“We’re sorry, the channel ‘Free Market’ is not available in your area…”

Re: the upcoming cutoff of analog TV:

Now here’s a great Christmas gift idea: a cute-as-a-bug 5-inch TV. As the Circuit City ad says, the TV “makes it easy to take entertainment on the road.”

But it will be cute only until Feb. 17, 2009, when its little screen will go blank.

To make the set work after that, the owner will need a digital converter box and a place to plug it in, making entertainment on the road not so easy.

Circuit City does warn consumers that the set’s analog tuner will stop working after that date, when federal law requires broadcasters to send only digital signals in order to free up electromagnetic spectrum for use by emergency responders and other interests. (emphasis mine)

Ok, so this was a decision imposed from above.  The government wanted that analog spectrum, so they simply took it.  Typical example of the confusion about the definition of “public” — civilians hear the word & think “we own it”, and politicians say no.  Whatever, that’s how they’ve approached it from day one.  But check out the responses to the inevitable confusion…

Already this month, hearings on DTV have been held in both the House and Senate, and another is scheduled in the House on Wednesday.

Lawmakers are trying to determine whether industry and government are doing enough to inform TV viewers about how to handle the transition.

To help, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will offer each U.S. household up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of two converter boxes. The boxes will become available in 2008, probably for about $50 each. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, a cable-industry trade group, has unveiled a $200 million public-service announcement campaign.

But some lawmakers fear many viewers will forget to redeem the coupon until after its 90-day life expires. Also, people in rural areas may not be able to get to a retail electronics outlet in time to use the coupons.

Some groups suggest that government create a DTV Task Force, similar to the Y2K Task Force, which oversaw the fixing of a widespread software problem in the late 1990s that threatened to shut down computers at the turn of the millennium.

Many Republicans argue that the free market will solve most of the problems as Americans upgrade to new televisions and cable service over the next year. (emphasis mine)

So to deal with an issue created by political impatience with transitioning technology, one group proposes subsidizing converter boxes — and by extension, the companies making those boxes.  Another responds to that by basically saying “nah, people are too stupid to use coupons right”.  Yet another wants to repeat the Y2k panic.  As for the GOP response, if they were seriously convinced the market could sort this out, they wouldn’t have agreed to the spectrum grab in the first place.

Full disclosure: I have cable & a relatively new model TV, so this more than likely will not affect me.  It just pisses me off that even on such a comparatively trivial issue, the usual suspects come out.

Oh yeah, one more thing.  My insistence on NEVER asking for help at any “big box” electronics store proves justified yet again:

In August, U.S. PIRG sent surveyors to major electronics retail stores in the Washington area to see whether clear information was being dispensed.  It found clerks often gave out inaccurate or misleading information, such as suggesting everyone must upgrade to expensive high-definition television sets.

Unless you’re into video games something hardcore, HD is a waste of money IMO.  I mean, I see a difference, it does look better, but nowhere near enough to justify the price difference.  Even the low-end, smaller HDTV sets are around 500 bucks, c’mon now.