# Obama, I Loves Ya, but STFU about DTV **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448 "2009-01-09T00:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/101 "2009-01-09T22:33:50Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Can someone explain exactly what the benefit is of stopping analog transmission? I’ve seen a few vague references to “the bandwidth is needed for other purposes,” but I am unclear on what purposes. > [@](#): > > As the nation transitions from analog to digital, NTIA will also help enable first responders – our firefighters and police officers – to employ designated frequencies to improve their communications, thereby better protecting communities when emergencies arise. [http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/dtv/index.html](http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/dtv/index.html) for one… ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/102 "2009-01-09T22:54:35Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Count me in the group that welcomes this delay. There’s channels that are just unwatchable in digital without major antenna tweaking, yet perfectly watchable in analog around here. When analog goes I either lose those channels or have to fix the rotor. Not cheap, and not safe in the winter. It’s on the steep roof. This shit is were I am at too. I ordered my coupon/card early and got them both. I used them at Radio Shack and got two $59.99 boxes at $19.99 each plus tax. I am not sure if they are a better model or a piece of crap, I would not know about such things. They do have a remote but I don’t know if that means anything. I did try at Walmart first but they had been sold out for weeks and that was over six months ago. The thing that pissed me off is that I lose four channels by using the converter box. Only two channels that I got before are improved. The rest work sometimes on digital but are choppy/pixilated or they just lose the signal all together in the middle of a program. With Analog unless the power went out I was sure to get all the available channels to watch. Now from what I understand having a digital TV would not mean jack shit. I would still get the same results which suck. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/103 "2009-01-09T23:03:35Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > That might not be in your entertainment budget. If it’s not, then that truly is unfortunate and I’m sorry you may have to go without TV until such a time when your entertainment budget allows it. Uh, right, I couldn’t possibly have figured that out for myself…:rolleyes: > [@](#): > > With all due respect, that’s not a hardship – it’s an inconvenience. TV is by no means a necessity, and while the lack thereof may significantly change the way you get your news or entertainment, it is possible to survive and be happy without. Right. As I said, my husband’s vision has deteriorated. That leaves either TV or radio for getting news and entertainment. When you’re able bodied, able to see well, hear well, and your hands work right you have a lot more options for entertainment and information. My husband… not so much. Seriously, they _don’t_ have a large print edition of the newspaper, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/104 "2009-01-09T23:14:59Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > And you were the one arguing that a driver’s license should be more expensive in the same post that you were talking about how you bear the cost of keeping up your pilot license. > > So, do you buy food or do you buy airplane time? And why the fuck should I finance a DTV converter box for you? Once again, we bump up against the incomprehension that _I have not always been poor_. Two years ago I was making $50k a year. A little over a year ago I was laid off. _Since then_ I have been poor. And no, I haven’t flown or rented an airplane for a year and a half. Are you _happy_ now? Is it _really_ that hard for you to understand that this poverty is a RECENT phenomena? I, like hundreds of thousands of other people, was laid off and have not found steady employment since. The fact I lost my health insurance but still have to pay a couple hundred a month for my husband’s medication out of pocket so he can _stay alive_ only makes the situation worse. Yes, I have a pilot’s license. I was not required to hand it in when I dropped below the poverty line. I have not used it recently because that was the _very first_ thing cut out of the budget. Indeed, I stopped flying several months before I was officially laid off because I knew it was coming and I put that money in the bank. So, to answer your question - I buy food before airplane time. I pay the rent before airplane time. I buy my husband’s medication before airplane time. In fact, I do _everything else_ before airplane you judgmental jerk. > [@](#): > > Unless you’re Rip Van Winkle you knew this one was coming, and you failed to plan ahead. This does not equate to the responsibility of someone else to take care of it for you. Right. I planned to be unemployed for 15 months. Right. Tell me, are YOU able to live primarily off savings for that long, as I have done? If you can’t, positively, answer “yes” to that then go to hell. Frankly, two years ago we planned to buy a brand new TV with digital tuner built in, but, oh darn, management decided to let a bunch of us go. And then the economy tanked. 