Maybe watch an old Beach Blanket Bingo type movie too!!!

I'm not upgrading, I'm throwing my tv in the trash. Never watch it anyway.

Agreed

We did that in 1999...don't regret it a bit...but we still watch plenty of stuff - just via the computers - Hulu.com and Netflix on Demand.

I don't understand some of the angst some folks have around this changeover.

* Try and find your favorite new music on reel-to-reel (or 8-track, or compact cassette, or DAT, etc) today
* Try and find a new three-wheeler ATV today
* Try and find coca cola with cocaine in it today

Technology changes. Governmental rules change. Life changes. Sometimes those changes are bad, this time they got it right.

The forum created to study and implement this change has done a stellar job of creating a new system that not only will serve us well in 2009, but far into the future. Are we all aware of the fact that the compromise made way back when color was introduced doomed us to a TV system that lags behind the rest of industrialized world? Or that the system itself was only ever intended for 9" screens because in the 1930's they couldn't imagine anyone having screens bigger than that. We are talking 70 year old techology!

And don't forget, DTV will be alot more than just HD picture. Things like multi-casting, surround sound, local-into-local casting, interactive content are all possible with this new system.

Change is always hard. But this time around, the ATSC and the Govt really have done an amazing job here.

My two cents,

I can't quite decide what you're trying to get at with this statement. This is a good thing... Right?

Those airwaves were free to both the broadcaster and the viewer to view free TV. Those frequencies were simply shifted to a different range and are still free (actually they were shifted to the UHF band which were already part of the "free" spectrum). The new digital broadcasts are much more efficient in regards to bandwidth and in comparison the analog signals are very wasteful. Nothing has changed in regards to free broadcasting.

This move freed up the VHF band that was being used for something else. That frequency sprectrum was sold for other uses which will in turn charge customers for its use. If companies are going to charge for the use of the spectrum then they certainly sould have to pay for it.

In the end there's just as much free broadcasting as there ever was (more actually since the bandwidth each station gets allows for sub-channels) and we're able to accomidate the much needed demand for other spectrum needs while making 16 BILLION dollars in the effort.

I finally got around to hooking up my DTV converter to the small analog TV in our bedroom that we use to watch the local news at night (we try to stay awake until the weather, 50% success rate!). We use rabbit ears and picked the least annoying local anchor team to watch. Reception with analog signals was fuzzy and often required readjusting the rabbit ears.

With the new DTV converter we get more channels and they are crystal clear. Not a bad investment for $20 out of pocket! Saves the 13" TV from the landfill.

Hey that's cool.

Roger that. We have dvd players for movies also. I lived without tv for several years, it just gave me more reading time. I'm the type who doesn't like background noise anyway - other than good music.

Should you move to tornado alley, may I suggest one digital TV. It really helps when mother nature is trying to kill you. Keeps you from sitting in the shelter for a warning called out for the entire county when it is 60 miles away.