Remember the mandatory digital TV conversion?

[DamnYankee]

Millions face blank screens in TV switch
June 12 move to digital signals is expected to cause 'significant disruptions'
NYT: Millions of households will lose television reception next week when 1,000 broadcasters complete their conversion to digital programming, officials say.
The government has spent more than $2 billion to ease the transition to digital television, and in the last few months has cut in half the number of households that are unprepared for the final conversion on June 12. But the latest survey by the Nielsen Company indicates that as of the end of May, more than 10 percent of the 114 million households that have television sets are either completely or partly unprepared.
Full story
NYT: Millions face blank screens in TV switch - The New York Times- msnbc.com

Leave it to the government to totally fuck up a partially fucked up plan.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Millions face blank screens in TV switch
June 12 move to digital signals is expected to cause 'significant disruptions'
NYT: Millions of households will lose television reception next week when 1,000 broadcasters complete their conversion to digital programming, officials say.
The government has spent more than $2 billion to ease the transition to digital television, and in the last few months has cut in half the number of households that are unprepared for the final conversion on June 12. But the latest survey by the Nielsen Company indicates that as of the end of May, more than 10 percent of the 114 million households that have television sets are either completely or partly unprepared.
Full story
NYT: Millions face blank screens in TV switch - The New York Times- msnbc.com

Leave it to the government to totally fuck up a partially fucked up plan.

Ya cause it just isn't the fault of the people not making sure they are ready.

 

[DamnYankee]

Millions face blank screens in TV switch
June 12 move to digital signals is expected to cause 'significant disruptions'
NYT: Millions of households will lose television reception next week when 1,000 broadcasters complete their conversion to digital programming, officials say.
The government has spent more than $2 billion to ease the transition to digital television, and in the last few months has cut in half the number of households that are unprepared for the final conversion on June 12. But the latest survey by the Nielsen Company indicates that as of the end of May, more than 10 percent of the 114 million households that have television sets are either completely or partly unprepared.
Full story
NYT: Millions face blank screens in TV switch - The New York Times- msnbc.com

Leave it to the government to totally fuck up a partially fucked up plan.

Ya cause it just isn't the fault of the people not making sure they are ready.

Well there is that Sarge, but I have to wonder whose wisdom decided it was necessary in the first place. Have an old lady across the street from me who has been doing quite nicely without cables all this time.

 

[KittenKoder]

The funny thing is that people still haven't noticed what this really is, a government endorsement of specific corporations through legislation which would have failed on the open market had they not taken billions of tax dollars and funneled it into the companies that should have been making all the TV sets capable of receiving the signal type for the last ten years to begin with. I don't know, but that just doesn't sound right.

 

[DamnYankee]

The funny thing is that people still haven't noticed what this really is, a government endorsement of specific corporations through legislation which would have failed on the open market had they not taken billions of tax dollars and funneled it into the companies that should have been making all the TV sets capable of receiving the signal type for the last ten years to begin with. I don't know, but that just doesn't sound right.

Ohhhh.... I absolutely noticed....

Leave it to the government to totally fuck up a partially fucked up plan.

 

[KittenKoder]

The funny thing is that people still haven't noticed what this really is, a government endorsement of specific corporations through legislation which would have failed on the open market had they not taken billions of tax dollars and funneled it into the companies that should have been making all the TV sets capable of receiving the signal type for the last ten years to begin with. I don't know, but that just doesn't sound right.

Ohhhh.... I absolutely noticed....

Leave it to the government to totally fuck up a partially fucked up plan.

Okay, it should read "so many people" ... didn't mean everyone.

 

[DamnYankee]

The funny thing is that people still haven't noticed what this really is, a government endorsement of specific corporations through legislation which would have failed on the open market had they not taken billions of tax dollars and funneled it into the companies that should have been making all the TV sets capable of receiving the signal type for the last ten years to begin with. I don't know, but that just doesn't sound right.

Ohhhh.... I absolutely noticed....

Leave it to the government to totally fuck up a partially fucked up plan.

Okay, it should read "so many people" ... didn't mean everyone.

Much better.... I don't like fixin' other people's posts for them....

 

[Xenophon]

The government never heard of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it.'

The majority of people who this effects are old folks who have no idea it will happen or what to do when it does.

Nice going BO, way to fuck over seniors.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Obama had nothing to do with this.

Now if you want to address whether we should have done this or not, that is another issue. I see no possible compelling reason for this change. And yes it is the Government meddling in the market.

 

[KittenKoder]

Obama had nothing to do with this.

Now if you want to address whether we should have done this or not, that is another issue. I see no possible compelling reason for this change. And yes it is the Government meddling in the market.

Which is the second biggest reason I am so against it. The first, they are handing taxes we paid to only a couple corporations because of it.

