In my dealings with  the loss of signal from the Kentucky Education Network, I’ve come to understand just how broken our society is. KET has become the poster child for systems failure. Like AT&T, much of what KET has to offer has become boring and ill serving a rapidly changing urban and rural Kentucky landscape.

A simple production like Comment on Kentucky can no longer be shown to political junkies in far Western Kentucky because they messed up the signal. What is sad that after watching this show since 1972 on a regular weekly basis, is that I no longer find it of importance to the body politic in Kentucky forever political and economic power struggles.

Now, of course after four weeks of being off the air, I fully understand the brutal power of DirecTV over our TV viewing world and culture. Because they are not forced to make a wrong right, I as Kentucky tax payer must be content to (1) paying taxes so that KET stays fully funded and (2) endure the grip that DirecTV has over my intellectual and entertain life selections.

Because I do not want the latest “Smack down” wrestling, I must pay more to have access to history, science, business, and political reporting on selected channels. Because I don’t follow Who is Dancing with the Stars or American Idol, my bill is higher from the base rate of $29.95 up to $60.00 each month.

My DirecTV access is to over 800 channels, of which I normally will watch shows from 12 to 20.  Yet, DirecTV has computer models to trap people like me, who want certain channels of prime intellectual quality. They know that I will pay to keep up with the events of the world that will frame my future.

DirecTV, like the science fiction villain created within the Star Trek world, is now considered by many to be the BORG! This is a world in which the spirit of the individual   is crushed down or destroyed in order to bend our will to the collective hive, where all thought is given to protecting the order of power.

DirecTV has 30 million customers who each month pay from $30.00 upward to $100.00 dollars each month for access to news, information and entertainment.

For me and others of my kind, there is good news breaking on the horizon. Disruptive technology is about to take down DirecTV (The Borg). Business giants like Apple and Google are in pre testing stage for a new generation of large screen wall smart televisions that will house and serve as a common integrated platform for computers, phones, cameras, access to the internet, Facebook and voice recognition software.

DirecTV is at the exact space that large mega record companies were 10 years ago. New technology and customers took them down, hard. Those of you who want to know why this will happen, research the 1990s show Max Headroom.

The power of the individual embracing disruptive technology will forever change how we access intellectual content and entertainment. Wait for it, the first media shock waves are about to hit a house near you, soon.  Already, 82 % of those under thirty making connections to entertainment platforms are not signing up for DirecTV.

Sadly, KET will never see these shock waves until it is too late for them.