Smiling Jack returns/FTA goes down? Which first?

[alsouthster]

Hey, quiet here I notice without Smiling Jack.
Shame he left. Even when he was giving bad advice (like telling me to erase SA3 in Flash 2, which I suspect was the beginning of my serious relationship with Wall) he could be counted on to keep things lively
I come to this site, I anticipate and expect drama! My atmega's running, I could be watching TV, but NOOO, I'm here, like a zombie in Dawn of the Dead
So I thought I'd ask a quick question, maybe stir the pot: what will happen first: Smiling Jack returns or FTA goes down in a flurry of sneaky Charlie manoueveres?....
ON the e* hack site, some moron is prediciting FTA is going down mid Feb. No doubt nonsense.... But also I remember Mili saying FTA is public enemy # 1 for Charlie, and that 's why Charles is going to concentrate on flipping out FTA rather than speedrolling the keys
any experts have any idea on all this?

[RoofleChicken]

I'll say this. The big players in Asia behind the FTA boxes have the dollars necessary to throw into it to keep it running. That industry is light years ahead of everything else in money and coding talent. It was the first stuff to break N2 and I'm of the opinion that it's here to stay.

[happy1234]

Smiling Jack may return and FTA may go down, but some of us are still testing w/the ol'HU Rom10, as well as both the 101 & 102. Long live Plastic.....:D

[RoofleChicken]

I'm all for testing with plastic but the simple fact remains that you can't get plastic to perform like an FTA box. With FTA you can roll everything DN and BEV have on one box with no limits. No tiers, no exceeding 745 channels on the IRD, no ECM's. It's great to have a backup method but if maximizing your return is the goal FTA is the answer.

[Crow 492]

Jack is not far and FTA will live on.

[delco]

what happens if everything goes to MPEG4? i know the asia peeps will have more money when they build and sell the new FTA's with MPEG4.

[BirdieMod]

Run it while you can. Want perfect tv subscribe,. So we drop a few hundred on gear and get 4-5 months everything, Got our moneys worth.
I think there is too much old subscibed equipment out yet for charlie to do any mpeg4 yet. Not economical to counter the hacking yet. My thoughts at least.

[Reabo]

I'm all for testing with plastic but the simple fact remains that you can't get plastic to perform like an FTA box. With FTA you can roll everything DN and BEV have on one box with no limits. No tiers, no exceeding 745 channels on the IRD, no ECM's. It's great to have a backup method but if maximizing your return is the goal FTA is the answer.
True, but no true hi-def. If they ever come up with a hi-def receiver, thats true hi-def,"at least 1080i, preferably,1080p" then I'll be buying one.