A Darwin Moment: Television Goes Digital June 12th
by Tim SlagleToday is a big day in broadcasting history. There is a monumental change coming down the pike several years in the making. Unless you’ve been incarcerated at Guantanamo, you probably already know: Television is going digital.
The reason for the changeover is that the FCC already has tenants waiting to move into the bandwidth that will be created by the changeover. Cellphone companies have already bought leases on those frequencies, and the FCC raised 19 billion dollars auctioning off that bandwidth (and probably spent every single dime of it on TV ads and converter-box coupons.)
Strange that Americans have been able to pick up on HDTV without coupons or awareness campaigns. Millions of people have educated themselves on HDMI cable, anamorphic output and Blue Ray discs with little or no money from the government. Those who couldn’t figure it out created a market for professional tech support companies like the Geek Squad.
Is it really possible that there is anybody left in America that doesn’t know about it? Congress sure thought so. On February 4th of this year they passed an emergency extension, and a $650 million dollar funding supplement to allow the program to continue.
The extension was probably unnecessary. I think everybody already knew about the transition way back in February. In fact, I think the reason why Congress voted for the extension and the funding is because all the people who work at the Department of Analog to Digital Conversion want to hold on to their cushy Government jobs just a little bit longer. Perhaps if they make the case that the transition isn’t going smoothly, they can stay even longer… perhaps long enough to collect a generous Federal pension.
It is also possible, that there are people still uncertain about the transition, only because the media is hammering it so hard. For instance, my mom has cable. She’s all set. Yet I have to reassure her CONSTANTLY that she is all set. Coming from a Depression Era/WWII mentality of independence and self-reliance, the notion that something so inconsequential would be repeated so often is inconceivable to her. (Heck, they only test the air-raid sirens once a week in her town.) So every time she sees one of those commercials, it makes her wonder. I think at this point those PSAs are generating more problems than they are alleviating– especially for the seniors.
Here is a point that we should all understand: This is how stupid and helpless the government employees in Washington (read: Democrats) think we are. It is the reason why they want to regulate every aspect of our lives, from the safety equipment on our cars, right down to the choices we make when we plan our dinner.
That’s change you can bank on!
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
43 Comments
Maybe they can transition from their cushy jobs at Conversion Central…to Rabbit-Ears Waste Management.
Uh…second thought…!!!
The delay in the changeover was necessary for me. My budget is tight and I had to wait until my tax refund came through before I could buy the converter box.
I suppose the rationale for government subsidy is that the citizens need their television for timely civil defense warnings in the event of wide-scale disaster.
Perhaps ironically, the only people who aren't already digital ready in this day and age probably live so far out in the sticks that they don't need the civil defense warnings. They'll be the only ones who survive.
I love the routine…but I do have a pet peeve about one of his jokes. Braille keys on a drive-up ATM. Here's why…
1) The blind person can be seated in the back seat and driven up to the ATM. The braille keys allow that person to bank with the aid of the audio function that is available. 2) (and this is the number one reason) The keys when they are manufactured are the same for all ATMs, they're not going to go out of their way to use different keys for the drive-up. They're mass produced and interchangeable. Now I'm done with my nerdy vent.
They are just about free. Around $12 with the "goverment" coupon at best buy. Might as well get some of your $650 million back………..
"Unless you’ve been incarcerated at Guantanamo, you probably already know: Television is going digital."
They probably already have satellite on their HDTVs anyway, so won't be affected.
Meh, I still use an analog TV, and I live in LA County.
Maybe I'll go digital in a couple years. In the meantime, I took the $40 coupon months ago and bought a converter box.
Another huge waste of taxpayer money. TV isn't a right, is it? It isn't required by the government, although that wouldn't necessarily qualify government support. Feel good politics, buying citizen satisfaction, what a huge misuse of tax money.
I wasn't offended by the converter coupons, because, back when I was in radio school, they taught us that "the public airwaves belong to the people." Those broadcast bands are (or were) public property, belonging to you and me.
The government took our property and sold it (at a profit) to cell phone companies, EMT services, etc.
