Government Helping the Needy 2 comments


I know some of you have probably forked over big bucks for that new HDTV set and are enjoying some excellent picture quality. I haven’t and have yet to see one at a size and price point that makes me say, “I have got to have that.” And, I also haven’t seen the value in buying that digital cable package. Basic does just fine for the few hours a week that I watch TV.
Since there are apparently a lot of other folks like me out and about our ever helpful federal government is accelerating its work on behalf of big electronics:

It’s one of the biggest technical changes in television since color TV: the digital transition. And because many Americans remain in the dark about it, federal regulators began an education campaign Monday to enlighten them.
Remind me, please, just why it was congress needed to set a target date for “all digital” and why the FCC needs to be spending tax money to act as the marketing arm for the electronics industry in what seems no more than a wealth transfer exercise.
When the perceived value hits the right point people will buy the stuff in droves.


2 thoughts on “Government Helping the Needy

  • zombyboy

    Yeah, I’m confused by this, too. Watching Monday Night Football last night, and they had an interview with one of the biggies at the FCC. It was basically a big advertisement for HDTV.
    What the hell? I don’t understand why it’s a priority for the FCC at all. Someone clue me in.

  • John Johnson

    They’ve been pushing this for a long time. I’m not sure why, either, though it smacks of lobbying from the big cable companies. It sounds to me like there are better competing technologies (backwards compatible to existing TV sets, for instance).
    Broadcasting everything but boobs and “shit” in digital sounds like a trivial use of a federal agency.

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