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From: thant@horus.esd.sgi.com (Thant Tessman)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: U.S. HDTV STANDARDS DELEGATION SCUTTLES 1920x1080 COMMON IMAGE
Message-ID: <5253@odin.SGI.COM>
Date: 14 Mar 90 18:39:47 GMT
References: <1999@v7fs1.UUCP>
Sender: news@odin.SGI.COM
Reply-To: thant@horus.esd.sgi.com (Thant Tessman)
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Entry Systems Division
Lines: 62

In article <1999@v7fs1.UUCP>, U.N.Owen@v7fs1.UUCP (U.N.Owen) writes:
> 
> >industry as a whole.  Who cares if the Japanese are better at 
> >building chips?  The U.S. still produces the best computers 
> 
> 	Many people in the industry do. Just because some companies
> 	are making money building computers, does not mean, everyone
> 	has to build computers and ignore the building blocks -- chips.
> 	I am sure, if only a few chips were at stake, nobody
> 	would have cared. But migration of whole industries ??
> 	If I were you, I'd take a second look at that generalization!

U.S. industries shouldn't ignore chip making, they just shouldn't 
force the rest of the computer industry to subsidize them via trade 
restrictions and taxes.  The point was that in attempting to
save the chip industry, the U.S. could very well destroy its 
entire computer industry.

> 
> >It was the television industry got the fucking FCC
> >to shoot a lot of new technology development in the foot in order
> 
> 	Hmmm.. FCC regulates EMI , that is Electro Magnetic Interference.
> 	Correct me if I am wrong, but without that the telephone near
> 	your computer terminal could have so much noise in it that
> 	you probably could not have a proper conversation. I am ignorant 
> 	of whatever else FCC regulates besides EMI.
> 	I wonder what new technology development got shot in the foot
> 	just because FCC said so !:-)!. Don't tell me that american engineers
> 	are so dumb that they cannot conform to FCC standards!!!

At the insistence of the television industry, the FCC dictated 
that the HDTV format must be compatible with the current NTSC 
(Never Twice the Same Color) format.  I think this was the missing 
piece of information that lead you to say all the rest of the 
stuff you said.  It's not the engineers I'm down on.  Far from it.  
It's the politicians who get bought out by industries.

> 
> >(It's exactly as if the record industry outlawed CDs.  The difference
is that
> >the record industry didn't have an FCC to do it for them.)
> 
> 	This is a very poor analogy. Building chips and making CDs are 
> 	different in lots of ways.

The analogy was meant to apply to HDTV and NTSC, not chips.

> 
> >Almost everything is invented here:  
> 
> 	Everything related to computers and technology perhaps, Yes.
> 	Remember the revolution in machines and technology really
> 	started in Europe and if you go back further in history
> 	some concepts originated in the far east also!

The point here was that lack of innovation and new technology
cannot be used as an excuse for the U.S.'s weakening performance
in the consumer technology business.  I appologize if I didn't
make that clear.

thant