NewCard is simply an external module for NextGen PCI-Express devices. Firewire was never meant to be a system bus.
The USB2.0 based stuff is a nice extension. The fact is that they really don't need firewire in these instances when it's relatively low-bandwidth and no daisy chaining is required.
Apple learned it's lesson about introducing competing standards. Adopting PCI and other standard PC components has provided a definite benefit of cost.
Apple wants to stay "PC component" compatible. Introducing a competing "next-gen" PC-Card standard would only cause problems.
Beyond that the biggest benefit of Firewire over USB is it's daisy chaining capability (peer-to-peer) capability. This really can't be exploited in small expansion cards.
Firewire is here to stay (as was SCSI before). However, I would expect must Firewire growth to occur in professional level applications and Video applications. For example, as Firewire (some variant) becomes the standard Video interconnect standard, those bulky DVI connectors will be replaced by compact firewire cables.
The biggest problem with Firewire on PC is that laptop vendors don't want to ship with the full-size 6-pin connector as Apple does. This is extremely impractical as disk drives and similar devices won't self-power from 4-pin slots.
Even the PC cards are limited as they cannot get the necessary juice from the PC card interface. The best solution I've seen thus far involves hijacking power from the PS/2 port (rarely used) and plugging it into the side of a CardBus card.
USB2.0 by comparison is always powered. Firewire's 4-pin CE interface is causing major problems with acceptance for peripheral interconnect. Lets hope when vendors go to Firewire800 they will opt for the new 8-pin interface instead of the unpowered 6-pin(800) interface.
Firewire has a LOT to offer over USB2. Intel kinda fixed the game, but Firewire is definitely here to stay.
The sad truth is that most high school kids could give a RIP less about how ANYTHING works.
The sad truth is also that all the $100k+ jobs are dissapearing through the import of H-1B and L-Z1 indentured servants. The LAST career I would recommend for graduating seniors right now is IT.
Meyers-Briggs is a tool for understanding peoples personalities and how individuals interact. Needless to say the human psyche is complex enough that MANY more exist.
I've found them useful as a starting point for asking questions about individuals and trying to break down issues. However, they are by no means a definitive model to explain all human behavior and interaction.
Comparing your Meyers-Briggs results is a good start but a lot more remains in order to understand yourself and the people around you. If those people are sufficiently complex you should never complete the journey.
What makes an attractive person? As a public high school teacher, it is a fact to me that the more attractive students have a much higher self-image and sense of confidence about themselves. And, with that confidence, tend to do better at school, are of course more comfortable in social situations, etc. Though it's not politically correct, perhaps, to state this so baldly.
So what your saying is that people who are fawned over and contantly re-assured seem to have a better aura of confidence. Fuck, what a mind blowing observation.
The fact that you would post such on observation leads me to believe that you are rather shallow in nature. The good teachers I've always known were more concerned with a students attitude and skillset rather than their attractiveness. At this point in your life I would think you would have learned to see through bullshit smoke-screens of vanity.
I honestly believe you should be ashamed of yourself for thinking this way. The facade of a situation always hides a horrible under-belly. The thin kid who is highly praised is often found vomiting in the toilet. The athletic golden boy is often abusive towards others and violent. Being confident around the people you oppress and torture isn't that hard.
I have seen this from both sides of the equation. As a student I saw that the kids who impressed themselves highly upon teachers were the most cruel and vain. I've noticed these same personality types as a sub-teacher (as an introvert, they're EXTRA annoying). Seems like you've been smokescreened. I'd urge you to look a little closer at the beautiful people with such "high confidence".
Self confidence comes from within, not from outside. After the praise dies down you'll probably find these same people attention starved and very needy. Harmony cannot be achieved from vanity.
Actually, the internet is often a VERY non-social forum. Your not meeting people face-to-face. Your ALWAYS dealing with issues instead of the people themselves.
I don't know what you look like, where you live, what gender you are. I don't have to deal with most of the artifacts of your personality. Most importantly, if I don't WANT to deal with you, I don't have to. I don't even have to hear what is most likely the annoying whine of your voice.
If given a choice between a person and a computer, most introverts would choose the computer. They are mostly non-threatining. They are deterministic, they mostly don't lie. That is why introverts tend to be computer geeks. That is often why introverts tend to post while extroverts are more into chat rooms.
