11th June 2010, 3:41 PM
Cable isn't affected by the mandate because they aren't broadcasting over the air. Actually, most cable is still sent via analog RF signal. There's digital boxes, but it works because it's still analog for the most part. Satellite, as you say, is already digital, but it's also in a different wavelength. Things like "XM radio" would be equally unaffected.
I'm not saying it'd be a perfectly clean process, I'm just saying it's one they should get started on. People should have some sort of solution if they start now and aim to have everyone converted in 5 years or so. And, if they don't, they only have themselves to blame.
As for dongles hanging out of their stereo, a lot of people I know are already perfectly fine with that. Most of them have Velcro involved to stick them to the side of the dash. It's generally never in the way. Someone's aesthetic senses shouldn't be holding back progress anyway. Currently, the people I know that need to use such dongles for playing things like CDs on their tape deck limited stereo systems. There's one other device that would also solve the issue, extremely low energy broadcasting dongles. For those without even a tape deck or a line-in port, you stick this next to your radio, and it broadcasts on an FM station (but, to meet FCC regulations, at ridiculously low power so the signal doesn't extend outside your car, much less cause interference). Stick a velcro strip on the dash, hook this onto that velcro, make sure there's some easy to use buttons on the thing to switch stations, and you have a solution. These things tend to be pretty small, it's not that big a deal, and that's basically how the one friend I have with XM radio service GETS said service.
I'm not saying it'd be a perfectly clean process, I'm just saying it's one they should get started on. People should have some sort of solution if they start now and aim to have everyone converted in 5 years or so. And, if they don't, they only have themselves to blame.
As for dongles hanging out of their stereo, a lot of people I know are already perfectly fine with that. Most of them have Velcro involved to stick them to the side of the dash. It's generally never in the way. Someone's aesthetic senses shouldn't be holding back progress anyway. Currently, the people I know that need to use such dongles for playing things like CDs on their tape deck limited stereo systems. There's one other device that would also solve the issue, extremely low energy broadcasting dongles. For those without even a tape deck or a line-in port, you stick this next to your radio, and it broadcasts on an FM station (but, to meet FCC regulations, at ridiculously low power so the signal doesn't extend outside your car, much less cause interference). Stick a velcro strip on the dash, hook this onto that velcro, make sure there's some easy to use buttons on the thing to switch stations, and you have a solution. These things tend to be pretty small, it's not that big a deal, and that's basically how the one friend I have with XM radio service GETS said service.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)