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows 7 PCs have applications, Front Row and Windows Media Center, respectively, designed for the 10 foot user interface. They work reasonably well and allow you to watch Internet downloaded or streaming media, view your photos on your HDTV, or listen to Internet-provided audio, like podcasts or Pandora, through your home theater’s speakers. Remote controls can be relatively standard ones, such as the Logitech Harmony remotes, wireless keyboard and mouse combos, as sold by Gyration, or devices like the Apple iPod Touch and perhaps the soon-to-be-released Apple iPad.

Writing and the written word is not natural. We must be schooled to read and write. It was the best disciplined, efficient way to communicate or archive information when alternatives were word-of-mouth, painting or smoke signals. The use of the written word exploded over the course of civilization because of this. 

Roku sells
Companies and industries that do not embrace change often come to regret that decision. This is a story of how American cable TV companies failed with
The only two devices I know that work with CableCARDs are newer TiVos and Windows computers with OCUR digital cable tuners. Using CableCARDs requires paying for an installer visit and a modest monthly fee. I pay $4/mo. for 2 CableCARDs in my TiVo. Renting a Cablevision DVR would cost me about $20/mo. That DVR is a weak approximation of TiVo.
OCUR was hobbled by CableLabs. They required that they certify the computer if it included an OCUR. I once read that they charge the PC makers $10,000 per model for this "service". Only AMD made OCUR tuners. HP, Dell and some niche computer makers offered these as additions to a few models. Adding to the difficulty, if you didn’t buy the OCUR(s) at the time you bought the PC you could not add them later.
We have many alternatives to cable TV, satellite TV or broadcast TV today. Some are disc-based, most are Internet-based. 

Figuring out how to transition from cable’s multi-service, premium-pricing model to being a utility provider, like an electric company, is a difficult thing. They will have to change their revenue model. They have little competition or regulation so their solution will be to gouge their customers, us. And they will get away with it.