The Dartmouth Editorial Board unanimously endorses watching television on televisions. Unfortunately, the College's Computing Services department doesn't seem to agree.
Network Services Director Frank Archambeault said last week that the College is planning to pull the plug on our cable TVs in June. Those who want to keep tuning in will either have to stick to watching on their laptops with DarTV, the College's networked television service, or shell out about $300 for a box needed to convert DarTV's broadcasting for televisions. Doing the math, that means that a service now enjoyed by students for free will cost $300 next year.
Archambeault says that buying the new box is just like buying the TV set itself and cable necessary to hook it up. But one significant difference he neglected to mention is that students can buy a low-end color television for well under $100 and a coaxial cable for about $10. The prohibitive nature of the new box cost could exclude many students from a system that is currently accessible to all.
When the College first introduced DarTV just before Fall term 2005, it celebrated its accomplishment of "convergence" -- Internet, phone and finally TV all accessible on students' computers. The pilot project demonstrated Dartmouth's commitment to staying on the cutting edge of technology and was applauded all around. The New York Times ran a big story about it, and student interest was piqued by the prospect of a new television-on-your-laptop service that offers yet another way to do anything but pay attention in lectures (muted daytime TV being far superior to old-school notebook doodling or idle BlitzMail chat).
Everyone agrees that Dartmouth should continue its tradition of innovation, but where does technological innovation become counterproductive? Not all "innovation" is desirable -- especially when it makes essentially the same product more expensive without making it much better. So we wonder whether this wireless, TVless TV system is more like the MP3 or more like the 8-track. We are all for the technology of tomorrow, as Archambeault described it, but even he acknowledges that his office has "heard from students ... that watching TV on laptops isn't really what they want to do."
If we are on a one-way track toward eliminating cable as soon as June in our breakneck efforts to set the pace of innovation, the College should find a way to cut the cost to students and perhaps issue boxes as standard for dorm rooms, which could make them more accessible for students on financial aid.
Cutting the cable is not an improvement and we'd prefer not to pay for it.
