[mythtv-users] Interesting Reading: Windows Secrets reviews AppleTV and GoogleTV

[Brian Wood]

On Thursday, December 09, 2010 11:16:59 am Ben Kamen wrote:
> On 12/9/2010 12:05 PM, Brian Wood wrote:
> > New ideas in communications always seem to lead to bizarre
> > implementations. Initially the telephoning of Operas and other
> > musical performances was seen as the way to riches, the idea of
> > two-way conversations only came later, after a method of charging
> > for it was developed.
> 
> I still sit back and contemplate the whole push to Digital.
> 
> It's really been kind of a circus...
> 
> I honestly have always been happy with analog TV because of the
> content more than the presentation. If the show sucks, I don't watch
> it. If the show is awesome, my imagination does more for my
> enjoyment than sometimes a little snow on the screen.
> 
> So I sit back and I watch the US/FCC grope and groan to figure out
> HD/Digital TV over the last 20+ years and I muse at the fact that
> what really seemed to start pushing the adoption was Sports.
> 
> Maybe the sports folks finally had all the equipment to actually
> record in HD... but then I look at how a lot of shows used the 16:9
> framing to show all sorts of info-streamers and station specs.. so
> whatever.
> 
> I still wonder (with a mild chuckle) at what really made HDtv go
> forth and how happy folks like ComCast must be to finally be able to
> dump analog (for single digital freq - multi station combo abilities
> to they can roll out Xfinity -- while lying to us that the goverment
> made them do it. Hahahahah - but I digress).
> 
> If everyone was given SDTV, would they be happy? Did the sports fans
> just buy into the hype?
> 
> Are the media makers finally happy cause the analog hole is closing?
> Did they push it? (Let's convince the sports fans first. They NEED
> HD, then the rest will follow -- especially with the FCC push.)
> 
> Not that HD isn't nice... but I would never buy the equipment if the
> analog stuff wasn't going away.
> 
> You guys get the idea. Makes ya wonder, doesn't it? Maybe I've become
> too much a conspiracy theorist.
> 

You forget that digital TV was pushed in the US as the solution to 
emergency communications problems (like what was claimed during 9/11), 
with the balance of the freed up spectrum being auctioned off to solve 
the government debt problems.

Another case of using fear after 9/11 to generate bigger profits for the 
corporate world. Of course HD was on the drawing board before 2001, but 
9/11 was used to push it over the edge, since consumers were not 
sufficiently clamoring for it.

But somehow the only beneficiaries are the media companies, cable 
companies, broadcast equipment manufacturers and consumer electronics 
manufacturers.

No emergency first responders have seen any benefit, nor have consumers, 
none of whom were clamoring for "more resolution", most were quite happy 
with VHS.

Bad programming will not be helped by HD, and good programming does not 
need it, as you alluded.

It's getting harder and harder to not be a conspiracy theorist.