NeuroManson asks:
"With the growing hype surrounding HDTV and copy protection, and as further corporate control of the FCC becomes more commonplace with the inevitable arrival of the technology thanks to Hollywood, you will have no choice in the future of watching anything else, since your TV, VCR, etc, will be forced into obsolescence.
There are two things that this brings to mind that should be addressed: who will be paying for the retrofit to the thousands of CRT and TV manufacturing plants around the world to make this possible; and assuming that this is going to be a US only problem in the short term (approx 3 years), how do they propose to safely dispose of all those outmoded TVs?" About the only way that this can happen by
the recently proposed deadline of July 1st, 2007, without trashing and replacing the majority of our current televisions, American television owners would have to have their TVs "serviced" by a qualified technician to continue to receive broadcast signals. Having a secondary tuner would not work as that would break the "trusted" display chain that Hollywood is seeking to establish.
"Assuming there are approximately 300 million Americans, with 2/3 having upwards of 2 TV sets, that amounts to close to 500 million or more perfectly functional TVs that will wind up in landfills or third world 'recycling' countries like China. These are not exact figures, but you get the idea. As this grinds on, it looks like economic and ecological impacts are the predominate risks involved, as well as not being able to record the latest Star Trek because they put a copy-block flag into the digital broadcast. This is something that I think everyone, from the geek on the web to the little old lady across the street, through the average soccer mom should be concerned about. Any suggestions as to how such could be made publically known, organized against, and promoted, in such a way that the public would know it as a threat, not only to their way of life, but also to their pocketbook and health?"
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Of course, Japan doesn't use GSM, but why let that ruin a perfectly valid and well rounded argument.
You sound a little edgy. Maybe you're not getting enough sleep because you stay up too late watching TV. If so, you might think about getting rid of your TV. You'll be better for it.
What will you do with your 20 year old TV's when they stop broadcasting analog signals on VHF and UHF, which if I'm not mistaken, is the plan?
The reason you (and I) have been able to enjoy the low costs that come with durable equipment is that the transmission standards haven't changed in fifty years.
Now, suddenly, there are as many new transmission standards are there are kinds of recordable DVD. Can you even keep track of them all? I can't.
In the United States, it doesn't seem to be possible to buy such a simple thing as a cell phone that will work anywhere. Shortly, it probably won't be possible to buy a simple TV that will pick up every local broadcast.
You'll have to have a stack of three or four converter boxes... which upgrade their firmware automatically every few months and will then mysteriously stop working, and you'll have to wait two hours on hold listening to irritating music interrupted every minute by a recorded voice apologizing for the delay...
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
There was also a nuclear war in the Star Trek universe; that would probably help end TV transmissions.
That's true enough, but...
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.