New Date Proposed for DTV Transition: June 12

by Slikkster Jan 16, 2009 9:25PM PST

Your government at work. Sheesh... Looks like Congress is waking up to the fact that the DTV transition isn't going as smoothly as all would like. February always seemed like an odd time to me, given the dead of winter and all.

And I, for one, NEVER understood the rationale for putting time limits on the DTV $40 coupons. I made the mistake of applying for mine early on, when there were very few boxes available. Now, of course, they have expired. Who's bright idea was that?!?!

There's always two sides to the story here regarding the new proposed date. Broadcasters will always push for delays; that's their nature. But Sen. McCain brings up a good point when he says that emergency services units that were promised this new bandwidth in February now have to wait until June. That, undoubtedly, will cause more confusion. And after being told incessantly for months about the impending change in February, all of the sudden we're going to hear an Emily Litella "nevermind; it's June"? Just dumb.

Here's one of many articles talking about the proposed change to June:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2009/01/obama_reiterates_call_to_delay.html?wprss=posttech

Discussion is locked

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Unbelievable

by Nicholas Buenk Jan 16, 2009 11:09PM PST

That congress would manage the coupons program so poorly.

But hang on... why is the government paying for people to stay up to date with technology anyway?
Maybe when Vista came out, Microsoft should have given coupons for peoples ram upgrades.

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Hope/Change people. Hope/Change

by kwahhn Jan 16, 2009 11:33PM PST

Yes we can. Yes we can.

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If you missed the PSA about it. (link only)

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 17, 2009 1:36AM PST

http://www.hulu.com/watch/36608/talkshow-with-spike-feresten-cable-psa

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A FUBAR on many accounts

by WazmoNariz Feb 5, 2009 4:37AM PST

Your observations on applying early on for $40 coupons and having no devices continues to plague consumers. I now have my coupons, but any converter worth a damn is sold out or discontinued.

Consumers are very unhappy with the boxes that are available and eligible for the rebate. Some get very hot, most are very slow, and some don't even come with remotes. Some of the government listed retailers (e.g. Rite Aid) don't carry ANY converters. Others will require new antennas, and so on.

Why this couldn't be phased in over a longer period, why manufacturers making good product discontinue, why coupons expire so quickly, why is so much bad technology promoted by the government -- is beyond me.

A FUBAR (fouled-up beyond all recognition) at all levels.

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New Date Proposed for DTV Transition: June 12

by wizkids32 Feb 5, 2009 6:23AM PST

Yep this is our government at work this is socialism at work.

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Exactly which part of the program...

by paintguru Feb 6, 2009 5:37AM PST

...is socialism?

IMO, this is lame. People need to suck it up and prepare for the change.

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Not Socialism At All

by WazmoNariz Feb 6, 2009 8:26AM PST

This is the exact opposite of socialism -- this imposes significant costs on millions, so a few large corporations (e.g. Verizon) can use the frequencies to sell more mobile services and make more profit.

How about the millions of home buyers that paid more than they should in the the hope of turning a quick buck -- should they "suck it up"? What about the greedy investment banks and mortgage companies (e.g. Countrywide) that took enormous risks to make these loans -- should they "suck it up", too? No, they're getting huge bailouts -- government intervention in private markets -- the very definition of "socialism".

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The part

by Nicholas Buenk Feb 6, 2009 3:30PM PST

Where they give you a voucher for a set top box. As if it's the governments job to keep peoples tech up to date.

New Date Proposed for DTV Transition: June 12

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