Blogger Notes

I. Title: The End of Analog; Digital TV Transition
URL: http://coloradodjlabs.org/2009Spring/digitaltv/


II. Members:
Kyle Haas – Undergraduate, kyle.l.haas@colorado.edu

Sally Ho - Undergraduate, sally.ho@colorado.edu

Kathy Noonan – Graduate, kathy.noonan@colorado.edu

Jordan Wirfs-Brock – Graduate, jordan.wirfs-brock@colorado.edu


III. Division of Labor:
Haas – created the site (template and home page), wrote the tech section

Ho – created all the biz pages, contributed to the timeline, compiled sources solicitations, wrote project report

Noonan - created all Environment pages and contributed/edited the timeline

Wirfs-Brock - compiled the project proposal, collected the information for the history section, made the history section pages, and made the about us, contact us, and resources pages.

All members helped copy edit/proof and developed site content and concept.


IV. Resources:
Edgerton, Gary. The Columbia History of American Television. New York: Columbia
University Press, 2007.

Frey, Thomas
Executive Director of The DaVinci Institute
(303) 666-4133
tom@davinciinstitute.com

Green, Dick
CEO of Cable Labs in Louisville
r.green@cablelabs.com

Hewett, John
Chief Engineer for Entravision Communication, KCEC
jhewett@entravision.com

Hilmes, Michele, and Jason Jacobs, eds. The Television History Book. London: British
Film Institute, 2003.

Kelly, Dana
Office Manager, University of Colorado Environmental Center
303-492-8308

Layne, David
Director of Broadcast Operations and Engineering, KCNC
dlayne@cbs.com
303-830-6426

Matsch, Dan
Director of CHaRM, Eco-Cycle’s Center for Hard to Recycle Materials
303-444-6344

McKay, Jerome
General Manager, Best Buy Store #1134 (Tower Road and I-70)
303-373-9284

Ritchie, Michael. Please Stand By: A Prehistory of Television. Woodstock, New York:
Overlook Press, 1994.

Schaefer, Tony
Director of Engineering, KGWN
307-634-7755

Smith, Anthony and Richard Paterson, eds. Television, An International History. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Webb, Richard. Tele-visionaries: The People Behind the Invention of Television.
Hoboken, New Jersey: IEEE Press, 2005.


WEB SOURCES:
http://www.ban.org/index.html
Hosts to the e-Steward program which ensures responsible recycling of e-waste

http://www.iowadnr.gov/waste/recycling/tvrecycling.html

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/index.htm
Provides research, statistics, general information about electronic waste and electronics recycling

http://earth911.com/
Zip-code search feature that finds local recycling opportunities

http://www.mygreenelectronics.org/
This site is a resource for consumers wanting to purchase green products or searching for local opportunities to recycle or donate used electronics

http://www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/plugin/index.htm
Partnership between EPA and consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers, and service providers that offers more opportunities to donate or recycle - to "eCycle" - your used electronics

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/localresources.aspx
Provides links to state recycling resources

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/06/60minutes/main4579229.shtml
60 Minutes The Electronic Wasteland

http://www.kgwn.tv/ - KGWN/Cheyenne, Wyo. CBS

http://cbs4denver.com/ - KCNC/Denver CBS

http://www.kcectv.com/ - KCEC/Denver Univision

http://www.dtv.gov/ - Digital TV government home

http://www.electronics.howstuffworks.com/dtv.htm - How digital TV works

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_television - How digital TV works

http://www.vintagetvsets.com - thefiftys@aol.com; used images with permission of cite owner


V. Strengths of the Project: Web site design, context and linking to relevant sources, teamwork, reliable team members.

VI. Weaknesses of the Project: Original content and reporting, flow. Technical know-how for all group members.

VII. Lessons Learned: Communication is key when creating a group multi-media package. Our group had solid communication, which helped us complete the project successfully.

There were some skills we didn't have, and that made it hard to create certain sections of the project (Jordan would have liked to create the timeline from scratch using Flash). So the lesson learned is to know your skills and limitations before you start designing your content. And get coffee. Lots of it.

Kyle thinks it might have been interesting to do this entire project without any written reporting. Try to tell the story without the use of written word would place an extreme emphasis on using multimedia to convey meaning.

While driving to a dairy farm near Eaton today, I heard a piece on NPR's All Things Considered about the forthcoming convergence of web and TV: Hooking up PC to TV could be near.

