Cable Card was hamstrung because the FCC left design and implementation largely in the hands of Cable Labs, which was owned and operated by a few of the larger cable companies.  It was intentionally design-by-checkmark; it met every one of the FCC&#x27;s rules, but was overcomplicated and hard to use.  It was designed to fail.<p>That said, if you can get it working, it beats the pants off of any cable box.  I have an HDHR box with a Cable Card in it, and I can use it both via DLNA and on my Apple TV.