Come on, you tech giants, talk to each other

I had to replace my iPad last month (other non-Apple tablets are available) after my model 2 finally gave up the ghost. I say had to but that’s not strictly true. I wanted to.

I discovered a great family-run IT shop in a nearby town a few years ago and made the purchase there.
I have nothing against the massive national outlets but you can’t beat a local, small business for customer service.
The new pad is great – but I do have one small gripe.
All the power leads, cases, screen protectors etc. from my “old” iPad, accumulated over several years, are now redundant and I had to replace every item. At no small cost.
However, it’s not the cost that really riles me – it’s the waste of resources. It seems every “upgrade” on tech gear has small changes that need new add-ons.
And every manufacturer appears to have its own systems.
Please standardise these items. Thank you.

A taxing solution to BBC licence fee conundrum?

In the good old days (remember them?) families would sit together and watch television.

One programme, one room, all family members.

But how things have changed. Now dad can be in his man cave, watching a film on his tablet; mum in the lounge watching the latest Amazon Prime Video special and the children in the kitchen, catching up with the latest Netflix blockbuster.
All three methods cost a monthly fee which allows people to watch what they want, when they want. They are not tied into traditional schedules.
Which, unsurprisingly, leads many to question the value and the need for the BBC licence fee.
Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan launched a public consultation in February on whether non-payment of the TV licence fee should remain a criminal offence.
Currently, anyone who watches or records live TV (on any channel) or uses iPlayer without a TV licence is guilty of a criminal offence and could go to prison.
The consultation ends early April and the government will publish its response in the summer.
But decriminalisation would not mean non-payment would become voluntary. It could instead mean it would become a civil offence similar to non-payment of council tax or an electricity bill.
Baroness Morgan has also said that it was time to think about keeping the fee "relevant" in a "changing media landscape".
At the last review of the licence fee, which will increase by £3 from £154.50 to £157.50 on April 1, it was found that the current system is the fairest but that this would be reviewed again in future.
There were around 26 million TV licences being used in the UK last year, generating £3.69bn in income for the BBC.
The fee system has many pros (no advertising, quality broadcasting, editorial independence, unbiased news) and many cons (it is undemocratic to force people to pay for a service they either don’t use very often or do not agree with politically, it is unrepresentative as board members are currently appointed from within, it’s too centralised and too old fashioned).
To my mind, and feel free to disagree, the pros outweigh the cons but there is no doubt that financing the BBC has to change.
It is estimated there are 11.6 million households in the UK with Netflix subscriptions, 14 million Amazon Prime Video and 2 million Now TV.
Collectively that’s 27.6 million households paying varied monthly amounts compared with around 26 million TV licences being used in the UK.
I do not think a Netflix/ Amazon Prime/ Now TV-like monthly fee is the way forward at present.
Youngsters (by that I mean the under 40s) are used to streaming programmes, binge watching etc. and are more likely to be against paying the licence fee.
Bet they rarely watch News at Ten or similar!
But at present there are still around 26 million TV licences being used in the UK, generating £3.69bn in income for the BBC. That’s guaranteed income for making programmes that the more commercial operators would not touch.
If the BBC switches to a monthly subscription fee, which I fear is on the horizon, there will be no guarantee that younger subscribers would remain faithful, leaving the BBC unable to plan for future programming costs not knowing what its income is going to be.
So, how to solve this problem? Take the cost of running the BBC out of income tax. Even most oldies pay tax, you know.