Hey guys, I'm meeting with Dick Green, CEO of CableLabs in Louisville to talk about how digital tv works. He's a pretty important guy, I'm surprised I landed an interview with him, but I'm stoked nevertheless. He should paint a pretty good picture of how this whole thing works. You can read more about him here. He's actually a member of the cable hall of fame. Anything in particular you guys want me to ask him to help out with your stories?

-Kyle

Jordan and I met with Rick yesterday to update him about our project.

Remember on April 1, the first draft of content due, giving us only three weeks to put the website together. We thought of picking a date in April where we can really sit down and work with each other for significant progress on the website. Perhaps on a Saturday?...we could meet at my (Sally) house, where I will provide snacks and such. What do you guys think about this? I'll throw out April 11 starting at noon as an option.

During our conversation, Rick mentioned other bits and pieces that we may or may not want to incorporate in our project:
-The mess with the coupons (Anthony, maybe ask the people in your profile piece if they have tried to use one, if they had ever even heard of such a thing)

-A similar event in scope of this digital switch is the black/white to color broadcast transition, also mandated by the FCC (Jordan)

-With the fall of newspapers and perhaps with this switch, what does that imply for the future of information through technology? (Jordan, Sally and/or Anthony?)

We also brought up how Hawaii is coping. With the lack of coverage about it, let's assume they have done okay. Now let's hope for the best for the rest of us!

Thanks,
Sally

P.S.
Please reply with your thoughts on a April day-long session to build the web page.

I started doing some research for my "TVs of the past" piece, and I stumbled across the Colorado Radio Collectors.

These guys -- yes, most of them are guys -- collect old radios and refurbish them. There's a wealth of information on their site, including where to find parts and how to do repairs.

They have a members meeting every other month, and their annual antique radio show is coming up (hopefully in March). I know radios are somewhat ancillary to TV, but I think it would be fun to check them out. Is this the future of antique analog TVs?

I actually don't think so, because at least with these funky old washing machine-sized radios, once you fix them up, you can turn them on and tune in to the airwaves. With old TVs, however, you can spend all the time and effort you want repairing them, but you won't be able to catch a signal.

Unless, that is, you create your own? Hmmmm, there may well be a future use for obsolete TVs somehow, somewhere...

Image from Colorado Radio Collectors

-- Jordan

Grist's Ask Umbra took on the digital TV switch today. This is probably most relevant to Kathy's beat, but the article also has lots of other useful links, like How Stuff Work's (one of my favorite sites!) take on DTV.

(Side note: Though I normally swoon any time someone mentions "planned obsolescence," I feel that the DTV switch is outside that realm. Working planned obsolescence into this Ask Umbra column was a bit inappropriate. The DTV switch is unplanned obsolescence, which is why it's creating such a stir. We are groomed to adjust to the other kind!)

-- Jordan

This video alleges that converter boxes may have cameras and microphones in them to spy on people. Sounds like a wacky conspiracy theory but it probably would not hurt to look into it. Especially since these rumors could gain momentum. Maybe we can do a myth busters story.

Love you all,
-Anthony

Check this story out. I still think we need a how-to... This guy sure could have used one.

http://www.wbir.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=78550&catid=141

The blessing and curse of making a timeline is that lots of other people have already done it. A lot of timelines were made back in 1998, when the first networks broadcast in digital for the first time.

Behold:

• Wired: Digital TV Timeline - updated in 1998; best false prediction "2006, If all goes according to plan, analog TV ceases."
  
• PBS: Digital Broadcast Timeline
  
• About.com: The Invention of Television
  
• Nielson Media Research: TV History Timeline - A good example of annoying flash.
  
• History of the BBC - Time of a television network, not TV itself, but the Beeb does a pretty good job covering technological advances as well.
  
• And just for fun: A picture of a kitten clearly adds authority to any site.

As you can see, there are many ways of doing a timeline, from simple text to snazzy (or annoying) flash. Which works best?

Also, this is more related to my "Antique TVs" story idea, but it's still awesome: It's a German site called TV Yesterday.

-- Jordan

I. Team Members

Anthony Bowe, Kyle Haas, Sally Ho, Kathy Noonan, Jordan Wirfs-Brock

II. Purpose Statement

Our mission is to explore the business, political, environmental, historical, and civic aspects of the government mandated digital television transition in the U.S. This project will inform and educate the estimated 19.6 million households who will be affected by the switch from analog to digital signals on June 12, 2009.

