DTV Converters In Short Supply

Ponca City, We Love You writes with a New York Times story saying there could be a shortage of DTV converter boxes in addition to the problem with coupons. "At the current rate of coupon redemption, 115,000 per day, plus sales without coupons, that means the current stock of converters could be sold out by the end of this month. So what would have happened if the whole digital transition worked the way it was supposed to? Many of those 3.7 million people would be marching into their local Radio Shack and Best Buy stores trying to buy converter boxes next weekend right before the scheduled cutoff on Feb. 17. And if the electronics association's numbers are right, the boxes would have sold out." Good thing the extended cut-off date was approved.

Comments

DTV Shopping list

[Centurix]

1. Campaign to promote DTV - Check
2. DTV Transmission 'stuff' - Check
3. 250 million DTV receivers - FAIL

Re:DTV Shopping list

[repvik]

One in the kitchen, one in the bedroom and one in the livingroom. One in every waiting room, a couple at the office, a few at school etc.

Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[WarJolt]

It's just a little piece that contributes to the greater problem.
Somewhere along the way the government decided that television is a right and not a privilege. In every other type of technology when standards change and equipment has to be upgraded the consumer pays for it.

I've heard the argument that the increased ad revenue makes the cost worth it(not sure if this is accurate) so why isn't the television companies paying for it? Plus it's not the guys who can't afford a $40 box that networks are advertising to.

I can't think of a good reason why future generations of this country are going to pay for our television today.

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[WarJolt]

Buying everyone a radio is cheaper than buying everyone a converter box.

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[Idimmu Xul]

TV, like radio, is a way to get news out quickly to the population.

News like people have to get off their fat asses before a certain date to get a DTV converter, else they'll no longer get TV?

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[sahonen]

The total cost of issuing the coupons for converter boxes is FAR less than the total amount of money raised by the government by selling off the spectrum formerly used by analog TV. The government actually made a profit on this deal.

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[arkhan_jg]

Somewhere along the way the government decided that television is a right and not a privilege.

Because the public still owns the right to the airwaves. The TV companies are leasing the public's property, as negotiated by the government.

By switching to digital transmission, significant amount of spectrum are freed up for other wireless purposes. Quite a bit of this spectrum is already leased out to new users once it's freed up. The government gets quite a bit of money out of this, on behalf of the public.

Given the incovenience caused by this change in use, and the profit made by doing so, it's hardly unreasonable for the government to give some small amount of the profit made back to the public to mitigate the impact of the change.

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[gallwapa]

No no no, you missed his point. He is saying get LIVE TV for free using an antenna and you'll never go back to analog or cable. Duh. ;-)
English rocks.

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[drsmithy]

You mean the government has seized the rights to the airwaves. We public own nothing. Don't believe me? Try setting up a transmitter with any serious wattage -- even on an open frequency -- without a license and watch what happens to you.

It wrinkles my feathers big time whenever the government claims something is "public", and yet the public has little control or voice over it. "Public" schools. "Public" airwaves. "Public" roads, etc.

"Public" doesn't mean "you", it means "everyone".

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[arkhan_jg]

Indeed - by setting up a transmitter of significant wattage, you're depriving everybody else in the public the use of that particular frequency. You're only one member of the public, and the rest of us get to have consideration too. Try looking up the 'tragedy of the commons' sometime.

You get to use the frequency exclusively by paying the licence fee, thus compensating the rest of the public for their loss. That money goes back to the government, and ultimately (at least in principle) benefits all the public - including yourself. Yes, you get back much less than you put in as an individual; but with exclusive use of the frequency, the benefit you get is that much higher also.

Re:Why are we going in debt over CONVERTER BOXES?

[timholman]

Am I depriving the community? Or providing a service? If no one was using that frequency anyway, who cares?

How do you know no one is using the frequency? What if a licensed low power station 100 miles away is using it? You can't hear it, but when you put your pirate transmitter on the air, suddenly you're interfering with his signal. He paid the licensing fees for that spectrum. What are you doing to his rights to use the airwaves?

Thank goodness we don't have to license our websites. I can reach a far greater number of people with my websites than I ever could with a transmitter. And yeah, I am "depriving" others the use of the domain names I've acquired.

Wrong analogy. Internet bandwidth is essentially limitless - all you have to do is install the extra fiber and cables. The same with domain names - even at the peak of domain name squatting, no one ever had difficulties thinking of a new name and registering it.

The public airwaves represent a limited set of resources that must be shared by potentially millions of people at the same time. You can't "add" to the spectrum as needed. It has to be regulated, or it will be worthless.

I would do with the airwaves what I do with my websites -- provide free information, free commentary, and the like. The "benefit" to me is not described in terms of money, but in being able to make a tiny difference in the world I live in, which, in theory at least, should benefit all.

