site an alternate opinion to what he calls the CEA (Consumer
Electronics Association)-encouraged DTV transition. Their claim is that
only 13% of TV viewers use OTA (over-the-air) pickup with old-fashioned
antennas, and thus the outcry over cancellation of all analog
telecasting (now scheduled for 2008) will be insignificant. Beecham
asserts that Congress is only interested in people who will lose access
to free TV because of concerns that if the group is large enough and
angry enough they could cause votes to be lost that election
year.
Support for this view comes from the experiences of PBS affiliate
KCSM-TV in San Mateo, CA – close to Silicon Valley. They decided
to step into DTV early by turning off their analog transmitter over a
year ago. They prepared by taking polls of their paid subscribers,
running announcements about the big change several times a day,
describing the change in their monthly program guide, on their web
site, and even put up a billboard. Yet after the analog cutoff they
were overwhelmed with callers and lost 38% of their audience.
Award for Harry Pearson – The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio
Society, which bills itself as America’s Premier Audio Society, will be
awarding their highest honor – the Founder’s Award – to Harry Pearson,
founder of The Absolute Sound and Perfect Vision magazines. The
occasion will be the Society’s 12th Anniversary Celebration and Banquet
on December 11th at the Hilton Hotel on Century Boulevard in LA. The
Society’s President, Bob Levi, said “…Many of us are a part of this
wonderful hobby only because of Harry Pearson.”
Expert Tech Service Needed Along With Technology Gift-Giving – The
CEA has forecast a nearly 10% increase in sales of consumer
electronics this holiday season. A recent survey by CompUSA
stores shows that over 60% of their customers want support from an
in-home technology expert for their home entertainment systems,
computers and other electronic gifts. 62% preferred giving consumer
electronics gifts knowing full tech support was offered by the retailer
rather than the manufacturer. In spite of this, only 7% of consumers
actually get help installing or troubleshooting such products from an
in-home service expert, and more than 50% rely on product manuals or
manufacturer support. Experts readily agree that home theater gear has
reached levels of complexity totally foreign to the average consumer,
and as personal computer ownership expands to new areas of the general
population, the possibilities for complete befuddlement have reached
epic proportions.
