Just for Fun: Digital Conversion PSA Spoof

This is a funny video about how your average grandmother will handle the conversion to digital TV. The sad part is that there are really going to be a lot of older people out there who will lose their TV when the old analog stations turn off their over-the-air broadcast. Well, I guess it's a growth opportunity for Link--think of all the dishonest satellite salesman out there who will get granny to buy Dish or Directv when her shows disappear come 2-17-09.

Digitial TV Conversion

"Converters Signal a New Era for TVs" (registartion required)

This is a good article about the upcoming switch-off of analog over-the-air TV, which I actually still use. The article discusses the government program to help subsidize the purchase of digital TV converter boxes, so that folks like me can still use our analog TV's and get free TV after the switch-off.

I tried out digital over-the-air TV, which runs on the ATSC system, a couple of years ago when I bought one of these digital receivers. The reception was poor, much worse than with analog TV, and the receiver was expensive--over $150. So I returned it to the store and have been happily watching "Lost" in analog since then. This NYT article says that manufacturers are aiming to start selling these next year for $50-$75. Hopefully either the reception of the tuners or tranmission by the broadcasters is better then than what I saw 2 years ago--or I may have to start paying for TV.

UPDATE: There's an in-depth article over at Consumer Reports on getting over-the-air digital TV.