I get 1 channel ( FOX ) OTA and it's free & probably the clearest HD picture of all.
I also get FTA with the big dish but not very many choices there either but that's my choice.
I remember my rent was $190.00/mo.
Phone bill was $20.00/mo ( As opposed to today's phone bill including cell phone & internet)
A case of beer was $6.99.
A pack of smokes was $1.99
A gallon of gas was .$89/gallon. $15.00 to fill up. $70.00 to fill up now.
A glass of water was free.
You could eat out for less than $10.00 for two.
A postage stamp was .13 cents
Cable TV was $14.95/mo.
Satellite programming in the early 90's was $19.98/mo & you received so many "better" channels like USA, TNT, TBS etc, WGN, Discovery, but it would appear those days are gone.
In the 50's, there were only a couple of TV stations available in any household that was lucky enough to have a TV & those programs were in SD black & white. You would have kids so as to have a remote control.
Color TV came out in the 60's to give you a more enjoyable TV experience.
In the 70's, if you were lucky enough to have cable in your area, you could have a few stations that were crisp & clear compared to the wiggly ghostly picture everybody was used to. Plus one station had a view of a fireplace. Instant on TV's became popular.
In the 80's, VCR's & laser disks came out and you were able to watch movies at home at your convenience. Cable was becoming better & clearer with more & more channels & choices to choose from. TV's & cable systems with remote controls were making a big splash. C-Band came into play opening up an entire new world & career opportunities.
In the 90's, having that huge 10 foot dish in your yard gave you a high status mark in the neighbor hood & neighbors were in aw as they looked at the behemoth tool that could get 1000's of TV & radio stations. Only the rich & dedicated could afford such a thing. Then in the mid 90's, the little dish came along. At first, as I remember, if the weather man said the word "rain", the picture would fade. These early dishes were garbage & had limited capabilities, but were cheaper & easier to install & maintain. C-Band tried to compete with 4DTV, a solid & proven system but had severe limited capabilities.
As the new century started, 4DTV was trying to compete against this little dish. To get a 4DTV system, you needed to spend 1,000's of dollars, struggle by trial & error to figure what azimuths & angles you needed, becoming overwhelmed by all the parts & all the work. Or pay tons of money to have a professional do it for you. The small dish only cost 100's & was easy to install. You could have multiple receivers with the small dish. 4DTV, you were kind of stuck watching 1 station at a time. Stations began abandoning the 4DTV system in favor of new technology. It doesn't matter to them about picture quality because most people will sacrifice a little picture quality in favor of simplicity & convenience.
Now a days, the small dish is installed for you. VCR's are history and are replaced by PVR's. Why didn't Motorola do that?
How could 4DTV compete with the small dish? The big 10 foot satellite dish sitting in your backyard is no longer a status symbol but more of a shameful eyesore.
