Millions of people have made the leap to digital cable. Here's why.

To appreciate how much television has changed with the development of digital cable, you only have to look as far as your remote control. Not even a decade ago, for most people the biggest advantage of a remote control was its original one: You didn't have to get off the couch to change the channel.

These days, digital cable technology has transformed that humble remote into a communications portal.

With digital cable, at the touch of a button, you can access thousands of on demand movies and shows, tune in hundreds of TV networks, prevent your kids from seeing shows you don't want them to watch, and even enjoy commercial-free music channels devoted to everything from 1970s hard rock to soothing jazz favorites. With that same remote control, you can pause, forward and rewind those on demand movies, call up the Sopranos episode you missed last week, surf channel listings while watching a show or learn how to make a dynamite low-carb chocolate mousse. And some of the emerging features of digital cable will make your TV interactive to a degree only imagined in the past: You'll be able to change camera angles in the middle of a sporting event, play video games and, in the case of some creative programs, select from several options the most satisfying conclusion to the drama you're watching.

And, oh, yes, you'll be able to contact your cable company, check your caller ID messages on the TV screen, and using the same digital technology, call your mother in Milwaukee. All with that handy remote.

Page 1 of 3 | Next