At 07:54 PM Wednesday 9/10/2008, John Williams wrote:
>Ronn! Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Whether I am aware of it is less the point than whether little old > > ladies living alone on Social Security need something else technical > > to bother with. > >So, you think elderly women are too stupid to plug in a cable and a >power cord? Good thing they have such a smart guy like you to >to look out for them. No, when they call me to come over and connect or troubleshoot something for them, I don't consider them "stupid" even in the cases where it turns out to be that simple. Many of them know how to do things well that I don't know how to do well or at all. Sometimes they offer to do something in exchange for what I do for them, but I never expect anything in return and nearly always turn it down. That said, it's hard to see how this forced change is about anything else but money: to eventually get everybody to have to buy new equipment and to subscribe to cable or satellite TV for a monthly fee around what one of those government coupons are worth, which is a significant amount for someone on a fixed income who doesn't really have any desire to have 500 channels. And as far as bringing in more money to the government for "deficit reduction" (which is what the title and stated purpose of the bill mandating the change is) by auctioning off the portions of the spectrum freed up by the change, not only does have to wonder whether this will bring any more relief to the average citizen than anything else which has been implemented under a similar title but we also have enough wireless bandwidth already for people to yak on the phone and even send and receive text messages rather than paying attention while they're supposed to be driving, so what else is needed in that area? . . . ronn! :) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
