MythTV/Comcast going all digital TV in Cambridge [OT]

[Shankar Viswanathan]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Christopher
Schmidt<crschmidt-cTEUcjrfgDqB+jHODAdFcQ at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 05:31:27PM -0400, Tom Metro wrote:
>> This pretty much explains why cable companies have no pressure on them
>> to supply clear QAM. If they're regularly succeeding in getting 95% of
>> their subscribers to make the switch to digital service voluntarily (and
>> presumably not bleeding subscribers at the same time), then the vast
>> majority of customers have learned to accept the limitations and are
>> putting up with them without complaints.
>
> Because most customers don't *see* any limitations, most likely? I
> wasn't aware of a switch being made until after it was made. The people
> who are bothered -- at least, the only ones that I'm aware of -- would
> seem to be in such a small minority that I can't see any way this would
> be a practical issue. (MythTV users are not a majority user of the cable
> system, I'm pretty sure. :))
>
> More seriously, outside of freedom of (software|data|content|whatever)
> for geeky types, what's the diff likely to be? I don't pay anything
> different, I don't notice any difference, and the cable company
> presumably saves a bundle at some point due to not having to bother
> using their bandwidth on analog. MythTV users suffer, as do users of
> DVRs who work without a cablebox -- but is there anyone else? Those
> classes would seem a pretty small minority to me.

I have ranted about the limitations of encrypted cable to anyone who
cares to listen (at work, at home & at play). Here's a summary:

1. My TV already has a perfectly capable tuner that the encryption has
rendered useless. I am forced to squeeze another 'box' into my
entertainment center.  I was surprised how many people agreed with
this, and wished they could simply "plug the cable to the back of
their TV" like they used to.
2. The jumping through hoops needed to get DVRs working: several
people simply asked "why don't you get the DVR service from the cable
company?" and it was tough for me to explain why the UI on those
really suck. The few that still use an old-fashioned VCR to record
their shows had greater sympathy.
3. The need for a STB for each TV in the household: folks that had
more TVs than the number of free converters supplied by the cable co.
complained that this was just another way to charge more money by
making them rent extra converters.

Several people have confused the cable companies going digital to the
switch to digital for the over-the-air stations. They somehow think
that the government has mandated that everyone go digital and also
think that going digital implies needing a converter (perhaps from all
the public service announcements about the DTV switch and the coupon
for the converter box). I have found it very difficult to explain the
situation to this crowd without making their eyes glaze over.

-Shankar