DIgital switch May be moved

[mrbiggbrain]

I heard about this yesturday, but apparently a bill may be passed to try and move the switch by a few months, personaly i think it should not be moved.

- The transition has been going on for years, iv personaly known the date it was happening for 5 years, and have known of it for longer.

- The goverment has spent millions on ads just to let the public know, spanning 2 years, and being almost constant for the last 6 months.

- converter boxs cost only $40, now i know many people are upset that they should have to spend $40, but youv had 5 years, thats $8 a year, 0.66 a month, less then 3 pennys a day people had to put away per tv.

- The goverment can not be responcible for the fact that people turned a blind ear to something that was obviously going to affect them, i dont know how many people have asked me how they could make the switch "so quick".

How do you feel, and why, id really like to know

[jrusso2]

One of the problems is people in rural areas who got the box can get no signal. Seems digital transmissions don't travel as far as the analog leaving those millions of people with no air wave TV.

A solution needs to be found for this.

[mrbiggbrain]

One of the problems is people in rural areas who got the box can get no signal. Seems digital transmissions don't travel as far as the analog leaving those millions of people with no air wave TV.

A solution needs to be found for this.

i can agree, but not so much on the fact that digital cant travel that far, more that people dont know they may need to buy an internal/external antena (a digital one, not there old analog one)

ad as the ones you need are $80-100 or ~$400 i can see why people would be like WTF

[lisati]

And then there's the folks who are less tech-savvy or even technophobic, who probably wouldn't have a clue what the fuss is all about...

$40 is nothing to pay compared to what could be charged: it cost me $NZ299 for the decoder box I recently installed, and can now get two stations that I couldn't clearly get before (very fuzzy), a couple of other stations that I couldn't get at all before, and the option of 5.1 surround sound on some programs on one of my favourite stations. A much more enjoyable viewing experience....

[kavon89]

i can agree, but not so much on the fact that digital cant travel that far, more that people dont know they may need to buy an internal/external antena (a digital one, not there old analog one)

ad as the ones you need are $80-100 or ~$400 i can see why people would be like WTF

I receive digital channels just fine with my newer TV which supports those kinds of channels with my old external antenna.

Problems with "the switch":

1. Elderly people will have no idea what is going on
2. Same goes for people in rural areas, people in remote areas who would have to take a long drive out to a city and look for a converter box, to find out they can't receive the signal anyway
3. Lack of funding for the $40 coupons

Converter boxes don't cost $40, they're $50 in my area. You can't really break it down to "three pennies a day, or 8 dollars a year for 5 years" when people are barely making it to their next pay check to come home and find they can't watch tv any more.

[shadylookin]

I think they should make the switch as scheduled. There are always going to be people who refuse to prepare themselves or heed warnings. Even if you pushed the switch date back another 5 years someone somewhere is going to be confused why his tv doesn't work despite 20 years worth of planning the switch over.

if you just make the switch eventually they'll figure out the problem and adjust accordingly.

[hellion0]

They should abort the switch entirely.

[Circus-Killer]

well, i dont know how america is going about the switch. but in south africa, they have already turned on the dtv broadcasting, but will only turn off the analog broadcasts in november 2011.

whilst this gives us plenty of time to be prepared, can you imagine what this will do to millions of people in south africa. i have a funny feeling south africans will be having the exact same conversation 2 years from now.

[blueshiftoverwatch]

It sucks that some people aren't going to be able to watch TV. But being able to watch TV isn't a right that your entitled to by birth. If your really bored and don't want to upgrade because your technophobic or don't have the money there are plenty of other (probably more fulfilling) things to do with your time. It might be a little different if your a cripple who can't do anything except lay in bed all day and has nothing else to keep entertained with other than watch TV. But that's not the majority of people.

[SunnyRabbiera]

It sucks that some people aren't going to be able to watch TV. But being able to watch TV isn't a right that your entitled to by birth. If your really bored and don't want to upgrade because your technophobic or don't have the money there are plenty of other (probably more fulfilling) things to do with your time. It might be a little different if your a cripple who can't do anything except lay in bed all day and has nothing else to keep entertained with other than watch TV. But that's not the majority of people.

posts like this are insensitive to the current times, look I know TV isnt needed but some people use it as an escape from a world that is falling apart around them.
Todays economy doesnt fit the need to switch, times are just too rough to be forced to do something you dont have to.
I think this digital stuff is BS personally, just a way for our corrupt governments can make more money and for us the common folk to loose more money...

[mcduck]

well, i dont know how america is going about the switch. but in south africa, they have already turned on the dtv broadcasting, but will only turn off the analog broadcasts in november 2011.

whilst this gives us plenty of time to be prepared, can you imagine what this will do to millions of people in south africa. i have a funny feeling south africans will be having the exact same conversation 2 years from now.