 

[random3434]

The government never heard of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it.'

The majority of people who this effects are old folks who have no idea it will happen or what to do when it does.

Nice going BO, way to fuck over seniors.

You know I love ya xeno, but President Obama didn't start this. As a matter of fact, he is the one that delayed it (after he got in office) so folks could have more time to convert:

Delays have helped consumers. Jeffrey Hart, professor of political science at Indiana University Bloomington, has written extensively about the politics and policy of digital TV (DTV) conversion. He says the change has taken a long time to accomplish -- and it's a good thing that it has. "If they had done it on the schedule that was originally proposed, it would have been a total disaster," he said. Hart says key decisions by the Federal Communications Commission in the 1990s guaranteed there would be confusion over DTV equipment and services, and the Bush administration distrust of government regulation and faith in the marketplace contributed to further problems. It took more than a decade to resolve such issues as technical standards for signals and equipment, intellectual property rights vs. "fair use" of content, and rules governing the relationship between broadcasters and cable and satellite service providers. The initial U.S. deadline for shutting off analog broadcasting was Dec. 31, 2006. It was delayed to Dec. 31, 2008, delayed again to Feb. 17, 2009, then again to June 12, 2009.

Indiana University experts ready to discuss the digital TV conversion: IU News Room: Indiana University

 

[KittenKoder]

The one who signed it into law was Bush ... sadly. If Obama was smart he would have instead just said that companies will have to start equiping their TVs with the capability by default, yes it's messing with the market a bit, but it wouldn't have cost us anything and would have given all companies an opportunity to compete in the market equally.

 

[DamnYankee]

Obama had nothing to do with this.

Now if you want to address whether we should have done this or not, that is another issue. I see no possible compelling reason for this change. And yes it is the Government meddling in the market.

Had nothing to do with the initial meddling that I can find, but certainly isn't showing that "empathy" he's always verbalizing about any longer.


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Obama: No More Delays in Digital TV Shift, Get Ready Now

By Fawn Johnson, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- There will be no further delay in the nationwide transition to digital television, President Barack Obama warned Thursday, one week before the shift is set to take place.

Friday, June 12, will be the last day that television stations will broadcast in analog format. Viewers who rely on rabbit-ear antennas for analog signals will pick up snow on their TVs after that date.

The most recent data suggest some 3 million households that rely on over-the- air TV are unprepared for the transition. They must either buy a digital TV, a digital converter box, or subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service.

The number of unprepared households has been cut in half since Feb. 17, the original date for the digital shift. At the request of Obama, Congress postponed the transition to give people more time to prepare.

Obama: No More Delays in Digital TV Shift, Get Ready Now

So, what's the problem here? With demanding another delay for those other 3 million? After all, there was also supposed to be government (meddling) funds to help them out with the transition, remember? Wonder if that was superceded by other priorities, like the stimulus bill for instance.

 

[random3434]

Maybe they could keep delaying it until t.v's are obsolete!

 

[DamnYankee]

The one who signed it into law was Bush ... sadly. If Obama was smart he would have instead just said that companies will have to start equiping their TVs with the capability by default, yes it's messing with the market a bit, but it wouldn't have cost us anything and would have given all companies an opportunity to compete in the market equally.

Or, he could have issued an EO -- he's done pretty well with those so far.

 

[DamnYankee]

Maybe they could keep delaying it until t.v's are obsolete!

I was thinkin' until those old people died....

 

[random3434]

Maybe they could keep delaying it until t.v's are obsolete!

I was thinkin' until those old people died....

Ah, you still have a few years left in ya I bet!

 

[DamnYankee]

Maybe they could keep delaying it until t.v's are obsolete!

I was thinkin' until those old people died....

Ah, you still have a few years left in ya I bet!

Damn straight! And I plan on NEVER retiring....

 

[KittenKoder]

I was thinkin' until those old people died....

Ah, you still have a few years left in ya I bet!

Damn straight! And I plan on NEVER retiring....

Want to know the really ironic thing about this, if you know enough about electronics you can upgrade your reciever in your TV without the fancy boxes ... LOL ... I should volunteer to do it for free and get a bunch of others to offer the same across the country! Really screw with the government.

 

[DamnYankee]

Ah, you still have a few years left in ya I bet!

Damn straight! And I plan on NEVER retiring....

Want to know the really ironic thing about this, if you know enough about electronics you can upgrade your reciever in your TV without the fancy boxes ... LOL ... I should volunteer to do it for free and get a bunch of others to offer the same across the country! Really screw with the government.

I was originally talkin' about an older person I know, who wouldn't know the first thing about that. In fact, hubby has trouble operating the remote, never mind upgrading anything if he was left alone!