[Darkstar416]

I'm kind of envious at the US television market, ours is downright pathetic.

:lol

 

[scarberiankhatru]

"There's an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico taller than the CN Tower?"
"Was wondering about that myself. Maybe they are counting the part below water as well."

That's like saying Mauna Kea is the highest mountain when its underwater portion is included. Basement levels of skyscrapers aren't included in their height.

 

[Archivistower]

The oil rig thing comes from the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest structure. Apparently, the most asked question of the folks who produce that is about the CN Tower and why it isn't the tallest.

For me, counting oil rigs as the tallest buildings is truly a strange concept, but then, I don't care that much.

 

[adma]

Oil rigs are obviously a "qualified case"--but because water is water, I feel it's a fair point to list oil rigs with an asterisk.

Y'know, just like there are distinctions between "tallest building" and "tallest freestanding structure" and "tallest structure". Each disqualification comes equipped with a compensating default qualification. (OTOH I've never heard of, say, suspension bridge towers measured from below-water level...)

 

[wyliepoon]

Some people have claimed South Korea's Seoul Tower is the world's tallest freestanding structure- that is, if you count the height of the tower and the mountain that it stands on... people would do anything for a world record!

 

[samsonyuen]

^That's just silly! Why not build a shack on Mt. Everest and call that the world's tallest structure!

 

[officedweller]

Yup - Wikipedia says it includes the underwater portion - definitely asterisked in my books. Plus it isn't "free-standing" - it floats!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet...iant_Tower

 

[Will D SOE]

re: HDTV in the states

Cable companies in the states offer HD networks such as ABC, NBC, FOX, UPN and WB over their cable sevice. But the dish co. (dish and Directv) require an ATSC tuner plus an antenna to successfully capture the regular networks in HDTV. So this antenna isnt a waste.

HDTV is not analogue... that's where some of u may have gotten confused. This antenna would definately be digital, and u need the tuner to get the signal.

 

[shumoon]

I doubt much will come of this. Proposals for structures that would top the Sears Tower in Chicago have come and gone countless times; I doubt if anything will come of this. Over a decade ago, Beitler, along with his late partner Lee Miglin (who was murdered by the same man who killed fashion designer Versace), once proposed the "Sky Spike" office building a few blocks north of the Sears Tower, but it never materialized.

The main drive for a new tower is the potential savings for broadcasters offered by a competing tower who are currently stuck paying high rents to either the Sears Tower and John Hancock building. Both buildings (which were designed by structural engineer Fazlur Khan) are tall enough and equipped with large powerful antennae. However, the demand for a tower could fizzle if the current duopoly lowered its rates or rival towers such as Aon Building or Trump Tower were able to construct antennae and offer competitive rates.

As Chicago's population gradually expands westward towards Dekalb and Rockford, a site for a new tower in the Western Suburbs would probably be more attractive in the long run. Some radio broadcasters have circumvented downtown antennae by broadcasting from 3 antennae in the Northern, Southern and Western suburbs. The signal suffers when in downtown, but is strong where most of the populace lives.

 

[doady]

Canadians may have embraced the internet more so than those in the US but Americans are destroying us in terms of HDTV adoption (thanks to slow moving Canadian networks like CBC who might have a handful of HD capable cameras which they're too scared to even use).

Simply put, picking up a terrestrial broadcast via a quality antenna will ensure the absolute best picture quality. Sounds kind of backwards doesn't it? The resolution of HDTV (at 720P or 1080i) is so great that our cable providers must greatly compress the signal simply due to bandwidth reasons (mini dish providers do the same). Even though my Cogeco HD looks freaking amazing, it would look even better if I was able to pull those same channels in over an antenna.

The HD revolution is here, every major American city has about a dozen or so (at least) channels that can be picked up over the air. Here in Toronto people are left spending big bucks on equipment to pull in the Buffalo stations and the handful of Canadian stations. It's no surprise that such a proposal is being made. I'm kind of envious at the US television market, ours is downright pathetic.

I have a HDTV capable TV, but I don't see why it is so important to watch regular television programs in high-defintion. Does it matter if the news is in high-definition widescreen or not? Not really. Lack of HDTV is not worth complaining about, imo.