[mythtv-users] Here it is. MPAA wants to close the analog hole

[Brian Wood]

On Thursday 27 November 2008 11:20:11 Brad DerManouelian wrote:
> On Nov 27, 2008, at 6:42 AM, George Galt wrote:
> > Can you say "camel's nose under the tent"?  Once they got consumers
> > used to the fact that component might not always work, consumers will
> > accept it in an ever-expanding set of circumstances.
>
> You're a consumer. So you would accept it in an ever-expanding set of
> circumstances?
>
> >  In addition,
> > once consumers know that component connections don't always work,
> > they'll start avoiding these connections on TV sets, so manufacturers
> > will stop making them, so set-top box manufacturers/cablecos will stop
> > supporting them -- effectively closing the analog hole.
>
> You're a consumer. You will do this?
>
> I'm sure to mean "average consumer" and exempt yourself. So I would
> then assume you've done consumer market research and took a sampling
> of average consumers asking their opinion and how they would respond.
> I look forward to the full report.
>
> I don't mean to pick on you specifically, but I see this sort of thing
> on this list all the time. "Consumers will do this. Then this will
> happen. Which leads to this." without any proof or historical
> precedent. Then arguments start and the thread bears little
> resemblance to anything that should appears on the mythtv-users list.
> (The precedent being pretty much any thread in the archives that
> starts with a link to an article about the MPAA, FCC, etc.)

A good example would be cable TV back in the early 80s:

People paid extra money for two features: "cable ready", and a VCR. Then they discovered they couldn't use either one. "Cable Ready" could mean anything from an "F" connector for Rf input to the ability to tune cable-only channels.

Then they were told by the cable company that if they wanted a premium channel they had to use a cable company-supplied "converter" (STB), and if they wanted to be able to record one channel while recording another they would need a setup that Rube Goldberg would be proud of, involving A/B switches, spliters and enough cable to wire the Pentagon.

Plenty of people were plenty mad, having spent extra money to cause extra problems, and not be able to use the features they had paid for.

But the "consumers" eventually submitted.

CableCard was supposed to solve most of the current problems, but has not. The Cable Companies drag their feet, and make it almost impossible to actually acquire and use one of those devices.

Of course one of the big problems is retailers trying to sell expensive features, and failing to mention that they might be unusable.

"Consumers" will mostly cave in eventually, and the pressure from retailers will prevent accurate information getting out.
-- 
beww
beww at beww.org
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