I have to get this off my chest.
This whole TV conversion drama is overrated. If you don't know what i'm talking about, well, then you probably don't care because you're one of millions who have either digital cable or satellite, so this doesn't affect you.
But for the rest of the people complaining about this conversion, about the old folks on 9News complaining that they don't have money to buy a converter box or the know-how to hook it up, get over it! TV isn't a right, it's not promised, and if you can't take the time to use the resources available to you, then maybe thats your own problem. If you don't know about the conversion or how to get info, then maybe you aren't watching TV already, so this shouldn't change much.
I have no sympathy for people who can't figure this out, you've had plenty of time (i'm talking months here) and there's no reason that now, a month before it happens, that you can't figure it out.
The media needs to stop their fear-mongering as well. Last night 9News ran a piece on this, interviewing numerous people who were affected, and claiming that doing the conversion in the "dead of winter" wasn't helping. really?! first off, last i checked it was like 70 degrees last week, cold weather usually doesn't stick around longer than 2 days here in Denver, so drop that crap.
Secondly, i heard it reported that Obama's plan to push back the date was going to cost news stations a ton of money to keep the regular analog signal going. Right now, in this economy, news station don't have extra money, didn't you hear that Nick Carter and Bob Kendrick got canned, and that channel 7 & 9 are now sharing their traffic helicopter? If you're a news anchor spreading the dismay about this conversion, because Obama says its bad, then maybe when your station can't afford to keep the regular signal going they'll can you so they can afford it!
why is the government involved in this situation anyway? aren't there better things they could spend their time on? When are American's going to take responsibility for their own problems and not lean on the government for help?
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agreed....except that people have actually had years, not months, to get with the program......so they suck even more....
maybe it would do people some good to turn off their tv's for awhile anyway
Why is the government involved in the digital television transition? The government is involved because the government owns the air waves. One of the roles of the FCC is to sell broadcast licenses for the “public” spectrum waves. That and to make sure Justin Timberlake does not disrobe Janet Jackson during the Super Bowl halftime show. Whoops! Better luck next time, guys.
Oh yeah, the government is also involved because it was Congress’ idea to switch from analog to digital:
http://www.dtv.gov/DTVAct.pdf
Why did Congress pass this law? If I remember correctly, I think the FCC wanted to raise money by auctioning off the 700 MHz frequencies that would be available when TV stations stopped transmitting their analog signals.
I agree that people have had plenty of time to ditch their old analog equipment. I agree that the government has plenty of better things to do with its time. It’s all a bit ridiculous.
But until we let individuals own and manage the airwaves (and not the government and FCC) we will continue to see ridiculous policies – even for something as trivial as television.
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