Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Tech nonsense
Why are people suddenly fascinated with "mobile television", ie the ability to watch telly on your mobile phone.
I assume that the telecos will be claiming that they'll have to stream the whole thing over the telephone network and charge chunky amounts of cash to anyone foolish enough to watch?
Because I thought that the TV signal was floating around in the air around us. Am I wrong in thinking that all you need is an aerial and a portable telly? (Uncle Clive had one of these in 1983 (I saw it on Blue Peter). And there are already tellys you can put in your pocket (I've seen those in Dixons) so as far as I can tell we're not talking giant leap here, yet it's all "the news" can talk about.) And if you're not connected to a fixed aerial you don't need a license (watch that little loophole get plugged asap) so why-oh-why the audacity to make people pay for something that is essentially free (great business model though, wish I'd thought of it).
Even if you wanted to watch the current slab of kwality digital channels (and who wouldn't?), the rate at which tech is miniaturising, the kit needed to deal with it should be small enough to be "portable" at any moment. In fact it probably already is, it's just that we won't get to see it for another few years.
My main point is this, though: Accidents are caused everyday when people text or make mobile calls when driving. Does this stupid country need yet another excuse to focus solely on their mobiles rather than on what they're actually doing?
Bah.
I assume that the telecos will be claiming that they'll have to stream the whole thing over the telephone network and charge chunky amounts of cash to anyone foolish enough to watch?
Because I thought that the TV signal was floating around in the air around us. Am I wrong in thinking that all you need is an aerial and a portable telly? (Uncle Clive had one of these in 1983 (I saw it on Blue Peter). And there are already tellys you can put in your pocket (I've seen those in Dixons) so as far as I can tell we're not talking giant leap here, yet it's all "the news" can talk about.) And if you're not connected to a fixed aerial you don't need a license (watch that little loophole get plugged asap) so why-oh-why the audacity to make people pay for something that is essentially free (great business model though, wish I'd thought of it).
Even if you wanted to watch the current slab of kwality digital channels (and who wouldn't?), the rate at which tech is miniaturising, the kit needed to deal with it should be small enough to be "portable" at any moment. In fact it probably already is, it's just that we won't get to see it for another few years.
My main point is this, though: Accidents are caused everyday when people text or make mobile calls when driving. Does this stupid country need yet another excuse to focus solely on their mobiles rather than on what they're actually doing?
Bah.
