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Will America's Favorite Technology Go Dark?
Ant wrote to mention that MSNBC is reporting on the upcoming proposed digital television switchover planned for the end of 2006. From the article: "That's the date Congress targeted, a decade ago, for the end of analog television broadcasting and a full cutover to a digital format. If enforced, that means that overnight, somewhere around 70 million television sets now connected to rabbit ears or roof-top antennas will suddenly and forever go blank, unless their owners purchase a special converter box. Back when the legislation was written, New Year's Eve 2006 probably looked as safely distant as the dark side of the moon. But now that date is right around the corner and Congress and the FCC are struggling mightily to figure out what to do."
This is incredible! The U.S. doesn't have digital terrestrial broadcasting yet? Like, at all? Are you just going to shut down analogue and start broadcasting digital on one day? Australia has had terrestrial digital broadcasts for 5 years now, and while pick up has been slow, analogue tv is due for shut down by 2008. We have a few digital-only channels, and analogue reception in Sydney sucks, so digital is really worth it.