Post #49,072
8/12/02 12:07:50 PM
8/12/02 12:13:38 PM
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Pollyanna?
I have vague recollections of the reference but don't remember enough to get your intent.
the Industry[tm] will have discovered (who am I crappin?...have ALREADY discovered) that they now have a captive audience and will have the perfect excuse to gouge. This is America after all....
Unlike the RIAA with their $20 CDs, the electronics industry has competition. People are used to, and expect, the price of electronics to drop.
(Besides...It doesn't become you to be an apologist for MegaCorps, Inc....)
Um, right... I gather a better analogy would be expecting Intuit to maintain a current DOS version of TurboTax. Standards changed. At some point it's no longer worth maintaining old standards. Deal with it.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
Edited by SpiceWare
Aug. 12, 2002, 12:13:38 PM EDT
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Post #49,074
8/12/02 12:47:32 PM
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Agree on competition in electronics.
As long as there are Phillips, Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, Aiwa, Hitachi, etc. and there is no consolidation of these we'll be OK.
Sure, the early adopters pay "through the nose" and don't get much choice. But they also get to establish what such products will for the masses. After the basic product specs become common, competition get serious and prices drop precipitously.
Hey, I remember buying a 25" color TV in 1967 for just under $600. That was close to month's after tax pay for a young engineer. I was by no means an early adopter.
So, if it looks expensive, just wait!
Alex
"Television: chewing gum for the eyes." -- Frank Lloyd Wright
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Post #49,110
8/12/02 7:13:16 PM
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Deal with THIS...
At some point it's no longer worth maintaining old standards. Deal with it. Besides the obvious allegory to Micros~1's marketing strategy ("We're gonna change [Windows | Office file formats | Interface look-and-feel | Licensing fees | etc | etc | etc...]. Deal with it."), your oh-so-smug analogy breaks down because I can still run DOS TurboTax on a DOS machine if I want to. How do I run my NTSC TV sets (in which I DO have a significant investment) when there is no signal? Oh, I can buy a converter box for each? OK, how much? Shit, that's as much as I have invested in my entire TV collection! "Too bad, sucker...Deal with it!" Yeah...blow me very much! jb4
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. "
-- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)
(I wish more managers knew that...)
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Post #49,127
8/12/02 9:08:43 PM
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Really?
I can still run DOS TurboTax on a DOS machine if I want toI'm sure you could run it, but the tax information in the old version isn't current. I couldn't find anything on Intuit's site that said they have updates for the DOS version which is why I used them as an analogy. Anyway, the reason there won't be 2 signals broacast is this(quoted from [link|http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/08/scitech/pcanswer/main518090.shtml|here]) The FCC's goal is to eventually have all consumers watching digital TV so that the existing analog TV spectrum can be returned back to the government for re-allocation for other purposes. How do I run my NTSC TV sets (in which I DO have a significant investment) when there is no signal? Oh, I can buy a converter box for each? OK, how much? Shit, that's as much as I have invested in my entire TV collection!Yep, you buy a converter box. Sure, the converters are expensive now, but that's why there is a transition going on. By the time the NTSC signal is gone they won't be in the $300+ range. [link|http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/08/scitech/pcanswer/main518090.shtml|The same article] has this interesting tidbit - citing a study from Arthur D. Little that says that the retail price of such tuners, by 2006 will be only about $16. If you (or Orion) are too hardup for that, give me a call and I'll pick one up for you. This whole topic appears to me as yet another "they're out to screw me" topic by Orion. However, in this instance, they're not. If they were truly out to get him, they'd have flipped off the old signal immediately instead of having the transition period.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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Post #49,178
8/13/02 9:20:17 AM
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Flipping off the signal w/o warning...
