Reply #199: I'm sorry Comcast is treating you crappy [View All]

[mentalsolstice]

However, it is not the fault of HDTV viewers...we didn't drive the move to digital TV, that act was signed in 1996 before HDTV ever existed.

We hated our cable company, and when we moved into our current house (on a rent-to-own basis) we took advantage of the satellite dish and receiver that was already here. We've never looked back. However, cable and satellite services are consumer-driven. They're for pay, and the consumer has to negotiate, with their wallet, as to what they'll accept or not accept.

As for the current situation, my 95 y.o. grandmother can now watch ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and PBS without any snow or static on the TV she bought in the 1980s. Additionally, her local 911 services can better respond to her emergency needs, should she need them, as a result of freeing up analog signals. Because she doesn't subscribe to cable, she has never experienced C-Span, and doesn't care if she ever will, she just wants broadcast programming and local news. Yet, she gets her TV now without snow and static...and given her poor eyesight, she's happy!

The fact that your cable service is taking advantage of the digital conversion really sucks. But it is really between you and your cable provider. I have satellite and a TV capable of hi-def, but many of the channels I get are still not in hi-def...and for the most part I don't care. We got the TV mostly for watching movies. Before you decide that we like crap movies, I can assure you we mostly like movies based on their artistic, ethical, and cinema graphic value. We're both avid readers, so we're drawn to movies based on the books we've read, or that make us think, or give us a beautiful vision of a part of the world we're not familiar with.

Yeah, well, we'll watch the Super Bowl next week in hi-def, but people who have a digital converter box, but with no cable or satellite will also watch it with a clearer picture. Hi-def viewers aren't stealing anything from standard-def viewers, we'd still be moving to digital signals regardless of the existence of hi-def TV.

And, btw, HDTVs can receive analog signals. However, it would be a stupid waste of money to do so. And, yet nobody is forced to do so.

Okay, I'm done trying to explain this to you. You're on your own to go out and explore. And I'll say it again, it sucks if cable providers are using the transition to DTV to drive up their prices...just as much as it sucked when the oil companies were using Katrina as a reason to gouge customers.