III. Scope and scale

Although some stations have already made the transition to DTV, the majority of stations will make the transition after we have completed this project. Therefore, our focus is on the context and implications – rather than breaking news coverage – of this event. We will achieve this by focusing on five broad sub-topics: business, politics, environmental effects, historical context and civic impact.

IV. Division of labor

Each group member is the editor of a subtopic. Editors are responsible for the content in their sections, although other group members are encouraged to assist in reporting. The group will work collaboratively on the design and creation of our final website.

V. Preliminary story topics and media needs

1. Switching and ditching (Kathy)
   
   • Description: This piece will be on the environmental impact of the digital switch. The digital television transfer has already had a significant impact on landfills -- the Larimer County Solid Waste Department has seen about a dozen more televisions per day since the digital conversion push these last few months. Ultimately I’ll look at the chemicals from these TVs that can leach into groundwater and impact aquatic life. I might look at how that ultimately moves up the food chain impacting human health (irreversible neurological damage, reproductive and cardiovascular ailments and birth defects). I’ll also look at recycling and other options for those wanting to upgrade their televisions. Interviews could be with EcoCycle, environmental groups working on this issue, health officials, and Sony/Best Buy/etc. with regards to their recycling programs.
     
   • Media: print, with possible video and photos
   
   
2. TV technology: past and future (Jordan)
   
   • Description: This segment will situate the DTV switch in the U.S. in a historical context. What past events and trends (technological, social, financial, political) brought us to the digital TV switch? Where might the digital TV switch take us? This section will have three-part structure: big picture, past, future.
     
     • Television timeline - A visual timeline that combines text, statistics, and images. It could be a compilation of multiple themes or categories (international digital switch progress, technological milestones, etc.).
     • Futurists on TV - A collection of voices describing predictions about the future of TV (and possibly related technology). Where do different types of people involved in TV (engineers, broadcasters, viewers, maybe even some self-labeled futurists from The DaVinci Institute) see things heading? This could be a podcast.
       
     • Antique TVs - An homage to televisions of the past. It would be best presented with a visual element – possibly a slide show – but could also include a print piece.
     
     
   • Media: print, audio, photos, interactive timeline (flash?)
   
   
3. Profiles (Anthony)
   
   • Description: This piece will identify how Americans from all socioeconomic backgrounds will cope with the switch. The section will focus mainly on preparation for the switch. It will include profiles of individuals, and possibly a Radio Shack store in the midst of the change.
   • Media: print, video, photos
   
   
4. Business of TV (Sally)
   
   • Description: This section will look at the money matters, focusing on the local TV stations. The main question is going to be: how much has this cost the station, in terms of equipment and operational expenses and also advertising? According to the FCC, no Colorado station has terminated analog broadcasting yet. I am meeting with Patti Dennis at KUSA (who had not decided when to make the switch) and Byron Grandy at KMGH (who will switch on June 12, following the congress mandate). I will also do a phone interview with spokespeople with the FCC.
   
   
   • Media: print, video, a list, as determined by the FCC, of the news stations who have made the switch to digital
   
   
5. Politics and technology [Kyle]
   
   • Description: I’ll be looking into the politics of the digital TV transition from local to national. As issues with the switch develop I’ll be looking into what the government’s response is. I’ll also be taking a look at the technology beyond the switch and the technical reasons for doing so. Of course the actual technology will be explored as well.
     
   • Media: web, print, photos, and hopefully some flash

VI. Anticipated barriers or obstacles

It has been difficult for us to find time to meet as a group. This has not been a problem so far, but could potentially become an obstacle as our project progresses. We hope to mitigate this by communicating frequently through our blog and through e-mail.

VII. Design

We are considering designing our web site so that it looks like a TV. Navigating through the site will be like navigating through digital cable.

My piece is the environmental impact of the digital switch.

The digital television transfer has already had a significant impact on landfills--the Larimer County Solid Waste Department has seen about a dozen more televisions per day since the digital conversion push these last few months. Ultimately I’ll look at the chemicals from these TVs that can leach into groundwater and impact aquatic life. I might look at how that ultimately moves up the food chain impacting human health (irreversible neurological damage, reproductive and cardiovascular ailments and birth defects)—this might be getting too big. Let me know. I’ll also look at recycling and other options for those wanting to upgrade their televisions. Interviews could be with EcoCycle, yet-to-be-identified environmental group working on this issue, health officials? Sony/Best Buy/etc. with regards to their recycling programs.

