Senate Passes Another Bill To Delay Digital TV Transition 318
An anonymous reader tips news that the US Senate has passed another bill to delay the transition to digital TV. This is the second such bill to pass the Senate; the first was narrowly defeated in the House. The new version has an important difference — it would allow the transition to take place gradually over the four-month period between the original transition date (February 17th) and the extended date (June 12th). TV stations around the country could choose when they wanted to make the change, allowing those who have already begun plans to stop analog transmission to continue their shut-down operations.
How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm someone who doesn't watch much TV. I'm sure other people could go a few days (or however long it takes them to find out what's wrong with their television set) without TV. Now, how much MORE is this bill costing me in taxpayer dollars? And you justify this HOW?
Slowly Now (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because some people took no action to get a DTV tuner, and now the government feels really bad about it. Naturally, their response is to delay everything. Those people are never going to be ready.
Why???!?? (Score:5, Insightful)
What the fuck is the point of this? That spectrum has a new use which is only getting delayed yet again because of this. Why are they delaying? Its not like TV is something that you can't live without. And if you still haven't figured out that you need to upgrade your TV then either you: A) don't have a brain B) are senile and will probably never get the point C) rarely use your TV so it doesn't matter anyway. If they do this stupid delay I hope they at least make the analog required to just display 24/7 a text message stating that they need a digital TV or converter box with audio of a person reading it it in English and Spanish. Maybe then the last of the morons might get it.
If you don't like it... (Score:3, Insightful)
then please be sure to write your congressman and let them know. It was narrowly defeated last time, so the more people complaining the better chance it will be defeated again.
Death of Broadcast Television (Score:5, Insightful)
After seeing enough reports on the switch on TV, my wife who hates computers, asked me last night "Can you find the shows I watch online?" After we found them, she then said "What do we need the TV for?" And that is the big question.
My kids haven't watched TV, other than something in a restaurant or doctor's waiting room, in a couple years now. They watch everything online. Of the three shows my wife watches, two are available online at the network sites and the third can be found via torrents. Actually, all three are available on the network sites, it is just ABC USES SOME FUCKING PROPRIETARY PLAYER THAT DOESN'T WORK ON LINUX! Thus, we either live without that show (no big deal) or hit Pirate Bay. ABC, are you listening? Just use a standard Flash player like everyone else.
While some of the people still watching broadcast TV don't have broadband, most of those fall into the "old people -- gonna die soon" demographic. What happens to broadcast in 10 years?
Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no (Score:5, Insightful)
That should be the motto of our government. If the government sets a deadline, they should hold to it, instead of wasting time and tax dollars by pushing back the finish line. What's wrong with making a decision and sticking to it, if there is no quantified risk to continue?
Just ensure that the vouchers are getting out to the people who haven't received them already. The people can do the rest. If they procrastinate, then let them reap the benefits of procrastination.
Apologies if I sound troll.
It won't matter how long it's delayed. (Score:1, Insightful)
You could delay the transition and it won't matter there's still going to be people that are caught unprepared. That's just human nature.
The only thing this adds to the situation is more confusion.
Re:If you don't like it... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The REAL cost of delaying the switch. (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like a good reason for the station owners to kill their analog towers on schedule.
A waste of effort. (Score:5, Insightful)
It just kills me that the Obama administration has chosen this issue to be one to focus on. Television? I watch it, I don't have a problem with it. I'm not one of those people who triumphantly claim they don't watch television as if it makes them smarter.
But let's get real here. Television just isn't all that important, especially compared to say... health care, the economy, energy, torture, "the terrorists", North Korea, Putin, Russia, global warming, the housing crisis, Israel/Palestinian, New Orleans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Melamine, Salmonella, Gitmo, domestic spying, illegal immigration, crumbling infra-structure, and a host of other issues I'd rather just forget about. Each of those expands into a whole different set of problems, and they all interact with one another.
But.. the television switchover that's been going on in some fashion for the last 10 years is one of the FIRST issues the administration has chosen to take on. Why? I have my suspicions, mostly about Democrats being in bed with Big Content (hey, whenever you refer to Big it's bad.. right?).
The justification is just bizarre. The poor and technically inept might be without TV for a little while. I know around here we like to brow-beat anyone that's "stupid", or a technophile as if they deserve what they get. I'm not a big believer in that, but I am a believer in priorities. The people who television is THAT important to have gotten a converter. The people remaining might just have to go without for a while until they decide it's a priority. But yet this whole thing gets sold to us like it's an essential element to survival. Just yesterday I saw an ad from a local broadcaster urging people to "help their neighbors" in making sure they can get the digital broadcast, as if a hurricane has torn down houses, or a snowstorm has buried everyone in snow. This isn't a disaster... It's just television.
Re:The REAL cost of delaying the switch. (Score:5, Insightful)
Read the story again. Stations can switch over any time they want during the 4 month period. Have all your ducks in a row and don't want to waste money? Go ahead and switch.
One of the local stations is switching to new frequencies and a new tower and had some delays getting all the new equipment they were buying. Now they've got it but they can't get it installed at the moment because it's the middle of the freaking winter here, and installing new equipment outside is a PITA when a foot of new snow fell in the past couple days.
Giving the 4 month window allows my local station to wait a few weeks for a window of good weather in the forcast to get all the new equipment set up easily and safely for their workers. If they want to delay a few weeks for ease and safety, letting them sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?
