I for one had the chance to put this to the test. My previous residence was in a cluster of trees, so I was unable to get DirecTV, and I had no interest in paying Sharter for their meager wares. So for about 4 months, I made do with a bit of over-the-air as well as lots of justin.tv and a subscription to NHL.com gamecasts. Hulu never factored in too much because I don’t like watching TV shows and movies on a small screen.

I am a total snob when it comes to video quality, and the quality I had to put up with on my computer just isn’t good enough. And it’s not surprising, what with bandwidth costs eating into the budgets of these internet video providers. Plus so many things can go wrong. If you lose your internet connection halfway through an Office episode on hulu, tough beans. Some of my friends also torrent, but for me it’s too much of a hassle, and you have to wait anyway. So much for “on demand.” The fact is, since most of us have day jobs anyway, there’s no downside to setting your DirecTV DVR to record stuff to watch later. Now that I’ve moved into my new apartment, I’ve greatly preferred watching DVR’ed episodes and movies on DirecTV than any internet TV experience. There is definitely no comparison. I agree with Cuban that the current distribution channels that cable and satellite have in place are vastly superior to providing high-quality video in large quantities. The internet is not really the place for that type of quality, and in fact Cuban is pushing for internet rates to go up for those who hog all the bandwidth for video watching, an idea I’m definitely on board with. Still, some people simply have low standards when it comes to video quality, and for them the internet is a treasure trove of artifact-laden mediocre video. To them I say enjoy it while it lasts…