A Store, a Cloud Service, and Sharing: Here’s What Google Might Look Like

A download store, a music locker, and the ability to share some of your music with your friends, for $25 a year. That’s what Google would like to its music service to look like.


So says Billboard’s Ed Christman, who has been talking to label executives familiar with Google’s proposals for its yet-to-be launched service. The music industry hasn’t agreed to any of this yet, so the gap between “like to” and “will be” could be significant. But it’s worth reading Christman’s piece to get a sense of what the Google guys are looking for.

In short:

Google would like to sell music a track at a time, just like Apple’s iTunes does.

Google would like to give users the ability to listen to any track all the way through, at least once, as MySpace Music does, and LaLa did before Apple (AAPL) acquired it and shut it down. Google’s music search service provides free full plays for some songs but not others.

Google would like to offer a $25/year “locker service”, where any music you own, no matter where you procured it, would be stored on an Internet server. You could then listen to a stream of the song no matter where you where, via a Web player or a mobile phone.

Google would like to let subscribers share their music with their friends, allowing them to listen to a song a single time.

All of which sounds pretty good. And all of which sounds like concepts that the labels would be fine with, in theory – even the part about letting you access songs you “shared” via P2P services.

The sticking point, of course, will be money: How much will the labels demand up front, how much will they charge per user or per use, and how will the money be split up between different rights holders?

The last part is a question that often gets ignored when people start spitballing ideas for music services, but it’s crucial, because music rights are a complicated Web that tangle up even the best intentions. Even if the “labels” agree to Google’s terms, that likely won’t be enough, because the “labels” don’t usually own songs outright — any given song or catalog may have multiple owners.

That’s not a problem if you simply want to open up another download store, or even a streaming subscription service, because there’s a broad consensus about how to split up the pennies that those generate. But with something new, like the locker/sharing proposal, there are a lot of cats to herd. Which makes this stuff interesting but far from definitive.

By: Peter Kafka, MEDIA MEMO

Posted on September 15, 2010

How One College Student Beat Tuition Costs

A new book offers advice for college students looking to save their parents' retirement and financial well-being.


Meet Zac Bissonnette, a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and the author of the book Debt-Free U: How I Paid For an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents. Bissonnette's tale is an eye-opening one – and a must-read for students looking to save every penny they can on tuition.

The cost of higher education is rising – even as the economy remains a tailspin. The average four-year cost for a top-flight school like Harvard or Stanford is almost $200,000. And even a solid state school like UCLA or the University of Michigan will set students back almost $100,000.

So how did Bissonnette come out ahead?

Let's take a look at Bissonnette's results and what he was (or wasn't) working with. He graduated with no student loan debt, no financial support from parents and no scholarships. Or, as the author describes it in explaining his book:

"[This book] is for families who can find fifteen dollars per week in cost cuts…and students who are willing to work hard — thirty hours per week, on average, including vacations — college is affordable: without any savings, student loans, Parent PLUS loans, retirement looting, organ sales, or heroin dealing."

Bissonnette touts some simple concepts, but concepts that might have gone out of style in recent decades. He advocates picking a cheaper state school than an expensive private one; working up to 30 hours a week while you're at school to help pay the freight; and a "no excuses" mentality that stresses hard work, studying and keeping ahead of your academic workload.

The debt questions chiefly rest on two themes: Don't take out a student loan and choose a state school over a private one. The author notes that public college students graduate with significantly less debt than their private school counterparts (UMass is ranked fifth in the nation among big schools that graduate students with the lowest debt, according to U.S. News & World Report.)

He also took a financial risk that most college students don't normally take — paying for his housing by investing in local real estate.

As for class work, Bissonnette advises choosing a school not for its size or prestige factor, but by the specific programs that cater to your career interests. That could mean bypassing a chic private school and choosing a less-expensive state school that offers more programs (but always the one you want, Bissonnette says).

