How many people ask you this stupid question?

[drh4683]

This question is getting old, very fast. "What will you do with your old TVs after the digital transition?"

I consider it a stupid question because people who ask such a question are not ignorant to the digital transition, thus they know about the converter boxes that are available. Its a simple concept, just like hooking up your VCR or DVD to the TV. Ive been asked this question all the time, at work, at estate sales, anyone who knows that Im into electronics, and even many people on the internet (youtube in particular). I don't get upset, it just the fact that the same question never ends. Ive never been asked something like "how good do the converter boxes work with the old TVs?" That I think is a good question because not everyone has an old TV to see how good the new technology works with the old.


I have many youtube TV videos and everyone tells me about this "digital transition" and if I know about it etc. Heres what I have to say: If Im savvy enough to be able to record videos with a digital recording device and upload them to them to youtube for everyone to see (which is a hint that I can use computers and that Im "up-to-date with technology"), then I would probably know about the digital transition and that I have a converter box for my old TV sets.

Perhaps everyone is asking you the same thing.

[andy]

000

[AUdubon5425]

I ran into a casual acquaintance at the hardware store yesterday, an older man, who was asking about which box would change the channels once he connected the DTV box to the cable box. He was doing this because he didn't want to pay extra to upgrade to digital cable.

I think some people are still confused about this. I'm waiting for the signs on the lightpoles: "Will Hook Ya Up For DTV - $49, Call..."

[magmod93]

It's like the customers that come into my repair shop asking:
Is a tv "cable ready" if it's got a threaded coax connector on the back.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

I ran into a casual acquaintance at the hardware store yesterday, an older man, who was asking about which box would change the channels once he connected the DTV box to the cable box. He was doing this because he didn't want to pay extra to upgrade to digital cable.

I think some people are still confused about this. I'm waiting for the signs on the lightpoles: "Will Hook Ya Up For DTV - $49, Call..."

Did you tell your acquaintance that there is no need for a converter box if he already has a digital cable STB (settop box) and digital cable? In fact, as we know (your acquaintance may not and likely doesn't know this if he asked you this question), the DTV converter boxes are not meant for (and will not work with) cable--they are meant to be used between an OTA TV antenna and an older analog television to enable the latter to receive DTV signals, again as we AKers know all too well.

Your acquaintance, not unlike tens of thousands of other folks in the US, has a lot to learn about DTV. I'm surprised he hasn't heard about the transition by now, or if he has, he might not understand it. If he already has digital cable (which I suspect he does), however, he has no need for what he calls "the DTV box", as his digital cable STB will bring in every channel on the cable in his area, including local broadcast channels.

[AUdubon5425]

[QUOTE=Jeffhs;2431154]Did you tell your acquaintance that there is no need for a converter box if he already has a digital cable STB (settop box) and digital cable?[\QUOTE]

Of course! He told me he has a non-cable ready TV, and he uses a VCR to tune in cable channels. He doesn't want to upgrade to digital cable - I think he has the "mandated by law" basic 20-channel cable package.

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Your acquaintance, not unlike tens of thousands of other folks in the US, has a lot to learn about DTV. I'm surprised he hasn't heard about the transition by now, or if he has, he might not understand it.

The problem was that he didn't understand it. He thought if he did not have digital cable, he wouldn't be able to receive cable channels without a converter box. From talking to him it seems he mainly watches network news programming, and his understanding of the transition was mainly from the scare banners and word-of-mouth. I've read where some stations have run a public service program explaining the change, but so far I am unaware of such a program airing on a local New Orleans station.

On a side note, WVUE-TV, which was the first (and only) station to end it's analog broadcast thus far in New Orleans, has not transmitted a DTV over-the-air signal in several days. Teething problems, I guess.

[peverett]

The FCC just fined several cable companies for "stealing" peoples analog channels. See:http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...tml?source=rss

I am not sure this will do any good. So far Time Warner has stolen 3 of my channels.

As soon as I get another means for high speed internet in my neighborhood, I am going to ditch Time Warner for satellite.

[AUdubon5425]

Quote from WWL-TV's "DTV Countdown" page (www.wwltv.com/dtv/):

Your current television will work as it does now until analog broadcasting stops. Under federal law, analog service will continue until most homes (85%) in an area are able to watch the DTV programming.

