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FCC Pushes Digital TV and Digital Restrictions
Mansing writes "The Washingington Post has an article describing the FCC's new push to move digital TV more into the homes of consumers. While this sounds like a good thing, read on. The Congressmen who are "helping" this to happen are none other than Senator Fritz "Disney" Hollings and Representative Billy "Baby Bell" Tauzin. And why do you think they want digital TV rolled out faster? Can you say Pay to View?"
The bandwidth the FCC is giving away used to be used for radio astronomy. Now not only can't it be used for that, but leaks from the broadcast towers (TV towers are among the most notoriously leaking broadcasters) are going to corrupt other vital bands as well.
Please, write to your congresscritter and ask them to consider the scientific ramifications of pushing HDTV down our throats.
In 2050, advances in technology have transformed the modern home into a center of moderation. Many choices and options left to torment the family of yesteryear have been eliminated to make the home economy part of a much larger one.
Here comes the dog, with an electronic newspaper for Father! Modern newspapers have no paper at all. Father loads the day's news into his electronic reader, and the words on the page disappear as his eyes move across them. The local ball team has made a stunning victory. Father decides to license the story so he can read it whenever he wants for a full month. A single click on the payment button, and it's a done deal! Micropayments to major media companies can be made effortlessly in the modern home with almost no effort or attention required.
What's on the television, Junior? He'll soon find out. He has only six more commercials to go before the family HDTV will let him change the channel to whatever station he wants to pay for. No need for mother to pester him about the volume, since it can't be turned down during advertisements anyway. But wait! Junior has to go to the bathroom. The television pauses its commercial to wait for Junior to finish his business there. After paying for a single flush at the computerized toilet, he's back and the directed marketing resumes! Meanwhile, it looks like the subscription for the refrigerator has run out, and the door won't open! Mother makes a payment using the built-in computer, and the door opens. Many foods that were canned in the old days are now provided on a subscription basis. No more stale canned food- everything is fresh, and less than a week old!
And it's time to go. Junior goes to the bus stop, where he and his friends can watch advertisements at a bus stop terminal while they wait for the bus to take them to school to watch even more advertisements. Meanwhile, father starts his hydrogen-powered fuel cell car. After turning the ignition, he watches a few minutes of targeted advertising on the built-in HDTV set. At the end, the set retracts, letting him see through the windshield, and the engine starts.
Mother is left at the house to take care of the housework. Oh no! Junior has left his music albums all over the floor again. Mother knows what to do! She simply gathers them in a dustpan and dumps them into the garbage. And why not? Since they have all been played once, none of them will play again anyway without extra payment. And as Junior's musical tastes improve, he can rent new music to discuss with his friends at school.