No analogue switch-off until equipment is 'affordable'

[Gareth]

Maybe I should say this now...... I Was Only Joking!!!!!

[Flubflow]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

Being much older than most people on here I probably come into contact with more elderly people than most. I don't know where you get your statistics from but they are far from the truth. Of course SOME elderly people don't understand video recorders and cable TV but there are many people in every age range that are just the same. People don't suddenly lose their marbles when they reaach pension age.

Ageism IS discrimination but many people don't see that everyday comments that they make (such as the ones made on here) is being discriminatory. There should be no discrimination on grounds of age, gender, colour, religion, social standing, etc, but there is a lot of it about and I could quote many examples that posters on here are guilty of but don't realise that they are being discriminatory. There can be no defence of discrimination.

EDIT: Sorry to take this thread off topic to an extent, but some things get right up my nose. If anyone wants to say anything more on discrimination then I would suggest another thread may be more suitable.

This is totally uneccessary flag waving for ageism. I despise ageism but you are going way over the top.
If the poster's original comment was supposed to be discriminatory or ageist then it would have gone along the lines of "all old people are thick and senile" or "all old people are not allowed to have digital TV without a training course" etc. It seems you have read into it the absolute worst that you possibly could and then jumped down people's throats crying foul. Most reasonable people would simply see a sense of concern and caring based on what they see around them i.e. their very own elderly realtives often being confused by or dismissive of some new technology.
Out of all the people I know, it is mostly the older ones who mostly ask for help with their TV, Video, Computer, Microwave, or anything else that has become digitised or "new & improved". I'm sure there would be even more but some of them are too well mannered to bother "pestering" anyone for help and just simply put up with the problem.
Nobody is even remotely suggesting that all old people "lose their marbles" but many of the ones I know happily admitt to their failure to grasp new technology.
Hell, I'm only in my 40's and I'm getting sick of the march of "progress". More functions and less buttons/knobs to do it with. It is bound to confuse people. I would never WANT a digital toaster ffs and I certainly can see why people older than me don't want much to do with digital TV despite its benefits.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by Flubflow

This is totally uneccessary flag waving for ageism. I despise ageism but you are going way over the top.
If the poster's original comment was supposed to be discriminatory or ageist then it would have gone along the lines of "all old people are thick and senile" or "all old people are not allowed to have digital TV without a training course" etc. It seems you have read into it the absolute worst that you possibly could and then jumped down people's throats crying foul. Most reasonable people would simply see a sense of concern and caring based on what they see around them i.e. their very own elderly realtives often being confused by or dismissive of some new technology.
Out of all the people I know, it is mostly the older ones who mostly ask for help with their TV, Video, Computer, Microwave, or anything else that has become digitised or "new & improved". I'm sure there would be even more but some of them are too well mannered to bother "pestering" anyone for help and just simply put up with the problem.
Nobody is even remotely suggesting that all old people "lose their marbles" but many of the ones I know happily admitt to their failure to grasp new technology.
Hell, I'm only in my 40's and I'm getting sick of the march of "progress". More functions and less buttons/knobs to do it with. It is bound to confuse people. I would never WANT a digital toaster ffs and I certainly can see why people older than me don't want much to do with digital TV despite its benefits.

In my experience it is mainly women, and not OAPs, who get confused with technology and who ask for help but I don't take my experience as being statistical proof on the subject. Too many people look at the characters portrayed on TV and in films and think that is a reflection of what life is. Don't forget that most OAPs have grown up with TVs and were fairly young when video recorders came on the market. Why should they be confused?

Is it wrong to say that discrimination exists or to point out that there are fundamental flaws in the logic of what is being posted.

The question is about when the country should go all digital and shouldn't revolve around whether the technology is confusing. In my mind the only thing that should prevent the switch off of analogue is having areas where digital is not available.