Courtneys blog: Doormat

I understand the reason for the DTV conversion and fully admit that frustration will be a nonissue once we hit the norming phase, but I am still not a big fan.

Part of it is the timing. I don’t think a lot of people realize this yet and may not until after the conversion, but because digital signal does support partial reception as well as analog, more money will need to be spent upgrading antennae and equipment. Not cheap and not covered by vouchers. As you well know, installing a rooftoop antenna isn’t something someone is inclined to do in neg 20 weather and blizzard conditions. I’d rather at least save it to spring months.

I also think despite the million ads (I’ve heard we spent more on advertising the DTV conversion than on the elections or any other public campaign…shows where our priorities are, eh? But that’s another blog) they’ve forgotten to tell us simple things. Did you know that the channels are likely to change even for stations that are fully digital prior to the shutoff? What’s the plan for the possible influx of electronic waste for those people who do find their tv is now useless?

Overall, I’m just not a big fan of the way it done whenever it happens and really not a fan of it happening now.

Jessys blog: Officially bored

Aaaaargh.

So…my hubby and I signed up for the cards, went to Best Buy, purchased the converters, put extra cables and little connector-dealies into the package and mailed it to them. (They’re in the Midwest, and we’re not.) I confirmed with my brother-in-law, who lives close, that he can help them physically hook it up to their television sets.

Voila! Problem solved. …until the next thing.

Commercial radio around here is crap — except for weather announcements, school closings, and so forth, so I have to disagree on that. In fact, when I’m driving to work on a morning after a snowstorm, I can’t listen to commercial radio at all because all I get is the privilege of listening through 3,000 school closing announcements per hour. Until my own kid is concerned, I prefer not. But perhaps around your neck you get more shock jock action (or less locally-owned/operated radio stations) and so it’s much harder to find a good source of announcements. I’ll give you that.

You’re right, and I hadn’t thought about it, but it would make sense to say, “Let’s do this in the summer when nobody cares about the weather.” (or at least, not as much) That’s a good point and I wonder why they didn’t consider it.

The thing about getting information from the radio is timing. If there’s a seriously massive emergency, sure, you’ll hear about it. But otherwise, you’ve got to be listening at just the right time to get the info you need. Our public radio station doesn’t carry this info because WPR is for all of Wisconsin. We don’t even get weather forecasts that are specific to part of the state. Commerical radio is a total crapshoot.

I see the point about it being the right move in the long term. But if there’s a chance that six months will help and won’t really hurt…well, it doesn’t hurt to try. Might give others a chance (and the government a chance to sort out the coupon mess) and then the really stupid folks can just deal with it later.

I can wait six months for my smart car if it means a struggling family can get through the winter with accurate weather forcasts.

While I understand your point about the economy and so forth, I still believe that there’s a contingent of the public who will simply not make any move until they are forced to. This has always been the case for various reasons; sometime they’re stubborn, sometimes they can’t justify the money (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it), sometimes they can’t be bothered. It’s definitely those I do NOT want to pander to because you simply can’t convince them.

Those who are hard up with the economy I do feel sympathy towards and it’s a real shitter. I just don’t know as though it’s going to be better anytime soon, and putting off the transition puts off the progression of the other technologies. While we’re not being saved by having more texting teens and Twittering in the world, there are plenty of mobile services that DO benefit the greater good that would find themselves in better shape for it.

Weather, news, school closings, etc….yes, newspapers cost money, but radio is free and I can’t think of anything that isn’t covered on radio that is essential that you would otherwise only get on TV. School closings, weather, disasters, emergency situations, news — all covered.

I dunno. It is always difficult to justify holding any major thing up for a few. From all the polls and stories I have read about the issue, the economy has some say in it — some people can’t really afford the converter. But for a great many, they simply don’t get it or refuse to do anything, and I can’t justify holding it up for them. I’m happy enough to give it a delay if there’s a real, good reason. I just don’t know as though there is.

Admittedly, all the stories I know of with good reasons for delaying are anecdotal. But a scenario I imagine is this: A conversion is coming. You know about it. The converter boxes seem kind of dumb, so you decide instead to upgrade your TV. You don’t have the money for it laying around, so you set aside a bit each month and plan to have the new TV in February. And then you get laid off. The savings you had now go to rent and food and heat. So come February, it’s too late to get a coupon and you don’t exactly have $50 to spend.

And TV isn’t just American Idol. It’s weather news, school closings, emergency broadcasts, information about your community. You can get this through newspapers, but not free. You can get this through radio – sometimes, depending on your location and what’s available – but it’s not as predictable as to when you’ll get the info you need.

I never saw the need for the conversion in the first place, though. I don’t pay attention to nationwide technological trends. And I suspect a large percentage of Americans do the same. There are a lot of us who like to use the technology we bought until it breaks without having to contantly upgrade.

But it doesn’t affect me. And it doesn’t affect most of the people who have opinions on the issue. My point is that I don’t think Obama wants to help out the stupid, lax, and ignorant people. I think he wants to help out people affected by the shitty economy.