why that was nice

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

Well first of all, picture quality is of direct relation to signal to noise ratio. HD channels (1080i) are actually the same clarity as a regular digital channel. The difference is in resolution (screen size) and noise floor. HD channels offer a substantially lower SNR to achieve its clarity. There is also less compression of the digital carrier.
As for the gasoline comment? There have been reformulations of gas used today as opposed to say 30 years ago...but not so much 20 years. The increase of ethanol in our gas as well as using oxygenated gas in the winter has decreased our fuel economy in order to reduce emmissions. There has been less carbon build up in current engines as a result. It still does not justify the 3x cost increase.

Cable on the other hand has introduced many new ways of communicating in the last 11 years.Their price increase matches the increase in services and technology. My mother pays Comcast $140.00/month. She has HDTV, all premium channels, phone and internet. And that's the regular cost. I think that is a deal. If you were to split those services up, it would cost much more. Look at the bigger picture. You are not paying for cable service. You are paying for communications services.

Thanks for defining the issues at hand.

I understand what you mean by the comments explaining picture quality? Is that a metric comcast uses to determine benefits to its customers? I do not know, I am just asking //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. If so, by what mechanism are those items measured in the perspective of the customer? Does it matter about SNR if the customer cannot tell the difference (think about THD in amps...like .0000000000001 THD really matters...or even .10 because most people cannot discern a difference). How do you have a metric not measureable by the customer? Or is it via surverys or the like. Then you have a placebo effect and yadda yadda yadda.

As for the gasoline. What data set are you using to obtain the 3 time cost increase? Are your numbers indexed? What is the source of your data?

The couple data sets I have seem to indicate a price of gasoline higher than $2.00 for much of the 80s into the early-mid 90s. Although gas prices are someone high now, they will reduce some somewhat in time as it becomes profitable to drill oil (in places such as TN no less)

According to your definition of cable as a communications service, in what ways does HDTV provide a better communications service as compared to standard cable. If I watch the channel 5 news (local news) in HDTV vs. OTA vs. basic, how is the communication different?

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

Thanks for defining the issues at hand.
I understand what you mean by the comments explaining picture quality? Is that a metric comcast uses to determine benefits to its customers? I do not know, I am just asking //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. If so, by what mechanism are those items measured in the perspective of the customer? Does it matter about SNR if the customer cannot tell the difference (think about THD in amps...like .0000000000001 THD really matters...or even .10 because most people cannot discern a difference). How do you have a metric not measureable by the customer? Or is it via surverys or the like. Then you have a placebo effect and yadda yadda yadda.

As for the gasoline. What data set are you using to obtain the 3 time cost increase? Are your numbers indexed? What is the source of your data?

The couple data sets I have seem to indicate a price of gasoline higher than $2.00 for much of the 80s into the early-mid 90s. Although gas prices are someone high now, they will reduce some somewhat in time as it becomes profitable to drill oil (in places such as TN no less)

According to your definition of cable as a communications service, in what ways does HDTV provide a better communications service as compared to standard cable. If I watch the channel 5 news (local news) in HDTV vs. OTA vs. basic, how is the communication different?

HDTV is only measurable by the amount of bandwidth it takes up and SNR. Digital channels are measured the same. That is the only way to discern clarity in the channel. The only way for the customer to tell is to see it with their own high-def TV. If you can't or don't have the right equipment, then the services are not for you. HDTV doesn't provide better communications. It just appeals to a new standard that is working its way into society. Communication is improved with faster internet speeds as well as tons of free services for telephony communication. The idea is to make it easier to interact with each other.

For gasoline: I only used a reference contained in this thread.

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

What will really piss you guys off is the fact that Comcast is now part owner of Sprint/Nextel. Soon to be full owner. Expect a wireless venture around December of 07'

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

HDTV is only measurable by the amount of bandwidth it takes up and SNR. Digital channels are measured the same. That is the only way to discern clarity in the channel. The only way for the customer to tell is to see it with their own high-def TV. If you can't or don't have the right equipment, then the services are not for you. HDTV doesn't provide better communications. It just appeals to a new standard that is working its way into society. Communication is improved with faster internet speeds as well as tons of free services for telephony communication. The idea is to make it easier to interact with each other.
For gasoline: I only used a reference contained in this thread.

