4 Responses

1. Chuck

   January 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

   1

   If TV were still defined in terms of its public service obligations (or if those obligations were still enforced), then I think there might be some reasonable responsibility for TV to be available for anyone regardless of economic status. I don’t think a professor making $60,000 a year needs her converter to be subsidized, but someone making significantly less should not be exclude from the political and cultural capital provided by access to the reasonably cheap information and even entertainment provided by TV.

   I agree that there are a number of other priorities we ought to consider first, perhaps, in righting the economic direction of our country. Delaying the digital transition seems like a reasonable compromise to me, in part because of these economic and access problems. And given that many of the people who can’t afford cable likely don’t have access to newspapers, the converter seems like a reasonable expense.

2. ren

   January 11th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

   2

   agreed. yeah, it’s silly to make it a priority; but then again especially for those of us that specifically DON”T make television a priority, for the rare instances that we do decide to turn on our dusty old tv and look for something on PBS or some political debate on some channel that exists without cable, we should be afforded that service without needing to shell out big bucks just because the industry decided we all need digital hi resolution services.

   A couple basic free channels should always exist for everyone, since television has clearly been long since made the standard format for news/ entertainment/ and basic emergency information broadcasts. Now that this big old changeover has been somewhat abruptly forced on us, even though millions of us still have no digital tvs/ services we should still have been better informed and subsidized about how to still get some kind of signal should someone be assasinated or aliens land (probably the only reasons I’d turn on a set these days, myself). I don’t see why that coupon shouldn’t be indefinitely valid, anyway.
   I’d never pay 50$ + for an industry imposed switch like this, I’ve never heard of how or where to get these ‘coupons’, but apparently I’ll have to now if I ever feel like watching TV again.

3. Agnes Varnum

   January 13th, 2009 at 12:33 am

   3

   I don’t know Chuck, anyone get a library card. They have newspapers, magazines, and often video and DVD borrowing and stations to watch them. I’m sympathetic to the fact that the people who will be most adversely effected are poorer people, but at the same time, the longer it is put off, the more apt everyone is to procrastinate. It’s also important that public TV stations have sunk much of their money into converting their stations to meet the laws as well.

   Ren, the switch over might have been advocated by the telecomm industry but Congress mandated the conversion via legislation.

4. Chris

   June 20th, 2009 at 1:33 am

   4

   I just can’t believe that this has been so difficult for some people. When did this all start? It seems like I’ve been hearing about, reading about it, and seeing commercials about it forever, and people still can’t get their tv’s set up right… yikes!