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Are we that stupid?

Nanny governments.

After having to put up with them at various levels, Fran Drescher is looking better all the time.
(But that voice! :D)
 
No, we're not that stupid. Yes, the average television "consumer" today is. Most people in their 20's and 30's today have never even seen an antenna in use.
 
Indeed. Considering the number of people who are subscribed that HD programs can be received OTA for free, I'd say that the FCC has it about right regarding the knowledgeability of the typical TV viewer when it comes to OTA reception.

In another forum, a broadcast engineer once described getting into an argument with the salesperson at a big box store on that very issue -- with the salesperson insisting that the only way to get HD programs was over satellite or cable.

As for the "nanny state" comments -- that's just a cheap shot. One of the purposes of the FCC's website is to impart information that helps average people make use of the various services offered over the airwaves. Unfortunately, I doubt that the people who could benefit by this sort of information are especially likely to ever visit the FCC's website, so it's questionable how much it will actually achieve.
 
Ask your average kid how to fix a problem with a computer. They haven't the foggiest idea. They click, it does stuff. If it doesn't do stuff it's deemed "broken" and off they go to the next stimuli in most likely a cell phone. When it fails they ask for a new one.

My nephew has had a PSP and Xbox a laptop at various stages and within one year of that product's lifespan none of them work properly or at all. I even told my brother-in-law that the mantra of his house is "It just quit working" and they always think I possess some magic pill that makes it all better simply because I own the same stuff and never have problems.

The first generation that have been raised around computers and technology since birth haven't a clue how they operate or could be arsed to learn how. That therein lies the problem.

This is exactly the mindset computer manufacturers, cable/sat companies and cell phone makers are thriving upon. Keep 'em stupid and they always come back to feed from the trough.
 
I definitely agree with Robnoxious about the consumer mindset that those companies are hoping for.

One reason why electronics break so easy is because of cheap labor from overseas making the products. It's almost impossible to come across new electronic products that isn't "Made in China" or somewhere near that country.
 
Robnoxious said:
Ask your average kid how to fix a problem with a computer. They haven't the foggiest idea. They click, it does stuff. If it doesn't do stuff it's deemed "broken" and off they go to the next stimuli in most likely a cell phone. When it fails they ask for a new one.

My nephew has had a PSP and Xbox a laptop at various stages and within one year of that product's lifespan none of them work properly or at all. I even told my brother-in-law that the mantra of his house is "It just quit working" and they always think I possess some magic pill that makes it all better simply because I own the same stuff and never have problems.

The first generation that have been raised around computers and technology since birth haven't a clue how they operate or could be arsed to learn how. That therein lies the problem.

This is exactly the mindset computer manufacturers, cable/sat companies and cell phone makers are thriving upon. Keep 'em stupid and they always come back to feed from the trough.
Click to expand...

It's the opposite in my house - my kids (young adults now) are good at troubleshooting computers - and most other electronic appliances. Though I'm very fluent with many software programs, I'm a hardware ignoramous. So when a computer fails to do what I want, I get mad, cuss at it, and call my kids. I've learned that calling it the F word and banging angrily on the keyboard rarely fixes the problem.

9 times out of 10, they can figure out the solution in under 5 minutes.
 
dhett said:
Or does Julius just think we are?

How to Receive a Broadcast TV Station If It Is Dropped from Your Pay TV Service

http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2010/db1230/DOC-303887A1.pdf

Gee, thanks Dad! I don't think we could have figured it out without you.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised. There ARE people too stupid to figure out OTA TV.

I dropped cable a while ago and went back to OTA. I've actually had to program various TVs and converter boxes for people who didn't know what was up.
 
Yes there are plenty of people that stupid. One of them shot his TV when his cable was disconnected and he couldn't figure out the converter box during the first round of switchovers. There was also this guy who shot his TV because of WHO was on at that time.

Other people though do get help and they do have some idea where to go. Plus it's mainly the USA where most TV viewing is *not* over the air. I bet that Best Buy salesperson would be surprised that elsewhere in the world that you can get HD TV by satellite for free. Digital TV switchover is a bigger deal in some countries because they're greatly expanding consumer choice. But still in my native UK the majority of people get their TV over-the-air versus Sky or Virgin or Freesat.

Mark
 
I must hang around with a different breed of young people then, because the ones I know are much more adept at figuring out electronics than those of my generation. And OTA TV isn't exactly rocket science either - people figured that out who had their VCRs flashing 12:00 midnight.
 
Pab Sungenis said:
No, we're not that stupid. Yes, the average television "consumer" today is. Most people in their 20's and 30's today have never even seen an antenna in use.
Click to expand...

This. There is a generation of adults who likely didn't grow up with three or four channels tuned by a pair of pliers.
 
