Dead Screens
Bought one of those digital TV converters today. Not that I particularly wanted or needed one, it's just that I had a Department of Commerce coupon that expired today.
I'm kind of hyped to play with my new toy, to see if I can get all those over-the-air digital channels that are floating around now, like FUNimation Channel (or is that dead already?), but at the same time I am disgusted by this forced obsolescence. The great thing about TV and radio was how neither really changed; a device from 50 years ago could still pick up signals now. That made them a good means of communication because they were not dependent on having the latest version, which means they were very egalitarian - as long as you had one, and pretty much everyone does right now. And there's something about an analog signal that makes me think I can depend on it in a zombie attack. With digital I don't really know where I stand, and "better picture quality" is not a comfort when a dead person is going NOM NOM NOM on my head.
I think it's bullshit; I remember reading somewhere that they're going to sell off the analog spectrum to the cell phone companies. Well, isn't that special? I mean, the government can tell us how they're switching to digital for our own good but then they turn around and make money off it, well, I'm not really feeling the love here. I just worry for all those people who can't afford converter boxes, who don't hear about the coupons or don't spend them in time (they expire three months after they're issued to you), or who even with a coupon, can't afford a box. It's like we're revoking people's televisions if they don't pay up... what is this, the UK?
I'm kind of hyped to play with my new toy, to see if I can get all those over-the-air digital channels that are floating around now, like FUNimation Channel (or is that dead already?), but at the same time I am disgusted by this forced obsolescence. The great thing about TV and radio was how neither really changed; a device from 50 years ago could still pick up signals now. That made them a good means of communication because they were not dependent on having the latest version, which means they were very egalitarian - as long as you had one, and pretty much everyone does right now. And there's something about an analog signal that makes me think I can depend on it in a zombie attack. With digital I don't really know where I stand, and "better picture quality" is not a comfort when a dead person is going NOM NOM NOM on my head.
I think it's bullshit; I remember reading somewhere that they're going to sell off the analog spectrum to the cell phone companies. Well, isn't that special? I mean, the government can tell us how they're switching to digital for our own good but then they turn around and make money off it, well, I'm not really feeling the love here. I just worry for all those people who can't afford converter boxes, who don't hear about the coupons or don't spend them in time (they expire three months after they're issued to you), or who even with a coupon, can't afford a box. It's like we're revoking people's televisions if they don't pay up... what is this, the UK?