Having
taking time away from Telefrieden I have seen how blogs often have much to
offer than the short web links available from Twitter and Facebook entries. On the other hand blog take much more time
and effort to get right, and I have lost confidence that they matter much. There’s just so much noise everywhere and so
little truth.
But
truth telling—or at least my sense of it—enervates. It’s quite difficult trying to set the record
straight. I have found myself too much the
winge, so as I reboot I’ll try to offer snapshots of the future rather than a
reiteration of the often miserable present.
Toward
that end I’ve got to praise Comcast for finding a way to convert (minor pun) terminal adapter leasing from a necessary evil
into a profit center. Comcast recently
received FCC authority to encrypt the basic tier thereby reducing the number of
truck rolls and piracy. The FCC required
Comcast to make available digital to analog converters, but did not specify the
commercial terms for their lease. Comcast offered two free of charge for a few
months and then slipped in a $1.99 rental fee.
I’m
not sure how much the little Pace converters cost, but I’ll hazard to guess
that Comcast will make money on a $1.99 lease.
So very smart and capitalist of Comcast.
But in doing so the company has all but encouraged me to rediscover off
air, broadcast television free of the cable, at least for the supplemental television
sets widely distributed in many homes.
The
possibility exists that Comcast has contributed to consumers’ doubts about the
value position of cable, particularly when companies like Comcast have no
interest in cable ready, true two-way sets, operating without company-leased
and controlled boxes. If I cannot
justify a set top box, or converter lease for the third and fourth televisions
in the house, I may reassess the lease and subscription for the first two sets. At least I know how to retrofit for the old
standby of off air television reception.
Hats off to Comcast for the nudge.
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