Another good financial move from the author: Since employers favor the college degree more than where you go to school for four years, spend your first two years in college at a community college, and accumulate enough credits to move on to a more career-enhancing college or university. If you live at home during those first years and pay the lower tuition rate, Bissonnette says you can cut your total college costs by tens of thousands of dollars.

There's no doubt top-flight schools won't like what Bissonnette is selling. But cash-strapped families will likely see it differently. If you want the whole enchilada, order Bissonnette's book.

Short of that, listen to what he says about college and the long-term impact of student debt:

"College is an active experience, not an intellectual amusement park ride where you strap in and see what happens. Find one with a wide array of programs and, above all, a price tag that won't put parents' retirement on the back burner or make a student an indentured servant of Sallie Mae into middle age. Just as driving a Mercedes won't make you rich, attending an expensive school won't make you smart. But it very well could make you poor."

By: Brian O'Connell

Monday, September 13, 2010, Yahoo Finance News

Fannie and Freddie can’t keep up the PACE | first tuesday journal online

Fannie and Freddie can’t keep up the PACE | first tuesday journal online

Another cool article. For those who are interested in Real Estate issues.

Condos for less than the cost of a Corolla

Condos for less than the cost of a Corolla

This was a very good article, and amazing bargains. Of course, not in California, but you can buy a condo for almost nothing, if you are young and ambitious. I think, it could be possible even if you have student loans.

Wow!

The Greatest Brands in American History

Most of the analysis about super-brands focuses on companies and products that have been prominent in the last few decades – companies like Apple, Google, Toyota, or Starbucks. According to how many experts evaluate brands over the last two centuries of the U.S. economy, however, none of those brands are among the most important in American history.  All of the brands 24/7 Wall St. looked at for this analysis were created many decades ago.

24/7 Wall St. has reviewed the history of American brands. We have examined how well they were known to the public during their most successful years – which may include today – as well as the size of their businesses over time. Many of the brands on this list, like Standard Oil, represented a large part of U.S. GDP early in the company’s history. Others, like Ford, have been among the largest U.S. companies for over 100 years.

Another aspect of the brands that 24/7 Wall St considered for this list is how long it has been in use and how long it has been widely known. Sears began as a catalog business in the 1880s and is still a well-known brand. Marlboro was first manufactured in 1902 and is one of the most valuable brands in the world.

In looking at the list, what is surprising is the number of companies that started out in one business and ended up in another, shown by Sears transition from catalogs to retail outlets and Marlboro’s transition from being a brand targeted at women, to being the most hyper-masculine of all brands.  What is even more surprising, however, is the number of companies that started out in a business in which they almost immediately became dominant and in which they still remain dominant today.  AT&T and JPMorgan are prime examples of this event.

What emerges from the analysis is a list of brands, many of which were important a century ago and all of which have remained dominant during their long reign at the top.  Coca-Cola, Marlboro, and Ford all appear regularly in top global brands lists. So do newer brands which have not been dominant for decades.  Although Apple, Toyota and Google may be premiere brands today, it is to be seen whether they will stand the test of time.

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1. Standard Oil

Standard Oil was the largest crude oil exploration and production company in the world in the second half of the 19th and early part of the 20th Centuries. The firm was founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller. According to Forbes, his net worth was 1.5% of the American economy, making him the richest man in American history. Standard Oil was a trust that controlled oil drilling, refining, and shipping across a large number of states, particularly in the east. A decision in 1911 rendered by The Supreme Court and largely based on the Sherman Antitrust Act forced Standard Oil to be broken into 34 companies. Many of these, including the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, survived as huge corporations and brands for decades. The New Jersey branch served as a foundation for the company that eventually became Exxon.

Long before GM, Toyota, or VW were founded, the Ford Motor Company was the dominant car brand in the U.S. It remains one of them today. Ford was established in 1903 by Henry Ford. One of Ford’s earliest brands, the Model-T, became so popular that Henry Ford created two revolutionary concepts to address demand. The first was the modern assembly line, which was the basis of manufacturing for decades and which is, to some extent, still used today. The other, established in 1914, was the $5 workday, and turned the Ford name into one of the most famous brands of the first quarter of the 20th Century. According to the company’s description of that period, “After Ford’s announcement, thousands of prospective workers showed up at the Ford Motor Company employment office. People surged toward Detroit from the American South and the nations of Europe. As expected, employee turnover diminished. And, by creating an eight-hour day, Ford could run three shifts instead of two, increasing productivity.” Ford was also critical to the start of aviation in the U.S. and was a huge manufacturer of weapons and war materials in WWII.

