February 17th has come and gone. Some stations switched, and guess what? People have survived just fine. The FCC set up call centers ( 1-888-CALL-FCC) that were equipped to handle 100,000 calls per day to help people with the switch to digital TV.
Wanna know how many people called? 28,000. That's it. Good thing the government took care of us. Whew! --Leslie Shapiro
The hot mess that was the transition to digital TV was supposed to happen today. At midnight. Some stations went ahead and pulled the plug - it was their option, and for many stations, it was too expensive to keep both analog and digital broadcasts going.
Here in Atlanta, a few stations switched off analog for good. Some planned big parties, others planned to just silently fade the analog signal to black. Most stations are waiting for the new official deadline of June 12, 2009
What's going on in your town? Rioting in the streets as people wake to a new world? A sudden rush to finally get digital converter boxes? Or perhaps, when faced with a snowy screen, folks just flipped the switch off, and opened a good book. --Leslie Shapiro
Well, now that the DTV Transition deadline has moved, you don't have to rush out and do this this weekend. However, once your old analog TV becomes obsolete (since you didn't get a converter box and they're as hard to come by as the newest Elmo toy on Black Friday) you can convert the whole TV into something quite useful.
Ulnplggd.com has published instructions for how to convert your old TV into either an aquarium or terrarium. The instructions even show you how to use the on/off switch to power the light in the fish tank.
Give it a try and let us know how it works out. I'll bet it's even more realistic than HD. --Leslie Shapiro
Like it or not, it's official. President Obama has signed the bill that pushes back the DTV transition back to June 12. Let the PSA's begin.
Obama said, ""During these challenging economic times, the needs of American consumers are a top priority of my administration. This law, which was crafted in a bipartisan way and passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate, ensures that our citizens will have more time to prepare for the conversion."
Now, this hasn't stopped many stations from sticking with the original February 17th date. 491 stations want to switch as originally planned, and 190 stations have already switched.
What's going on in your neighborhood? --Leslie Shapiro
CE Pro
While the transition to DTV is delayed again, it's still coming — like it or not. Speaker manufacturer Klipsch is jumping on the transition bandwagon, using the switch as an excuse to upsell your audio system.
From an article on TWICE: “We plan to do a consumer email marketing campaign surrounding this topic, and we are starting to put ‘A High-Def Picture Demands High-Def Sound’ logo on our boxes,” a spokeswoman said.
“As we position ourselves as the authority on 5.1 sound,” the spokeswoman said, “Klipsch is addressing the weakening economy by launching three HD Theater packages, which will sell at price points that are among the lowest in company history.” The $899-suggested HD Theater 1000, $599-suggested HD Theater 500 and $399 HD Theater 300 will launch in February, March and April, respectively. The systems, which feature five speakers and a powered subwoofer. will be available through Klipsch’s authorized mass and specialty dealers. Information about the three HD Theater systems will be added to the web site soon, she noted.
Does someone need to remind Klipsch that the switch to DTV does NOT mean everything will be HDTV. But, I'll bet there stuff sounds pretty good on Standard Def TV too. --Leslie Shapiro
In the rollercoaster ride that is American politics, the bill proposing a delay to the digital transition, yet one more time, just days after the House shot down the latest proposal. Goodness, will someone just put this to bed already?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying to push through another vote, as early as next week. Until then, please, go out, get ready. If we're all set to go, the government will have no reason to delay. If you know someone who isn't ready, get them a converter box, or give them your TV with a digital tuner. Just put an end to this back-and-forth nonsense. --Leslie Shapiro
For years, it seemed like the only thing consumers cared about when buying a new TV was how thin it was. You could never be too thin. However, last year, 20% of the flat panel TVs sold has some kind of "green" feature.
According to DisplaySearch, this is a growing trend and could reach 50% by 2011, with eco-unfriendly designs disappearing by 2014. This eco-green trend can mean two things: reduces power consumption, and the use of environmentally friendly materials.
In the future, a truly green TV will do those two things, but should expand to include recycled packaging, a robust warranty and recycling program, even as far as using more environmentally-friendly delivery methods. Picture this: a bicycle-courier delivering your next big screen. It could happen. --Leslie Shapiro
Oh happy day - my DTV converter box coupons came in the mail today. How exciting, right? Two plastic cards, as requested. But, on the bottom of the page they were attached to was some interesting reading.
Listed were eight locations, supposedly near me, to redeem my coupons. I expected to see the nearby Best Buy store, but it was missing from the list. The local Target was listed - no surprise there. But the list mostly contained drugstores - CVS and RiteAid.
Now, I have nothing against drugstores, but if the government is concerned about consumer confusion, shouldn't they be pointing consumers to stores that might be able to help them set them up properly? --Leslie Shapiro
We reported last week about President-elect Barack Obama's desire to postpone the DTV transition, mainly because the poor and elderly weren't prepared. Now, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is suggesting alternatives to keep the transition on track for a February 17 switch.
According to Gary Shapiro, president of the CEA, “A change in the date could engender skepticism, confusion and distrust the next time government asks the public to take specific actions around a specific event.”
He argues that awareness is almost 100% right now, so delaying it will do nothing to make the transition more successful.
“A delay will require significant unbudgeted expenditures from the public and private sectors. Resources would have to be found for a new national public education campaign centered on the new date. NTIA [The National Telecommunications and Information Administration] would incur ongoing administrative costs to oversee the coupon program. Broadcasters would be forced to extend leases on their analog towers (to the extent extensions are even possible) and power their analog transmitters at a cost of up to tens of thousands of dollars per month, per station,” he said.
Keep reading for the 5 steps sent to the Prez-elect.
The President-Elect's transition team today announced that the conversion to digital TV, scheduled to occur on February 17, should be moved back. John Podestra chair of the transition team, sent a letter to the Commerce Committees of the House and Senate, claiming that the country is not prepared for the transition, and that the money spent so far has been "woefully inadequate." A spokesperson confirmed that Obama himself agreed with the call for a delay.
The new date? Podestra doesn't specify. The Consumers Union has suggested a date sometime in mid-summer. So what's going to happen? Well, who knows. --Ken C. Pohlmann
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