Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY
Again, you are posting what is now, rather than what is to come.
First of all, the Government is committed to extending good broadband speeds to the whole country. So the 2MB issue you mention will not be a problem forever.
The newer TVs don't last as long as the old ones did because the technology is getting so complicated. My TV needed a new motherboard after just three years. I'm sure I will have to change it within the next 5.
You've only got to go on a walk to see the number of people watching TVs with widescreen, so although there are still people, particularly pensioners, who still have archaic TVs, the majority will have more modern sets than they do now, and the price is coming down all the time.
I've heard more than once on these forums people saying that when they were tired, they just wanted to watch what was on. And yet, if you want to watch something you are actually interested in, you still have to look up in the TV magazine or EPG what is on, or channel hop. Yesterday, when my wife fell asleep in the middle of something we were watching, I just went to Netflix and chose 'My Lists' and there was my pre-planned selection just waiting to be viewed. Chose 'Damages' and it was all done about 15 seconds after going into Netflix.
Frankly, I think people are putting problems in the way - I do understand that people are resistant to change. But the confidence expressed that things will remain as they are forever astounds me!
Incidentally, it's pretty easy for the TV industry to force people to change to a newer technology, just as your Mum had to when her VHS recorder became obsolete.
All they need to do is have all programmes in 4K!
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Sorry, but you're just being ridiculous now.
It took almost 10 years from the launch of DTT for the government to have the confidence to even begin switching off analogue TV signals, and that was with digital switchover as the intended end result, right from the outset. It took a further five years to complete that process. During that initial 10-year period, DTT was re-branded and re-launched *twice* before it began to penetrate sufficient homes to be considered viable. So no, there is no "all they have to do" when it comes to forcing people to upgrade. It is a long, complex process and it is led by regulators who are empowered by government, not by the TV industry. Even today, DTT doesn't have the capacity to support a complete switch from SD to HD broadcast. "Forcing" everyone on to 4K isn't going to happen. Whether the UK's internet infrastructure would be capable of sustaining HD video streams to 20 million households simultaneously, I don't know. I suspect not.
Most people, by the way, have not the slightest interest in spending time pre-planning a "My List" in Netflix or wherever. In doing so, you are simply marking yourself out as someone who uses TV in a way that the vast majority of other people, don't. That would be why you're so perplexed by those of us who say the linear broadcast schedule is the simplest and most convenient way of watching TV.