No more NTSC broadcasts in 2009

USA Today

Warning: ranting ahead

This is stupid. To allow the FCC to collect a bunch of money auctioning off the VHF/UHF airways the government has decided to obsolete NTSC televisions by 2009.

This especially hurts people like me…

I for one own an AWESOME NTSC Sony Trinitron Wega TV. I’ve looked around at getting a replacement.. YOU CAN’T. To get an equivalent HDTV version of my set I’d need to spend like $1300. I’m not ready to drop that much cash on something I consider to be a waste of time to watch.

I also don’t have cable or satellite. The only TV I watch is Fox and PBS. Fox has Seinfeld and Simpsons re-runs, and PBS once in a blue moon has a cool documentary on. If nothing’s on the airways and I absolutely MUST watch something I turn on a TV show I downloaded off the net. Or, I have friends that record stuff for me on their PVR and ship it to me. I hate watching ads. It’s a waste of time. I’d rather be playing video games or doing something interactive with my time.

So I’m very upset about this decision to obsolete my TV in 2009.

Sure, I’ll probably buy a HDTV set by then, but the primary reason for that will be for video games. Halo at 1280i would be pretty nice, and I imagine there will be other games that will look a lot better in high-def. But what about people that can’t afford to replace their old sets?

I’ve looked into buying an HDTV tuner for my current set (yes, there are tuners that will receive DTV and down-scale it to 480i), but they’re so freaking expensive it’s just not worth it (last I checked the cheapest boxes were $400). Plus they all require expensive antennas, which usually run another $100.

This is stupid. 2020, maybe 2015 I would understand, but I just can’t imagine junking this excellent TV of mine four years from today.

If the government gave me a free DTV to NTSC converter box that would be fine, or if the prices dropped below $50 that would also be fine. Wait.. if the government handed out these boxes that would be messed up. “Here you go… watch TV… turn on.. tune in..” you know the rest. LOL.. yeah, they all default to Fox News..

OK that was my most random blog post yet.. My apologies.