No More Converter Box Coupons!

[Mark J.]

Having run out of its original allotment, the NTIA is putting names on
a waiting list for the DTV conversion boxes, although it probably
won't get the funding to put the coupon program back in operation
until after the Feb. 17 switchover:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6626340.html?nid=3343

[Kevin M.]

On Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 2:29 PM, Mark J. <mjef...@marcrealty.com> wrote:
>
> Having run out of its original allotment, the NTIA is putting names on
> a waiting list for the DTV conversion boxes, although it probably
> won't get the funding to put the coupon program back in operation
> until after the Feb. 17 switchover:

So those unemployed because of the crappy economy won't be able to
watch TV because of the crappy economy.

Symmetry.

--
Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Doug Eastick]

I just listened to The Business Brief on KCRW podcast. The host talks
about his discovery of OTA (over the air) digital with his relatively
new 42" tv. No converter box required. Funny podcast. Full text
available at link below; sample snippet pasted belower.

http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bb/bb090105digging_digital_tv

== sample snipet===

So I went home and sure enough, ten minutes after hitting the “program
digital channels” button on my TV remote, I was in the digital age, in
all its eye-popping glory. The local news now looks like an ad for teeth
whitening, sitcoms look more surreally fake and NFL games look more
surreally real. All those months and I could have been seen the pores on
Oprah's face! But seriously, you really so have to watch Jeopardy in
1080-i hi-def just to see how much work they've put into waxing the
floor. It's super shiny.

So now, with nothing more than those old bunny ears sitting on top of my
fancy new TV, I bring in maybe 40 clear-as-a-bell channels, many of them
in hi-def, with information about the shows displayed right there on the
screen. And even without the hundreds of channels I would have if I paid
for TV, I have managed to joined the ranks of /Americanus Slothis/ -–
the common American couch potato, flipping channels maniacally until my
thumb is sore and my brain is numb.
==== end snippet

I guess the moral of the story is to remind anyone with a relatively new
tv (say LCD or Plasma) to hook up an antenna and "program digital
channels" to see what you get.

[Mark J.]

On Jan 6, 8:28 pm, Doug Eastick <east...@MCD.on.ca> wrote:
> I just listened to The Business Brief on KCRW podcast. The host talks
> about his discovery of OTA (over the air) digital with his relatively
> new 42" tv. No converter box required. Funny podcast. Full text
> available at link below; sample snippet pasted belower.
>
> http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/bb/bb090105digging_digital_tv

Another chance for me to plug the full-length "Business" from KCRW,
which is on very few public radio stations but is also available on
podcast from kcrw.com and the usual sources. Claude Brodessor-Akner
and Matt Holzman (who's the guy who does the "Business Briefs") know
when to be snarky and when to be serious and with "Shootout" on
hiatus, it's the only entertainment news program on either radio or TV
that's not interested about Paris Hilton's sexy new calendar or John
Travolta's dead kid, to which I say thank God.