Unless you are in the industry, had you heard anything very far ahead about DVD's before they came out? I know this isn't exactly an oranges-oranges comparison because digital was written into law but DVD's didn't require an infrastructure investment.
When I first heard of the switch, there wasn't any hardware out so I didn't really pay it any attention. Once more information and the hardware were both available, I was all for it. It doubled the channels I can receive without cable and the clarity went up significantly on the ones I could receive before.
The switchover and hardware availability could have been handled better. They should have required manufacturers to switch to producing TV's with digital receivers back when this was set up instead of shortly before the switch.
There is a learning curve to it just like there was with broadcast TV. After so many years with cable it took a while to get the antenna set just right.