Only 210 days to DTV - Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' Money

I don't know about you, but I'm real tired of hearing about the debut of "DTV." When they first started talking about it, I turned to my husband and asked, "So, if all you have is an old television set with rabbit ears (laugh if you want to, but that's all plenty of people have!), you won't be able to watch anything?" He said, "We will, but some people won't, not unless they buy the converter box, hook up to cable or get a dish."

I went to the FCC's official website to find out why this mandatory change. Here is their rather obscure statement:

"DTV is a new type of broadcasting technology that will transform television as we now know it. DTV technology will allow broadcasters to offer television with movie-quality picture and CD-quality sound, along with a variety of other enhancements. DTV technology can also be used to transmit large amounts of other data into the home, which may be accessible by using your computer or television set."

Am I the only one that missed the hue and cry of the masses demanding the federal government pass a law so we could all have "movie-quality picture and CD-quality sound?" And exactly what are those "other enhancements?"

Call me cheap, I don't care, because that's not it - at all. This is just more of the greedy using the needy with the assistance of the federal government. People with rabbit ears will have to fork over somewhere between $50 and $70 to purchase a digital-to-analog converter box in order to continue watching free, non-cable TV!"

And just so you think they really care, every household can request up to two discount coupons worth $40 each through The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration - the President's principal adviser on telecommunications and information policy (according their website). What a deal!

These crooks have found yet another way to dig, elbow-deep, into people's pockets and I'll lay odds the initial outlay won't be the last. The only other alternative for some, is to stop watching TV altogether (not necessarily a bad thing. But realistically, we all know there will be no stampede to pitch the boob tube).

Clicking through my links a month or so ago, I came across Bruce Dixon's, Grand Theft Digital: How Corporate Broadcasters Will Hijack Digital TV. I saved it to my "Blog Thoughts" file to write about it later. Well, with this all-out, stepped-up, absolutely annoying ad campaign getting on my last nerve (just like the non-stop Obama ads) - this is later. It's a little long but definitely worth the read.

While we're getting "movie-quality picture and CD-quality sound" along with those "other enhancements," broadcasters will be reaping the real benefit$ of this boondoggle. I guess enough will never be enough for this consumptive society in which we live, where the real American dream is how much money you can make, take or act like you have.