tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post3504137331567907621..comments2023-10-17T22:56:42.784-04:00Comments on Only in The Republic of Amherst: Comcast Cable RenewalLarry Kelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-82048815641819536942016-02-03T11:52:50.591-05:002016-02-03T11:52:50.591-05:00Give me what I want and I will go away. Give me what I want and I will go away. Dr. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-4045875358877984382016-02-03T10:56:53.606-05:002016-02-03T10:56:53.606-05:00Keep scrolling, keep scrolling, keep scrolling; da...Keep scrolling, keep scrolling, keep scrolling; damn!!!<br />There's got to be an easier way. Help Larry, HELP!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-90476332104036579872016-02-02T21:09:12.143-05:002016-02-02T21:09:12.143-05:00Or the way of obsessed blowhards that don't ev...Or the way of obsessed blowhards that don't even live here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-45500059507926687762016-02-02T17:29:59.158-05:002016-02-02T17:29:59.158-05:00"Community Access" CATV is a legacy of a..."Community Access" CATV is a legacy of a bygone era -- 20-30 years ago, this very blog could ONLY have existed as either a paper-based publication or as a CATV broadcast. And back then, video was analog, audio mostly as well -- and we were dealing with 1.44 MB floppies, not 32 GB flash cards that are incredibly cheap.<br /><br />Anyone remember the car-sized projection TVs? Or having to wait until the 6 PM news to get the weather forecast? Or having to be home by 11:30PM to catch SNL back when it was actually funny unless your parents had a <i>Betamax</i>? (Anyone under the age of 40 even know what a <i>"Betamax"</i> even *was*, let alone even seen one?)<br /><br />Anyone remember what "Wayne's World" was a SNL parody of? (Or of the too-true SNL parodies of Hampshire College?)<br /><br />Much of the stuff that once was on community-access channels is now on U-tube, or Snapchat, or a link posted to Facebook, or Twitter, etc....... <br /><br />Reality is that on-demand is replacing scheduled broadcast and cable TV.<br />As a venue to teach & nurture production skills, outfits like ACTV have a future -- but as a means of distribution, those days are gone. The concept of a shielded copper wire connected to a Cathode Ray Tube has gone the way of the rotary dial phone and the concept of sending pulsed signals to mechanical "crawlers" climbing the walls of TELCO buildings. Dr. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-15523157016912307162016-02-02T17:09:52.838-05:002016-02-02T17:09:52.838-05:00True. Frankly I think this town would be better of...True. Frankly I think this town would be better off with less citizen micromanagement. The cable channel can only make things worse in this regard. It's a playroom for adults funded by those of us who like to watch TV. WMUA had it right - boot out the freeloaders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-88857663431627564512016-02-02T16:49:00.560-05:002016-02-02T16:49:00.560-05:00Larry (and Steve), you need to remember that every...Larry (and Steve), you need to remember that every UMass apartment & dorm room has <b>TWO DIFFERENT CATV CONNECTIONS -- in addition to the HSCN one, there is the Amherst-Franchised one</b> which people can purchase if they wish. <br /><br />To get it, they had to purchase the town-franchised service, memory is that a couple did and then recorded the relevant stuff for the rest. The franchise fee pays for ACTV (including the ability to both use their stuff and to broadcast your productions) -- if the UM kids were denied all three of these things because they are outside of the franchise, why should they have had to pay for them???<br /><br />Conversely, looking at the issues WMUA is dealing with right now, do the ACTV folks really want 18,000 UM students outvoting them -- on everything? Do you really want your stuff "spiked" in favor of a "beer pong" tournaments and incoherent rants about the APD? Dr. Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-29264222845328954632016-02-02T13:20:28.044-05:002016-02-02T13:20:28.044-05:00The whole thing is a disfunctional clown car. Pay ...The whole thing is a disfunctional clown car. Pay $2 a month? I've deleted the channel from my remote. It's a joke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com