[net.consumers] Is cable TV worthwhile?

cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (05/09/85)

> What do you think?  Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it?
> ...... 
> -- 
> Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug

Well the answer is yes, for me. And the reason is I don't pay for any 
if the premium channels because the video store is within walking 
distance, and even if I had HBO I would have to video tape the movice
to fit it into my schedule anyway and HBO doesn't broadcast in HiFi
anyway. 

However, what cable does give me is good reception on all channels even
when my old S-100 Computer is running, or the food processor. I do 
occasionally watch the Kung Fu movies on USA network and the shuttle
stuff on CNN. At $10/Month I believe that is a reasonable cost. 

Our cable company is "monitored" by the City Council (What business a
city has in running a cable company I don't know) and if the service
were as bad as Doug describes I would be down there in a minute demanding
they either get a new cable contractor or force the current one to 
improve service. The only time I have really seen much problems were 
on certain channels that they claim were getting snow from their sattelite
feed. (Where the noise came from nobody knew but it did get fixed)

As for additional jacks in the house, if you have a crawl space like me 
you can put a jack in any room simply by connecting up the coax. With
twist on F-78 connectors and "tee" connectors you don't even need a 
soldering iron.

--Chuck
-- 
                                            - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - 
{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\                     All opinions expressed herein are my
        {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem       own and not those of my employer, my
 {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/                     friends, or my avocado plant. :-}

dsn@tove.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) (05/13/85)

> What do you think?  Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it?
> ...... 
> -- 
> Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug

Well, since I don't have it, I'm not paying anything for it, so I suppose
it's worth what I'm paying!  (I'm one of those people who have never seen fit
to buy a TV set.)
-- 
Dana S. Nau,  Computer Science Dept.,  U. of Maryland,  College Park, MD 20742
ARPA:  dsn@maryland				CSNet:  dsn@umcp-cs
UUCP:  {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsn	Phone:  (301) 454-7932

doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (05/13/85)

> Our cable company is "monitored" by the City Council (What business a
> city has in running a cable company I don't know)

Remember when the cable company dug the trench through your flower
garden to lay their cable?  That's why a city controls the cable TV
company.  The city grants the cable company a "franchise" to use
the city's property, rights-of-way, easements, and eminent domain to
string their cable, in return for which the city retains control over
the cable system.

BTW, the US Supreme Court decided a couple of years ago that cities
do *not* have any immunity from lawsuits which claim that granting a
franchise to just one cable company is a violation of Federal anti-trust
laws.  But I haven't heard of any suits being filed.
-- 
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug
               ^^^^^--- soon to be CalComp

kanner@tymix.UUCP (Herb Kanner) (05/17/85)

In article <205@tove.UUCP> dsn@tove.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) writes:
>> What do you think?  Is cable TV still worth what you're paying for it?
>> ...... 
>> -- 
>> Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug
>
>Well, since I don't have it, I'm not paying anything for it, so I suppose
>it's worth what I'm paying!  (I'm one of those people who have never seen fit
>to buy a TV set.)
>-- 
>Dana S. Nau,  Computer Science Dept.,  U. of Maryland,  College Park, MD 20742
>ARPA:  dsn@maryland				CSNet:  dsn@umcp-cs
>UUCP:  {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!dsn	Phone:  (301) 454-7932
Now what in the world could have given you the idea that every na
subscriber to net.consumers is interested in the amazing fact that you have
never seen fit to by a TV set.


-- 
Herb Kanner
Tymnet, Inc.