I have no problem with being reimbursed for the seizure of my property.
THANK YOU!!! Those stupid commercials have been the thorn in my side for months. Why not just change it the FIRST time they said they were going to change it? This has undoubtedly been the stupidest achievement by the Democrat-controlled congress to date.
"I suppose the rationale for government subsidy is that the citizens need their television for timely civil defense warnings in the event of wide-scale disaster"
On my list of things to do in "The event of a wide-scale disaster" waiting for the goverment to tell me what to do is somewhere down around "making sure I remembered to floss before hittin' the Bomb Shelter…….
Nice.
this transition has only been in planning for what? 20 YEARS? what part of "buy a TV newer than 1991!" do the shut-ins not get? Speaking of shut-ins, where are my 29 cats? BTW, whats this Democrat party fiasco going to cost the taxpayers?
what a coincidence! I just happen to have an ANALOG cell phone I got back in 1892 ER 1992…it needs a new home, you sound like the right guy for it!
there was I guy on TV, you know the digital type,telling us that we should EXPECT $500 MILLION of stimulus money to just disappear. POOF! GONE! Just like that. That's a vast underestimation in my mind, but speaking of rabbit ears the place that cash is going is a huge rabbit hole. Or to Obama's friends and campaign contributors, it's one or the other…
It’s important to Barry so that eventually our savior can be with us 24/7, there’ll be no off switch, it’ll be grand.
No thanks, a year or so ago I bought one of these cheap phones and a prepaid plan, to go along with my land line.
HA! Good one!
Well, there's the taxes we'll have to pay for the transition, then there's the fact that people who once had rabbit ears who will now most likely have to pay for cable to get the channels they used to get. I'm saying we get gigged on all sides.
Would someone explain to me why, aside from the uniformity of "civil defense" warnings, the government (nanny state) decided that this was a good idea? I may be dense (distinct possibility there) but I'm not seeing the reason for it aside from someone wanting to "centralize" all television transmissions. Anyone got an unlicensed HAM radio they'd like to sell?
T.V. is going what? Digital, I already use my fingers to change the channel, do I have to hold the antenna with my fingers?
"Change" I can count on consists of donating my TV to a friend now that analog is no longer available. The sewage and lies spewing continuously from it sure as hell aren't worth $40 to me. Even if the Chimp in Chief volunteers the taxpayers to pay for it.
I'm very glad the government was able to sell spectrum to the cell phone companies. Now, with digital broadcast, I don't have to worry about watching TV at all on rainy days, or when there's a cloud in the sky or a good stiff breeze.
Digital TV is a potentially useful transition, this will be botched from the get-go. A lot of people could get decent Analog signals, because it degrades gracefully. Snow maybe, and so on, but still decent and watchable. Digital is all or nothing, and will less signal range than Analog.
Older, retired people are screwed. They have fixed incomes and depend on low-powered stations on PBS for entertainment, and won't be able to watch Great Performances, Nature, MasterClass Theater, etc. Even with a converter box, many will be left holding the bag, and Cable is not in the cards for them ($60X12 = $720 a year, plus installation).
I don't conceptually have a problem with Public TV, as long as it and NPR stick to non-political arts stuff, broadcasting the Met Opera, Symphony Orchestras, Jazz/Blues concerts, educational stuff like visits to the Smithsonian or MOMA, etc. The Airwaves are a public good, so that makes sense. The politicking has got to go, but Great Performances is fun.
How can we switch over to digital when we don't even have a digital czar?
"…the rationale… warnings in the event of wide-scale disaster. "
Nah, they had them last year and still voted for Obama.
I like it!
Is this perhaps connected to the reason why I keep hearing liberals say, "…however, the average person can't be expected to know that?"
Am I the ONLY ONE who can't count on her hands the number of times she's heard libs say that that or read it in left-leaning news articles/letters to editors? What is with that??
Just goes to show you how important television has become in our lives that we've spent so many millions of dollars telling people that they might not get it if they don't upgrade.
