<div dir="ltr">On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 9:48 PM, Tortise <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tortise@paradise.net.nz">tortise@paradise.net.nz</a>></span> wrote:<br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff"><div><font size="2" face="Arial">I would agree with you in terms of "require",
however what I said was "pressure", which is not quite the
same. Regardless I would observe with a quick look on trademe that
plenty of (analogue) TV's are being upgraded, supporting my proposition of
"pressure" (being realised).</font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></div></div></blockquote><div><br>I think you have to do a lot more than point to 2nd hand TV sales to support the contention that the analogue switchoff is pressuring people to upgrade. Has there been a significant upswing in TV sales since Freeview and Sky HD were launched (which would indicate pressure to upgrade)? I doubt it. Most of these people are upgrading 29" or smaller TVs to 42" or larger
flat screens. My perception is that the low prices for larger sizes is
far more of a driver than digital TV.<br><br>The analogue switchoff is going to put people in the position of paying something like $100 for a receiver (I'm expecting a reasonable price drop by the time of the switchoff) or a lot more for a new TV. Only some of those people will chose to buy the new TV - my belief is that of those people, most would buy the new TV even without the switchoff. People who were planning to keep their TV for a few more years are far more likely to simply buy the reciever.<br>
<br>But the threat of the analogue switchoff is a major factor in the development of HD services in this country. I really wonder if either of the FTA broadcasters would have made the investment otherwise and it's clear that Sky would not have without the FTA broadcasters moving first. I suspect that without the government effectively forcing the upgrade the networks here would have simply maintained the status quo. Just look how much earlier Australia and the UK got HD services.<br>
</div></div><br>Cheers,<br>Steve<br><br></div>