MPEG4: Why assume the worst case scenario?

[markusian]

After the MPEG4 announcement, there has been a riot. Why is everybody assuming the worst case scenario?

Somehow, everybody thinks that:
- We will have to buy new revivers/DVRs at full price
- If we don't, we will be forced to pay for the HD pak till the end of the contract commitment, even if we can't watch it!

I know that Dish's track record is not that good, but are they that stupid?

In CES, they clearly said that the upgrade is going to be "nearly free," which means that they understand that there will be an issue to address.

Let's be realistic here.

-Mark

 

[glenn z]

I know that Dish's track record is not that good, but are they that stupid?

Apparantly they are. If they expect me to pay extra money to have a local program guide I wouldn't put anything past them.

 

[sampatterson]

Also consider how much it truly costs to build, deploy and keep another satellite (or satellites) running to "increase bandwidth". This tradeout or "nearly free" tradeout of equipment might be cheaper then that considering how many satellites they would have to put up to equal the same amount of added usuable bandwidth that mpeg4 may provide. They also get the benefit of possibly a new encryption/access protection mechanism on the new receivers.

 

[ocnier]

The problem is that Dish's track record in the past 3 years has hit rock bottom. The company which used to be a shiny beacon of hope for the consumer suddenly turned into the money grubbing monster from the lower pits of tartarus. I remember when Cable and Directv were the gestapo, now it feels from the consumer point of view that Dish has joined their ranks and is an even bigger villain thereby making them look like good guys. The point is that they charge more for equipment that only works half the time and nickel & dime as much as possible for what appears to be nominal programming changes (kinda like Blockbuster before canning late fees due to Netflix). I used to really respect Charlie now I trust'em as far as I can throw'em. I could go on about a lot of other decisions, but what's the point. This forum along with DBStalk is FULL OF E* EPITAPHS that were exercises in customer/consumer pain!

 

[Stargazer]

The satellite companies knew that they would have had to swap all the receivers out eventually, it was just a matter of time before they would have had to. It is either now or later and the sooner the better in order to compete better against the cable companies.

When they come out with the MPEG-4 receivers and do the receiver swap they better think of everything they may need in the future in these receivers and make them upgradable. This would be a wonderful opportunity to make Dish Network and DirecTv to be able to work off of the same satellites. That is how they can save a LOT of space and use smaller dishes. This would save them a LOT of money.

 

[keith]

My 811 receiver is more than 12 months old and still has enough bugs to be considered a beta code release. The 921 Firewire was quietly dropped, no compensation, and the futureproof upgradeable flagship is dirty laundry now the 942 is here. Dish added then dropped Name Based Recording from DVR's other than the 522, and maybe will add it back because the heat got turned up.

Dish have given no indication how they will handle the mpeg4 transition. I have no reason to be confident that existing customers will be a priority.

You can be a Dish cheerleader all you want, but until there is solid information, I will not be giving Dish the benefit of the doubt. That welcome is long worn out.

 

[sampatterson]

I agree, I wouldn't trust dish much either, even with public announcements. They seem to falsely advertise features and never make those receivers do what they said they could do at and before launch. I still am overall happy with Dish even though they have broken a few "promises"

 

[nuts4scuba]

I wonder if the little to no cost will be for a non pvr hd receiver.

 

[ryank808]

The satellite companies knew that they would have had to swap all the receivers out eventually, it was just a matter of time before they would have had to. It is either now or later and the sooner the better in order to compete better against the cable companies.

When they come out with the MPEG-4 receivers and do the receiver swap they better think of everything they may need in the future in these receivers and make them upgradable. This would be a wonderful opportunity to make Dish Network and DirecTv to be able to work off of the same satellites. That is how they can save a LOT of space and use smaller dishes. This would save them a LOT of money.

That's true, E* already tried to merge with D* in 2001-2 but the FCC blocked the transaction unfortunately. http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/1226