Well, back during the Fox/Cablevision debacle, I wound up at my in-laws, putting up a makeshift antenna (a set of amplified rabbit ears UHF/VHF combo duct-taped to a pool skimmer pole) and the kids were agog at the idea that you could pull television out of the air.

"Where does it come from?" I was asked.

I took a deep breath. "Well," I said, trying to seem as knowledgeable as possible, "There's a big antenna mounted on top of the Empire State Building..."

They thought I was full of it.
 
Pab Sungenis said:
No, we're not that stupid. Yes, the average television "consumer" today is. Most people in their 20's and 30's today have never even seen an antenna in use.
Click to expand...

As someone IN his mid-20's, I beg to differ.

In 1986, I didn't have cable in the little house I lived in in southwest Ohio. We used an antenna there. Of course, that area of Hamilton County, OH was rural and cable hadn't yet been introduced to that area.
 
Here's my perspective: during the DTV transition in 2009, I was part of the transition-education team at my local PBS station. Working with the local commercial stations, we produced PSAs, hosted several half-hour specials, did radio call-in shows and staffed a call-in hotline to help guide viewers through the transition.

The process of getting TV into one's home is no longer simple or intuitive as it was in the days of three-channels-and-rabbit-ears. The cable and satellite companies had no incentive to make the DTV conversion fully understandable for viewers, and they have even less incentive to make OTA DTV understandable during carriage disputes. No, we're not that stupid. Yes, our industry has made it that complicated.

Some viewers "got it" right away. Some understood the basic idea of OTA DTV, but needed some hand-holding when it came to selecting the right antennas and receivers for our local conditions. Some needed considerably more help; for us, that included home visits in some cases (funded with FCC assistance, out of spectrum auction revenues from channels 60-69) to help people get their TVs working.

The local stations do their best to get the word out, but we were able to use all the help we could get in 2009, and I'm sure the stations affected by carriage disputes can still use the help. The resources the FCC and the NAB made available to us in 2009 were extremely helpful, and I'm sure the affected stations this year appreciate the assistance as well.
 
@Tri-State Media--You and I both. This 20-something did, in fact, grow up in a household where you could get six chnnels off the air, on a black & white set literally tuned by a pair of pliers!

By the way: My collection of TV reception equipment has included ATSC gear for almost eight years now, back when news of an impending NTSC kill-off was just barely starting to circulate.

"I bet that Best Buy salesperson would be surprised that elsewhere in the world that you can get HD TV by satellite for free."

I'd even bet that kid would be flat-out shocked if he found out you can get HDTV for free, via satellite, right now here in the US of A!
 
hubcity said:
"Where does it come from?" I was asked.

I took a deep breath. "Well," I said, trying to seem as knowledgeable as possible, "There's a big antenna mounted on top of the Empire State Building..."
Click to expand...

Thanks for a good chuckle!
 
FightingIrish said:
dhett said:
Or does Julius just think we are?

How to Receive a Broadcast TV Station If It Is Dropped from Your Pay TV Service

http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2010/db1230/DOC-303887A1.pdf

Gee, thanks Dad! I don't think we could have figured it out without you.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised. There ARE people too stupid to figure out OTA TV.

I dropped cable a while ago and went back to OTA. I've actually had to program various TVs and converter boxes for people who didn't know what was up.
Click to expand...
With digital TV and all its problems, of course it's possible to not know what to do.

I had one converter box problem where the company tried to blame the stations, and the official number told me it was the company's problem and they should fix it or I should contact the FTC.

I figured it out, though. Turning the converter box off and turning it back on solved the problem, whatever it was.

But then there are all the issues of the antenna wire being in the wrong position, or the antenna being in the wrong place, and so on. Cable is a necessity if you can get it. Very basic cable, I mean.
 
Pretty much the entire crowd in Washington is of the opinion that we out here in
the hinterlands are all too stupid to get through our daily life without their divine
guidance.
 
Some people are well versed in certain areas, not so much in others. So one agency happens to post some advice for people who are not the least bit stupid but happen to be more gifted in other areas. Big deal. Don't want the advice? Don't bother with it. Problem solved.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Pretty much the entire crowd in Washington is of the opinion that we out here in
the hinterlands are all too stupid to get through our daily life without their divine
guidance.
Click to expand...

I think you're wrong.

In Washington, DC, combined cable/satellite penetration is 93.8% for the market as a whole. My bet is that for the sort of folks working at agencies like the FCC, it's even higher than that. So the point is that since *they* don't know how to use antennas, they automatically assume that the rest of us don't, either.

And recalling all the problems that viewers had in the aftermath of the digital transition, I have to sadly acknowledge that they're probably right -- most viewers don't know squat about antennas and OTA TV reception.
 
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