5 Nov
2005
5 Nov
'05
4:50 p.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
Well UK terrestrial analogue TV's getting canned in what, five years? So
far there seems to be no outcry whatsoever, yet I'm amazed that people
aren't up in arms about having to fork out for a new set (or several, in
I suspect most of the General Public don't realise what is involved (or
that they'll have to buy a settop box for every TV and VCR that they own).
5.1/6.1/7.1/whatever sound even with cheapest receivers. The second
point emphasizes on the "digitalization" issue:
in the near future there won't be any analogue AM or FM
transmissions/transmitters any more; even SW band migrates
THis ia a great pity, and actually, given the number of cheap radios
around, I wonder if it will ever happen. I can't believe the public will
accept having to replace doxens of sets. the case of most households), or at least a cable box
and having to sign
up for cable TV.
Well, when it happens, I for one will simply give up television (and I
won't miss it at all). I know several others people who intend to do the
same....
I expect it's way too late to stop the switch-off too, as the cable /
satellite people will be in bed with the Government by now and of course
the Government are convinced that digital-everything is the way forward
for our society...
I've come to the conclusion, based on digital TV, digital photography,
digital radio, etc, that when 'digital' is applied to a consumer product,
the result is a reduction in quality.
Personally I like my 4 channels (Cambridge uni's
astronomy forbid us
from receiving channel 5 up around Cambridge) when compared to cable.
Cable might have way more choice, but the programming quality's a lot
poorer, there are way more adverts, and the broadcast quality isn't up
to much compared to analogue either with signal drop-outs all over the
place...
Yep. A digital signal does not degrade gracefully. And there are far too
many channels (and very few quality programmes).
I find the building is 99% of the fun and the using is
1%, no matter
what the gadget. I'm just a sucker for seeing how things work (whether
done well or not) regardless of what they are...
Of course. I can't think of anything I own that I've not pulled apart
(generally within the first day of owning it). I like to see how it
works (and that it's been assembled properly). And I have been known to
work out how some uncodumented device works, at least enough to be able
to repair it.
-tony