Sunday, April 27, 2008

The World of Digital

President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, David Rehr, is trying to open the eyes of society to the up-and-coming world of digital. According to an article posted by thr.com, the NAB is spending one billion dollars just on educating the DTV switch. This amount seems unbelievable at first; but we have to put in to account the $40 coupon that they are distributing to those that need the adapter to switch from analog to digital television. Now, David Rehr wants to continue the convergence of digital to other devices, including mobile screens. NAB is trying to get digital TV on cell phones, iPods, TV screens in cars, portable video players, laptops computers, and other devices.


David Rehr stated at the 2008 NAB show in Las Vegas on April 14 that ‘Some are not optimistic about broadcasting's future. Some people in this business have been staring so long at the door that's closing, they haven't seen the new door that's opening -- the digital door.’

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Although it may seem like a long stretch, people just need to realize that it is the 21st century and that our technology and knowledge is growing. Things will not always stay the way they are. Digital has gotten such hype and attention that NAB wants to continue spreading this technology to other items that many Americans enjoy now. Digital television can ear up to an estimated $2 billion a year in revenues from mobile video alone.

We have HD radio out already but we don’t really know if it is going to take to the consumers. There are too few stations that actually offer this amenity and it is also too expensive. Also, radio stations are stepping up to offer the programming to support new multicast channels of HD radio. There is still a lot of work to be done if NAB and FCC want to change broadcasting in its entirety from analog to digital. I believe that it won’t take much longer before we are watching digital television in our vehicles.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Consumers have zero interest in the HD Radio farce:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com

Rain said...

HD Radio? That sounds weird to me. Why would I want HD Radio when I still can't even get a decent signal in this town?

This all seems like convergence at its peek, but it is something that we cannot stop. If there is money in it, companies are not going to hesitate to jump on it. Think about when people just had to switch from black and white to color. This is just the major change of our time.

But broadcast television in our cars? Dear Lord. Think of the accidents that will causes. I know people already install screens in their cars, but it seems like this will only cause us to distance ourselves from others even more.

I'll settle for just a gaming system in the back seat. At least then I can play with my friends.

HockeyMel said...

HD television in our cars...now THERE'S a scary thought. It's always comforting to know that the person in the car behind you is catching up on the latest shows while driving.

When did driving become so boring that we have to have all these gadgets in our cars? I thought I was doing good to be able to plug my mp3 player into my radio...

But, I agree with sky. Corporations nowadays want only one thing: money! If there's a new product out there that people will buy and put in their cars, there's no doubt it'll be popular.