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3.  Sears

Founded in the mid 1880s, the company was originally known for its catalog, not as a brick-and-mortar business; it did not open its first store until 1925. The catalog was originally a way to sell watches. As the catalog expanded, it became an important source of goods for Americans living in rural areas, which were then a substantial part of the population. The catalog grew to 532 pages by 1895 and included, according the company’s history, shoes, women’s garments and millinery, wagons, fishing tackle, stoves, furniture, china, musical instruments, saddles, firearms, buggies, bicycles, baby carriages, glassware, and jewelry. Revenue for the company was over $400,000 in 1893 and $750,000 in 1895. The retail operation of the firm grew “to 192 stores in 1928, to 319 stores in 1929 and to 400 stores in 1933. During one 12-month period in the late 20′s, stores opened on the average of one every other business day. When two huge stores opened in one city on the same day, more than 120,000 people visited them during the first 12 hours they were open.”

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4.  Kodak

George Eastman created the first personal camera and began selling it in 1888 with the slogan, “you press the button, we do the rest.” The new product made photography available to tens of millions of American in the following decades. According to several histories of Kodak, its goal was to make photography “as convenient as the pencil.” By 1891 Kodak created the first camera that did not have to be loaded in a darkroom, further increasing the appeal of the personal camera. In 1900 Kodak began to market the “Brownie,” which sold for $1 with film that cost $.15 a roll. Kodak also dominated the businesses of technology for movies and industrial photography. Along with Polaroid, which was founded in 1937 and launched a line of portable cameras in 1948, Kodak brought the ability to record history on film to anyone who could spend a few dollars on a camera.

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5.  Coca-Cola

The drink was first introduced by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta in 1886. The drink was sold for a nickel a glass and the early slogan for marketing the brand was “Delicious and Refreshing.” By 1895, according to the company history, the firm’s annual report stated that “Coca-Cola is now drunk in every state and territory in the United States.” The company worked to expand the value of sales in the early 20th Century by establishing a nationwide system of bottlers. From 1899 until 1920 the number of bottlers grew from two to over 1,000. The iconic bottle with its curves, still seen in retailers today, was created in 1916.

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6. J.P. Morgan

The firm was formed in 1895 by J. Pierpont Morgan, one of the richest men in American history. It had operated before that under different names. The company provided early financing for U.S. Steel and, in 1895, supplied the U.S. government with $62 million in gold to underwrite a bond issue to improve that national balance sheet. The firm also provided financing for railroads to aid their expansions in the latter part of the 19th Century. The company was broken into two pieces as a result of laws established by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933: JP Morgan—the commercial bank, and Morgan Stanley—the investment house. The commercial bank remained one of the primary banksin the U.S. and eventually became one of the cornerstones of JPMorgan Chase. Morgan Stanley remains one of the most famous investment banks in the U.S. and around the world.

Sam Walton, the company’s founder, worked at JC Penney in the 1940s. The Wal-Mart 5 & 10 was founded in 1950. By 1975, Walmart operated in nine states, had 125 stores and 7,500 workers. Walton decided to keep prices extremely low through aggressive sourcing and highly disciplined distribution and inventory control. By the 1980s, Walmart began to overtake larger retailers like Kmart, Macy’s, and JC Penny. By 1995, Walmart was the largest retailer on the Fortune 500 with sales of $83 billion – well ahead of Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Costco, and Home Depot. In 2009, Walmart was in first place on the Fortune list with sales of over $400 billion and two million employees worldwide.

