[opendtv] Re: 050615 Wolfsson's Wednesday Words (Mark's Monday Memo)
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 09:46:38 -0400
At 11:17 AM -0400 6/17/05, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>Right. The same consumers who are only vaguely aware that
>there is any sort of transition underway. And retailers
>who either don't know any more than the average consumer
>or who prefer to keep consumers in the dark, rather than
>sell something that might get returned because it doesn't
>work right.
If consumers are only vaguely aware that there is a transition
underway, who's fault is that?
Broadcasters have no trouble creating a buzz about ANYTHING that
helps them promote ratings. I have it up to here with American Idol
and the rest of the reality shows that are hyped incessantly.
So where's the hype for DTV?
To their credit, Sinclair created some DTV promos, and I assume that
they have been running them on their stations. How many of these
promos have you seen? Go to any TV station web site to learn about
the DTV transition - chances are good that you will need to use a
search engine to find any reference to DTV at the VAST MAJORITY of
stations.
How can you blame the retailers for trying to promote alternatives to
OTA DTV, when the broadcasters have done NOTHING to help or provide
incentives for retailers? Best Buy just had an outstanding quarter -
those results had NOTHING to do with the broadcast DTV transition.
Would Boeing try to promote a new airplane that had a very
significant possibility of falling out of the sky? Or less
drastically, a high chance that an airline would return the plane
because consumers did not want to fly on it?
Don't blame retailers for the plight that broadcasters now face. They
have brought this mess upon themselves in a desperate attempt to hang
onto one of the most lucrative franchises ever granted by a
government.
>Craig, this is not a significant argument you're making.
>Do you remember, back in 1977, when CB radio went from 23
>to 40 channels? There was a run on obsolescent 23-channel
>radios, being sold at fire sale prices. Of course, people
>will always buy up the cheap obsolescent stuff, but very
>soon thereafter, the new gear is just as cheap, and the
>old won't work the way you want it to anymore. Consumers
>don't often think ahead. Or, they figure they'll buy a
>conversion box of some sort if they need it, in the
>future.
Could it be that consumers now expect to hook boxes up to their TV to
enjoy different forms of content? Could it be that they are satisfied
with the quality of TV pictures that they have been enjoying for the
past couple of decades? Could it be that they just don;t care about
OTA TV anymore and see no reason to buy a more expensive model with
an integrated tuner that they will NEVER use?
>
>> By the way Bert, smaller sets with integrated tuners
>> have been available for at least a year. They can't
>> give them away because you cannot see much improvement
>> in picture quality
>
>Picture quality? They can't give them away, if anything,
>because there is nothing of value on DTT that isn't also
>available over NTSC. But the difference will be (a) that
>NTSC will go dark, (b) that the price difference between
>the NTSC and the ATSC portable will become insignificant,
>(c) that the ATSC integrated portable will work well. At
>which point, no one will bother buying that old "23
>channel CB radio" anymore, even if it were still being
>offered. And this doesn't even require broadcasters to
>offer anything different over DTT than what was available
>over NTSC.
Great arguments Bert!
So the right approach would be to turn off NTSC, like the Germans did
to provide an incentive for people to buy DTV receivers...
I like this line of reasoning!
>
>Picture quality doesn't even need to figure into this.
But it does. I have a good friend who bought a 36" Sony HD capable
set a few years ago. He is now moving up to a 50" rear projection
model. He called me yesterday to seek my approval to buy a Sony LCD
monitor rather than the Samsung DLP model that I bought. He though it
had the best picture!
People do compare picture quality, and when they can afford it they
usually buy the set with the picture they like the best.
>
>> What makes you believe that putting a good tuner versus
>> a cheap tuner into a lower cost TV is going to make any
>> difference?
Cost.
There is virtually no risk to the manufacturer to wimp out and save a
few bucks by using the least expensive tuner they can put in there.
They know that most people will never use that tuner, and if they
complain about it, they can blame the FCC, which forced us to buy
something that they did not need. People WILL use an integrated
cable tuner, but these are easy to build and they work 100% of the
time.
>Well, one thing is certain, Craig. If the integrated
>tuner does NOT work, for sure it won't get used.
Who will know?
>
>> The reality is that it IS possible for most people to
>> receive OTA DTV if they are willing to go to the effort
I said this yesterday.
The real problem here is that broadcasters are not providing ANY
incentive for people to bother with OTA DTV, and very few people are
interested in making the effort to receive something that they gave
up on decades ago.
>
>Effort? You call a loop antenna "effort"?
Yes.
Especially if you need to adjust it when you cahge a station.
Regards
Craig
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