The Senate Commerce Committee issued a bold press release aggressively backing FCC Commissioner Michael Copps’ contention that the nation is woefully unprepared for the pending transition to digital television. The release is a stunning rebuke to the FCC and the Commerce Department, which have dickered over responsibility for the ongoing transition. The Committee plans to hold a hearing on February 14 to find out just what content should, under ideal circumstances, go here. Full release, after the jump.
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At least it’s very straightforward. It’s better than that fake FEMA press conference. No lies in this press release.
at least no html errors.
@ecwis: I would withhold any assertion of no lies until we see said content added in the appropriate place.
To be fair to the gubmint, when have old people ever understood TVs? There are the 10% of us who take the time to figure out how stuff works, and the 90% who spend their time complaining about how complicated it all is.
@ecwis: The presence of “content” would appear to be a lie here..
@swalve: Sadly, the people unable to figure out their TVs likely are also not going to be too good with the interwebs, so even the most informative online press release won’t do them any good.
@nequam: There needs to be info about how those who do know can help those who don’t. My parents semi-understand, know that their old TVs won’t work but don’t know all the technica ldetails. I told them about the coupon program, summarized the reason for the switch, and ordered their coupons for them and will probably have to help them hook everything up. I think TV sellers need to set up simple pamphlets to distribute and offer to have their installers set up the converter boxes.
@swalve & nequam: “There are the 10% of us who take the time to figure out how stuff works, and the 90% who spend their time complaining about how complicated it all is.” I have degrees in theoretical mathematics and organic chemistry, and have been programming professionally for over 20 years on Mac, WIndows, and Unix/Linux. Right now, I’m writing custom X extensions for nonstandard graphics hardware for embedded Linux. And I’ve spent a huge chunk of my programming career figuring out how to make software easy on end-users. So I think I’ve got some technical chops. But I still barely know how to use my TV remote. I’ve got a life, and I don’t want to waste it figuring out what all 200 buttons do when I know darn well they’re there because some manufacturer was too lazy or cheap to design an easier, more elegant way to do things.
Funny and insightful comment goes here.
@bobert: Power on/off, channel up/down, volume up/down. What else could a person need? : P
@nequam: Apparently, people who make TV remotes think we need a lot more, hence the 200 buttons.
Crisp, muscular, they got the ‘who, ‘what’, ‘when, ‘where. Why they are virtual journalists!?
Finally, truth in journalism!
Is that when we get our rebate checks- Feb 2009?
Is that just a coinci-dense..
This is not a mistake; it’s a metaphor for television. Except that HD tv equals HD crap. Except for football. Ahh, football….
@bobert
“But I still barely know how to use my TV remote. I’ve got a life, and I don’t want to waste it figuring out what all 200 buttons do when I know darn well they’re there because some manufacturer was too lazy or cheap to design an easier, more elegant way to do things.”
So why did you buy it? Perhaps you were too lazy to figure out which manufacturer(s) might have gotten it right. Pony up the dough for some designed in usability, or stop complaining about how the crap you buy is beyond your ‘technical chops’.
and this matters because? it may be a good way to solve the EFP (excess fat problem) in the US- fewer people can watch TV, ergo they’ll have to do something else.
They could had said there was gonna be cake, but they didn’t go there
@darkclawsofchaos: There’s no sense crying over every mistake – you just keep on trying til you run out of cake.
But if they turn the TV’s off, how will we know what Britany does? How would we elect a President? And how would we pick the next victim to invade and occupy? We’ve just got to get this organized.
What coupons?
Bobert is right. Most electronics are designed with crappy remotes that are horribly laid out. I can operate most of my remotes in the dark, but remotes with 50 identical buttons laid out in 10 rows of 5 with tiny print that is not colored to contrast the grey or black remote is poor design and is not easily operated by anyone.
The content is already there, you just need a converter box to see it.
Seeing as how over 89% of households already have either cable or satellite TV service, does anyone else think all this hand wringing over terrestrial digital is just a tad overblown? I mean, the last few holdouts against pay TV obviously don’t place much importance on television and probably won’t notice or care when the signal stops.
It just seems like politicians and regulators are spending a disproportionate amount of time worrying about what amounts to <11% of the population.