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8.  McDonald’s

The first “McDonald’s” was called McDonald’s Bar-B-Que and was built in 1940. Founders Mac and Dick McDonald created a highly efficient way to serve food on a system that resembled an assembly line. Fast food legend Ray Kroc, who built the modern company, opened the first of a number of franchises in 1955, using the model established by the brothers. The company began to market itself under the “Golden Arches” logo in 1962 and served its one billionth hamburger in 1963. That same year it created Ronald McDonald as the company mascot. By 1968, McDonald’s had 1,000 stores and was clearly the leader in the fast food sector. In 1976, they served 20 billion hamburgers and sales hit $4 billion. In 1991, the company had 9,000 stores. McDonald’s now has sales of $22 billion and is the largest fast food company in the world.

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9.  AT&T

The company that would become the de facto monopoly in the phone business in the U.S. was founded in 1885 as part of the America Bell Telephone Company – a company founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The company settled its first antitrust suit with the government in 1913. In exchange for spinning off Western Union, the telegraph company, AT&T retained rights to most of the local and long distance phone lines in America. Bell Labs, one of the premier R&D facilities in the U.S. opened, was launched by the company in 1925. Bell Labs created the first technology for cellular phones in 1947. By 1955, AT&T was the 15^th largest company in the U.S. In 1982, AT&T settled monopoly charges brought against it in 1974. In 1984. all the company’s operating units became independent. The parent company continued as an independent brand operating long-distance and R&D facilities. Several of the operating units were merged over the twenty-five years after the break-up and the largest, SBC, bought AT&T in 2005. It renamed the new company AT&T.

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10. Marlboro

The cigarette brand sold by Altria in the US and Philip Morris overseas is often listed as one of the most valuable brands in the world and is the largest selling cigarette in the world. Marlboro was introduced in 1902. Philip Morris, its parent company at the time, began to aggressively market the brand to women using the slogan “Mild As May.” Marlboro sales dropped off in the 1940s and the brand was removed from the market. It was re-introduced as a hyper-masculine brand in 1955. Philip Morris developed Marlboro as the cigarette for rugged individuals. It created the idea of “Marlboro Country” and “Marlboro Men.” The brand’s signature slogan was “Come to where the flavor is…come to Marlboro Country.” Marlboro was one of the single largest advertisers on radio, TV, and in print from the late 1950s through the 1970s.

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11. Microsoft

The company was founded in 1975 by Paul Allen and Bill Gates. In 1980, the company created the operating system that would run the IBM PC. The first version of Windows was launched in 1985. Two years later Microsoft released a version of Windows that was built to run on all PCs, moving away from its relationship with IBM. By 1993, 125 million PCs were sold worldwide and over 95% of them ran on Microsoft Windows. By 1998, the figure was 350 million and Microsoft still ran on over nine out of ten machines. Starting in the late 1980s, Microsoft diversified into business software and server operating systems. In the 1990s, it entered the online content business, and in the 2000s it built search engine and gaming systems.

Credits to: 24/7 Wall Street. Com 

By: Douglas A. McIntyre

Read more: The Greatest Brands in American History - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2010/08/09/the-greatest-brands-in-american-history/3/#ixzz0xCUEipA1

What Financial Reform Means to You

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, otherwise known as Financial Regulatory Reform, will soon be signed into law by President Obama. The bill is 2,319 pages long -- there's no single article that can fully explain every way in which this sweeping legislation will ultimately impact your life, but it's important to understand at least the basics.


Let's take a look at exactly how this reform bill will impact your life in the coming months and years.

Mortgage Lending
The changes made to mortgages will help assure that consumers are less likely to get nailed with high fees and bad loan terms. The days of the "liar loan" are now officially over. Lenders will now be required to fully document a borrower's income before agreeing to provide a mortgage loan. They will also be required to determine that the borrower can otherwise repay the loan.

The bill also prohibits lenders from offering incentives (called yield spread premiums) to mortgage brokers in exchange for originating loans with terms unfavorable to borrowers, such as higher interest rates.
• Prepayment penalties for most mortgage loans will no longer be allowed.

