On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 5:47 PM, pedegars <[email protected]> wrote: > > Really?! Even though the street price of the converter boxes hasn't > yet matched the redemption value of the NTIA coupon cards (remember, > the boxes were initially promised as 'nearly free' with the coupons)? > Even though the coupons themselves have an automatic 90-day expiration > date--from the time they are mailed out--which is almost never > mentioned in the promotional PSAs? > Even though reception of ATSC signals (with or without a converter > box) may not, and in fact, most assuredly won't, match the reception > of the current NTSC signals? Even though the people who might be most > in need of a converter box may have the least amount of awareness or > technical education about what "the switch" entails (eg, the elderly, > the handicapped, people in sparsely-populated areas---or even the > average viewer who's not a member of this list)? > > There are a lot of places in this country where good TV reception > depends on a lot more than a bent wire coat hanger and some aluminum > foil. Those places deserve far more than static or--as is often > currently the case--a snowy picture (something that won't even be > possible in an all-ATSC world).
Having gone through the switchover - an off-brand converter box sells for $45 at Target, or $5 with a gov't coupon. I don't know if that qualifies as almost free, but $5 is cheap enough for anybody who wants to avoid buying a new TV or recorder with an ATSC tuner or hook up to cable. I hooked up the upstairs TV to a box with a rabbit ears antenna (<2 minutes effort) and scanned for digital channels. I have no complaints. The only channel lost is our ABC affiliate which barely came in even though we live in the city, and now doesn't come in at all. I got a converter box for the main downstairs TV and then got a flier from Comcast saying if I ordered broadband or digital telephone from them, they'd throw in a free year of basic cable. I did my sums of land line + DSL vs cable modem + cell phone and came up with big savings for the latter (without adding in the TV). I know a number of people are going to be stuck in the dark on Feb 19. I don't know what it will be as a percentage of the general population, except that it will be small. In the short term a rebate program from the gov't makes more sense than a new coupon program. I have a feeling a lot of people got coupons and bought converters and will find out they didn't need them. That will create a market for second-hand converter boxes, although the people who never found a way to get the word about the changeover also don't have a way to find out about where to get a used box. Tom W --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Like TV only smarter. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
