Well, not so fast, but you might be able to in the very near future.  I have been amazed over the last few years at how many people hate cable boxes.  One of the most common questions I hear when someone’s purchasing a new TV is “is there a way to get rid of my cable box?”

A few years ago, many manufacturers had a feature called Cable Card, which allowed you to eliminate your Cable Set-top Box with a “card” that plugged into a slot on the back of your TV, allowing you to plug your coaxial line in and receive your cable channels.

It never really took off, for several reasons.  The biggest problem was that it was a one-way communication system.  That meant that it could only receive information, not send information back to the cable companies.  The problem was that you could not receive the channel guides (the cable menu system), pay-per-view, video on demand, etc.  Most people were used to these on their Cable Boxes, and did not want to give them up.  Also, you can’t use a separate TIVO box (or similar device) with Cable Card.  There seemed to be other issues, and performance seemed to be a problem with many users as well.

Most manufacturers dropped this feature from their TVs within a year or two, and I’m not aware of any that have them currently.

The good news, potentially, is that Sony Electronics just announced it has signed an agreement with the major cable operators in America to begin producing “tru2way” bi-directional digital cable ready products that will not require a separate set-top box.

According to Sony, “tru2way” will resolve the problems of previous Cable Cards.  It will allow for interactive services like video-on-demand, digital video recording and interactive programming guides,  and finally allow viewers to return to the days when all you needed was a coaxial cable into your TV.

With all of the problems of the previous Cable Cards, we’re a little skeptical until we see it, but it sounds very promising and hopefully, everyone will support this new standard and allow you to say goodbye to your cable box.