Technology that refuses to die

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Max000
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29 May 2013, 9:24 pm

eric76 wrote:

Ichinin wrote:

Arran wrote:

Terrestrial television is a debatable one. Some critics say that digital terrestrial television was developed primarily to appease older people who preferred the look of a yagi to a satellite dish.

Television has no right to exist! The internet can deliver pretty much any show you wanna watch, without some moron TV planner deciding for you what to watch. The concept of force fed entertainment has to DIE.

So your answer is to deny TV to people who live in remote areas? Make everyone move to a big city with cheap Internet?

There are many places without much in the way of Internet at all or with limitations on bandwidth.

Around here, most people have two choices for Internet -- satellite Internet that with severe limitations on your bandwidth and poor service or fixed wireless Internet with much better performance and fewer limitations. However, with the high cost of the multiple T-1 lines (ours has three T-1 lines) to service the customers it would be impossible for many to watch TV at the same time. Even with just three T-1 lines, the company just barely breaks even in spite of paying considerably less than competitive wages.

So if you want tv, you either get it over the air or you pay for it from Dish Network or Direct TV.

We should do whatever is necessary to bring high speed internet to everybody. No matter where they live. Then we should get rid of TV.

Max000
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29 May 2013, 9:46 pm

CornerPuzzlePieces wrote:

I love satellite radio but it's WAY too expensive to justify it.

It's on my list of things to buy if I win the lottery though...

Yeah, thanks to it being a monopoly. :evil:

Anyway who needs it? I've got 30,000 songs downloaded on my computer. Some of them I have never even listened to before. Thats enough for me, for the rest of my life.

greengeek
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06 Jun 2013, 9:36 pm

I still use a Dot-Matrix printer as they are cheap to use, the ribbons don't dry out from not being used, and my Apple Imagewriter II and my C.Itoh 8510 works on most of my computers.

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androbot2084
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07 Jun 2013, 1:07 pm

Why is free television obsolete?

zer0netgain
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07 Jun 2013, 2:33 pm

androbot2084 wrote:

Why is free television obsolete?

My theories....

1. DTV reduces the transmission range of broadcast TV to a vast degree. You can get an analog signal to be watchable at just 40% signal strength, but DTV really needs 70% or better or it's impossible to tolerate...if you get anything. Since DTV went in, a lot of people lost stations they used to get well enough to watch.

2. The only fix for #1 is more DTV transmitters. They are expensive in their own rights...never mind the process to get permission to put more up. Most places just don't bother.

3. In urban areas, there's lots of incentive to make everyplace broadband ready, and there are government programs to provide it for next to nothing for those who can't afford it. In rural areas....good luck with that.

4. Wherever you live, satellite and cable offer more options than broadcast TV, and most people probably go in on that.

The simple fact is that broadcast TV is a dying market. They are usually on every other medium for TV, and the number of people who can only get them over an antenna is shrinking every year. At some point, they just won't bother anymore unless they cost is subsidized.

auntblabby
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07 Jun 2013, 5:00 pm

zer0netgain wrote:

The simple fact is that broadcast TV is a dying market. They are usually on every other medium for TV, and the number of people who can only get them over an antenna is shrinking every year. At some point, they just won't bother anymore unless they cost is subsidized.

then I guess pofolks like me who live out in the sticks will be up the creek as well.

Kurgan
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07 Jun 2013, 6:43 pm

The FM radio refuses to die, but I can see why. Shutting down the FM network would render many car radios worthless.

auntblabby
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07 Jun 2013, 6:45 pm

FM [and AM as well] radio's lifespan has been extended a bit with the advent of HD radio. :idea:

ruveyn
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07 Jun 2013, 7:38 pm

Radio is alive and well.

androbot2084
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07 Jun 2013, 8:38 pm

Free over the air broadcasting will soon support ultra high definition which is 16 times more detail than regular 1080p high definition. And the naysayers still think this format is obsolete?

auntblabby
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07 Jun 2013, 8:48 pm

the person with average visual acuity will need a wall-sized display to see all of what ultraHD promises.

Arran
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09 Jun 2013, 9:43 am

zer0netgain wrote:

1. DTV reduces the transmission range of broadcast TV to a vast degree. You can get an analog signal to be watchable at just 40% signal strength, but DTV really needs 70% or better or it's impossible to tolerate...if you get anything. Since DTV went in, a lot of people lost stations they used to get well enough to watch.

It happened in Britain and lots of people ended up having to watch a different ITV region to the one they previously watched, although there is almost no difference between them now.

Quote:

Too many retired people in some countries - like Britain. The BBC is effectively subsidised by the TV licence and was a driving force behind digital terrestrial. Ironically anybody over 75 can get a free TV licence so those who probably watch the most BBC don't pay for it. Another irony is that digital terrestrial benefits localised TV channels yet ITV ended up merging into one company (with the exception of Scotland and Ulster) and as previously stated there is almost no difference between regions now.

ruveyn
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09 Jun 2013, 9:54 am

Max000 wrote:

We should do whatever is necessary to bring high speed internet to everybody. No matter where they live. Then we should get rid of TV.

We have to pay through the nose for cable (which carries cable-cast AND internet). We can watch broadcast T.V. for the just the cost of electrical power to run our T.V. sets.

ruveyn

Arran
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09 Jun 2013, 2:28 pm

ruveyn wrote:

We have to pay through the nose for cable (which carries cable-cast AND internet).

Is DSL, Wi-Fi, or mobile broadband available in the US?

Quote:

We can watch broadcast T.V. for the just the cost of electrical power to run our T.V. sets.

In most of Europe a TV licence is legally required to watch terrestrial TV broadcasts but it isn't required for the internet with the exception of Denmark. This has to be factored into the cost equation. There have been cases of British people with internet at home giving up the TV and saving money on the TV licence.

greengeek
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09 Jun 2013, 9:14 pm

Arran wrote:

So I wonder if everybody is going to have to pay for a colour license, even if they only have black & white TV's as the boxes output in color.

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zer0netgain
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10 Jun 2013, 7:32 am

androbot2084 wrote:

Free over the air broadcasting will soon support ultra high definition which is 16 times more detail than regular 1080p high definition. And the naysayers still think this format is obsolete?

The problem is that higher resolution = lower range.

DTV in the US has a max range of 200 miles (average). If you live in mountains, cut that by over 50%. Without a strong signal, you don't get jack. Analog had a longer range because you could get an acceptable picture at a much weaker signal strength.

Rural areas always suffer unless they upgrade infrastructure, and frankly, the service providers don't see enough $$$ to justify it. So, if government doesn't subsidize it, it won't happen.

Radio won't die because it's a cheap and proven media. For many purposes, phasing it out would be a disaster for public safety concerns.

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