Ireland enters the digital age…At last!

1998, a time before the age of lightweight mobile phones, DVD players and broadband.  It was also the year when British television entered the digital age.  ITV and Sky launched their digital services, allowing their viewers to emerge from the days of inconsistent picture quality and occasional white noise.

Since that breakthrough 14 years ago, the world has witnessed the rise of high-speed broadband, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, HD television, Skype and other incredible technological feats.  Yet it is only now that Ireland is launching our very own digital television service ‘Saorview’.

Saorview offers the Irish viewer the overdue opportunity to watch sporting, entertainment and current affairs programmes with clear picture and audio.  How on earth has it taken us this long to make this minor step forward toward a more technology-efficient Ireland. 

Our country went through the ‘boom’, an era when our government was more than happy to help fund any local or national initiative.  Why was it that they could not invest in the digital television service during that period of greed and exuberant expenditure.

The joy of returning home from the electrical outlet with your new television was quickly superseded by a mix of impatience and fury, as you were forced to search for the suitable wavelength on the analogue function for our native channels.  The joy of finally discovering your desired channel would last no longer than a few seconds before you realised that the clarity of the channel was as grainy as a piece of plywood.  You needed an expertise in ‘Where’s Waldo?’ to determine the ball from the rugby players when you were watching the Six Nations.

Of course, it is better late than never and the brand new service we are being treated to is as good a service as could have been provided to the Irish television viewer.   That is what I would like to be writing but, unfortunately they could have done better.  In an age when television is making the astonishing leap towards broadcasting the third dimension, Irish viewers will be left staring at the now stone-age standard definition picture. With the exception of RTE2 HD all other channels on the service will broadcast via standard definition.

Surely we deserve better.  It smacks of ignorance among the decision makers in Dublin that they cannot understand the significance of allowing the Irish citizen the opportunity to watch their native, albeit largely uninteresting, television channels in the best quality possible.  When I asked one satellite salesman about the possibility of purchasing a HD satellite box, he replied patronisingly that HD made little difference to the picture quality.  That may be the case but, it is an upgrade from what was on offer before and, it isn’t the most costly procedure to undertake. 

We should always be looking to improve ourselves.  We can do that by making the environment in which we live that little bit easier and enjoyable for ourselves day by day.  The digital television saga in this country is just another example of our country, like a teenager doing homework on a Sunday night, leaving things until the very last minute while also failing to do it to the best of our capabilities.