Last night my parents were in town, so we joined them for a great burger dinner at 5 guys a burger place that has just started franchising their restaurants and has finally moved from being solely an East Coast joint. This has little to do with my actual post, but man they are good burgers.
Conversation with my dad for those of you that know him, often leads to political ranting. Last night was no exception. I’d like to discuss one of the topics that really made me a bit angry, the delay of the transfer of television broadcast signals from analog to digital. So one of the first things that Obama did when he entered office was proposed and somehow managed to pass the DTV delay. Why? Well because apparently too many people aren’t ready and if the switch occurred they wouldn’t be able to receive network television. WHO CARES? Last time I checked television was not a necessity. The new administration tried to make it sound like making the switch would be like cutting off the only water supply to a remote village or something. I know plenty of people who get by without tv and are fine.
These are a few of my complaints with the system.
- Again, TV is not a necessity.
- Do they honestly think that the unprepared are going to rush out and get their TV sets up to date now that they have another 5 months? Unlikely.
- Is the 1.8 billion the government has already spent not enough? There is rumor that Washington will pump more money into this program to make sure that people can handle the switch.
- What about the millions TV stations, TV manufacturers, retailers and others have spent in advertising throughout the last year on this issue. Anyone who has TV knows that these spots have been running ALL the time. That money seems kind of wasted, and now they’ll probably have to run new spots.
So what about all TV stations and American public that have spent time and money upgrading their equipment to be ready to the switch? Nothing. The prepared and self reliant are once again punished for those who are not. Is anyone else seeing this general trend more and more these days?
I’m pretty sure I heard a store advertising the fact that you can get government aid to help you buy the necessary items to upgrade to digital…or that the government is helping subsidize the program already.
You’re right…TV isn’t a necessity…but the reality of it is, that’s how a government can most easily control it’s people. It is their most reliable source to feed opinions to the masses.
That may seem a little “conspiracy theory”, but I’d love to hear a more logical explanation.
If they would just do it already and cut off analog, they would have a ton of people that would run out and get what they need to receive the digital signal the next day. Problem solved.
Good thing I gave some thought to what you wrote. You are young and do not live on a fixed income like a lot of elderly do. For some elderly, the tv is their main source of entertainment. Due to lack of finances, poor health, or not able to drive any more, they may be stuck at home with not a lot to do. Arthritis may have crippled their hands so that they can no longer use them like they use to. They are not computer literate like you and I are so don’t use the web for their main source of news. There are more elderly who just can’t afford to go out a purchase a tv for the new digital age.
Just my 2 cents…
Great blog! Your personality is ever present.