You will probably never meet me. I have no desire to meet or interact with you. The ONLY reason I'm acknowledging your existence is because your spreading a heaping pile of BULL-SHIT that could be read by unsuspecting people. I'm really not talking to "HanzoSan" at all, rather I'm trying to point out the flaws in the self-centered ignorant posts of "HanzoSan" for the benefit of those who may read the posts and not realize that "HanzoSan" is speaking merely from his own experience and not trying to UNDERSTAND the experiences of other people!!!!!
Introverts have no problem writing. Introverts are often naturally good writers. If they weren't introverted, they would probably be off at a party instead of writing.
A true introvert knows that they need to be alone, and a smart introvert knows the hallmarks of extroversion, so that you can fake it when need be, and they also know the difference between themselves and others much more than an extrovert does - extros think everyone's like them in some way.
I think the "Majority" is always plagued by this. It's kinda like righties (myself included) not being sensitive to the idiosyncrocies of south-paws. Some righties would even claim that lefties "choose" to be weird and should stop whining about all the righty only mouses and scissors.
I think this just a a symptom of not being exposed to issues. When we address them they seem very foreign to us. Our natural instinct is to express our own range of experience that doesn't include the minority. Given a room of those in the "majority" they will often just agree with each others experiences and drop the subject. It takes introspection and courage to change one's attitude and perspectives. Sometimes were not always up to the task.
Re:It has nothing to do with brain chemistry.
on
The Introvert Advantage
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
It has nothing to do with brain chemistry. Its a choice, people make a choice to be introverted or extroverted.
You probably believe that homosexuality is ALSO a choice.
Believe me, introverts are the minority and they often suffer pretty heavily from it. Throughout youth and young adult-hood, the mode of social gatherings is a complete mystery to them.
It's difficult to understand why everyone is having so much fun at a party EXCEPT you. You try hard to act like your having fun, but you can't fake it to yourself. If it was a choice don't you think we would choose NOT to suffer.
Sometime when your not thouroughly satisified that you know everything, you may actually want to do some reading on psychology. You'll find that people do scientific research and have good proof for why some behaviors and characteristics seem based on "nature" and others are based more on "nurture".
Sometimes choice enters the equation, but most often we are almost complete products of our environment or ourselves. The "choices" we make are often made for us long before we ever ponder the question. Typically, when things aren't working out right, you know you actually overcame your biology and "chose" something against your nature.
For example, right now I'm assuming that you didn't "choose" to be an ignorant, arrogant ass-hole. Something in your nature or upbringing led you to this point. You can overcome the ignorance through LISTENING and READING beyond your knowledge. However, you may indeed ALWAYS be an ass-hole!!!!
BTW, the distinction between "extroversion" and "attention-seeking" is dead-on. For an introvert, it's far easier to show off for a group at arm's length than to have an extended conversation with a single unfamiliar person. That's why it's no surprise that most stand-up comedians are introverts.
Agreed. Standup is more like acting then communicating. One is actually placing themselves in someone else's shell and creating a new persona.
The "attention-seeking" personality is more like the diva. They need others to admire them all the time. It's actually more a form of low self-esteem.
Alcohol, the great extrovertizer! ( i just made that word up)
This is George W. Bush incognito right!?!?!?;-)
Actually, Alcohol is a depressent. It only helps overly bubbly, intense uptight people. For the introvert, alcohol can make one withdraw much deeper. Those folks are better off with Marijauna which lends a "mellowing" effect which allows them to withstand the inane nonsense coming out of a bubbly extroverts mouth %-)
I believe this borders on the I vs F issue. That is a thinker vs a feeler. Silly inane nonsense conversation builds a rapport that will satisfy the extroverts/feelers need for building social bonds.
An extroverted/thinker my be more likely to push into serious topics. While this may engage the introverted/thinker, an extroverted/feeler may feel violated or exploited by bringing up serious issues in "casual" conversation.
Personally, unless the weather turns into a conversation concerning the relative merits of global warming or issues impacting local crop conditions, race day conditions, abnormal weather phenomenon, etc... I'm lost after the first sentence. If I want the weather, I look up to the sky.
There is really no need for an uncomfortable silence. Like Mia sais in "Pulp Fiction"
"Thats when you know too people are really comfortable with each other. When they can just sit together and shut the fuck up without feeling the need to talk."
Yeah, It's tough to be on the fence and explore different aspects of an issue. One often looks far to argumentative.
I've taken to using a Socratic approach instead. Ask questions to introduce the realm of the subject or topic. Otherwise, people just don't get that your trying to get the range of the topic instead of bowing to the "mob" mentality where people go along with what everyone else thinks just to "get along".
