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Television

Digital Television Switch

I am more than a little annoyed by this Digital Television switch. For some reason, I doubt that I am alone. You see, I like millions of Americans have decided to bow out of the monopoly that cable television brings to the table and have decided that my money is best spent on other things and thus I watch TV over the antenna, like my forefathers did. And while politicians and businessmen who all seem to benefit from the switch go on and on about how it doesn’t even affect most Americans, it does affect me.

I am more than a little annoyed by this Digital Television switch. For some reason, I doubt that I am alone. You see, I like millions of Americans have decided to bow out of the monopoly that cable television brings to the table and have decided that my money is best spent on other things and thus I watch TV over the antenna, like my forefathers did. And while politicians and businessmen who all seem to benefit from the switch go on and on about how it doesn’t even affect most Americans, it does affect me.

While ABC, CBS, and NBC are stating that they don’t plan to shut down their analog transmitters nationally, apparently Wisconsin and Minnesota have been dropped from the nation as all three are dropping analog here. Which is odd because when they were talking about the extension, Minnesota in particular was used as an example of a state that wasn’t ready for the switch with somewhere around 30% of all antenna watchers still having not gotten their digital boxes.

Too bad so few people actually got one of these converter box couponsI myself have not gotten my digital box, I sit here waiting for my coupons to come so that I can buy one. I ordered them two months ago. So apparently the local channels are telling me that they don’t want my business which gee thanks don’t I feel special. Apparently now that I’ve passed the age of 29 I am no longer the demographic they care about so I don’t matter. Someone I guess should have told them that my roommate is in the precious demographic still so she should still matter.

What makes the whole deal worse is tha tI don’t even particularly want the digital broadcast in the first place. I’ve seen people running an antenna with a box and the reception is downright crappy. I’ve also experienced how bad digital is on cable as I had the digital cable box when they set me up with that. The only reason I kept it was for the TV guide which was quite useful, but I hated it. Instead of getting a little fuzz, I would be without a channel for the night. Now that is progress that only modern technology can provide. And I have to say that even when everything was working well, I really couldn’t tell the difference between digital and analog in picture quality and I have a newer TV as well.

Which really brings me to readiness. I know that the government had the coupons and didn’t put nearly as much money as was needed into it in order to do it, but honestly they shouldn’t have needed to. If this country was ready for such a switch, most of us would have digital ready TVs already. Yet we don’t. TVs that are digital capable have really only been on the market for a few years which for a TV lifespan is just a rediculously short period of time.

And all this crap that we are put through is for what? A worse signal and the cell phone companies get to make more money? Really? I mean aren’t cell phone companies making enough money on their own without the government helping them get even more? I think it would have been a better investment if we used the new airwaves that we are freeing up for national utility cell phone and wireless towers that would connect the nation with cell phone and wifi coverage the way that telephone wires connect us just I don’t know more modern and such. But no, that would have actually done something useful for the average citizen. And lord knows, this country is not interested in making American’s lives better, only the almighty corporation.