4 ms·

Once upon a time, the United Nations threatened to leave New York unless the city allowed diplomats to violate parking regulations with impunity. Giuliani repli

by raldi 13y ago

Once upon a time, the United Nations threatened to leave New York unless the city allowed diplomats to violate parking regulations with impunity. Giuliani replied, "Great! Do you know how much that land is worth?" Similarly, I say to CBS: Fantastic! Imagine all the wonderful things people will invent to make use of your spectrum.

deleted 13y ago
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toomuchtodo 13y ago
I have no idea why we haven't already kicked broadcasters off the spectrum and farmed it out for mobile data. Its far more valuable for 2-way communications vs Judge Judy.
- Loughla 13y ago
  It's far more valuable to you for 2-way communications vs. Judge Judy. There are a lot of really quite vocal, really quite elderly people who love, support and value CBS and the like. The pitch of enhanced communication, in whatever form, is much less appealing than Wheel of Fortune.
  - joezydeco 13y ago
    The balance comes down to how the spectrum is serving the public interest. In the eyes of the FCC, free-to-air broadcast television serves a greater public benefit at the moment than does private subscription datacasting on that spectrum.
    - toomuchtodo 13y ago
      > In the eyes of the FCC, free-to-air broadcast television serves a greater public benefit at the moment than does private subscription datacasting on that spectrum. You're right, but it still makes me sad.
  - toomuchtodo 13y ago
    My startup is majority-owned by a broadcaster in a major market :) I'm very familiar with audience demographics. Sometimes, decisions can't be democratically decided (moving spectrum from broadcasters to 2-way comms), as opinions ("I want my stories") shouldn't hold the same weight as facts (spectrum is far too valuable to waste on broadcast).
    - pjc50 13y ago
      "Valuable" is an opinion, not a fact.
    - Loughla 13y ago
      Valuable is still subjective, and is essentially an opinion. Valuable to who? Valuable in what way? Free, over-the-air television is still wildly valuable for many people in rural areas, much more valuable than a paid communications service. "Sometimes, decisions can't be democratically. . ." I would love to hear your thoughts about the CIA story on the front page right now ;).
      - toomuchtodo 13y ago
        > "Sometimes, decisions can't be democratically. . ." I would love to hear your thoughts about the CIA story on the front page right now ;). My comment was less about government and more that you can't design/make decisions by committee.
        sbierwagen 13y ago
        Yes, and Congress is a committee. That's the point of having a parliament.
- joezydeco 13y ago
  There's been a lot of work in trying to use the unused television spectrum for data broadcasting. Trials have happened before (with controversial results[1]) but they're still going[2]: [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spaces_(radio)#Preliminary_test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spaces_(radio)#Preliminar... [2] http://www.whitespacealliance.org/ http://www.whitespacealliance.org/
SeanLuke 13y ago
> Once upon a time, the United Nations threatened to leave New York unless the city allowed diplomats to violate parking regulations with impunity. Giuliani replied, "Great! Do you know how much that land is worth?" Perhaps not your best example. Giuliani lost that battle.
- raldi 13y ago
  The NYT called it a reluctant truce: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/19/nyregion/grumbling-giuliani-accepts-truce-in-un-parking-war.html http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/19/nyregion/grumbling-giulian... Anyway, he may have lost, but it wasn't because anyone actually believed the UN's threat.

by raldi 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

toomuchtodo 13y ago

I have no idea why we haven't already kicked broadcasters off the spectrum and farmed it out for mobile data. Its far more valuable for 2-way communications vs Judge Judy.

Loughla 13y ago
It's far more valuable to you for 2-way communications vs. Judge Judy. There are a lot of really quite vocal, really quite elderly people who love, support and value CBS and the like. The pitch of enhanced communication, in whatever form, is much less appealing than Wheel of Fortune.
- joezydeco 13y ago
  The balance comes down to how the spectrum is serving the public interest. In the eyes of the FCC, free-to-air broadcast television serves a greater public benefit at the moment than does private subscription datacasting on that spectrum.
  - toomuchtodo 13y ago
    > In the eyes of the FCC, free-to-air broadcast television serves a greater public benefit at the moment than does private subscription datacasting on that spectrum. You're right, but it still makes me sad.
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  My startup is majority-owned by a broadcaster in a major market :) I'm very familiar with audience demographics. Sometimes, decisions can't be democratically decided (moving spectrum from broadcasters to 2-way comms), as opinions ("I want my stories") shouldn't hold the same weight as facts (spectrum is far too valuable to waste on broadcast).
  - pjc50 13y ago
    "Valuable" is an opinion, not a fact.
  - Loughla 13y ago
    Valuable is still subjective, and is essentially an opinion. Valuable to who? Valuable in what way? Free, over-the-air television is still wildly valuable for many people in rural areas, much more valuable than a paid communications service. "Sometimes, decisions can't be democratically. . ." I would love to hear your thoughts about the CIA story on the front page right now ;).
    - toomuchtodo 13y ago
      > "Sometimes, decisions can't be democratically. . ." I would love to hear your thoughts about the CIA story on the front page right now ;). My comment was less about government and more that you can't design/make decisions by committee.
      - sbierwagen 13y ago
        Yes, and Congress is a committee. That's the point of having a parliament.
joezydeco 13y ago
There's been a lot of work in trying to use the unused television spectrum for data broadcasting. Trials have happened before (with controversial results[1]) but they're still going[2]: [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spaces_(radio)#Preliminary_test http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spaces_(radio)#Preliminar... [2] http://www.whitespacealliance.org/ http://www.whitespacealliance.org/

SeanLuke 13y ago

> Once upon a time, the United Nations threatened to leave New York unless the city allowed diplomats to violate parking regulations with impunity. Giuliani replied, "Great! Do you know how much that land is worth?" Perhaps not your best example. Giuliani lost that battle.

raldi 13y ago
The NYT called it a reluctant truce: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/19/nyregion/grumbling-giuliani-accepts-truce-in-un-parking-war.html http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/19/nyregion/grumbling-giulian... Anyway, he may have lost, but it wasn't because anyone actually believed the UN's threat.