Re: FCC Orders All TV's To Have Digital Tuners By 2007

[SteveOrdinetz <steveord@bit-net.com>]

Jibguy@aol.com wrote:

>>The gov't does seem intent on shoving this down our throats, though.
>
>
>The gov't has always had to do such to get things going...   Are you 
>unhappy that the gov't back around 1971, required all radio mfr's to 
>include the FM band?  (-which took 30 years to take off, before the 
>'requirement.')
>
>Chicken or the egg.....    sometimes things need a push for the good of all.

We're talking apples & oranges here.  Requiring manufacturers to include 
both broadcast bands (or UHF on a tv) isn't the same thing as a decree that 
will eventually make every existing receiver little more than a 
paperweight.  When is the deadline for tv to have ceased analog 
broadcasting?  Last I knew it was before 2010.  It's asking a lot imho to 
expect everyone to replace their tv (or radio if a digital format ever 
happens here) for the sake of some features there seems to be little public 
demand for.  When color tv and FM stereo came along, there was a 
requirement that they be compatable with black & white or mono 
receivers.  (Did left-on-AM, right-on-FM stereo actually happen, or was it 
just experimental?  I have/had a tuner for this)

There were AM-only radios made well into the 80s, I don't think Rat Shack's 
AM stereo tuner had FM on it...that was introduced in the mid-ish 
80s...apparently there was a loong deadline to make this happen.

This whole thing seems reminiscent of the big push on the metric system 
back in the 70s.  While some products changed to metric units, there 
certainly has been no enthusiasm for further change (a few token highway 
signs listing distance in mi & km, but no one I know thinks in liters, km, 
celcius, etc.)