Any ideas/criticisms are welcomed…

Note: My assigned topic was originally the history of TV, but I kind of think it makes more sense to look at the historical context of TV, which means asking probing questions about the future, too. If that's totally crazy, let me know.

Purpose
The purpose of my segment will be to situate the 2009 digital TV switchover in the U.S. in a historical context. What past events and trends (technological, social, financial, political) brought us to the digital TV switch? Where might the digital TV switch take us?

Elements
I'm visualizing a three-part structure: big picture, future, past.

• Television timeline - A visual timeline that combines text, statistics, and images. It could be a compilation of multiple themes or categories (international digital switch progress, technological milestones, etc.). I'm still working to narrow down the scope of this (i.e., which topics should I cover, how far back should I go).
  
• Futurists take on TV - I want to compile a collection of voices describing predictions about the future of TV (and possibly related technology). Where do different types of people involved in TV (engineers, broadcasters, viewers, maybe even some self-labeled futurists from The DaVinci Institute) see things heading? I would like this to be either an audio piece or a short video.
  
• Antique TVs - This element is still shaping in my mind, but I want to do some kind of homage to televisions of the past. This could be, as we discussed in earlier meetings, finding people who still have TVs from the 1950s in their homes, or searching through garage sales for antique TVs -- I'm not sure yet. It needs a visual element (probably photographs), but I think it could also make a nice print piece as well.

-- Jordan

Hello crew,

This is Anthony, the curator of the profile section.

To address Monday's evening requirements for today:

a) Title: Profiles (Don't really have a technical or snazzy term for this yet.)

b) Purpose: To identify how Americans from all socioeconomic backgrounds will cope with the switch. The section will focus mainly on preparation for the switch.

c) The elements/stories/media features:
Since my topic is so marginalized I can't see it stretching beyond personal profiles. I don't know who plans to talk to electronic stores, but I could also profile a Radio Shack store in the midst of the change. I'll be including print, video and photos I assume.


WEB DESIGN:
I'm against using Flash. Exclusively used, it's terrible for navigating a Website and it's downright frustrating in the user-friendly world of APPLE and NINTENDO. If we operate with some Flash, I hope it's seldom and mostly relegated to photo galleries.

If we were formulating a package with longer shelf life like the Road of Dreams package sampled by Rick, I would understand the use of flash. But this story is so news-now apparent that flash would drag down the overall production and relevance of the site.

Thanks dawgs,

--Anthony

The Business of TV – The Digital Switch
(I’ll write a headline after I write my story first)

The purpose of my section is to look at the money matters, focusing on the local TV stations. The main question is going to be: how much has this cost the station, in terms of equipment and operational expenses and also advertising. According to the FCC, no Colorado station has terminated analog broad casting yet.

I am meeting with Patti Dennis at KUSA (who had not decided when to make the switch) and Byron Grandy at KMGH (who will switch on June 12, following the congress mandate). I will also do a phone interview with spokespeople with the FCC. This will likely play out as a print news story, but if I can figure it out in time, I will do a 1 min multimedia package video too. My news story will also include a list, as determined by the FCC, of the news stations who have made the switch to digital.

(Note: Sorry it took me two days to get this up but...you guys already have the info!)

Group Meeting: Monday, February 15, 1 pm
Attending: Kyle, Kathy, Jordan (with a Cameo by Rick Stevens and his dog, Austin)

1. Proposal (due Friday)

We'll have our names, a revised mission statement, a summary of our tentative design/presentation, and descriptions of our focus topics.

By Wednesday, please email the group or post to the blog a short description of your topic, including:

• A working title
• The purpose of your section is
• The elements/stories/media features you think it might include

Kyle is going to write a short description of our proposed design.

Jordan will assemble the pieces and send the proposal to everyone on Thursday so we can make edits if necessary.

2. Design

We talked a little bit about whether we want to make this into a flash package or an html site, or a blend of both. Rick suggested that we focus on the components of our site first. If we end up going with a lot of video, slide shows, etc., flash will be ideal. If we are text heavy, html makes more sense.

