MaxTV is here

We ordered the local MaxTV 'cable service' since there is a promotion going on for a free three-month trial period. MaxTV is actually provided over our DSL internet connection, but other than that it is just like any other cable TV service.

MaxTV gives us 75 channels in its basic package, another 10 in its Plus package, while the Premium package adds HBO and HBO Comedy. The basic package carries all available local Croatian channels, music, sports, nature (Discovery, National Geigraphic), History Channel, BBC, CNN Europe, CNBC Europe, Bloomberg. Not a bad selection at all.

I still don't think that we will keep MaxTV after the end of trial period. I realized one thing after having MaxTV for a couple of days - We just don't watch TV! We get all our shows and news from the Internet. I cannot conform anymore to the old setup of sitting and watching the show when someone else wants me to (ie. watching the show in its usual time slot).

We need to have our shows available when and where we want them. If that time is 9 am or 9 pm I want to watch what I want to watch. Why do I have to wait for a certain time and day of the week to watch the show that I like. And, if you are unable to be present in front of your TV at the proscribed time, you've missed it, never to see it again (or maybe years later during a re-run).

I know, VCRs and PVRs do help with this problem of fixed time-slot, but VCRs and PVRs won't help you record past episodes of a show that you've just discovered. It is amazing that pretty much ANY TV show aired in the last five years can be found on the internet and watched. And all this is done for free by a bunch of volunteers, but TV studios and networks would like to make us think that this is impossible. Hogwash!