Most likely you will.. :D

Finland already cut analog TV broadcasts in 2007 and still there are some people complaining about having to buy a DVB tuner. (You can get a decent DVB-T tuner for about 20€ while the TV license itself costs 224,30€ per year. Also national DVB broadcasts started in 2001 so people had nice 6 years of time to save money for that 20€ box..)

I suppose it's just the nature of people that you always need to complain about something.

[mips]

well, i dont know how america is going about the switch. but in south africa, they have already turned on the dtv broadcasting, but will only turn off the analog broadcasts in november 2011.

whilst this gives us plenty of time to be prepared, can you imagine what this will do to millions of people in south africa. i have a funny feeling south africans will be having the exact same conversation 2 years from now.


Only difference is the gov is footing the bill for some of the digital boxes.

[Johnsie]

I don't think there should be a switch. The technology isn't there to broadcast into rural areas. Analogue travels alot further and is therefore more widely available.

The fact that many people will need an extra box will mean that more energy is used at a time when there is an energy crisis. People should really be consuming less energy, not using more.

A converter may only be $40 and that might not seem like alot of money to you or I, but for people living on the bread line in these economic circumstances it is a big sacrifice to make.

What about all the portable TV's that will be rendered useless and go to waste?

Most digital TV services make it easier for companies to analyse what people are watching.

[mcduck]

I don't think there should be a switch. The technology isn't there to broadcast into rural areas. Analogue travels alot further and is therefore more widely available.

The fact that many people will need an extra box will mean that more energy is used at a time when there is an energy crisis. People should really be consuming less energy, not using more.

A converter may only be $40 and that might not seem like alot of money to you or I, but for people living on the bread line in these economic circumstances it is a big sacrifice to make.

What about all the portable TV's that will be rendered useless and go to waste?

Most digital TV services make it easier for companies to analyse what people are watching.
Both analog and digital signals travel equally far. The only difference is that if you are at the limits of the signal digital broadcast either works or doesn't work, while analog kind of works although with loads of static.

DVB broadcasts are also possible with a satellite (and cable), which is how the problem was solved here. Terrestrial network covers 99,9% of country and those living outside of it's coverage get free satellite dishes.

Digital broadcasts themselves don't allow any company to monitor what you are doing, that's complete nonsense. It's just like analog broadcast, one-way signal coming from the broadcast company. Unless you use some additional service that uses network connection as return channel there's absolutely no communication from you to the broadcast company (that would be technically impossible).

What comes to energy usage, at least here all TV's sold already include a digital tuner so extra box is only needed if you wish to use your old TV. My DVB-T box uses max 10W of power (when turned on), 6 times less than a typical light bulb.. ;)

[mips]

Both analog and digital signals travel equally far. The only difference is that if you are at the limits of the signal digital broadcast either works or doesn't work, while analog kind of works although with loads of static.

DVB broadcasts are also possible with a satellite (and cable), which is how the problem was solved here. Terrestrial network covers 99,9% of country and those living outside of it's coverage get free satellite dishes.

Digital broadcasts themselves don't allow any company to monitor what you are doing, that's complete nonsense. It's just like analog broadcast, one-way signal coming from the broadcast company. Unless you use some additional service that uses network connection as return channel there's absolutely no communication from you to the broadcast company (that would be technically impossible).

What comes to energy usage, at least here all TV's sold already include a digital tuner so extra box is only needed if you wish to use your old TV. My DVB-T box uses max 10W of power (when turned on), 6 times less than a typical light bulb.. ;)

+1 At last someone posted that actually knows what they are talking about.

"Terrestrial network covers 99,9% of country and those living outside of it's coverage get free satellite dishes."

This will never happen in the USA as nobody get's a free ride over there except big corporates ;)

[mrbiggbrain]

I don't think there should be a switch. The technology isn't there to broadcast into rural areas. Analogue travels alot further and is therefore more widely available.

The fact that many people will need an extra box will mean that more energy is used at a time when there is an energy crisis. People should really be consuming less energy, not using more.

A converter may only be $40 and that might not seem like alot of money to you or I, but for people living on the bread line in these economic circumstances it is a big sacrifice to make.

What about all the portable TV's that will be rendered useless and go to waste?

Most digital TV services make it easier for companies to analyse what people are watching.

THis is actualy verry misguided, the digital transition will save us ALOT of electricity.

currently for all tv sets to work, tv stations (big and small) must sned out 2 signals a digital signal and an analog signal. now digital saves us about 10-15% over transmitting in analog. so we are CURRENTLY useing 185% of the elesctricity used by an analog tower, and as long as we keep analog alive tv stations will continue footing the bill, and wasteing alot of electricity.

im not saying i dont feel bad for the lonly old lady whos tv is just gonna poof stop working, but i feel like in america we belive that if we complaine anough about everything we can make things 1% better for us, by makign things 90% worse for everyone else. the entitlement of this country is (IMOH) one of the reasons that the economy is so bad, the get mine, get outa there ideal is a little rampant.