One Wonders (0.00 / 0)

I really do wonder what the internal rationalizations are here. I suppose this is just what happens when you make a career out of being a hack; trapped in your own hall of mirrors where it's obvious that the internet needs to be stopped, for the sake of everyone!

I get the feeling this is another one of those things that will shake out based on the number of people who "get it" or not. That number among the citizenry seems to be growing exponentially, so as long as they can't ram this through in secret it should be beatable.

Me | My Work | Future Majority

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by: Josh Koenig @ Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 19:28:15 PM CDT

Matt Stoller == easily had by Google (0.00 / 0)

No one who understands what this free wireless babble is about supports it.

The so-called white spaces that Google wants is still occupied by television signals.  The first test runs of white space devices by MS and Google were monumental disasters.  They cause interference all over the television band.

It isn't a feasible technology unless you decide that screwing up network television is a funny idea.

Now, doubtlessly where you live, your cable company has a dedicated fiber line to the local networks.  Where I live the cable companies and many individuals still need to use antennas to receive the local TV stations.

Go on a knowledgeable website like AVSForum.com and ask the people there who know the technology what they think of Google's fabulous white space technology.  A few station engineers will set you straight fast.

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by: yinzer @ Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 20:44:43 PM CDT

Correcting some mistakes, re: white spaces (0.00 / 0)

yinzer wrote: "cable company has a dedicated fiber line to the local networks.  Where I live the cable companies and many individuals still need to use antennas to receive the local TV stations."

I may be reading you wrong, but I think you misunderstand or have conflated what's being talked about here.

-Analog terrestrial TV broadcast goes away in January 2009. Google had nothing to do with this.
-That spectrum will not be used for anything else for a while...hence "white space".

The cable TV plant gets your local TV news feed the same way they get Katie Couric - by satellite - or at the very least by microwave link, which isn't going away along with terrestrial analog TV broadcast.

Google proposes to use the white space (channels 2-52) EM spectrum (which is publicly owned; make no mistake that we have a direct say in these proposals), available for whitespace devices.

Does that mean you'll lose channels 2-52? No, because they will no longer be broadcast in analog over that spectrum at all after January of 2009. The frequencies are called white space because there isn't going to be anything there by the time Google or anyone else gets around to arguing this proposal on the merits. Like the 700MHz spectrum that went up for auction earlier this year, in five years there won't be anything being broadcast in this range of the publicly-owned "airwaves". It makes perfect sense to use this part of the spectrum for the public good and general enrichment.

In other words, if after January 2009 you're still using an antenna to tune in, you will need a $40.00 converter box to convert the digital TV signal to something your older TV can display. You can get one of these at almost any electronics place, but I think they should have been mailed to every taxpayer. If you already have cable, you're fine - no purchase required.

The group most upset about white space proposals seems to be Shure and the other wireless microphone makers. On that point, the argument's a loser. Nobody's going to care if everyone has to buy new wireless mics over the course of a few years - least of all Shure.

At this stage, knowing what I know, I'd gladly welcome a world with no wireless mics if we had free data service on the public spectrum. Perhaps I'll change my mind in the coming months and years. (At least conventions and trade shows would be more interesting without wireless mics.)

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by: vought @ Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 21:52:30 PM CDT

Thank you for the clarification on white space (0.00 / 0)

This is the first I've heard of the Google proposal, but I had a hard time figuring out yinzer's objection to interference with signals that will be gone in a few months.

But with that clarity, comes confusion as my eyes are now open to a world where wireless mics affect the quality of trade shows. I must be missing something obvious.

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by: Mobar @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 10:17:32 AM CDT

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