Why the Hell should I go Digital?

Digital Cable..Digital Satellite - It's partly a bunch of crap if you ask me.

Why should I feel the need to "go digital"? I'm bombarded constantly, as I'm sure you are, by advertisements for either digital cable, or a digital satellite of one type or another. Make no mistake, if it weren't for the outrageous prices being charged for basic cable, I'd be damn tempted to get cable internet access. I'm about tired of the old 56k modem. But, you're then required to get digital cable service, which means I need a cable box. Which means the only channel I can watch on the TV is channel 3 or channel 4. Same for the VCR. Now, my preferred method of watching TV, especially during the new season, is to watch one program that I'm interested in while taping another. That accounts for four nights a week. I don't think that's possible with digital cable. I'll have to look into it. Maybe it does work for local channels.

And then there's satellite service. Also requires a box. And I'd have to pay extra for local channels. Almost one-tenth of what it would cost to get them on cable. But, I know for sure you need to go through the box to get the local channels, so it'd be impossible to record one channel and watch another. Sure, I could get one of those dual-tuner boxes..but you have to put the second tuner on the channel, and then record. What if I want to record a series of programs on different channels during the weekend when I'm not present to set the tuner for different channels?

Actually, that was gonna be my plan: Get cable internet access with basic cable TV service, and get a satellite system for the other channels. And probably look for one of them hacked access cards so I can watch all the premium content for free. Gotta love America. But damn! That'd be $120 a month, at least, and I couldn't use my typical TV viewing habits for crap.

And I think the main push behind this is Hollywood's desire to maintain iron-fisted control over copyright ownership. They fought the hardest against VCRs. And I'm sure they fought against DVDs to some degree. Well, maybe not, after all, they get their fair chunk of change from the sales of DVDs. But they're so worried about illegal copies of their programming. Excuse me, but it's being piped into my home and I'm paying for it, either via the cable company, or by buying products that are advertised on their channels. I should be able to watch the programs at my convenience if I have the technical savvy to do so.

There was some hope. People are beginning to market DVRs..Digital Video Recorders like Tivo and Ultimate TV. But there's still problems with that. Unlike filling up a video tape, and sticking in a new one, once the harddrive is full, you're stuck until you watch all of it. And here's an oddity that I just don't understand, and it pisses me off. A friend has mentioned the probability of connecting an extra run of cable to the TV card in his PC so he can watch a program while working on the computer. But the PC will be unable to view content on his "digital" cable. What the fuck? A digital computer unable to view digital content? I know, I know, it's the encryption/compression software that sends the signal down the cable and prevents access to premium channels. So you'd have to have the same software available on the computer. Which the cable companies are damn sure not going to give out. You might copy programming to your hard drive and disseminate it out over the 'net. Why in the hell would anybody do that with today's TV drivel? I mean I watch some of the crap, and there's less and less on that I'm even remotely interested in.

I wonder if the sponsors are even looking at this angle: Since I would be unable to tape one channel, and watch another. I'll miss out on all the advertising on one channel, during one show, which makes me a target demographic. Thus, I'll never buy the product because I won't be aware of it. I wonder if I could get a government grant to do a study on the possible lost revenue due to this loss of ability to, in essence, watch multiple channels?

Not that I watch the commercials on the video tape. Hell, I don't pay any attention to the ads that are on the program I'm watching. I'm too busy running to the bathroom, or the kitchen, or trimming my fingernails, or even channel surfing. But dammit! I'm losing a freedom that I prize highly, and you should too.