Calls for delaying digital TV switchover (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Sometimes it's best to just rip the band-aid off, rather than trying to slowly peel it off. It stings at first, but less agonizingly painful.

 

[Greg_S_H]

If they can't even handle an issue like this. . . .

 

[Bryan X]

Edit:

Nevermind. Too political.

 

[DaveF]

I can't see any practical reason to postpone at this point; I think it's a political calculation to avoid grumbling voters who've stuck their head in the sand about the siwtch.

The switch has been promoted on network TV for 6 to 12 months; the only way you would be caught unawares is if you don't watch TV. And in which case, you don't care anyway.

As for the procrastinators: well, they're procrastinators. Postpone the switchover 10 more years and they'll be scrambling to make the switch on Feb 17, 2019. There's no appeasing them.

And the impoverished. You've known about the switch for a year. If you couldn't save 75 cents a day to buy a converter box, you can survive without TV; there's always radio. (And I've done this, so I have no sympathy

)

And if after all that you're still lost, just get "lifeline" cable for $10/mo and you can ignore the whole thing.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

The vast majority of the American public is totally clueless about the transition, even at this late date, and it's not restricted to just the elderly and the impoverished.

I base this statement on my experience as a sales rep in a large Sears store electronics dept.

The plain fact is that the average American consumer is technophobic and proud of it. I had a customer yesterday who purchased a 32" lcd to be connected to an ordinary antenna. I tried to explain to him that he'd have to let the tv scan for channels on initial setup and that it would pick up the digital channels with no converter box. After half an hour of demonstrating the procedure with the set's remote he opted to pay an additional $99 for professional installation on a $399 tv. This guy is not that unusual in my experience.

A couple of nights ago I spent a fruitless 45 minutes on the phone trying to talk someone through connecting a dvd player to a tv set, and again this is not an isolated incident.

Half the people buying converter boxes think they won't need any antenna at all for them, and an unbeleivable number of our customers don't know if they have their old sets connected to antenna, cable, or satellite.

I'm talking about that large number of Americans who don't use the "interweb" and ignore all the psa's just as they ignore all the other "commercials".

The govt. is running out of money for the coupons--no surprise as I know that in our store at least half the folks using the coupons are on satellite or cable and don't need the converter box in the first place.

 

[Lucia Duran]

So let me get this straight.... we need to have some kind of box attatched to our tv's to allow them to work come february?

 

[Brian^K]

If true, then the vast majority of the American public would never gain a clue about the transition, ever, no matter what provisions are made to make them aware of it.

The decision to leave one's self either unprepared or ignorant of changes that will affect you effectively vacates your right to expect accommodation from government or industry regarding such changes.

 

[ThomasC]

I'm wondering how many people will call 911 on February 17th.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Exactly. This has been the most-publicized, most accommodating technological transition in U.S. history. Anyone who, after seeing all of those commercials for months and months, couldn't go to their computer or hit up a library to Google a little research deserves what they get.

There are legitimate concerns about digital broadcasting, especially for rural areas where current analog signals are marginal, but these are going to take years to resolve. Best to get 95 percent of the country up and running, and develop work-arounds for problems as they arise.

 

[DaveF]

Interesting article at Ars on the proposed delay. I found this compelling:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

That's a natural, expected result of the DTV standard. Analog OTA was designed to be used with set top antennas. DTV OTA was designed to be used with rooftop antennas. Whatever you get from rabbit ears is therefore bonus. This was a huge miscalculation in my book, but it's so fundamental that delaying the switchover a few months won't solve the problem. It's going to take a sustained investment in infrastructure overtime to restore OTA TV service to its current levels.

 

[Steve...O]

If I was feeling mischievous I'd suggest feeding the audio from Orson Welles' radio broadcast of WAR OF THE WORLDS over the air on transition day and have people listen to that while their screens go fuzzy.

It would be interesting to see if the public is really any smarter than they were 60 years ago.

 

[ThomasC]

 

[Jan Strnad]

Oh. My. God.

Steve, you are my hero of the day. That is an absolutely BRILLIANT suggestion! The Joker (referring to the Batman villain) would be proud of you! If I wore a hat, I'd tip it to you.

Jan

 

[ThomasC]

It looks like the second attempt to delay the switch has a much better chance of passing:

Washington Post - Senate Nears Deal To Delay Digital TV

 

[Nelson Au]

I would be surprised they do pass that bill. But it is true that a lot of people aren't ready. What was interesting in that article is that stations could turn off analog before the new June deadline. That would be a way to wake up some people.

 

[Malcolm R]

I think it's foolish to delay. If people aren't ready by Feb 17, they won't be ready by June 12.

 

[ThomasC]

I think one of the main reasons/"excuses" for the delay is outdoor antenna installation. People waiting until the last minute to get things done will have an easier time installing rooftop antennas in June compared to on snow-covered rooftops in February. Also, this doesn't mean that a lot of stations won't shut off their signals on February 17th, if they'll lose money by keeping their analog signal. They are certainly allowed to shut off their signal; it's their call if they want to wait it out so viewers don't get inconvenienced, or if they want to shut off the analog signal to save costs but potentially angering a lot of viewers.

 

[CRyan]

Well, it passed the Senate. If I had to guess - its going to be delayed. I find this incredibly stupid.

 

[Diallo B]

definitely incredibly stupid.....