That's the REAL story.
colossal failure of broadcast media (Score:4, Insightful)
I wonder why don't TV stations show an overlay banner saying "This station is available on digital channel ##. The analog channel will be discontinued at DATE. Please contact your local electronics store for how to receive digital broadcast."
Having people who watch analog TV suddenly go blank without knowing they should switch to digital, that is the colossal failure of broadcast media that can't disseminate information to their audience.
Re:A waste of effort. (Score:5, Insightful)
But Television is today's form of circuses. It keeps the general unwashed masses happy, entertained, and more worried about what happened on Idol as apposed to people worrying or taking an interest in health care, the economy, energy, torture, "the terrorists", North Korea, Putin, Russia, global warming et. al.
Re:What is the problem? (Score:5, Insightful)
Our big friendly goverment decided to give away the boxes you reference, FOR FREE. They did this by issuing coupons worth $50 or so IIRC. Like most things given away by the government for free, lots of people who didn't need them got two or three of these boxes and stuck them on a shelf in their garage, where they're still collecting dust. Of course, the coupons ran out, and now some in our congress are claiming that the program was underfunded. It's a typical Washington clusterfuck -- exactly the sort of thing that happens when bureaucrats decide there's a huge "problem" somewhere and its solution requires spending tens of millions of our tax dollars.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:5, Insightful)
No to mention a population and land size about a zillion times larger. That complicates public service/standards programs.
The Other White Meat... (Score:2, Insightful)
The Pork was lacking, so a message was sent and the bill failed. Hopefully the lobbyists and the authors of the next version get it right and grease all the palms sufficiently next time. There is NO way the US Guv is going to unplug a couple million baby-sitters and chance widespread formation of individual thoughts and consternation. Ain't gonna happen.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:For the people out in the boondocks (Score:3, Insightful)
Some of the digital stations aren't yet at full power. But you might need an outdoor antenna. One tree doesn't usually do that much harm to TV signals (below 700 MHz).
The FCC's "map book" shows that the Houston DTV stations will have comparable, but not identical, coverage.
http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:2, Insightful)
So, heres my caveat. Why is everyone entitled to a coupon? Is there some law that you shouldn't have to upgrade your technology unless the government subsidizes the cost?
Buy the damn box, or go without tv. Its not that complicated. Hell, Ill bet a good portion of the converters sold belong to people who have cable/satellite and don't even need them.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:4, Insightful)
There is this little bit of law we have about the government
not being able to take things away from you. Now since it was
the government that forced everyone's old devices to become
useless, they have a responsibility to help with the aftermath.
Although if this whole thing weren't one big moneygrab by
electronics companies, the transition might have occured
without the need for excessively priced replacement hardware.
Nevermind the $50 converter box. You should be able to get
a small ATSC TV for that much. Digital has been conflated
with HDTV and content encryption.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Death of Broadcast Television (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't watch broadcast TV (because there aren't many shows on that I want to watch), but I still have a digital TV tuner. It's nice to be able to tune in for big events like the Olympics, or the Super Bowl (if you're into that), or local news when there's a wildfire nearby and things of that nature. And PBS occasionally has something I want to watch, and their digital TV content is usually terrific.
The Internet is only a replacement for TV if the only use you have for TV is viewing packaged shows. (And even then, for social viewing, I prefer to curl up in front of a big TV with friends and family, than huddle around my computer.)
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:3, Insightful)
Or maybe those 'lazy' people just aren't ignorant as you appear to be about the program.
As I already replied to other posters, the government sold a public resource, the airwaves, to a handful of private companies. Funds from that sale went to provide the coupons, so it's not a boondoggle of any size. It's a valid way of making up for loss of the use of those public airwaves.
American's are still "can do". Some are just more ignorant about how things work than others.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:3, Insightful)
(Honestly, I can't understand how you guys in the promised land of TV can be so far behind in this matter. What the hell is taking you so long?)
Let's see - Finland's population = 5,244,749 (July 2008 est.)USA = 303,824,640 (July 2008 est.). Estimates courtesy of the CIA Factbook.
If my home state of Massachusetts mandated such a switch, with a population only slightly less than Finland's, I think it would have happened, ya think?
Re:No digital TV conversion ever... (Score:3, Insightful)
"Seriously, who can repair digital electronics nearly as easily as the analog counterparts?"
Nobody, but how much does that have to do with current NTSC TV technology? I expect that if you open up a recent NTSC TV, you'll see ICs and surface mount technology used as much as possible, and relatively few things that are don't cost more to repair than to replace.
Re:Going postal (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:3, Insightful)
If it's like my area; those stations that are transmitting both analog and digital channels are transmitting the digital ones at about a tenth less strength. I suggest they(or you) visit antennaweb [antennaweb.org] or TV Fool [tvfool.com] to find out the relative transmitting powers for their area.
Once they shut off the analog transmitters they're generally going to step up the power on their digital stations.
Re:How much MORE is this costing us? (Score:3, Insightful)
The coupon program represents less than 1/10th of one percent the 1500 billion spent to bailout banks & other rich fat asses. I see nothing wrong with spending some of the government's spare charge (sic) to help the workers for a change.
I don't care if it represents a nickel. I'm completely opposed to bailing out Wall Street in the first place, and that "spare change" you regard so flippantly happens to be a portion of our tax dollars.
I wasn't referring to the cost of the electricity to run the TV; I was referring to the cost of the TV itself. People seem to be able to find hundreds of dollars to buy nice television sets, only to turn around and scream bloody murder over the prospect of having to buy a cheap converter box. It's ridiculous, and so are your views on the matter.