First, let me say that I really like digital TV. It is a necessary next step in our technological evolution to better quality delivery of broadcast signals. Do you need to do anything about it? If you are on a satellite dish (DishTV or DirecTV), Verizon FIOS, or you pay a cable bill, you are good to go. If you still have rabbit ears or have an antenna on the roof, you need to make some decisions.
Do you need a new TV? Not if you get one of the converters that are available. And you might as well get the coupon since you paid for it anyway. Coupons, now let me get on my soapbox. One of the thinly disguised secrets of the digital TV transition is that the Federal government auctioned off the frequencies from channels 52 thru 59 for a $10 billion reserve price. That’s right, they made a profit on this deal that we will never see.
Now for the capitalism part of this issue; the folks who bought the right to use those frequencies now have to wait till June 12th. Was this fair to them? I don’t think so. And what makes anyone think that changing the date from February 17th and now waiting till June will get the people who need converter boxes off their duffs and get prepared? I predict that we will have the same number of folks going “What Happened?” when June rolls around.
Later.
matt