The downside of these consumer protections? By making mortgages less profitable for lenders, they could become tougher to get for borrowers. For example, we're already seeing stricter lending standards with higher required down payments.

Free Credit Scores

Consumers can already get a free look at their credit histories once every year from the big three credit bureaus -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax (NYSE: EFX - News) -- by going to AnnualCreditReport.com. In its earlier form, the new law had extended that ability to credit scores as well, offering one free look at our credit scores annually.

In the final version, however, the bill only allows consumers who are denied a loan or suffer some other sort of "adverse action" to get a free look at their credit score.

In addition to being turned down for a loan, other "adverse actions" that could result in a free look at your credit score include an increase in your cost of insurance, being charged more for, or being denied, a car lease, or if the interest rate you're offered on a credit card or loan is higher than one being offered for those with excellent credit.

Debit Card Interchange Fees

While final changes are still months away, the new bill will very likely save merchants money. Whether it will save any for you, on the other hand, is less certain.

• Interchange fees, also known as "swipe fees," are charges merchants have to pay Visa and Mastercard for processing debit and credit card transactions. The fee for debit cards currently averages 1.6% -- credit cards' swipe fees average more than 2%. Under the new law, the Federal Reserve can cap the fees on debit cards (but not credit cards) limiting them to what they decide is "reasonable and proportional to the actual cost incurred."
• It will take months for the Federal Reserve to decide what's reasonable, but in Europe, Visa and MasterCard interchange fees are as low as 0.2% -- in Australia they're capped at 0.5%. Odds are that caps here will be higher than those charged on other continents, but lower than they are today. In lobbying for this change, retailers virtually assured Congress that they would pass along their savings to consumers. Many consumer advocates, however -- including this one -- are skeptical.
• Merchants will be allowed to offer a discount to customers who pay with cards that carry lower transaction fees -- that's something that hasn't been allowed in the past. They'll also be allowed to set both minimums and maximums for card transactions.

An All-Powerful Consumer Watchdog

One of the primary changes brought about the new law is the establishment of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the Federal Reserve. This new agency will have sweeping powers to regulate virtually every kind of lending activity and lender, from the largest banks to the smallest pawn shops.

But there is one large group of lenders that escapes oversight by the new agency: car dealers.

According to Edmunds.com, of the 11 million cars expected to be sold this year, about 70% will be financed or leased through a car dealership. But despite opposition from both consumer advocates and the White House, Senate republicans successfully excluded car dealers from regulatory overview by the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

The argument from car dealers and their lobbyists? They're already regulated by plenty of state and federal consumer protection rules that are designed to prevent practices such as "bait and switch" lending and loans packed with undisclosed extras such as extended warranties.

In addition, dealers argued, if another layer of regulations are imposed on them, lending and leasing may become so unprofitable that many dealers would simply stop offering it, ultimately hurting consumers.

Bank Bailouts

While the bill didn't go as far as many wanted -- for example, it doesn't give the government carte blanche to preemptively break up banks it considers "too big to fail" -- it did establish some new rules that could head problems off before they become systemic. It also should reduce the amount of money taxpayers would be required to shell out should good banks go bad.
• In the case of a failing financial institution, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) will borrow from the Treasury to pay for the cost of liquidation, then get its money back by selling off the institution's assets. If asset sales aren't enough to repay the Treasury, the FDIC could charge a fee to other banks.
• Payments to creditors of a failing institution designed to prevent a crisis from spreading will be limited to payments a creditor would receive in bankruptcy. In other words, money owed by failing financial firms to other companies might not be entirely repaid. This would prevent a repeat of the $160 billion taxpayer bailout of AIG.
• If a bank fails, the FDIC will have the ability to take back compensation paid to its current or former senior executives for the two years preceding its failure. In addition, the government can ban senior executives found responsible for a bank's failure from future work in the financial services industry.

