One of the blogs on my virtual blogroll is The Scoutmaster Minute. I thought this recent posting needed some clarification, though. I thought he got some details wrong about this February 17th thing being about HDTV and if I'm right, his argument is weaker than he thinks. But that doesn't make his overall point wrong. In fact, I agree completely with his overall point: we make choices every day. We're largely in charge of what we say and do and with that responsibility may come consequences.
Anyway, here's his original blog posting and below are my comments.
Just a point of clarification, if I may. From the DTV.gov website: "On February 17, 2009 all full-power broadcast television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital." It's not really about HDTV but about analog vs digital signals.To be able to receive over-the-air TV signals will require this converter box. And if you have an old TV, the picture will look about the same. If you decide to get one of these converter boxes and you already have an HDTV, it may look about the same. A lot depends on if your local TV station is broadcasting an HDTV signal and you have a converter box, too. Just getting a converter box doesn't mean that you'll get an improved, HDTV picture.
What's different about this new digital signal argument from the VHS/Beta war or even the ongoing 8-track/cassette/CD/MP3 wars is that this one was mandated by legislation. The consumer didn't get to decide (like in the other format choices). That's why the government (you and I) are paying to offset the costs of these converter boxes ( https://www.dtv2009.gov/ ) So the argument that the conversion from analog to digital TV is the same as the conversion from 8-track to CDs isn't really a valid one.
Having said all that, I largely agree with your posting. Watching TV is a lifestyle choice. My household is choosing not to get a converter box. What this means is that we will continue to not regularly watch broadcast TV. Those few times we want to catch a football game or some news event, we'll need to turn to the Internet, I suppose. And that's a lifestyle choice. Just like it was when I updated my cassettes to vinyl and from vinyl to CD and from CDs to MP3s.
Being able to watch my analog TV signal, though? The government is taking that away from me.
Our society seems to have forgotten what a choice is. We are not entitled to (many of) of the choices we make! We (largely) choose where we live, what we wear, if we drink coffee from home or high-priced stuff from some boutique coffee shop. We choose to watch TV and we choose if we will get cable.