I mean, what's the harm if these people don't realize, forget to get a digital converter, and then have to go a few days without television until they drop by Best Buy and realize they have to pick up a converter?
Actually my thoughts were a little more paranoid: they'll be sending waves through the TV to "brainwash" all of us into Obama Zombies.
Yeah, yeah, a little more than paranoid, but it did cross my mind ever so briefly. I guess I've been watching WAAAYY too much TV and movies, right?
LOL!
No paranoia there. I've stopped watching TV because of that PSA from Barry about volunteering in America!
Every time I saw that ad I swear my fillings vibrated!
Then again maybe it was just "The Ones" irritating voice that caused this………….
I don't get it: We're constantly told by our Lefty superiors that TV rots our brains (most of them claim not to even own a TV–although they seem to know an awful lot about last night's "Daily Show") and preys upon the poor and uneducated who'd be better off reading more books. Now Digital TV is suddenly a must have Gaia-given right for everyone–especially the poor and uneducated.
This is like when some self-hating upper middle class urbanite starts in on how if we deported all of the "migrants" (some call them "Mexican nationals illegally working in the USA") then Americans would be paying five bucks per potato and $30 for a pound of ground beef… which would be the perfect forcing function for Americans to eat fewer french fries and burgers and be healthier. Isn't that the reason why every six-figure income American with more money than sense shops at Whole Foods?
Here in Tokyo it's been both analog and digital for quite some time. There are no immediate plans to remove analog access. Naturally, the cable and all digital channels are offering more content, more cooking shows, more idiotic game shows, more movie channels showing The Wedding Crashers 24/7, but the networks, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 are all Analog as well as digital and will continue to be.
Sad, how America can't seem to lead, with very few exceptions, in the tech industries anymore. Or in education. Or in…
Where's our visionaries?
The coupon thing was thought up when the nation was running a deficit. Why not make a payment on the deficit, instead of wasting the money on the coupons? For that matter, why not sell off non-performing assets, like the Post Office, and the National Parks, and use that money for deficit reduction?
Another waste of taxpayers money!
" Digital TV is suddenly a must have Gaia-given right for everyone–especially the poor and uneducated. "
Great point! Because without television, those same people won't know when it's time to go out and vote.
And we know that the Democrat is the overwhelming preference of the uneducated.
I might buy the only-one-set-of-keys-manufactured theory, but I have a hard time accepting the back seat idea. I've never once been in the car, and pulled up to an ATM so the person in the back seat could use it. (The safety windows in the back seats of cars make it nearly impossible.)
It has always been my opinion that those braille keys were just an outgrowth of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the same kind of bureaucratic nonsense that requires wheelchair ramps outside of Ski Shops.
Regardless, the possibility that a few people MIGHT use the braille keys, does not degrade my metaphor, because I'm certain that there are a couple of computer geeks, who didn't know about the transition. They are still both equally useless
Actually elderly people who don't think it's worth it to "pay" for TV when it's "free" over the air are affected. Like my husband's mom who's in her '90s now. Back in the '70s she subscribed to cable for awhile, and didn't like it that she had to pay for all channels, rather then picking the few she liked and jettisoning the rest. Just that upset her to the point she didn't think paying for cable and better reception of local channels was worth it. So she unsubscribed, and had been happy for decades, 'til now. She's a good lady. But is a child of the Great Depression.
True!
Hey, I heard some of your act on Blue Collar Radio on XM yesterday–awesome!
Thanks.
I love it how I'm classified as "Blue Collar." Heck, I use bigger words than most of the hosts on Air America!
By the way, I paid for my converter box with my own money, although I was tempted to use the coupon because (a) my budget's tight, and (b) we're already living in ObamaNation, soon to be "Venezuela del Norte," where the government will be owning and/or running everything anyway.
Now that I have the converter box, apparently I have a choice between (a) using it and getting my regular tv stations, or (b) using my VCR/DVD player. Apparently it can't do both.
I've been reading your posts here for the last several weeks, but I don't believe I've ever seen your act before. Which is strange because I'm always looking for new comedians.
That was funny! Give us more!
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
You must be logged in to post a comment.