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Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@hamatti Other people have other use cases. I *don't* want a TV that "shows channels" as that would be no use to me as I don't have a TV licence. I want a TV that plays DVDs (and yes, I accept that that's via another device) and shows stuff from the internet (and I don't see why that should need another device, it's only software and the telly already has a computer in it).

37 comments
Roderick

@TimWardCam @hamatti non UK readers might not understand the concept of a "TV licence". In Britain, you can't watch TV until you've taken the Television Aptitude Test, or TAT, which gauges your understanding of BBC4 arts programmes, your ability to follow long running soaps in a regional dialect, and whether or not you laugh at Ant and Dec.

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@rvkennedy @hamatti Well, I wouldn't qualify. Never heard of BBC4, never heard of Ant and Dec. But I do know the "long running soap in a regional dialect"- that's The Archers, for which no TV licence is required seeing as how it's on the radio not the telly.

Cybarbie

@TimWardCam @rvkennedy @hamatti Where did this meme come from - or am I getting my timelines messed up. I know you know that you need a license for radio but I am struggling to remember who said this before...?

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@nf3xn @rvkennedy @hamatti This is all a joke. Radio licences were abolished decades ago - you can listen to the radio for free. TV licences are needed to watch live telly - you just buy one (because it's optional - I choose not to buy one - it's not really a "tax").

Cybarbie

@TimWardCam @rvkennedy @hamatti Oh lol is that the joke - I can remember when there was an actual paper license which had Radio & Television Communications Act printed on the top of it, you had to get from the post office back when there was a dude who drove around Oxford in a white van with an aerial trying to catch the student digs' tiny little unlicensed B&W TVs.

TV license isn't optional btw, in fact didn't they even make out that you need one if you watch iPlayer? BOL with that Auntie ๐Ÿ˜‚

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@nf3xn @rvkennedy @hamatti It is optional. It's the price of a service. One can, and I do, choose not to buy the service.

Cybarbie

@TimWardCam @rvkennedy @hamatti Communications Act 2003.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Televisi

ONS describes it as a hypothecated tax not a service charge. I guess you could avoid watching 'live broadcast'. Used to be if you had a telly right?

lol I remember that it was cheaper for B&W and radio - the vans were really easy to spot, weird round things with a huge thing on top.

tbh I am not sure we have one either.

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@nf3xn @rvkennedy @hamatti There are an increasing number of people these days who only watch non-BBC non-live-TV streaming services and thus don't need a licence.

Nanode replied to Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@TimWardCam @nf3xn @hamatti @rvkennedy It doesn't matter what you watch.

If you own a device capable of watching live TV you need a licence:

"The rule is... whether you're watching live TV on a television, computer, tablet, games console, smartphone or any other device, you'll need to be covered by a TV licence."

So, yeah, that old VHS recorder in a cupboard counts.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/broadband-and-tv/tv-licence/

Sarah W

@TimWardCam @rvkennedy @hamatti
Almost everything on BBC Sounds is available to me in France without a licence and no fee. I can pick up LW in Normandy as well which is ok until cricket season.
I'd be happy to pay a licence fee in the UK if I could pick up television as well.

Juhis

@rvkennedy @TimWardCam Does Dirk Gently count as BBC4 arts program? If it does, I might qualify ๐Ÿ˜‚

Roderick

@hamatti @TimWardCam the Stephen Mangan original? I believe so! Might be time to book that test!

Juhis

@TimWardCam @rvkennedy Yeah, that's the new one with Samuel Barnett. Which was also good.

The original one from BBC4 was made a bit earlier and stars Stephen Mangan imdb.com/title/tt2303367/

Dirk Gently books are so great.

Kyle

@rvkennedy @TimWardCam @hamatti As a USian, am genuinely unsure whether you are joking.

Eric Lawton

@rvkennedy

By "regional dialect", I assume you mean "from around London".

@TimWardCam @hamatti

Rik - M0RKM

@rvkennedy @TimWardCam @hamatti I recently failed my level 3 licensing exam so now I canโ€™t watch either Eastenders or Pointless.

Tim Hergert

@rvkennedy @TimWardCam @hamatti I understand that you can have your license suspended if you laugh at shows such as "The Brass Eye"

Juhis

@TimWardCam Yeah, we all like different things.

TV manufacturers won't support their streaming apps for as long as the tv functions. So when they stop updating, your smart tv won't show Youtube or Disney+ or whatever service anymore. Then you need to replace your tv even though the display device would be good for years.

And worse, when some of them stop working, it may make the entire smart tv software stop working or get annoying to use.

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@hamatti Yeah, I know. Or ... one could keep the TV and buy an external device to replace the dead services.

Rob\ViewdataUK

@TimWardCam @hamatti
Our main TV is "smart", or would be if I'd ever connected it to the network. It still picks up broadcast TV, and there's an external box (actually a fireTV) for all the apps and other stuff. Been bitten by TV manufacturers dropping support for apps so often that I didn't even bother trying these ones.

Wilfried Klaebe

@TimWardCam That's why I don't want those services internally in the first place because they absolutely *will* break.

@hamatti

Juhis

@wonka @TimWardCam And the TV software isn't designed to gracefully work when services start to fail but will become an annoyance to work with.

Ylรถne

@TimWardCam @hamatti I have recently read about smart TVs even being bricked (in the sense that you can't really use it for anything anymore) if you don't accept some updated EULA or if some "upgrade" goes wrong. It does not become "dumb" either. You lose access to a device you have paid for.

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@tokyo_0 @hamatti I'm not an expert, but there does seem to be a crossover, particularly with the sort of large expensive kit you put in meeting rooms these days. Traditionally a "monitor" didn't come with the sort of remote control you'd want with a TV but I would not be astonished if that's completely different now.

Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)

@TimWardCam I've been thinking about this for a while, since I noticed the 3,800x1,800 display on my laptop screen makes me not want to plug anything (like a PS4) into my TV anymore. When I looked at the price for updating the TV, it was silly. Worth checking if buying a TV card for your PC and running a monitor would be cheaper. You can get a remote for a PC, too. @hamatti

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@tokyo_0 @hamatti Some of those options/combinations sound slightly tedious with the PC and the sofa on different floors of the house (office vs living room).

Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)

@TimWardCam Yeah, that might not work so well. How are you playing stuff from the internet, then? @hamatti

Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)

@TimWardCam Ah right, I see where you're coming from. The problem with the internet (from a device point of view) is that it keeps changing, and so things need to be updated again and again. That makes the problems mentioned earlier in the thread hard to avoid. But if yours is still working, perhaps there's hope for all of us! @hamatti

๐“๐“ท๐“ญ๐”‚๐“ฃ๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐“ญ๐”‚๐“ฎ ๐“€ค

@tokyo_0 @TimWardCam @hamatti I got a projector for stuff I want to put on a big screen. That includes movies stored on our home media server, Youtube stuff, and images live-stacking from our telescopes.

Tobias Frisch

@TimWardCam @hamatti But why would you need software running that's connected via the internet to play DVDs or even Bluerays?

All of this was long possible without running deprecated forks of Android on our TVs.

Tim Ward โญ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ”ถ #FBPE

@thejackimonster @hamatti I wouldn't. I "would need software running that's connected via the internet" to play content that's on the internet, such as Netflix.

๐“๐“ท๐“ญ๐”‚๐“ฃ๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐“ญ๐”‚๐“ฎ ๐“€ค

@TimWardCam @hamatti any of the "smart" TVs can do that. You might want to change the launcher if you find the "Google TV" launcher obnoxious.

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