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From: ken@uswat.uswest.com (Kenny Chaffin)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Cable Competition at Last!
Keywords: Direct Broadcast Coming Soon
Message-ID: <14771@uswat.UUCP>
Date: 25 Jan 91 20:41:22 GMT
References: <620@wybbs.mi.org-> <1991Jan25.183121.9017@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Sender: news@uswat.UUCP
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Organization: US WEST Advanced Technologies, CO, USA
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In article <1991Jan25.183121.9017@rodan.acs.syr.edu-> amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) writes:
->In article <620@wybbs.mi.org> ken@wybbs.mi.org (Ken) writes:
->>This weeks Engineering times has an article on something I have been
->
->>Starting this summer, a company called Sky Pix (Kent, WA) will be
->>selling a direct broadcast dish system for the home. Dishes have
->>been around for a long time, but check out these details:
->   Pretty good description, but sorry.  All of this was available in the
->30 largest us cities more than 5 years ago.  The single difference was that
->the antenna pointed to the tallest building downtown for it's 'sat' signal,
->and downtown, the 'sat' sales company used down link dishes to create the
->artificial sat.
->    In short, except for a very few locations (maybe zero).  They've all gone
->bankrupt in short order.  They discovered a lot of things, one of which was
->that you can't compete with the costs for most cable companies, and people that
->are willing to are willing to spend the money for a real dish.  The costs of
->launching the sat and cost for the startup are so astronomical that unless the
->government foot the bill and holds everybody's hand, it a belly up deal.
->
->al
->
->
->-- 
->Al. Michielsen, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University
-> InterNet: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu  amichiel@sunrise.acs.syr.edu
-> Bitnet: AMICHIEL@SUNRISE 

	Yeah, But... There are considerable differences. One the downlink
is actually owned and operated by the user-- that eliminates considerable
cost. The other is that things have changed considerably in the past 5 years
satellite time is much cheaper and more efficient. The Japanese and others
are going all out for direct broadcast HDTV, and I believe some places in
Europe also. There is always a risk in any business but I would hope that
the japanese and this new company here in the U S are aware of history and
still see it as a positive proposition. In any case, we'll watch and see
what happens.


KAC

"Anybody want a drink before the war?"
                       Sinead O'Connor
 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Kenny A. Chaffin                      {...boulder}!uswat!ken
U S WEST Advanced Technologies                (303) 930-5356
6200 South Quebec
Englewood, CO 80111
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