Converter coupon waitlist still 4 million deep
By Richard Lawler 
posted Feb 17th 2009 4:04PM
posted Feb 17th 2009 4:04PM
posted Feb 17th 2009 4:04PM
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I have a feeling anyone who is reading Engadget HD most likely has HDTV through satellite or cable and thus doesnt need the convertor boxes. But it's good to know I get to see those annoying commercials for another 4 months because 18 months was not enough notice for some people to buy a $40 DTV box without government assistance.
ha, yeah if you can get an HD signal, you don't need a converter. It's amazing how many people still don't know what the hell it does. I have a friend with a brand new LCD who just went out and got a converter box. What the hell, man?
That's the biggest bummer about this whole thing. I can skip the commercials, but those stupid PSA bands they put at the top and bottom of my shows...I hate those!
Our ABC Station takes the shows out of HD to display the ticker, then flicks them back to HD whenthey are done.
VERY annoying. Why are we even seeing the ticker on the digital broadcast? Shouldn't they limit that to those getting the image via analog?
How about this. Give everyone a $300 coupon for a discount on a new TV? One coupon per house hold. Monitor it via name, address, and SS number. Now, not everyone would take advantage of this offer but you would certainly cut back on the people needing the converter box coupon. Some folks will undoubtedly find a way to cheat but those folks would also probably cheat on their taxes too so lets dwell on the one's that would not cheat. The vast majority.
And see TV prices go up by $300 across the board? no thanks.
The purpose of the converter box coupon program was initially to compensate people for the fact that their old analog TVs would require such a box because the mobile phone companies are taking away some spectrum and forcing the digital switch. It would be entirely at odds with that aim, or the more recent aim of ensuring grandma can still get the local news in an emergency, to give people $300 towards getting themselves a plasma TV set.
It would also get massive opposition. Many people object to the coupon program because they think it's taxpayer funded. But there's no way a $300 per TV program could be anything but taxpayer funded.
Now, the compensation for having to add a converter box is one issue, but regarding "grandma" (and the fact there are practically no low cost battery operated ATSC TVs for use in emergencies): there is a better idea most people aren't considering but that really should be. Broadcast one NTSC channel, government run, in every area. It can be public access during non-emergencies, and provide emergency information during emergencies. Many cable companies already have such a feed from their local government, the only cost here is the cost of electricity to the transmitter.
I'm pretty sure there's enough spectrum to do this, you just need three free channels in every locality, and I doubt there are many locations that do not fit that criteria.
It's not as sexy as giving everyone new electronics, but it would deal with the major issues that are legitimately holding up the changeover.
Hey yeah !!!! and what about giving everyone a coupon for one free corvette or an new Mercedes...that would be great :) I think if people can't afford a converter box, they probably don't need to be watching TV. They need to be out there working.
I signed up for my coupons when people said the waiting list had started, I got them last Thursday, and I consider myself a huge procrastinator. The people who still haven't gotten them must not even care enough and to put everything on hold to wait for them is stupid. It's just giving people more excuses to not take responsibility for their own laziness. I however do and wouldn't have wanted everybody else to wait for me, though I'm just using them for the bedrooms so maybe I'm not desperate enough.
Why would TV prices go up $300, especially across the board. Because the Government gave people a $300 coupon for the purpose of buying a new TV I would think retailers would bend over back wards to entice those people to spend with them by offering the lowest prices possible. Inventory should fly off the shelves. Most would be shopping in the below $1000 range. It would actually behoove major networks to help supplement those coupons because HD programming could move ahead more rapidly thus allowing more people to watch adds in HD. As most of us here on this site can vouch for, when you get HD you watch more TV. Ya just can't help it.
You must be new here (to the planet)
You've never dealt with colleges or universities before have you? As fast as govt. aid and loan programs have grown, they've managed to raise tuitions and fees even faster for decades.
But the TV makers do have to work in the real world of competition, so they couldn't just blindly raise prices. But such a program would increase the demand for TV's. And that extra subsidized demand would make it easier for manufacturer's to delay price cuts and for retailers to reduce their "sale" prices. Adam Smith's dead hand always wins in the end.
No Ordeith, I'm not new to the planet, nor am I new to the world of advertising and business, not after spending over 40 years in it. I do know that there is enough inventory in warehouses across this country to easily satisfy the needs of anybody wanting to purchase a TV in the below $1000 MSRP range. Talk about stimulating the economic situation. Right now every major retail store in the country is advertising sets in the 42" and lower size range for between $1000 and down to $400. On Black Friday I saw a Panasonic 50" 720P plasma for $597.
it doesnt matter how many tv's are sitting in warehouses. people that work hard get to buy new tv's and enjoy hd. buying products with earned money helps the economy. not taking everyones money and redistributing it so everyone can have things. all this is about having things.
and yet you still haven't managed to figure out 'reply'
People that work hard get to buy new TV's? Interesting concept. The point is not so people can buy THINGS. The point is that if we are going to give coupons anyway for boxes that will cost multi millions, why not give coupons for TV's, which will be a much longer lasting solution to the digital TV switch over? The other benefit is that more people will watch HD programing thus perpetuating the production of more HD programing. The whole idea of the stimulus checks (last year) was to encourage people to spend that money. The TV coupon just narrows the target and kills several birds with one stone.
how about we stop giving away money for anything the gov't sees fit. what if i sell washers and dryers? everyone needs a new washer & dryer thats "green", right? wheres the check for that? what if i sell cars? everyone needs a car thats "green", right? wheres the check for that? what if i sell couches? everyone needs to be comfortablw while watching dtv, right? wheres the check for that? how is it a good idea to pass out money, but only let it be spent on one type of product? thats not "fair" right? and we all need to be "fair" right? even if that means screwing millions of responsible people. i have admittedly taken this way deeper than it needs to be...i digress.
Is that image from Psych?