Additional Protection for Investors and Consumers
• Financial literacy: The legislation requires the SEC to conduct a financial literacy study. It also creates an Office of Financial Literacy that will be tasked to develop programs to teach Americans about savings, loans, liens and fees. The agency would establish standards for financial advice programs and help keep Americans, particularly seniors, from becoming victims of scams.
• Investor Advocate: The legislation creates an Investor Advocate within the SEC that will represent the interests of retail investors.
• Greater disclosure to retail investors: The legislation requires that adequate disclosures be made to retail investors before they are allowed to invest in financial products.
• More protection for underserved investors: Another goal is to allow the un-banked and under-banked greater access to mainstream financial institutions.

By: Stacy Johnson

CREDITS: Money Talks News

You Don’t Have to Pay for Cable TV

You might not know it, but you can watch HDTV with an antenna.


Over 99% of U.S. TV households can receive at least one local station over the air, while 89% can watch five or more. The picture is perfectly clear thanks to the switch to digital TV completed on June 12, 2009. You’ll either see a crisp, beautiful image or no image at all (static is a thing of the past). And the best part? All your favorite programming will still be in HD.

HDTV is more expensive for local stations to produce, so it’s common to see a station broadcast in regular standard definition during the day, but switch their signal to high definition for prime time. So while the local news may not be in HD, your favorite shows like Glee, America’s Got Talent, and The Bachelorette will be.

Of course, you will need an antenna to make this work, but your HDTV will also have to have an “HDTV tuner” built in. This is sometimes referred to as “integrated HDTV”. If not, you’ll need to buy a separate HDTV tuner that connects your existing HDTV to an antenna. To check, you may have to consult your HDTV’s manual, do a search online, or contact the manufacturer.

AntennaWeb, a site provided by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), will show you exactly where to point your antenna for the best reception at your address. It will also let you see which stations are broadcasting over the air in your area. There may be more than you think.

What about shows that aren’t on broadcast channels?

Two of my favorite shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, air on Comedy Central, which isn’t a channel you can receive with an antenna. Fortunately, Internet to the rescue! If you’ve got a computer and internet access (there’s no way I’d be able to live without paying for Internet), both shows can be watched in their entirety on their respective websites for free. (Full episodes of The Daily Show and full episodes of The Colbert Report). Like most online shows, you’ll have to sit through a few commercials, but less than you would see watching the same show on television and without having to pay for the privilege.

The popular website Hulu has hundreds of shows available to watch online, all free, commercial-supported, but it’s not the only option. Netflix is a great way to watch past seasons of favorite shows, which can be streamed instantly to almost 100 devices like your computer, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, iPhone (soon), etc. You can watch as much as you want for only $9 a month; compared to the cost of a cable or satellite subscription with premium movie channels, a pittance. Plus, they’ve got almost every movie you’ve ever heard of, offer a 2 week free trial, and let you cancel whenever you want.

Where do you watch live sports online?

If you’re getting your Internet from one of these providers, you can access ESPN3, a “broadband network for live sports programming”. The site is currently in beta and not every game on TV is available online, but you can watch thousands of games and events (even World Cup soccer) live with chat, stats, scoreboards, and picture-in-picture. According to them:

Each year ESPN3 delivers thousands of live games and events like College Football and Basketball, NBA, MLB, UEFA Champions League Soccer, The Masters and US Open Golf, all 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and more. Plus you get a fully interactive experience with real time in-game stats and scoreboards and live chat.

Other sites to watch sports? MLB.tv has an $80/year membership that will let you stream every regular season baseball game (with a few exceptions) right to your computer/PS3/etc, live or on-demand, and in HD when available. Given the success of these ventures, look for even more games and events to be broadcast online through sites like ESPN3 and MLB.tv. The interactive nature of the web allows for an engaging, social experience and ultimately, more enjoyable spectating.

But what about “premium” shows, like the ones on HBO, Cinemax and Starz?

Some shows can be purchased individually from sites like Amazon.com or Apple’s iTunes Store a day or two after they air. If you do the math, you’ll find that purchasing your favorite show is likely to be cheaper than paying for the channel it airs on month after month.

