An option - Re: the beginning of the end for floppies

On 4 May 2010 at 21:28, Dave McGuire wrote: <rant> No, I just think that Jim's old enough to have a bit of historical perspective. First there was broadcast radio, free for the price of listening to commerical content and the price of a receiver. Some really great content--music, drama, news you could get nowhere else. Nothing at all like today's broadcast radio. One of the reasons that I don't collect old receivers is that getting them to work would only remind me how far radio has fallen. Then came broadcast TV. I'm old enough to remember my family's first TV set--a 9" Philco. I recall that VHF channel 9 in Chicago before it became PBS was the flagship Zenith station that tinkered a bit with pay-TV (used your telephone), which flopped badly. In the early 70s, I moved to an apartment that offered free cable TV. I liked it--no commercial content, just programming. That, sadly, did not last long--the odious commercial content soon intruded and when the complex decided to charge for cable, I decided that I could do without pay for commericals. Broadcast TV still held quite a bit of interest and I didn't mind. Now, broadcast TV is pretty much garbage (most programs are cops, doctors or reality/game/talk shows). We own a TV, but it's not a large-screen model, nor is it in the living room, nor is it remotely new. When we're out, we leave it to entertain the dogs. Cable isn't in my area, so the possibility of getting cable TV content as a side benefit of internet access isn't there. No way I'm going to pay for a dish so I can watch commercials. Before you say DVR or Tivo, I submit that if those were used universally among cable subscribers, cable advertising would have no economic return. I suspect that as program-delay devices become more prevalent, the advertisers will devise a way around them--how about continuous ads split-screen with your favorite programs? I wouldn't put it past them. </rant> - Chuck