[opendtv] Re: FCC on next gen CableCard
- From: colejd@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:26:58 +0000 (UTC)
I must disagree with you on the failure of the CableCard deployment.
MVPD's have not given CE manufactures "incentives" not to build CC's into their
devices. In fact it was the consumers themselves and the rush (horse before the
cart) the CE's went thru to get these on the shelves of Best Buy and Sears.
Cable companies would love to hand off the responsibility of
failed/incompatibility’s of STB's to the consumer and the manufactures. The
cost of maintaining inventory and keeping up with technology on the STB is a
losing business. The HDMI HDCP handshake issue is always viewed as the cable
companies fault and problem. They have nothing to do with it, it's the content
studio's like Viacom and Sony that want their content protected from you. The
cable company buys a box from Moto, SA/Cisco (which incorporates it into the
STB) and then deploys them. Because of this relationship, the cable company
"owns" the responsibility of providing a solution because Harry Homeowner's
Philip's HDTV doesn't work right (no sound/picture) when using the HDMI cable.
Harry paid $500 for the TV, therefore the problem is the box and not the TV
when it's usually the TV.
But back to the point of failed mast deployment of the cablecard. The CE
manufactures only put the CC into higher end units. Who buys higher end units?
The techies, aka early adaptors. The techies' want IPPV, VOD, and an
interactive guide. Things you can't get with the first generation CC. Because
they weren’t buying into it, this started the apprehension of the CE's to
integrate the CC into future models.
The CC (m-card) is alive and doing well. There are thousands of them installed
in Tivo and the Microsoft Media Center units. They work as advertised and doing
want the were designed to do. Create a separatable security platform. If any of
you have the newer cable box, look in the back. There will be a cablecard right
there, usually behind a small removable gate.
As for analog and ClearQAM as having numbered days... well yea(somewhat)!
Analog only exists on cable and low-power broadcasters.
All Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, RCN subscribers HAVE STB's, all of them for
every TV!
So, who does not want a STB? Not as many people as you might think. Right now
the PVR/DVR is the must have device for the majority of TV viewers.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a single TV manufacture that has a TV with a built
in unit. The only options are the cable companies STB, Tivo, or for the
uber-techie, the Windows MediaCenter. As a side note, the number one thing most
STB users complain about on the lower end STB is the missing display clock.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to give up my STB. But no one has given me a
better option. As soon as Sony or Pany makes a 52” with a integrated DVR and
Cablecard, you will see it in my living room.
Only the incumbent cable company is still deploying analog. The reason that
these customers don’t have a STB is because they didn’t need one to get the
channels they were willing to pay for.
The ClearQAM is not going to die, it's going to stay right where it is. I don’t
know of any cable company (unless it's a very small mom&pop) that has any of
its non-broadcaster content on ClearQAM and trapping it.
Reponses will be after Wednesday, I’m going into a technology free vacation.
BTW, for those of you that replied to my question on a firewire capable TV,
thank you. Unfortunately, I cannot find what I need.
Just like cablecards, the market dictated that 1394 is not wanted on TV’s
anymore.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Albert E Manfredi" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 12:10:11 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [opendtv] FCC on next gen CableCard
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-60A1.pdf
Above is the notice of inquiry concerning devbelopment of a next generation
CableCard system.
Commssioner McDowell says:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-60A4.pdf
"To be blunt, the CableCARD approach to implementing Section 629 has been
disappointing. Although the Commission has made some progress in trying to
bring Congress' vision to reality, the fact remains that a very large majority
of consumers continue to rely on equipment supplied by their pay TV providers.
It is another example of an unintended consequence of regulation. I support the
two initiatives before us now - a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
("FNPRM") to examine the CableCARD rules and a new Notice of Inquiry ("NOI") to
explore possible alternatives to our current approach. Each asks a number of
good questions about what has, or has not, worked in the marketplace to date
while probing into the reasons behind those developments. For example, would
consumers be more inclined to seek out CableCARD-compliant devices if monthly
bills separately broke out the cost of the operatorprovided box from the charge
for the CableCARD pre-installed in that box? Is a truck roll r
eally necessary to install a CableCARD in a box acquired at retail? And,
perhaps most important of all, what do consumers consider in weighing whether
to lease a box from their MVPD as opposed to buying a box from a third-party
provider?"
My take is, nothing will change if the MVPDs can make using these devices more
expensive it has any right to be, or if the devices are not easily installed by
owners. Or if the MVPDs give CE manufactuers "incentives" to not build
equipment that uses these adapters.
And yet, it is patently OBVIOUS that a substantial percentage of cable
subscribers want to not have to use the STBs. That's what has kept many of them
on analog cable. That's why many cable subscribers like clearQAM, not knowing
that both analog and clearQAM have their days numbered.
Problem is, so many allow thermselves to be herded like sheep.
Bert
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