Good. My point was proven about the recent enhancements in cable television (digital cable, HDTV) in that it focuses improvements entertainment benefit, not communications benefit.

Let's break this down some...

For a customer that seeks

primarily communication = basic service or OTA

some entertainment = digital cable

focus more on entertainment than communication = HDTV

As for me, I don't watch TV except for family guy...Why? for entertainment.

I agree with the internet statement. Faster internet = used more, therefore gain more value from it.

I am big on sources...I understand that most people don't have the BLS as a hot button on their keyboard...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

And with that, I am off to bed

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

What will really piss you guys off is the fact that Comcast is now part owner of Sprint/Nextel. Soon to be full owner. Expect a wireless venture around December of 07'

Comcast is gonna buy Sprint?

CMCSA market cap is $85.88B with cash on balance sheet of around $1B. Sprint is worth about $60B.

While it is possible, I think it would be quite expensive is CMCSA....

But maybe.

I'll keep an eye on it. I might buy a few Jan08 calls on the next dip. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

If you could pay per channel, I'd get Comedy Central, TBS, TNT, HDNet, and maybe FX. And I would demand all to be in HD. That's like the only channels I ever watch. And maybe Discovery too, because they play good shit sometimes.

 

[jimmclrk1 10+ year member]

If you could pay per channel, I'd get Comedy Central, TBS, TNT, HDNet, and maybe FX. And I would demand all to be in HD. That's like the only channels I ever watch. And maybe Discovery too, because they play good shit sometimes.

What would you be willing to pay per channel?

 

[faulkton 5,000+ posts]

this thread proves that anyone who works for the cable companies is racist.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

What would you be willing to pay per channel?

Take this a step further. Should it be fixed price per channel or different channels have different pricing schedules.

I am thinking the marginal cost of the additional channel shouldn't be very much.

I would subscribe to cable if you could purchase channels a la carte.

-----------------------------

At a fixed cost, maybe $3 per channel.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

Now I remember why I started pirating DTV //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif too bad its such a pain in the *** to keep the bins updated //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[crunktimes.com 5,000+ posts]

I would take the old *** cable with the 'A/B' thingy and 40 channels (including HBO) for $25 back in a minute.

I pay about $120 for internet, cable with no premium channels and an HD DVR.

Supposedly Verizon and others rolling out fiber are going to be brining a cable offering to the table sometime which will hopefully start some type of price war.

Tried DirectTV from Verizon but I just could not get used to it, growing up on comcast for 28 years gets you hooked like crack..

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

The only problem with Verizon's FIOS system is that they had to spend $33 billion in this area alone to rebuild their infrastructure to accommodate fiber. If they start a price war they will lose too much money. Its a great system with a solid background. Fiber doesn't require the maintenance that RF coaxial does. There is far less noise due to less amplifiers in the transportation system, but it costs a lot. Comcast actually has the same system in the works, so competition will stay close.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Anyway, too much BS to read or try to understand, lol!

I use time warner and get the package deal.

200 plus channels

2 HD DVR boxes

1 digital box

Digital phone

Road Runner high speed internet

Package deal for 6 months is 99 bucks, but I get HBO on demand so is about 110.

I may switch to the Dish network being it is only 20 bucks for over 100 channels, (4HD DVR boxes free) being I dont watch but maybe 12 or 13 and can get them all on dish. Then keep the rr and digital phone and should be about 70 bucks.

 

[DykeOfTulsa]

Now I remember why I started pirating DTV //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

you cant pirate DTV.... you can pirate DN

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif too bad its such a pain in the *** to keep the bins updated //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

two words: Viewsat Ultra

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

I really want to see AppleTV develop. They are offering Cable-like TV over IP. That seems interesting.