MythTV/Comcast going all digital TV in Cambridge [OT]

[crschmidt-cTEUcjrfgDqB+jHODAdFcQ at public.gmane.org (Christopher Schmidt)]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 05:31:27PM -0400, Tom Metro wrote:
> This pretty much explains why cable companies have no pressure on them 
> to supply clear QAM. If they're regularly succeeding in getting 95% of 
> their subscribers to make the switch to digital service voluntarily (and 
> presumably not bleeding subscribers at the same time), then the vast 
> majority of customers have learned to accept the limitations and are 
> putting up with them without complaints.

Because most customers don't *see* any limitations, most likely? I
wasn't aware of a switch being made until after it was made. The people
who are bothered -- at least, the only ones that I'm aware of -- would
seem to be in such a small minority that I can't see any way this would
be a practical issue. (MythTV users are not a majority user of the cable
system, I'm pretty sure. :))

More seriously, outside of freedom of (software|data|content|whatever) 
for geeky types, what's the diff likely to be? I don't pay anything
different, I don't notice any difference, and the cable company
presumably saves a bundle at some point due to not having to bother
using their bandwidth on analog. MythTV users suffer, as do users of
DVRs who work without a cablebox -- but is there anyone else? Those
classes would seem a pretty small minority to me. 

Of course, it helps that (at least where I live) Comcast has a monopoly
on providing non-broadcast television anyway. So it's not like there's
any market forcing them to provide more options.

Regards,
-- 
Christopher Schmidt
MetaCarta