I congratulate microsoft on their move. However, the addition of lateral scrolling on mice won't be a "killer app" like the vertical scroll. Clicking the center button by default creates a free-scroll, the rarely used method is already available.
What I would like to see is a ergonomic (butterfly) keyboard with an integrated scroll pad. I have seen these before, but they aren't in the right place.
Placing mouse control on the wrist-wrest is inconvenient because one must move their hand in order to get to it. I would rather keep my hands in the home keyboard position.
Instead, I would propose moving the "lock" indicators in the center of the butterfly and replacing it with a scroll-pad. One could configure the scroll-pad in software so that it controls either scrolling, or mouse movement.
The beauty of IBM's scroll point is that it allows one to move the cursor without removing your hands from the home-keys. With the introduction of 17" "lap-zillas", I hope that some manufacturers offer interchangeable keyboards whereby a butterfly fan can easily remove a keyboard/status light panel and replace it with an ergonomically shaped one where the touchpad is in the center instead of on the wrist-wrest.
IBM is going to effectively drive their stock price into dust and force them into backruptcy. THEN, they'll purchase SCO's assets for what their really worth: next to nothing.
She's on "Real Time" a lot. I have a theory that Bill Maher has a sexual fascination with her in the James Carvill/Mary Matiline kinda way. Opposite Blood enemies attract I guess.
She does manage to put out a considerable amount of publishing. I guess the fact that she's a ditzoid is besides the point.
This is like saying that if you own one share of Microsoft, then you can make as many copy of their software as I like. I am already an owner.
By the same logic, as a shareholder, you should be able to walk into any Microsoft office and cart away anything you like. Computers, office furiture, plants, etc... You do party OWN the building or the lease, correct.
Micro FM-transmitters are convenient. However, they also have the potential of blocking out existing on-the-air signals.
These things are supposed to be for PERSONAL use. They are no longer personal if I'm driving down the road listening to a weak NPR station and somebody drives by me who has decided to broadcast their music over NPR.
Seriously, I think the ultimate resolution to this is creating spread spectrum standards for wireless point-to-point audio transmissions.
I think that MythTV and Freevo will be excellent alternatives once a good hardware set comes out to support it.
Optimally, we would need a Micro-ATX motherboard that included MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 compression. An AGP card that did it would also be good.
The newer All-In-Wonders do hardware encoding but that's still a bit expensive for to construct a new rig. Ideally you would be able to take an Shuttle nVidia box and add a $100 TV/MPEG card and have all the necessary hardware.
I shall boil the whole DTV vs cable argument down very simply.
Cable companies can deliver ANY type of content because they have the most sophisticated high-bandwidth conduit for information ANYWHERE. I'm sure they never planned it this way, but COAX is the best to consumer data pathway. It not only handles 400 + channels but also delivers bandwidth internet service.
DirectTV is an excellent choice when you live in the middle of nowhere and have no available cable service, OR your cable service sucks. DirectTV cannot offer broadband over satellite. DirectTV only works on maximum, 2 telivision sets.
DirectTV should be highly complimented for lighting a fire under cables ass and forcing them to use that coax for something better then Cartoon Network. The ability to do Digital Cable and Broadband also makes them keep their lines in better shape which results in a clearer picture.
In the future DirecTV will need to develop systems that can service an entire household instead of just one or two TVs. They MUST get into delivering broadband via satellite or via stationary wireless.
DirectTV would also do well to create competing DirecTV networks at point locations. Basically, it would work like a micro-cable network. Satellite DirectTV would be at it's core but it's users would be wired like cable and use special DirectTV receivers for tuning.
They may have a really slick MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 transcoding system going here. MPEG-4 makes more sense for more content. It also makes the content produceers less jittery (as far as a recording technology). Despite it's EXCELLENT quality, it still doesn't represent things as nicely as MPEG-2.
Have you ever used a digital cable box. Large portions of the screen are dedicated to advertising. This is likely a large portion of the motivation.
The other portion would be to encourage MORE people to use their Pay-Per-View Cable shows. The cable companies try really hard to take away large portions of the video rental market. It's cheap, clean and easy. No returns necessary.
If Digital Cable customers end up "renting" movies from PPV instead of the video store, these boxes will cost justify themselves. And don't forget, it's property of the cable company. If you bail, your box goes back and they'll rent it to someone else.
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Agreed.
NewCard is simply an external module for NextGen PCI-Express devices. Firewire was never meant to be a system bus.
