June No Post + The Second Television Transition

I hope my Post will make up for the lack of one last month ^_^
Anyway...
I spent some time on the phone with a customer service rep from DirecTV. I had a huge battery of questions for him. Mainly about the flier my technology inept parents had received about a free receiver upgrade. I was surprised to find out that the reason that DirecTV sent these fliers out was because they are planning to render all receivers over 5 years old obsolete and DISCONTINUE SERVICE TO THOSE RECEIVERS! In other words all people with receivers from before 2005 will no longer have service.
This unlike the digital transition is not a government ploy. DirecTV is basically doing for satellite what DSL and cable internet did for the Internet in general. Provide better access. All old DirecTV receivers use MPEG2 encoding,Old sloppy and inefficient encoding. All the new boxes use mpeg3 and mpeg4 encoding. An excellent upgrade allows for more programming room and improved quality. This is not including the bolstered features in the new box. Unlike the DTV transition DirecTV Customers will not have to pay a dime. If you have one of the old receivers DirecTV has already sent you a flier that informs you of a free receiver upgrade. Also you can keep your old package if you wish. NO COST! NONE! Go ahead and take the offer.

My parents purchased their DirecTV Receiver in 1995. It has been apart of our living room for 15 years. Now it is being replaced. However that is the nature of technology.

Move Forward

Remember most Satellite providers are preparing for this transition and replacing boxes. So Dish-Network Customers keep your eyes open! You may receive a flier soon!