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- Path: sparky!uunet!concert!borg!weiss!hardarso
- From: hardarso@weiss.cs.unc.edu (Kari Hardarson)
- Newsgroups: triangle.general
- Subject: Cable TV and you
- Message-ID: <17342@borg.cs.unc.edu>
- Date: 9 Nov 92 16:47:15 GMT
- Sender: news@cs.unc.edu
- Distribution: nc
- Organization: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Lines: 45
-
-
- I (being a Cablevision customer) received an insert with my latest
- Cable bill. The headline reads: "If you are thinking of buying a new
- VCR, beware of paying extra for one with the so-called 'VCR Plus+'
- feature". It goes on to explain how this feature won't do you any good
- because the VCR can't control your cable box. The insert ends by saying:
- "Look for future messages from your cable company on this and similar
- consumer issues".
-
- It almost sounds like the cable company is doing people a favor by warning
- about those unscrupulous VCR makers. I can't help but think that if
- the cable boxes weren't there, this VCR Plus system would work just
- fine. And come to think of it, I would be able to program my VCR
- to record a program into the week on a preselected channel, or watch
- one channel while recording another, and I could use one remote control
- instead of having to pay the Cable company extra to get a remote control
- with the cable box (1-2$/month extra).
-
- Why do we need those boxes on top of our TV? They look ugly, they
- consume energy even when turned off (mine is always hotter than skin
- temperature) and they complicate TV watching in general. Does anyone
- know if they benefit the consumer in any way?
-
- I called my friendly cable company the other day and told them that the
- picture on the Pay-per-view channels was bad - interference and such.
- The answer I got was: "you may come to our office and get your cable box
- exchanged". I was supposed to drive 5 miles and get another box to test
- the phone operators theory that this was probably the box. What are those
- vans with Cablevision logos for? Foreign spies tapping phones, perhaps?
-
- While I'm on the subject of cable TV: How come the cable
- company doesn't broadcast the evening program on a separate channel like
- so many companies do? Instead they have been trying to get people to
- subscribe to a Cable guide for 4-5$ extra a month (which only lists a subset
- of the channels, i.e. not the network programs). And how come they
- charge 23.50$ for *basic* service? Don't they know there's a recession?
-
- Ahhhhhh! That felt better!
-
-
- --
- Kari Hardarson, 217 Jackson Circle, Chapel Hill NC27514, (919)-914-5910
- When Cows laugh hard, does milk spill out their noses?
- Does the Pope french kiss the ground of a country he likes very much?
- - Some comedian on A&E's Improv
-