The USB2.0 based stuff is a nice extension. The fact is that they really don't need firewire in these instances when it's relatively low-bandwidth and no daisy chaining is required.
Apple learned it's lesson about introducing competing standards. Adopting PCI and other standard PC components has provided a definite benefit of cost.
Apple wants to stay "PC component" compatible. Introducing a competing "next-gen" PC-Card standard would only cause problems.
Beyond that the biggest benefit of Firewire over USB is it's daisy chaining capability (peer-to-peer) capability. This really can't be exploited in small expansion cards.
Firewire is here to stay (as was SCSI before). However, I would expect must Firewire growth to occur in professional level applications and Video applications. For example, as Firewire (some variant) becomes the standard Video interconnect standard, those bulky DVI connectors will be replaced by compact firewire cables.
The biggest problem with Firewire on PC is that laptop vendors don't want to ship with the full-size 6-pin connector as Apple does. This is extremely impractical as disk drives and similar devices won't self-power from 4-pin slots.
Even the PC cards are limited as they cannot get the necessary juice from the PC card interface. The best solution I've seen thus far involves hijacking power from the PS/2 port (rarely used) and plugging it into the side of a CardBus card.
USB2.0 by comparison is always powered. Firewire's 4-pin CE interface is causing major problems with acceptance for peripheral interconnect. Lets hope when vendors go to Firewire800 they will opt for the new 8-pin interface instead of the unpowered 6-pin(800) interface.
Firewire has a LOT to offer over USB2. Intel kinda fixed the game, but Firewire is definitely here to stay.
The sad truth is that most high school kids could give a RIP less about how ANYTHING works.
The sad truth is also that all the $100k+ jobs are dissapearing through the import of H-1B and L-Z1 indentured servants. The LAST career I would recommend for graduating seniors right now is IT.
Meyers-Briggs is a tool for understanding peoples personalities and how individuals interact. Needless to say the human psyche is complex enough that MANY more exist.
I've found them useful as a starting point for asking questions about individuals and trying to break down issues. However, they are by no means a definitive model to explain all human behavior and interaction.
Comparing your Meyers-Briggs results is a good start but a lot more remains in order to understand yourself and the people around you. If those people are sufficiently complex you should never complete the journey.
What makes an attractive person? As a public high school teacher, it is a fact to me that the more attractive students have a much higher self-image and sense of confidence about themselves. And, with that confidence, tend to do better at school, are of course more comfortable in social situations, etc. Though it's not politically correct, perhaps, to state this so baldly.
So what your saying is that people who are fawned over and contantly re-assured seem to have a better aura of confidence. Fuck, what a mind blowing observation.
The fact that you would post such on observation leads me to believe that you are rather shallow in nature. The good teachers I've always known were more concerned with a students attitude and skillset rather than their attractiveness. At this point in your life I would think you would have learned to see through bullshit smoke-screens of vanity.
I honestly believe you should be ashamed of yourself for thinking this way. The facade of a situation always hides a horrible under-belly. The thin kid who is highly praised is often found vomiting in the toilet. The athletic golden boy is often abusive towards others and violent. Being confident around the people you oppress and torture isn't that hard.
I have seen this from both sides of the equation. As a student I saw that the kids who impressed themselves highly upon teachers were the most cruel and vain. I've noticed these same personality types as a sub-teacher (as an introvert, they're EXTRA annoying). Seems like you've been smokescreened. I'd urge you to look a little closer at the beautiful people with such "high confidence".
Self confidence comes from within, not from outside. After the praise dies down you'll probably find these same people attention starved and very needy. Harmony cannot be achieved from vanity.
Actually, the internet is often a VERY non-social forum. Your not meeting people face-to-face. Your ALWAYS dealing with issues instead of the people themselves.
I don't know what you look like, where you live, what gender you are. I don't have to deal with most of the artifacts of your personality. Most importantly, if I don't WANT to deal with you, I don't have to. I don't even have to hear what is most likely the annoying whine of your voice.
If given a choice between a person and a computer, most introverts would choose the computer. They are mostly non-threatining. They are deterministic, they mostly don't lie. That is why introverts tend to be computer geeks. That is often why introverts tend to post while extroverts are more into chat rooms.
You will probably never meet me. I have no desire to meet or interact with you. The ONLY reason I'm acknowledging your existence is because your spreading a heaping pile of BULL-SHIT that could be read by unsuspecting people. I'm really not talking to "HanzoSan" at all, rather I'm trying to point out the flaws in the self-centered ignorant posts of "HanzoSan" for the benefit of those who may read the posts and not realize that "HanzoSan" is speaking merely from his own experience and not trying to UNDERSTAND the experiences of other people!!!!!
