[opendtv] Re: 050615 Wolfsson's Wednesday Words (Mark's Monday Memo)
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 16:57:58 -0400
John McClenny wrote:
> For the vast majority of us who will NEVER get HD
> from an antenna, but instead from a cable STB, why
> should we pay for an expensive tuner?
First, let me quibble with "expensive." It was only
months ago that folk were claiming built-in ATSC
receivers would cost over $300. Months later, that
supposed price is reduced to $100. By 1/1/2007, my
prediction, from about 4 years ago, of $35 already
appears way too high (given that stand-alone STBs
will supposedly be close to $50 by then).
Second, the agreement was that along with these ATSC
tuners would also come the digital cable front end.
So the cost of this built-in receiver would be offset
by savings and convenience of being rid of the cable
STB. In the future, even interactive features will be
included, even if at first it's only one-way cable.
That should cover a large segment of the buying
public. And, of course, there's no one chasing the
DBS guys away either. These non-ATSC parts are
voluntary agreements. So the majority of TV buyers
will benefit (unless you really like the extra box).
Third, "for the vast majority of us who will NEVER
benefit from a deploying air bag, why do we have to
spend hundreds of extra dollars on each car we buy?"
It's because (in the case of ATSC) we supposedly will
benefit from having all the extra RF spectrum
available for emergency services or other toys we all
want. It's a means to that end. As to air bags, in
principle, we all benefit from lower insurance bills,
achieved by the reduced traffic casualties, even if
we're fortunate enough never having to experience the
airbag deploying.
Have you noticed how PC motherboards these days have
Ethernet, modem, sound cards, etc., all built in? Not
long ago, each of these cost upwards of $100.
Bert
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