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Will America's Favorite Technology Go Dark?

Posted by Zonk on from the firefly-might-be-back-on-by-then dept.

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."

5 of 930 comments (clear)

  1. Holy shit, you're a fucking mensa master! by loraksus · · Score: 1, Troll

    Bullshit. The main reason for doing this is to force 70 million americans to go out and buy some $100+ part to allow them to keep on getting TV.

    You're a fucking moron if you think this isn't about money (Gee, who the fuck is lobbying? The people that make the TVs and decoder boxes? SHOCKING!) or believe that this move will save your precious airwaves (which, ignoramus, have pretty much already been allocated (sure, no formal auction thus far, but it doesn't take a genius to see who will be buying what and that the public's only benefit will be a couple billion in revenue), and are thus in the category of "not fucking yours anymore").
    Oh, yeah, we get all sorts of goodies like DRM in this forced change.

    --
    1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcfv gbhnjmk,l.;/
  2. Re:A suggestion maybe by EastCoastSurfer · · Score: 0, Troll

    Maybe the poor shouldn't be watching so much TV anyways. Without TV lets hope that they might go read or attend a class and just maybe do something about their situation.

  3. Re:A suggestion maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    analog Tv uses exactly the spectrum it needs, it does not use more than it needs and is therefore "wasteful"

    Big SUVs use exactly the amount of gas they need, they do not use more than they need, too.

  4. Re:It's about plugging the analog hole by Tackhead · · Score: 0, Troll
    >> The driving force behind the legislation to abolish analog TV is the big media companies, who want to "plug the analog hole".
    >
    >Until the signal plugs into my robotic central nervous system, there will always be an anlogue hole... my dilated pupil.

    When MPAA and Congress are through with us, there'll only be one dilated analogue hole left. On that day, we are all Goatse.

  5. Re:Subject by drooling-dog · · Score: 0, Troll
    Actually, forget the speculation, let's look at the exit polls.

    Everybody knows you can't rely on exit polls. They only measure how people think they voted, not how their votes were actually counted...