Introverts have no problem writing. Introverts are often naturally good writers. If they weren't introverted, they would probably be off at a party instead of writing.
A true introvert knows that they need to be alone, and a smart introvert knows the hallmarks of extroversion, so that you can fake it when need be, and they also know the difference between themselves and others much more than an extrovert does - extros think everyone's like them in some way.
I think the "Majority" is always plagued by this. It's kinda like righties (myself included) not being sensitive to the idiosyncrocies of south-paws. Some righties would even claim that lefties "choose" to be weird and should stop whining about all the righty only mouses and scissors.
I think this just a a symptom of not being exposed to issues. When we address them they seem very foreign to us. Our natural instinct is to express our own range of experience that doesn't include the minority. Given a room of those in the "majority" they will often just agree with each others experiences and drop the subject. It takes introspection and courage to change one's attitude and perspectives. Sometimes were not always up to the task.
It has nothing to do with brain chemistry.
Its a choice, people make a choice to be introverted or extroverted.
You probably believe that homosexuality is ALSO a choice.
Believe me, introverts are the minority and they often suffer pretty heavily from it. Throughout youth and young adult-hood, the mode of social gatherings is a complete mystery to them.
It's difficult to understand why everyone is having so much fun at a party EXCEPT you. You try hard to act like your having fun, but you can't fake it to yourself. If it was a choice don't you think we would choose NOT to suffer.
Sometime when your not thouroughly satisified that you know everything, you may actually want to do some reading on psychology. You'll find that people do scientific research and have good proof for why some behaviors and characteristics seem based on "nature" and others are based more on "nurture".
Sometimes choice enters the equation, but most often we are almost complete products of our environment or ourselves. The "choices" we make are often made for us long before we ever ponder the question. Typically, when things aren't working out right, you know you actually overcame your biology and "chose" something against your nature.
For example, right now I'm assuming that you didn't "choose" to be an ignorant, arrogant ass-hole. Something in your nature or upbringing led you to this point. You can overcome the ignorance through LISTENING and READING beyond your knowledge. However, you may indeed ALWAYS be an ass-hole!!!!
BTW, the distinction between "extroversion" and "attention-seeking" is dead-on. For an introvert, it's far easier to show off for a group at arm's length than to have an extended conversation with a single unfamiliar person. That's why it's no surprise that most stand-up comedians are introverts.
Agreed. Standup is more like acting then communicating. One is actually placing themselves in someone else's shell and creating a new persona.
The "attention-seeking" personality is more like the diva. They need others to admire them all the time. It's actually more a form of low self-esteem.
Alcohol, the great extrovertizer! ( i just made that word up)
;-)
This is George W. Bush incognito right!?!?!?
Actually, Alcohol is a depressent. It only helps overly bubbly, intense uptight people. For the introvert, alcohol can make one withdraw much deeper. Those folks are better off with Marijauna which lends a "mellowing" effect which allows them to withstand the inane nonsense coming out of a bubbly extroverts mouth %-)
I believe this borders on the I vs F issue. That is a thinker vs a feeler. Silly inane nonsense conversation builds a rapport that will satisfy the extroverts/feelers need for building social bonds.
An extroverted/thinker my be more likely to push into serious topics. While this may engage the introverted/thinker, an extroverted/feeler may feel violated or exploited by bringing up serious issues in "casual" conversation.
Personally, unless the weather turns into a conversation concerning the relative merits of global warming or issues impacting local crop conditions, race day conditions, abnormal weather phenomenon, etc... I'm lost after the first sentence. If I want the weather, I look up to the sky.
There is really no need for an uncomfortable silence. Like Mia sais in "Pulp Fiction"
"Thats when you know too people are really comfortable with each other. When they can just sit together and shut the fuck up without feeling the need to talk."
Yeah, It's tough to be on the fence and explore different aspects of an issue. One often looks far to argumentative.
I've taken to using a Socratic approach instead. Ask questions to introduce the realm of the subject or topic. Otherwise, people just don't get that your trying to get the range of the topic instead of bowing to the "mob" mentality where people go along with what everyone else thinks just to "get along".
I congratulate microsoft on their move. However, the addition of lateral scrolling on mice won't be a "killer app" like the vertical scroll. Clicking the center button by default creates a free-scroll, the rarely used method is already available.
