Jer wrote:
> TJ wrote:
>> Jer wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> See, here's the deal, the cable company didn't want to be obligated
>>> to supply analog until 2012, they also didn't want to allocate any
>>> budget money to customer's STB's, so they sought a rule variance.
>>> Once granted, the rules are out the window. Going all digital with
>>> the variance relieved their network of stuffy old analog, and it also
>>> relieved them of any financial obligation to provide STB's to their
>>> own customers. If I have this straight, and I think I do, it was a
>>> good move on their part. Cable company wins, customers with a stuffy
>>> old analog TV are buying their own STB if they want to stay connected.
>>>
>>>
>> And the customers with the "stuffy old analog TVs" are the ones who
>> lose out, because the cheap STBs now on sale everywhere aren't
>> supposed to work with cable systems. And there's no government coupon
>> program (yet) to get them some money off on those boxes that WILL
>> work. There may be one by 2011, a year before you've said the cable
>> companies have to make the switch, but what are the "stuffy old
>> analog" customers supposed to do in the meantime?
>>
>> Assuming there is no viable terrestrial OTA alternative to this guy's
>> small cable company, I predict several of his customers will switch to
>> satellite services, and he'll get even smaller. Any satellite service
>> marketer worth his salt will jump all over this.
>>
>> BTW, I LIKE my stuffy old analog TVs. I saw the picture on a nifty new
>> 1080i HDTV connected to an antenna in a Radio Shack last week. It was
>> set up near the OTA STBs to show customers what they could expect from
>> digital TV. As the salesguy cycled through the available channels, I
>> noticed that the nifty new HDTV video looked fine, quite close to my
>> stuffy old 25-inch Samsung when it gets a good signal. However, when
>> he cycled to a sub-channel showing 480i SDTV content, the nifty new
>> set's video was blocky and unattractive, unlike my stuffy old analog
>> set. Nope, I don't plan to add to the stuffy old waste stream by
>> dumping my stuffy old analog sets any time soon.
>>
>> TJ
>
>
> Nothing wrong with adding old stuff to the waste stream. They've been
> recycling old stuff by the truck loads for a few years now. I
> sympathize with your RS experience - maybe one day those RS folks will
> learn how to set up a TV display. When they do, their new education
> will reveal the brainfartness of comparing apples to oranges.
>
Nothing wrong with continuing to use stuffy old stuff that still does
the job just fine, either. To each his own.
TJ
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