February 17, 2009

January 4th, 2006

Fantastic article about the countdown to digital television in the U.S.:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/04/technology/pluggedin_digitaltv/index.htm

Interesting quotes from this article:

“The sale of this valuable, scarce real estate is expected to bring in about $10 billion, maybe more. That will help reduce the federal budget deficit.”

“The nightmare scenario is that people who depend on free, over-the-air TV for news and entertainment will lose their access, or have to pay more for it, so that the rest of us can get faster service on our Blackberries and ESPN on our cell phones.”

I’m not sure how I would react if I got a letter in the mail from the federal government that informed me that my television is no longer any good — and here’s a $40 coupon for a new TV. Last television I bought was well over $1,000. But, imagine a United States with cheap, almost free, wireless Internet. If the world’s video is destined to be delivered via the Internet, then this might be worth the hassle.

My parent’s generation (baby boomers) always refers to how the show Bonanza drove everyone crazy to get color sets. I think this is perhaps the sequel — except this time we’ll be downloading it for $1.99 an episode.

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