Re: Apple II: Second Best Tech Product of All Time!

[Mark McDougall <markm@vl.com.au>]

Anthony Lawther wrote:

> The situation might be different for analog TV but with digital TV
> there is a wide selection of PVRs available for use, with an
> Electronic Program Guide (machine-consumable television programming
> information) as part of the package. There is a dashboard widget for
> OS X that gives access to the TV guide for basically all stations in
> the major cities (another example of machine-consumable television
> programming information).

I'm not intimately familiar with the details, but I have heard that
Channel 9, for example, did succeed in getting their program guide
removed from at least one web site some time ago.

Why they are so interested in controlling their guide is beyond me - I
naively assumed that the more people know about what's on their channel,
the better for them?!?

I think you'll find the bulk of the program information is actually
entered manually by like-minded individuals.

What annoys me is that even the EPG information transmitted on the
digital channels is not accurate. I was recording a show one night on my
PC, when I checked to see if it had finished. The EPG indicated that it
was "now showing" the next show, so I stopped recording. About 10s later
I realised that the 'previous' show hadn't finished at all!!!

> If this wasn't legal then surely they wouldn't be
> available for sale ?!?!

Of course they're not illegal. I think the 'underground' reference is
the import/hacking scene...

> With analog transmission ending within the next decade (at the
> latest) any analog solution is a waste of resources IMHO.

Well, the next 2 decades anyway. Maybe. ;)

>> The geek (and even non-geek) crowd in Australia is skipping over
>> PVR, since actual content is *very* limited and most of it is
>> imported from the US or UK, so the better model for us is to
>> torrent our content via the net.

The geek crowd are more likely setting up 4 tuners in their linux boxes
which are also connected to the net, and buying $250 remote controllers
which can interface to MythTV.

But yes, _hypothetically_ downloading a 350MB HD AVI of "Heroes" without
ads is a rather attractive alternative to having to remember to set the
VCR - and you can watch episodes that haven't aired yet, even if they do
sometimes have Spanish subtitles... ;)

Regards,

-- 
Mark McDougall, Engineer
Virtual Logic Pty Ltd, <http://www.vl.com.au>
21-25 King St, Rockdale, 2216
Ph: +612-9599-3255 Fax: +612-9599-3266