Everything Digital

[Bright_Star]

So this week was the switch-over to digital from analog. The way people were acting it was ALMOST amusing. My local Wal-Mart sold out of antennas & none were to be had for 100 miles around! PLUS you couldn't buy a convertor box anywhere cause they too were all sold out.
The fact that many people STILL weren't prepared for the switch-over despite months of news stations telling people about this is both sad & absurd.
I think they were assuming that there was going to be another delay & when they saw that there wasn't going to be one then they scrambled to get ready.
I had two convertor boxes & my experience with them was surprising. For one thing, it wasn't what I was expecting. Sure, it was surprising getting the "Retro" channel & "THIS" but I discovered that you had to have a good antenna set-up or you weren't going to get a good reception. With analog, if you got a weak signal, you could still watch it even though it would be kind of snowy. BUT with digital it's either get a signal or not. One or the other but no in-between. It got old real fast having to adjust the antenna to get a strong signal.
After a while I got Comcast Digital Cable with On-Demand. ALL the channels I want for the low price of $45 a month. That's without the premium channels like HBO, Cinemax & what-have-you. I just wanted more choices.
The convertor boxes are fine for what they do but it left me feeling disappointed. Better than nothing if you can't get cable or satellite but even then I get the feeling they could have been made better.
What do you guys think of the convertor boxes?

[Jester]

I happen to live in a place where there is zero panic over the switchover.

No, seriously. No one is freaked, no one is going nuts, no one is confused.

How is that possible?

It's simple. To have tv down here, you either have cable or you have satellite. Since the closest broadcast stations are A HUNDRED FIFTY MILES AWAY in Miami, no one down here uses antennas at all. So the digital conversion went off without a hitch here in Paradise, as the cable and satellite companies did all the work for us.

[draggar]

CNN had a story about the hundreds of thousand of people who called the FCC yesterday - some accusing the FCC of "censoring" themselves.

They also said that the majority of them just didn't "scan" for the new channels.

[Greenday]

We've been debating it on fratching. It's been quite amusing.

[NorthernZel]

Over here the digital transition won't happen until November, but I don't think there will be much chaos.
The only people affected by this will be those who still have a tv with no built-in convertor (i.e. not a flatscreen telly) AND still get their signal from an aerial antenna. Those with cable/satellite subscription regardless television type won't notice any change (unless they miss the cool and new HD channels, that is).