For everything else, you’ll have to be a little patient and wait for the inevitable DVD release of last season. The typical DVD set for one season of a television series costs between $25 and $35, so you could buy several sets each month and still save over the cost of cable or satellite. However, if it comes out on DVD, chances are it’ll show up on Netflix where that $9 a month subscription is now looking really good.

How does all this internet video get on my TV?

While streaming video to your computer sounds great, most people want to watch television on their television. Fortunately, there are tons of options to get your favorite shows on your big screen. First, check your computer for an output designed to work with either an external monitor or TV. If you’ve got one, you may be able to buy a cable and adapter that will plug your computer directly into your television. Doing so is a bit like putting together a puzzle; you want to find pieces that connect to each other. This can be a little tricky, especially with all the different possible connections on the market. So if you’re not tech savvy, you may want to get a little help from someone who is or check out this video from Howcast called ”How To Connect Your Laptop To Your Television”.

You might also want to look at “media streaming” boxes. Like the cable box you’ll be ditching, these connect to your TV and allow you to watch programming you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see. The big difference? You can watch free and paid internet content. Depending on the box, you’ll be able to stream video from Netflix, Amazon, MLB.tv, Hulu, and YouTube, audio from internet radio stations, Pandora, and Last.fm, and watch movies or look at photos that have been stored your home PC. Think of media streaming boxes as mini-computers for your TV.

The Roku Digital Video Player is $80 ($100 for the HD version), but you can get $20 off if you’re a new Netflix subscriber. It’ll stream dozens of “channels” from the web right to your TV for less than the price of one month of cable or satellite. Plus, it’s an open platform so developers are adding new channels all the time.

The Boxee Box by D-Link wont be available for purchase until later this year, but you can install their free software on your home computer right now. It’ll turn your Mac or PC into a full fledged media player, with an interface specifically designed to look great on TV. It’s much easier to navigate with a remote and provides easy access to your personal collection of movies and music, as well as every video website under the Sun.

Google will soon enter the market to pair TV and the Internet with Google TV, a software package they developed to be built in to TVs, Blu-Ray players and set-top boxes. It’s sort of a super-TiVo that will let you watch and record broadcast programming while seamlessly switching to internet streaming when what you want to watch isn’t on a channel you receive. In essence, Google created the perfect companion for anyone who wants to ditch cable or satellite without sacrificing their favorite shows. Upcoming devices with Google TV built in have been announced by Sony, Logitech and Intel, but wont be available until later this year.

Apple TV is like an iPod for your TV. It’ll let you stream videos and audio from your iTunes collection, but only if they’re in the right format, and nothing from Hulu, Netflix, etc. Of course, anything you purchase from iTunes will play perfectly, so this may be a great option for some. However, at $230 with seemingly limited capabilities, your best bet might be to wait for the Apple TV 2 (if such a thing is coming).

So there are plenty of inexpensive options. You don’t need a new computer for every TV in your house, though with the money saved by cutting out cable or satellite, you could afford several.

How much does all of this cost?

While the average cable bill is $75 a month or $900 a year, I was paying closer to $150 a month or $1800 a year to see everything I wanted. Now I pay $9 a month for my Netflix subscription and watch everything else for free online or over-the-air broadcast. I don’t need a TiVo (since you can just hit pause on a website), and I use an old, cheap computer running Boxee hooked up to my TV as my “media center”. My $1800 a year expense is now only $108 and I can watch just about everything I want, whenever I want.

Update: Hulu Plus

Just one day after writing this story (yesterday), Hulu announced their new premium membership called Hulu Plus. For $9.99 a month, it promises full and current seasons of shows like The Office, Friday Night Lights, Dancing with the Stars and Lie to Me. Shows can be watched on your computer, through an iPhone/iPad app, or on a compatible television, blu-ray player or gaming system. While you are paying money for a premium service, Hulu has said that programming will still be advertising supported, so be aware. Currently, the full Hulu Plus catalog is only open to those who request an invitation, but look for wider availability soon. Personally, I can’t wait to try it out.

Credits to: MoneyTalks News