What I would like to see is a ergonomic (butterfly) keyboard with an integrated scroll pad. I have seen these before, but they aren't in the right place.
Placing mouse control on the wrist-wrest is inconvenient because one must move their hand in order to get to it. I would rather keep my hands in the home keyboard position.
Instead, I would propose moving the "lock" indicators in the center of the butterfly and replacing it with a scroll-pad. One could configure the scroll-pad in software so that it controls either scrolling, or mouse movement.
The beauty of IBM's scroll point is that it allows one to move the cursor without removing your hands from the home-keys. With the introduction of 17" "lap-zillas", I hope that some manufacturers offer interchangeable keyboards whereby a butterfly fan can easily remove a keyboard/status light panel and replace it with an ergonomically shaped one where the touchpad is in the center instead of on the wrist-wrest.
Not cost effective.
IBM is going to effectively drive their stock price into dust and force them into backruptcy. THEN, they'll purchase SCO's assets for what their really worth: next to nothing.
She's on "Real Time" a lot. I have a theory that Bill Maher has a sexual fascination with her in the James Carvill/Mary Matiline kinda way. Opposite Blood enemies attract I guess.
She does manage to put out a considerable amount of publishing. I guess the fact that she's a ditzoid is besides the point.
This is like saying that if you own one share of Microsoft, then you can make as many copy of their software as I like. I am already an owner.
By the same logic, as a shareholder, you should be able to walk into any Microsoft office and cart away anything you like. Computers, office furiture, plants, etc... You do party OWN the building or the lease, correct.
I don't think your argument holds any water.
This is probably EXACTLY why they are banned.
Micro FM-transmitters are convenient. However, they also have the potential of blocking out existing on-the-air signals.
These things are supposed to be for PERSONAL use. They are no longer personal if I'm driving down the road listening to a weak NPR station and somebody drives by me who has decided to broadcast their music over NPR.
Seriously, I think the ultimate resolution to this is creating spread spectrum standards for wireless point-to-point audio transmissions.
I'm glad to see that us Americans aren't backwards with ALL our laws. The Euros still have their share of idiocy.
In a way this is great because we can learn from each others mistakes. The fact that lawmakers don't seem to pay attention is besides the point.
I think that MythTV and Freevo will be excellent alternatives once a good hardware set comes out to support it.
Optimally, we would need a Micro-ATX motherboard that included MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 compression. An AGP card that did it would also be good.
The newer All-In-Wonders do hardware encoding but that's still a bit expensive for to construct a new rig. Ideally you would be able to take an Shuttle nVidia box and add a $100 TV/MPEG card and have all the necessary hardware.
I shall boil the whole DTV vs cable argument down very simply.
Cable companies can deliver ANY type of content because they have the most sophisticated high-bandwidth conduit for information ANYWHERE.
I'm sure they never planned it this way, but COAX is the best to consumer data pathway. It not only handles 400 + channels but also delivers bandwidth internet service.
DirectTV is an excellent choice when you live in the middle of nowhere and have no available cable service, OR your cable service sucks. DirectTV cannot offer broadband over satellite. DirectTV only works on maximum, 2 telivision sets.
DirectTV should be highly complimented for lighting a fire under cables ass and forcing them to use that coax for something better then Cartoon Network. The ability to do Digital Cable and Broadband also makes them keep their lines in better shape which results in a clearer picture.
In the future DirecTV will need to develop systems that can service an entire household instead of just one or two TVs. They MUST get into delivering broadband via satellite or via stationary wireless.
DirectTV would also do well to create competing DirecTV networks at point locations. Basically, it would work like a micro-cable network. Satellite DirectTV would be at it's core but it's users would be wired like cable and use special DirectTV receivers for tuning.
You've completely missed the point of owning a utility.
Agreed.
They may have a really slick MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 transcoding system going here. MPEG-4 makes more sense for more content. It also makes the content produceers less jittery (as far as a recording technology). Despite it's EXCELLENT quality, it still doesn't represent things as nicely as MPEG-2.
Have you ever used a digital cable box. Large portions of the screen are dedicated to advertising. This is likely a large portion of the motivation.
The other portion would be to encourage MORE people to use their Pay-Per-View Cable shows. The cable companies try really hard to take away large portions of the video rental market. It's cheap, clean and easy. No returns necessary.
If Digital Cable customers end up "renting" movies from PPV instead of the video store, these boxes will cost justify themselves. And don't forget, it's property of the cable company. If you bail, your box goes back and they'll rent it to someone else.