YouTube TV and the Trend of Virtualization
Earlier this year, to save money, my wife and I switched from Cable TV to YouTube TV. I was skeptical at first but after using the product for several months now I’m thoroughly convinced it is superior.
All but one channel that I would like to have are included in the lineup. There’s no equipment to keep up with or pay for. I can watch up to three live streams on a number of devices at the same time. Devices such as my laptop, desktop, tablet, smart phone, streaming box and smart TV. No more freeing up space on my DVR.
YouTube TV offers unlimited cloud recording and all recordings are available in your library for one year.
My experience with switching between devices has been smooth and seamless. At $69.99 per month, my wife and I are saving $80 a month and we now have a superior product.
YouTube TV and other online services are perpetuating the industry trend towards virtualization. This all started 15 or so years ago with the remote desktop feature people were using to access a computer via the Internet from virtually anywhere. Once the Internet bandwidth crossed a certain minimal threshold, virtualization became not only possible but accessible.
Fast forward a decade or so and now we have virtual services like YouTube TV, Stadia, TeamViewer, zoom, Apple Music, Netflix and many others. All of these services are made possible by the many advancements in Internet connectivity.
I project within the next 5 to 10 years that most of us will not even need a powerful device. The size of the pipe bringing data in and out of your home or mobile device will be so large that almost all of the processing necessary to execute our daily digital tasks will be performed on a server somewhere in the cloud. And all of our data will be stored in the cloud as well. Documents, photos, videos, calendars, contacts, system preferences and so on. All we will need is a fast reliable Internet connection. This means no more cable boxes, satellite dishes, video game consoles, laptops, desktops, and even servers.
If you’ve got a fast reliable Internet connection all you need is a basic device capable of processing input (touch, mouse, keyboard and AV), displaying an image and projecting audio. The future is virtualization and the future is now.
