Re: Digital TV?

On Jan 28, 8:34 pm, Evelyn Leeper <elee...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Andre Lieven wrote:
On Jan 10, 11:41 pm, "Martha Adams" <mh...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I notice lots of news around about the new digital TV and the "terrible"
situation that some people who receive analog TV won't be able for
whatever reason to receive TV when the stations all go digital.

Why is that any problem at all?  My analog TV sits here and I can turn
it on any time I like.  But nearly two years ago, in a moment of
annoyance from yet another piece of advertising, I turned it off.  I've
left it off.  I was a few days unhooking a rather strong TV habit but
then ...(relative) bliss.  My head and my life are to a noticeable
degree, more my own now.  Does my old TV still work these days?  Does
it matter?  One of these days I'll just take a few minutes and chuck out
that old clunker of a TV, it wasn't doing anything for me anyhow.

So if the TV people want to go digital, that's fine with me.  I've got
the very best arrangement of all for that.  At no cost, I'm right up to
date.  Now to read another book, ...here's Patrick O'Brian, Blue At the
Mizzen....

Well, just because a few people choose to ignore a mass medium
does not mean that what said medium offers is universally Bad.

One might also point out that Sturgeon's Law applies to books and
fanzines, too...

Anyway, as with many other things in the world (Say, booze or
sex), a judicious and thoughtful moderate imbibing can allow for
more utility/enjoyment without becoming one of those old people
who scream at the kids to get off of their lawns.

A person who abandoned television in the last few years
would have missed the following SF content, considered by
not a few Worldcon voters to be at least good SF in their
own right:

Battlestar Galactica.
Dr. Who.
Stargate Atlantis.
Heroes.
Smallville.

Widen that out to a bit more than a decade (I seem to
recall reading that at least a few here jettisoned their
sets at least that long ago) and you further lose:

Stargate SG-1.
Babylon 5.

Widen out the field to include well written shows that are
not SF and you'd also have lost:

Mad Men.
Rescue Me.
Swingtown.
Studio 60 On The Sunset Srtip.
The West Wing.
30 Rock.
From The Earth To The Moon (HBO)

Others can include other shows that they believe fits the same
qualities of writing that they prefer in their reading, including
reading of SF. Plus, the relatively recent availability of shows
on DVD allows one to access them on one's own chosen time
frame, just as one does for what one reads and when. Thats a
Good Thing (tm).

But, to throw up one's hands and just claim that TV is all bad
is no less shortsighted than a mundane doing the same about
all SF....

My father hasn't turned the TV on for himself in a couple of years, but
our concern is that if there is some sort of major news story or
emergency, that might be the best way for him to get information.  SO
we made sure he had a converter box and instructions--though frankly, I
have my doubts as to how easy it will be to figure out.  For one thing,
even if you change the channel correctly, it takes a few seconds to take
effect, and for someone who for sixty years has seen the channel change
immediately, it's going to look broken.

I can certainly relate to that, as my mother would easily qualify as
one of the most technophobic people in the last 85 years.

I once found her TV's remote with a *melting* hole in one side of
the remote. How it got that way, I have no idea, and she didn't
recall.

Shes now a resident in a assisted living facility, so the staff
there, and the other seniors, can look after such information
gathering issues.

So, if a gov't discount coupon can still be acquired, then one
can get a converter for less than $15 cash outlay, which is
pretty cheap, compared to what buying a new digital set
would cost.

Andre
.

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