In the realm of bizarre – not to say patronising – age related ideas, it surely takes the biscuit. TV manufacturers have been urged to market 1960s style sets to help older viewers adjust when analogue service gives way entirely to digital. The suggestion came as the Government launched a green paper seeking industry views on two timelines for switching off digital terrestrial television signals (DTT) and moving to online only TV – either in 2034 or a decade later. Ministers say it will be uneconomic to retain DTT after the 2040s once online TV is universally available. People with “low digital skills” could be helped with coping. Quoted by the i Paper, Media Minister Ian Murray said “If people want their televisions to look like they did in the 1960s, with just three channels, and they want to be able to dial through on just those three channels, we can mould the technology to make it look just like that. You can create a product that helps people through that transition because TV is so iconic in people’s homes.” However, the Government estimates that only around 220,000 homes will still be without broadband connections in 2034, so such retro TVs hardly look likely to win a Lord Sugar apprenticeship. So let’s be charitable and assume the Minister was pullin our legs.
Categories:
