US Switch To DTV Countdown Begins 293
s31523 writes "In February lawmakers postponed the switch from analog to digital TV. Now, the new June 12th deadline is upon us with no sign of another delay. CNET is reporting that the President himself has stated, '... I want to be clear: there will not be another delay.' So it looks like it is going to happen, for real this time. Even with the delay, there are still estimated to be millions of unprepared viewers. Local stations may participate in the voluntary 'Analog nightlight' services in which TV stations agree to keep an analog signal turned on in addition to their digital signals to provide information about the DTV transition and to notify unprepared TV viewers of emergencies, such as hurricanes."
"Februrary"? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have already faced my worst nightmare (Score:5, Funny)
Digital change over (Score:5, Funny)
I've changed over to digital torrent distribution, freeing up the airwaves completely.
Let me be clear (Score:2, Funny)
REPENT! (Score:5, Funny)
REPENT! Repent ye geeky sinners! For the end of days is upon ye!
Lo! As it is written, there shall befall a great and terrible calamity upon all the kin of the nerdy, and their most precious gadgets and devices shall be laid low by the machinations of the wicked! And they shall lament, and make agitated phone calls even in the early hours of the late morning!
And there shall be a great moaning as the geeky rise to diagnose the woes of their parents and uncles and aunts and cousins and neighbors and co-workers and friends and even children! Naught will your warnings save you as the wretched shall pay no need. And ye shall be swamped with piteous wails and whinges as the masses of humanity beat down thy doors and fill up they inboxes with useless protestations and opinions and heed not thy councils.
Thou shalt spend thy last days overseeing the procurement and installation of countless digital devices. Yea, in peoples very living rooms! And thou shalt be condemned to maintain and provide unpaid support for each and every one of these cheap and buggy imports till the end of thy unhappy life.
Repent geeky sinners! Give up thy sinful social ways and cast off thy connections to society, like the mathematicians and programmers of old! Give up thy internet and telephone connections and families and social life! Give up and repent, lest ye be danmed! REPENT!
If they did this transition 40 years ago... (Score:1, Funny)
This is one small step for man.....one giant leap fo0001111001111111010111011110011100111001111011100111011111...
Re:greedy (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Analog nightlight? (Score:2, Funny)
We have DirecTV and Dish Network for TV along with Wild Blue\Hughes Net\3G coverage for internet.
I guess all us rural people are inbred and play the banjo. But we'll still make you squeal like a pig...
Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Analog nightlight? (Score:5, Funny)
Digital TV in Canada (Score:3, Funny)
Here in Canada the deadline is 31 August 2011. There are a few digital transmitters on the air in major cities. Here in Vancouver I get CBC, CTV and Global on digital, plus KVOS (independent) and KBCB (home shopping - ugh!) from Bellingham, Washington. Set-top ATSC converters are not available here, so I bought one at Radio Shack in Portland last fall and hooked it up to my trusty multi-system TV.
Even dumbed down to 480i NTSC, the picture quality is better than DVD. The CBC HD signal shows what digital can do: being less heavily compressed it's better than what you get on cable. None of the other local channels have gone digital yet.
KVOS and KBCB pulled the NTSC plug in February. Their old analogue channels have been dead air ever since.
The Canadian broadcasters are dragging their heels, pleading poverty and the end of civilization as we know it. Nothing new there.
The cable companies have the general populace snowed in to believing that you must have cable to get any TV at all. Nothing new there, either.
...laura
Re:Boooo for correcting the summary! (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, well, sorry about that. I'll be sure to seed the page with new and interesting errors to spot ;)
timothy
Re:I have already faced my worst nightmare (Score:3, Funny)
There's tons of people who are going to be cut off because of this.
This is in the USA - is it really that big a deal if 8 people get cut off?
Re:I have already faced my worst nightmare (Score:3, Funny)
boo fucking hoo.
we feel really bad for your inability to have your dvr record shows for you.
Re:Analog nightlight? (Score:3, Funny)
Crowd-pleasing usernames are overrated.
Re:seriously... (Score:3, Funny)
I hope you've been putting in subliminal messages as an Easter egg. e.g. splicing in frames of hard-core porn randomly every couple of hours.
Re:I have already faced my worst nightmare (Score:3, Funny)
I don't blame the grandma at all, no doubt she has been putting doilies on things like that since before we were born.
Can I still blame grandma on general principle? Doilies are wrong in all circumstances and need to be stamped out.