Just exactly what planet are you living on? You are now asserting that when people buy a DTV television that they do not know they are buying a digital television? And, you don't believe that most people need television? Over four years back, YOU told a guy on the alt.rec.hdtv usenet list NOT TO BUY a HDTV set, that you would have something better in a few months. Hell, it was almost 5 years ago. How did that work out for the guy? You really go to insipid depths to make idiotic points. Monitors are the province of people like Craig that think they are smarter than the marketplace. I'm sure dozens sell for home use in the average month. HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED FOR ONE IN A CONSUMER ELECTRONICS STORE? THEY AREN'T STOCKED! Most of those bought monitors, I'm sure are returned as defective. It's true that technically most people with digital cable converter boxes don't need tuners. By not having one, they might even save a dozen dollars. However, they have to spend exorbitant money on gasoline to find one, and when the cable goes out, they have nothing. Sometimes, the cable goes out during an emergency, and I don't mean an emergency in a distant town that they were observing on SportsCenter. As I've pointed out, my mother recently bought a replacement tv. She knew she would have to buy a digital set because "tv is going digital next Feburary." She bought one with an ATSC/QAM tuner. The ATSC tuner was used once, when I tested to see what signals she could get off-air. Even with a rabbit ears, she couldn't' get the closest signals. However, without that QAM tuner, she would have to rent a cox cable stb for $10 per month, and perhaps gain a few channels. Without it, just last week, Cox added a bunch of free digital channels. She's now up to 26 or so. And, here's something new. When I first did a digital channel scan, it couldn't find any; I had to do a manual search. The last time I ran a scan, NOT ONLY had a new "Cable 1hr" scan option been installed, but it found all the channels I had programmed, and more. Perhaps I need to explain what happened for the folks on Roosevelt Island. The TV set -- through the QAM tuner -- downloaded and installed a new scan option. Without her paying a cent, other than her basic analog cable monthly fee. (Which she has thought was too expensive for more than 42 years.) Think your set top box can update a television set? I know it "would be difficult" via a RGB connection. John Willkie -----Mensaje original----- De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En nombre de Bob Miller Enviado el: Monday, July 07, 2008 9:39 PM Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Asunto: [opendtv] Re: DTV awareness On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 4:24 PM, John Willkie <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > ah -- the "monitor tax." :-) Rememer when Frank Eory said that the tuner mandate would lead sellers to only offer monitors? Or was it that consumers would only buy monitors? > > Just like they buy cars without tires. > > John Willkie > People are very aware of the need for tires on a car. An OTA digital receiver is not only something most are unaware they are buying but also something most do not need. If they were aware and could save $10 by buying a monitor most would IMO. Once analog is off the air and the requirement goes away and the competition heats up we may still see monitors take over. If there is no need for an analog receiver there is no need for a digital receiver. Bob Miller ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.