Whether or not cable subscribers buy or lease their equipment is more than a matter of taste, it's a matter of opportunity--and perhaps a matter of survival for some equipment makers--according to debate swirling around the TV of Tomorrow Show.
While TiVo rep SVP and general counsel Matthew Zinn argued his party's line that cable should open up its set-top boxes and cable attorney Paul Gilst from Davis Wright Tremaine argued consumers don't want to buy devices, Malachy Moynihan, vice president of engineering at Cisco, provided a voice of reason by suggesting that content providers and device makers need to somehow offer consumers a choice to access content across different platforms and that this might include selling devices. It most certainly includes opening up some of the more restricted cable features.
At least all the sides could compromise on one thing: TV Everywhere might be the way to go, and, according to Gilst, "we're probably not so far away on that."
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