[opendtv] Re: --FCC OKs WiFi between TV channels
- From: "John Willkie" <jmwillkie@xxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 17:57:02 -0700
John;
I'm not so sure that your points are opposed to one another. Aren't there
over a dozen manufacturers of STBs for ATSC in the U.S.? And, do you know
how well those Freeview boxes are to find in U.K. stores?
Aren't the acquirers quite different? In the U.S., young and well-off tend
to buy HDTV sets. In the U.K., the old and infirm buy Freeview boxes: it's
their first chance to see the multichannel universe.
Where do you think the electronics retailers should display the ATSC stbs?
I've NEVER had trouble finding one in Circuit City or Best Buy or Tweeter:
in no case did it take me longer than 45 seconds from entering the store.
Do you think they should put an ATSC STB (profit on sales probably <$50) in
front of an HDTV set (profit on sales probably >$500)?
Have you noticed that the high-profit items at Seven-Eleven are near the
cash register? Have you noticed that the high-profit items for adults are
at eye level in supermarkets, and the high-profit items for kids are at
ground level?
Do you notice that when you call up your cable company to complain about
something you have to swim through a torrent of promotional messages for
digital cable, and the service rep will tell you that your problem can be
solved by an upgrade to digital?
Do you think that retailers are in it for love? Or profit?
I suspect that the manufacturers are meeting demand. Never, when I've asked
a retailer in the last three years if they had a Samsung or Zenith STB in
stock, was I told no. I might even buy one within a few weeks.
John Willkie
-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of John Shutt
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 5:34 PM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: --FCC OKs WiFi between TV channels
I also find it very curious that in Great Britain, you find Freeview boxes
manufactured by over a dozen manufacturers everywhere electronics are sold,
yet here in the United States you have to really search for one or two
brands at the huge nationwide retail electronics chains.
Either the manufacturers are waiting for the next generation of receiver
chips and the next iteration of ATSC standards before flooding the market
with STBs, or else the fast approaching tuner mandates have made it economic
suicide to even try to design new STBs.
<http://uk.shopping.yahoo.com/search.html?cat=0&p=Freeview&brd=0&pfrom=&pto=
&m=b>
<http://www.circuitcity.com/searchresults.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-11081&depa
rtment=Televisions&first=yes&qp=0&dupDept=null&m=0>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
> The odd thing about this transition is that walking into a store,
> no one would ever guess it has been taking place for the last 6
> years plus.
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