I’ve been pondering Digital TV again recently. It really has been badly handled here in Australia. Who knows the why’s and hows; conflicted companies (who own free-to-air TV companies and pay-TV companies, certain big Telco’s who not only want you to use their broadband, but also have a share of the ‘only’ pay-TV business). Government policy. What a mess.
As I’ve said before the original message should have been clear and simple. Focus only on ‘standard‘ definition. The key point being the picture is DVD quality on your current TV
Then, a year or two later, announce ‘high’ definition. By effectively announcing both at once, the previous government confused the market. Standard is not High, so it must be, you know, Low and so not that good.
My theory is that by the time the analogue TV is finally turned off – and digital TV really kicks in – we’ll have the Governments ultra-broadband Internet to our homes. I think the dates will be about the same; at least for the main cities. So, by then, you should have enough reliable broadband capacity for HD TV on demand from almost anywhere. And hence digital TV better really offer something that adds value….or it will be too little too late.
Channel 7 are due to announce Tivo over the next few weeks. For the Mums and Dads this Magic Black Box provides cool content. They probably won’t even fully realise – care – that it’s delivered via the TV airwaves…so in 2 years time, swap it for a broadband box and they will hardly notice.
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