New television services, like RCA/Hughes DirectTV promise CD stereo sounds, clear images and a vast array of programs. These new $200 - $500 satellite systems use small 18 inch dishes, very similar to the size in use in Eastern Europe during the communist regimes.
As the trade name suggests, DirectTV broadcasts the same signals to all customers regardless of geographic location. However, if you are interested in local news, you are out of luck. If you enjoy special programs on KCET, WNET, WGBH, WHOU and the many other Public Broadcasting stations that offer unique original programs--sorry. Like the central authority of the regimes that lost the cold-war, the successful TV capitalists will determine what you watch. Like shopping at a warehouse store, you will be seduced by the cornucopia of sheer volume, while sacrificing neighborhood. DirectTV, and other central satellite systems offer gated-communities for the information age; the direct opposite of what Internet has been .....to date.