So digital was all for nothing?
So having just chucked out my old analog TVs and buying a new antenna and digital TV's and tuners they are now proposing to dump broadcast TV altogether?
So who put him up to this? Cox or Time-Warner?
Although he's facing strong – and at times rabid – opposition to his recently released Open Internet plan, defending the plan isn't the main concern of FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. "Unleashing spectrum to support mobile innovation is at the top of the FCC's 2011 agenda," Genachowski said on Thursday at the Consumer …
So now I know it isn't that hard to use the word spectrum so many times that it begins to fade out of consciousness like a single blade of grass vanishing into the dew moistened meadow with little blue flowers and the hum of happy bees. If only we could just unleash that 400 to 700 nanometer spectrum and sell it to the highest bidder, we could buy our way out of the dep^H^H^Hrecession and into more jobs in less optical markets.
So do we, the folks that watch free broadcast tv, then get cable for free? That 10% he is talking about is mostly likely the older folks and those that cannot afford cable. If it's up to the current administration, they'd probably make some kind of gov't program for those who can't afford it where those who can pay will pay an extra fee. what about those who DON'T want to have 100's of channels. That's where I fall in. I could pay for cable, but I don't watch that much TV.
...the "open internet" plan was actually pretty tepid, sort of puttered around the edges of the problem, and didn't go nearly far enough to ensure 'Net neutrality.
As far as Obummer being a one-term President... hell, he's doing that himself just fine without the help of Mitch McConnell, or the GOP, for that matter. All he needs to do is keep crapping on his "base" the way he has for the past two years.
It's maybe worth recalling that the digital TV in the UK isn't all that advanced. Later developments allow a lot of bandwidth to be released. I don't know what standards the USA has adopted, but this approach might recover a lot pf bandwidth, without the same struggle with the politics.
And since it means large amounts of money will go to existing media companies, to some politicians it might be an indirect bribe. Maybe not campaign contributions, but possibly the news reports become a little more favourable.
But I wonder how he gets to the figure of "millions of jobs"?
Wait a second... The telcos and Republicans want to allow corporations to control the Internet, then the FCC will sell off free TV spectrum so that everybody must buy TV service from the same telcos? I just checked the local rates for basic HD cable with one jack: $73 + taxes and unspecified fees per month. I'd like a new government now.
Most rural areas in the US (and a lot of the US is rural in case you haven't noticed) doesn't get cable (satellite's the only option) or broadband - hell, a good half the time even cell-phone service involved walking out to one end of the back porch!
But, on the other hand, what's the difference between 200 channels of crap and 4 local channels of crap? - Just the news and the weather ... does anyone remember local TV markets? When programmers actually knew the audience.