I gripe about Comcast a lot on my blog. To summarize my previous posts, I believe the corporate guidance on set-top-box products is to be adequate and cheap, so the product experience is always lacking, and frequently buggy. The crappy set-top/software solution is amplified by periods of crappy networks operations.
And, because their back-office is a mess, their support peoples can't win.

As a customer with some experience in TV STB systems and services, I am frequently frustrated because Comcast does some really dumb product stuff, giving them a jenky brand identity. For example, a new system bug (new to me anyway) I discovered on their HD/DVR receiver during the All-Star game Tuesday... if you have more than 70% of your DVR space allocated for stored programming, your FFWD and RWD controls flat out don't work if you pause and create any kind of buffer. This bug totally ruined the first four innings of the MLB All Star game for me... but I digress, this post is supposed to have a grin.

Sam Schechner and Vishesh Kuma wrote a Story in the Wall Street Journal about a goood product/service decision from Comcast. Here is the title and excerpt.

"Cable-TV shows, including TBS's "My Boys," are coming to the Web -- along with a full complement of ads.

The shows will be part of a new Web-TV trial that begins this month, spearheaded by cable operator Comcast Corp. It involves more than a half-dozen other media companies, including CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. The idea is to put more TV shows online, but only for paying cable subscribers.

The effort aims to address one of the biggest concerns facing producers of cable programming: how to keep viewers from canceling their subscriptions to watch free TV online."

Finally, something smart from Comcast. Good job fellas, no don't screw it up in the execution. Be elegant for once.