3. Audience

Something we might want to decide -- or at least think about -- early is who our target audience is. Is it people who must buy converter boxes? People who are tech savvy and want to learn about what this all means? Both?

It might be a good idea to post your ideas about who you think our audience is and why to our blog. That way we can start a discussion going that will help guide the content we make.

Next meeting: (tentative) Monday, March 2, at 1 pm, Armory basement

-- Jordan

Some television stations pre-emptively made the twitch to a digital signal today.

Jill Geisler at Poynter has an article with a plethora of links, including how you can follow reactions to the event on twitter (with the #dtv tag).

Also, Al Tompkins has a guide with resources for covering the digital switch.

-- Jordan

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=9844626

We were talking today about a "how to" type part of our site-maybe we can borrow ideas from this guy about how this should (or shouldn't look)??

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/02/15/pilgrim.digital.tv.cnn

From the (always rad) MAKE blog: do-it-yourself digital tv antennas!

An old article from Steve Rosenbaum at HuffPo about how the digital tv switch could nudge internet tv into reality. (I'm focusing on the historical evolution of the technology...can that include speculations about the future, too?)

So this isn't totally relevant, but I thought it was pretty sweet: Brian Andreas at the 2009 TED Conference describing how science and technology can employ storytelling.

--Jordan

Some thoughts on design in response to Kyle's comment:

Is setting up a web site to look like a tv kind of cliche? Clever, but cliche?

To quote from Mad Men, "the medium is the message." Ok, that's funny because it's extreme, but it's true to some extent. Because we are creating this as a digital "package," we have a unique opportunity to use design elements to convey information. How we organize and display our content can immediately -- before users begin to process words, video, audio, etc. -- give cues about our intent, tone and topic.

I'm no design expert (that's why I'm in this class!), but one of the things I want to do with this project is focus on the presentation of information in addition to the gathering of information (I get plenty of practice doing that in my other classes).

So.

I like the idea of having some kind of thematic design that will help us dictate how we construct our stories. At the same time, I totally hate over-designed pages that get in the way of themselves. (We should definitely make sure we don't do that. And...at this point I don't even know what we'll be capable of by the end of the semester, though...)

Making out homepage look like a TV instantly focuses our viewers, as long as we stay on the useful side of cheesy. (And just think about all we can say with it -- if we make it look like an old fashioned rabbit ears set with dials we say one thing; if we make it a sleek flat screen with no buttons we say another.)

At this point in the semester, we are kind of grasping for a focus. Structuring our stories as "channels" is kinda fun and gives us a chance to be creative.

Will this be ultimately useful? I don't know yet. At the very least, we have a navigational/organization structure waiting in the wings. If it turns out to be too cheesy, too overdone, we can always scrap it.

And a news update...

I'm sure you've all been following along, but for future reference, here are some happenings in the digital tv saga from this week:

Boston Globe - The delay is officially law now that Obama signed it (on Feb. 11).

But of course, some stations are making the switch this month anyway. That's ok, as long as they aren't the only station in their service area.

AP - FCC cracks down on the Feb. 17 early birds to make sure analog service continues.


--Jordan

Hello friends...

Tentative (and generic) Mission Statement:
Our mission is to explore the business, political and environmental effects, history and revolution of this and similar technologies, and civic cost of the Congress-mandated Digital Television Transition. This project will inform and educate the estimated 19.6 million households who will be affected by the switch from analog to digital signals on June 12, 2009 in the U.S.
(Did that make any sense?...Was is grammatically correct? So much for that News Ed degree!)

Here is the first-draft, extremely tentative, division of labor:
*Profile/Civic Cost - Anthony
*History/Revolution/Time line - Jordan
*Business - Sally
*Environment - Kathy
*Politics - Kyle

The aforementioned "leaders" of these projects will be expected to very clearly detail, in advance, via this blog so that all group members can contribute and be a part of the entire product. We want to divide and conquer, AND have the opportunity to learn from and work with each other. Please try to blog on your progress once a week.

A possible home page/connecting piece, is to play off the Cable theme. If you have Comcast, it is the "On Demand" channel or channel 1. Each of the angles will be a different "channel." I know, we are SO clever! : ) Leaders: please have some sort of a "plan" of what your channel will look like by March 1st. Remember April is only two months away and we do not have any deadlines from Rick before the April 24 project due date.

Sally