Date   : Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:31:46 -0500
From   : jules.richardson99@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: Fw: Fwd: ITV Teletext to shut down in January

Phil Blundell wrote:
> I think it's more that the broadcasters don't want to devote the
> manpower to producing content in what they perceive (not entirely
> unjustly) as an obsolescent format.

Funny the way it works, though:

1) Provider wants to cut costs and lets quality of service A slip.
2) Consumer becomes disgruntled with poor service A and stops using it.
3) Provider sees falling usage and claims service A is obsolete.
4) Consumers move to using alternate service B.
5) Rinse and repeat.

Happens time and time again, and the problem is that often service A can be 
better for the consumer than service B when all is said and done - but that 
doesn't stop providers mistaking their own cost-cutting for the consumers 
saying that there's a problem with the service.

(Teletext is a nice example - any replacement *still* needs the same text 
content, no doubt along with extra graphics that have to be created, it takes 
up more bandwidth, needs more expensive and complicated hardware to both 
generate and display etc.; Teletext did a very good job at broadcasting short 
messages to consumers while providing some user control - and any modern 
replacement's going to take just as many if not more resources)

> there, but once the analogue signal is switched off (and hence there are
> no "legacy" teletext receivers to worry about), the people generating
> the content presumably won't want to be constrained by the 40x24 format
> anymore.

I don't think 40x24's an issue - over here they do short messages on the local 
weather channel pages and for the type of information presented* it fits well 
within the limits.

* the server interface is a nightmare, though - it's bashed in on ancient PCs 
in batch format and uploaded via modem :-)

cheers

Jules