Intel is reportedly on the cusp of delivering something that consumers around the world have been wanting for a long, long time.
Kelly Clay at Forbes reports Intel is going to blow up the cable industry with its own set-top box and an unbundled cable service.
Clay says Intel is planning to deliver cable content to any device with an Internet connection. And instead of having to pay $80 a month for two hundred channels you don't want, you'll be able to subscribe to specific channels of your choosing.
I guess I'm one of those "consumers around the world" who have long waited for this. I've got the "everything but the kitchen sink" cable package, but I end up spending most of my time on a handful of channels. And I've got scads of premium movie channels, but most of the movies I like turn out to be on the free TCM.
The story does quote some skeptics of Intel's ability to pull this off, including one who notes that the content providers don't want to blow up the cable model because it's been very good to them. I dunno. There are lots of things producers of goods and services don''t want to do, but eventually consumer demand overwhelms them.
