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To: Chris Delap who wrote (662)	11/20/1997 7:53:00 PM
From: ftth	Respond to of 29970

Chris: Sure, IP-over-cable, or some variant thereof, could influence some consumers to toss their old "legacy" NTSC set and shell out big bucks for an ATSC-DTV compatible set by late '98 (the first batch is supposed to begin rolling out in late '98). However, it wont be until late '99 that a majority of the broadcasters begin (by FCC mandate) DTV transmissions. I'd tend not to consider betting the farm on DTV plays (or even the silo for that matter) until some clear trends are established. It's gonna be a very crowded market, and the leaders will emerge in time. Personally, I think there's huge potential for a product which converts the DTV signals back into legacy NTSC in the late '98 time frame, but these products will appear like white on rice in time. A large percentage of people have no desire (nor the money) to toss their old NTSC set and purchase a DTV set, and will put it off as long as possible. Such a product would allow them to put it off indefinitely. BTW, I think you misunderstood my comment about graphics on a TV. I don't think many CURRENT internet users who are used to at least 1024x768 (crisp)non-interlaced graphics on their computer monitor will have much if any desire to view that same "content" on their TV set. The amount of content is reduced to the equivalent of 640x480, when viewed on an NTSC TV set, and the clarity and crispness isn't there when converted to NTSC format due to the bandwidth limitations of the TV/NTSC. Can you imagine having to reduce your display resolution to 640x480 for everything you do? It's a big step down from what we're all used to, and even if the TV-out connection is free, I sure wouldn't use it (but then again, I'm not much for mindless surfing as a way to pass time, where the degradation might be acceptable). The "unknowing" consumer who doesn't currently use the internet, and has no preconceived notions about the display limitations of a TV set versus a graphics monitor is the more likely purchaser of a TV-out internet product (a-la WEB-TV). Since the TV-out internet is the only thing they would have ever seen, they'd be relatively happy with it--until they were able to see what a difference a high-resolution graphics display can make in terms of the amount of displayable information and the clarity. Being able to save, print, alter, exchange and use internet content for other applications on the PC is another thing they wont miss since they never had it before (in other words, WEB-TV rev. 1 was a perfectly-equipped product for the target market. They even had the fall-back plan of revenue from the dictated service provider to cover marginal acceptance. That market just hasn't really endorsed it with open arms yet. dh