And what if I then decide that I want to squat on top of your frequency with my bigger transmitter, and provide my own news, commentary, information, etc.? What then? Do we duel it out in the streets? Gather our respective gangs of anarchists and take axes to each others' equipment?

A world of people who thought like you, and who each felt they had the "right" to use the airwaves as they saw fit, would make the electromagnetic spectrum completely useless. You'd have nothing but 24/7 jamming, interference, and constant battles as everyone tried to outshout each other with bigger transmitters.

Sorry, but when it comes to the public spectrum, you have to have government regulation, else you will have nothing but anarchy and waste.

Good thing?

[macraig]

"... And if the electronics association's numbers are right, the boxes would have sold out." Good thing the extended cut-off date was approved.

I'd wager that there's a statistically significant number of those procrastinators who are now gonna simply procrastinate until June, so that there will still be a tidal wave of demand, just delayed a few months. The delay might help and motivate some people to get off their asses, but not all.

And hell, if the shelves really get emptied, well, I probably won't need one of mine by then so that will be one less desperate family.

Re:Good thing?

[dbcad7]

Since the extension is not a requirement, many stations will shut down analog anyway. Now it might not be all of them.. but all it takes is one network that has something that people will miss, and the procrastinators will get off their butts.. For example, in my area, the ABC station stopped their analog early.. damned if I didn't hit the store the next day to get a box. Main reason was because Lost was about to start up the new episodes, and of course I needed it anyway.

Like everyone else, I knew a lonnng time ago I needed it.. and I even got coupons.. but then I let them expire.. my bad.. so I ended up footing the bill myself.. but it's done.. and mainly because of the early shutdown by ABC. I am pretty sure that well over 90 percent of the people that need the boxes will have them way before June, and that was entirely too long of an extension.. people would get what they need, or adapt by buying cable or Satellite if there was a box shortage.

Re:TV is fine the wait it is now.

[sahonen]

Because the spectrum has already been sold to companies that were promised they'd be allowed to use it as of February 17th. Delaying the cutoff means these businesses have to put their plans on hold. We're talking millions in lost revenue.

Also, TV stations currently have to maintain both digital and analog broadcasting towers. The power bill for even one tower is insane, let alone two, and the additional cost of maintaining two towers for longer than anticipated can be crippling for stations who already have tight margins due to decreased ad revenue. And no, we're not talking about corporate conglomerates like Disney and GE (owners of ABC and NBC), the majority of TV stations are locally owned and operated and pay the networks for affiliation.

Can't help but think that...

[DreadfulGrape]

...if millions of people were to suddenly be forced to go without TV for a while, it would improve the collective mental health of the U.S. ... maybe just a bit.

Re:My DTV converter doesn't work very well

[Anonymous Coward]

FYI some stations aren't yet transmitting their digital signal at full power, or at their desired frequency, because the analog bandwidth has not been freed up yet.

E.g. in NYC, I can only get the (crappy) analog signal of WNET, since their digital signal is currently very low power. I heard that after the transition, they will be dropping analog (obviously) and upping the power of their digital signal.

-T

Re:F*&K those people..

[speedlaw]

Yes, they will. I once worked in a very large building complex (Starrett City, NY in Brooklyn). I was often assigned to answer the phone for maintenance-clogged toilets, leaky faucets, etc. One day, the Cable TV provider (there was one company for the whole complex) had to do some work, which shut off CATV to the entire complex. We NEVER got so many angry, screaming calls-repeatedly. I don't think a loss of Hot Water would cause so much angst. I'll never forget the day I had eight hours of every single shut-in, or elderly, or mom at home with kids and no soaps, call me over and over. (No maam, I don't know when the cable guys will be done...yes I'm sorry...have a good day) YOU may have four internet connections, get TV via Bittorrent, and run OSX on your Netbook, but for a lot of folks, the on/off switch and the channel selector are all they run. Don't think what comes out, even if pure crap, is not important to those folks.

Re:this isn't a good year for this

[Overzeetop]

And why should I have had to change two of my outdoor light timer switches two years ago (at about $30 each) because some goofball in DC decided that moving DST by a month would be a cute prank?

Did your neighbor sign up for the two free boxes via the coupon program? You, know, the one which has be advertised on TV for the last year? (For the record, I did, and didn't get them in the mail. They have since expired. FTC still won't re-issue them).

No program is perfect - there are always fringe cases. Had your neighbor put a dime a day into a mason jar for his (or her) precious TV a year ago, there would have been enough to buy a converter today.

Besides, he/she was born before TV; think of it as a return to his/her childhood.

(sorry, I don't mean to be an ass, but $40 really is a small amount of money, even on a budget. If you don't have $40 worth of elasticity in your monthly budget, you're in far deeper trouble than not getting to watch The Price is Right. Now, if you want to argue the endless frustration a non-technically-savvy end user will have hooking up said converter - fire away. I'm all with you on how they fucked up the entire process by ignoring remodulation of HD signals over the venerable coaxial cable, and )