Wow - I totally missed this. Guess it's all the scare banners and countdown clocks we're barraged with. Now, how exactly would they determine 85% of homes could watch DTV? Are they testing signal coverage, or estimating the number of coupons distributed in an area? And what about that 15% who are unable to pick up a DTV transmission in their area - "too bad, you have to pay for cable or satellite now." Fifteen percent is not an insignificant number - put it in perspective, 15% is:

15,750,000 American households
159,295 Chicago households
113,549 San Francisco households

Even after the transition is over, your current TV will not become obsolete. A converter box can be used to receive broadcast DTV signals and change them into the format of your current television. In addition, if you use your analog set with a multichannel pay service like cable or satellite, it will continue to work as it always has. [B]Even with a converter box, however, your current analog television will not be capable of displaying the full picture quality of DTV. To enjoy the full picture quality, you must have a DTV set.[\B] Subscribers to cable and DBS services should contact their providers regarding converter boxes for those services.

I think they should have a disclaimer about picture quality vs. signal quality.
Or are they implying high definition?

Also, am I the only one who finds hi-def digital programs somewhat more tiring on the eyes after a while?

[Adam]

I get that all the time, and then when I tell them I don't have one of the boxes, they think they have top explain it all to me. Since I started buying DVDs, I started watching so little TV over the air, that it just didn't seem worth it to me to buy one. Eventually I'd like to set up something like was in another thread here, with several boxes and modulators, mainly so I could still use my remotes, but that's not a top priority for me now.

[Jeffhs]

[QUOTE=Adam;2420002] Since I started buying DVDs, I started watching so little TV over the air, that it just didn't seem worth it...

I don't watch much OTA TV either, preferring instead to watch DVDs and my old VHS videos. These days, it's easy to get DVDs of many classic TV series and even current series' past seasons through Netflix or by purchasing boxed sets at Borders, Amazon.com, etc. so I think many other people are following your lead. I'm not saying (or trying to) that OTA television is dead, but with so many viewers doing what you and I are and getting most of their so-called TV "fix" via DVD, video on demand on digital cable, or video over the Internet, the commercial OTA networks are losing viewers--maybe not left and right (yet) to the point that they are in danger of extinction, but they don't have as many people tuning in today as they did before DVD and even before prerecorded VHS cassettes.

Whether the digital transition, which, BTW, will probably stay right where it is at February 17 this year (I read this in one of the e-newsletters I get in my inbox concerning the TV industry and, these days, the DTV transition in particular) will be pushed back is all but a moot point now, because there are far too many things which can and probably will go wrong if the transition is pushed back. One of the worst of these problems, again according to the info I read in my e-newsletters, is the very real possibility of confusing the public, who have been bombarded with information over the last year or so stating in no uncertain terms that analog TV will end on 02.17.09. The other big problem driving the push for a change in the transition date, as everyone knows by now, has to do with the government having run out of money for the converter box coupon program. Not wishing my post to become politically-oriented or controversial, I'll leave it at that.

There has been no mention to the public, however, of any possible change of the shutoff date, which I think is a huge mistake. If the cutoff date is to be changed, the government should make a real effort to inform the public of same so that people won't be left in the dark when the transition actually occurs.

[bgadow]

A guy asked me the other day; it did rub me wrong for some reason. He has seen my collection, has watched me demonstrate my oldest set (630ts) with a DVD player. But he couldn't help from asking, "What are you going to do..."

Really, it is just their way of showing how smart they are while making conversation. I'll admit I've done similiar things plenty of times before.

[EchoWars]

I would rather say that it is their clumsy way of getting your take on the whole situation.

[OvenMaster]

No one ever asks me what I'm gonna do. Everyone assumes everyone else subscribes to cable, because I live in a market where cable saturation is >95%. That means no one is in a rush to buy a new TV.

I don't bother telling anyone that I use the outdoor antenna for both TV and FM. I don't dare mention that I still use a VCR for timeshifting, because then I'll look like a Luddite.

People have an amazing capacity for asking rude and/or insulting questions, and I'm not usually in the mood to come up with snappy responses.

Tom

[ChrisW6ATV]

I have not had this question asked of me yet, but many times over the years I have had people see my old sets and ask me "What are you going to do with them?", period. I usually say something like "I don't know... What are you going to do with your house plants and the pictures on your walls?".

[Sandy G]

Most of the time, people come in here & see all the old radios 'n' TVs stuck everywhere, they get a very worried look on their faces, like I'm the Creep of the Week that they saw last night on CSI or Lawn Order...