Considering that this transition was supposed to happen in 2006, if people aren't ready at this point then they never will be. Let's just get the show on the road already.
To add to this, they've been talking about it since 2000. Just get it over with already and deal with any problems afterward which will come up now matter what because people are ignorant. If people aren't prepared by now, it's their own fault and stupidity. The coupons cut the cost to nearly nothing, and if a person can't afford the $5-$20 price tag post coupon for at least one box, I think they have bigger problems to worry about than watching American Idol.
One question: Are broadcasters expected to devote more power to the digital signal once they no longer have to power the analog signals? I've seen the FCC maps of all the stations showing gains in coverage area AFTER the transition (I guess to combat the digital cliff effect). Does this mean that the sucky signal the little portable DTV I got my dad will actually get more than two channels after February 17th? I haven't seen a clear answer on whether all the broadcasters are currently under-powering their digital towers since they are also still powering the analog, and once they are freed of the analog power consumption, they can divert some of the power to the digital side.
“An engineer explained to us that hundreds of ear impressions were gathered in the name of research, and while each one obviously boasted its own unique shape and size, one single characteristic remained uniform across the board: the entrance into the ear canal is not a perfect circle, it's an oval.”
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Considering that this transition was supposed to happen in 2006, if people aren't ready at this point then they never will be. Let's just get the show on the road already.
To add to this, they've been talking about it since 2000. Just get it over with already and deal with any problems afterward which will come up now matter what because people are ignorant. If people aren't prepared by now, it's their own fault and stupidity. The coupons cut the cost to nearly nothing, and if a person can't afford the $5-$20 price tag post coupon for at least one box, I think they have bigger problems to worry about than watching American Idol.
One question: Are broadcasters expected to devote more power to the digital signal once they no longer have to power the analog signals? I've seen the FCC maps of all the stations showing gains in coverage area AFTER the transition (I guess to combat the digital cliff effect). Does this mean that the sucky signal the little portable DTV I got my dad will actually get more than two channels after February 17th? I haven't seen a clear answer on whether all the broadcasters are currently under-powering their digital towers since they are also still powering the analog, and once they are freed of the analog power consumption, they can divert some of the power to the digital side.