Memorandum submitted by Jill Watt
Ever since the planned switch-off of the analogue
signal was announced, I have written to Government departments,
journalists and dealers for answers to these crucial questions.
Each answer has been different!—and I do hope that, in your
role as Chairman of the relevant Committee, you may be able to
tell me, please, what is the truth of them?
1. I have more than 2,000 VHS cassettes
recorded off-air. How can I continue to play them? Do I have to
retain my old analogue TV set simply as a video-player, and buy
another one to receive the digital signal?
2. An important part of my video collection
is newsreel coverage of historic events, recorded as they happen—the
fall of the Berlin Wall, reactions to 9/11 etc. How do I continue
to be able to capture these events? Do I have to buy a DVD recorder,
as well as my current DVD player?
If the answer to both questions is yes, a very
considerable outlay is being required of the ordinary citizen,
to satisfy a Government whim whose rationale has never satisfactorily
been explained.
Should not the Government consider making a
substantial grant to everyone who is suddenly commanded to replace
their equipment (especially if they're on Income Support, like
me)?
And while I am writing, please can you tell
me whether British DVDs can be played on American DVD players?
It has hugely enlarged the democratic deficit, that videos until
now could not be exchanged in a viable format. I do hope that
at least a switch to DVD will mean that some films, news coverage
and documentaries can at last be shared with friends in the USA.
I do hope your Committee will be able to take
into account the major role that TV and video now play in the
lives and contacts of ordinary people, which should not be manipulated
at will to serve financial interests.
26 September 2005
| 