...would have gotten them sued! (You know, that irksome "operating in the public trust" thing that the FCC and the networks/radio monopolies are trying so hard to get themselves rid of). The same article has this interesting tidbit - citing a study from Arthur D. Little that says that the retail price of such tuners, by 2006 will be only about $16. I hope you're right. However, I keep remembering such similar fairy tales as: " Nuclear power will be too cheap to meter", "CDs will permit albums to be sold for less than $1 each", and "I won't come in your mouth". Your [link|http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=Pollyanna|Pollyanna] attitude is is direct conflict with the unmitigated greed of Corporate America (sieg Heil!). Yeah, I can afford it. I just don't want to have to afford it, especially on on their schedule. And while I can't speak for Norm, I can point out that, while the US was the last country to adopt an HDTV standard, they are the first to force-march their market to it. Why is that? Could it be......... Corporate Greed???jb4
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. "
-- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)
(I wish more managers knew that...)
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Post #49,188
8/13/02 10:13:36 AM
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Considering how much they
(the broadcasters and the set makers) are dragging their feet and fighting the FCC, I doubt it's Corporate Greed that's causing the switchover to happen when it does. Government greed yes, corporate greed no. The government is going to relicense the old analog channels and expects to get a lot of fees when they do so. In theory that's supposed to help out the public(maybe pay down the nation debt?); however, I expect the extra income to be sucked up by some new pork project.
Thanx for the reference. All I can say is if it were true(finding the good in everything) then I'd be sing the praises of Microsoft. However in this instance, as an early adopter, I can literally see the benefits of HDTV.
" Nuclear power will be too cheap to meter"
haven't heard this one, though rising costs due to continual construction stoppages(protesters) have caused nuclear power prices to be higher than they would otherwise have been
"CDs will permit albums to be sold for less than $1 each"
The AOL coasters are proof of how cheap CDs are to make, however the RIAA will prevent this from happening as long as they maintain their stranglehold over music.
"I won't come in your mouth"
think you left yourself wide open on this one... :-)
they are the first to force-march their market to it
we weren't first to space, but we were first to the moon. It's really disappointing that it hasn't progressed beyond that.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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Post #49,199
8/13/02 10:55:35 AM
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You obviously don't live in ComEd territory!
That ("Nuclear Power will be too cheap to meter") was the siren song used by Commonwealth Edison ("...a UNICOM Company...") to build so many nuke plants in Illinois. Has more of 'em than any other power generating company in the country. Has more of 'em in mothballs than any other power generating company in the country. Has the highest rates of any power company in the country.
You do the math...
jb4
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. "
-- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)
(I wish more managers knew that...)
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Post #49,211
8/13/02 11:44:49 AM
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did at one time
but I wasn't worried about that stuff then, too young. I was 15 when we moved to Texas.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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Post #49,233
8/13/02 3:02:23 PM
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Not greed from broadcasters
but greed from the electronics companies. They want to sell more TV sets, and the best way they can do that is to lobby/force the government to fade out the old analog signal and replace it with a digital signal. Of course the broadcasters are resisting, they don't want to pay for the extra equipment and they feel that the analog signal is good enough. But we are not living in a democracy, but rather a plutocracy, and I am not speaking about Mickey Mouse's dog. If the US Citizens were given a vote on the issue, they would vote it down. But they are not, those Communication Nazis at the FCC are forcing this down the thoats of the US Citizens.
I can imagine a Joe Sickpack in 2007 trying to flip on his analog TV set, and getting nothing but snow. "WTF happened? Hey Mary, did Billy and Suzie futz with the TV set again?" and he bangs on it, checks the dials and controls, and tries to tune in the stations. But nothing happens. Then he calls up his friend Bubba and finds out that Bubba had to buy an adapter to get his TV set working. "WTF? $150 for an adapter to get free TV? When did this happen?"
Meanwhile the evil managers who run the consumer electronics companies are counting their money as Asian Kids who earn 50 cents an hour chuck out the TV sets and Digital Converters and work their 90+ hours in a sweat shop.
[link|http://games.speakeasy.net/data/files/khan.jpg|"Khan!!!" -Kirk]
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Post #49,242
8/13/02 3:59:25 PM
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I see no further point in continuing this thread
"nazi's", "evil managers" ...
your so set in your belief that everyone's out to get you that you're not willing to consider that they're not.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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