'Scuze me if I’ve had a few things on my mind in the meanwhile. Trust me, I did not intend to be in this position. Finance a DTV box for me? No, you’re under no obligation to do so. As I said, I’d be happy to delay the switch over because that would benefit me and mine. On the other hand, if somone offers to subsidize something like that for me I’d be an idiot not to take advantage of it, wouldn’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/105 "2009-01-09T23:25:51Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > If they’re so poor, how did they manage to afford a television set to begin with? Because not everyone who is poor today was poor last year. A lot of people have dropped out of the middle class into poverty the past year or two, including myself. Seriously, guys, if I was making even as much as $20k a year I’d go out and buy a damn converter box and screw the coupons. They _should_ have been reserved for those who truly can’t afford it, followed by those who nearly couldn’t afford it, and so on. The fact is, I’m housing and feeding two people on an income that would be below poverty for just one person. If the damn coupon doesn’t show up in my mailbox then I’m just not going to have TV when the conversion happens, at least not until I get steady work. I’ll live with it, but don’t demand I jump up and down and be happy about it. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/106 "2009-01-09T23:29:41Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > What if we allow people to deduct the cost of a converter, up to $40, from their taxes? Would that option convince you more to keep the current deadline? A tax deduction is not the same as having the money actually in hand. Further, for the poor, many of them are not paying taxes anyway, so it’d be meaningless. If we just cut $40 checks, though, people’d request it who didn’t need converter boxes, and those that did need the boxes probably would spend it on something else anyway. Hence we’re right back at doing the coupon. The only alternate I can see is giving the converter boxes away wholly, but just having an income requirement. I’d find this acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/107 "2009-01-09T23:37:29Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > I have to admit, **Broomstick** , your stance on these issues doesn’t seem to make sense to me, either. You want the government to make it harder and more expensive (a lot more expensive, as I recall) to get & maintain a driver’s license, which many, many people need in order to be employed (including you, I’m sure, considering where you live), and at the same time, you think the government should make it easier and cheaper to watch television? I don’t get the logic. I actually would rather make it easier to get to work without a car, that is, fund mass transit. As it happens, I live in an area that _does_ have mass transit. When I lived actually IN Chicago I never needed a car to get to work for over 20 years. As it is, when I have been able to find work (temporary) over the past year about half the time I have not needed a car to get to work then, either. So, in fact, I could (and have) lived quite well without a car. Do I think the government is obliged to make TV watching easier/cheaper? Not in an absolute sense, no. However, in this instance promises were made in regards to subsidizing adapters that have not been kept. Truthfully, would have been better to not subsidize at all than to make and break promises. I would not be bitching half so much if my coupons had shown up. But now I’m told that if they don’t show up, tough cookies. I don’t even have the option of getting on a waiting list - I had my chance apparently and since the post office didn’t get them to me, too bad. That’s a little screw up, too. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/108 "2009-01-09T23:47:19Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > What if we allow people to deduct the cost of a converter, up to $40, from their taxes? Would that option convince you more to keep the current deadline? What if you’re not making enough to pay taxes? That would, indeed, be a group who could argue about affordability. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/109 "2009-01-10T00:56:55Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > What if you’re not making enough to pay taxes? That would, indeed, be a group who could argue about affordability. Fair enough…if someone’s not paying taxes then that’s obviously a non-starter. Then I guess we get back to my original question from Page 1, which is quite simply where is the new deadline set, and how is that new deadline defended from criticism. Since no one will agree on this and folks think I’m just trying to kick poor people while they’re down, rather than argue the academic technology policy issue, I guess there’s not much point in discussing it on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/110 "2009-01-10T01:27:48Z")
A tax credit, as opposed to a deduction, would work even if they don’t pay taxes. Actually, a deduction wouldn’t even be a reimbursement for tax payers. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/111 "2009-01-10T01:54:38Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But television reception is a constitutional right!!!111!! Not a Constitutional right, of course, but a right nonetheless. The American people, each and every one of them (not just taxpayers), _own_ the airwaves in this country. Yes, even after the media corporations bribed, pleaded with, and threatened Congress to jam through the (Corporate) Telecommunications Act of 1994 in order to rape and pillage those rights as far as they were able to in the name of corporate profits. Yet somehow, amazingly, the spirit of the Communications Act of 1934 wasn’t _completely_ dismantled. So you better believe we have a right to receive the airwaves that we own. That doesn’t mean we have a right to free HDTV plasma displays or somesuch, but when the government fundamentally alters the technology needed to receive _our_ airwaves, then it is appropriate for the Feds to help make it possible for the owners of the airwaves to _receive_ those airwaves. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/112 "2009-01-10T02:44:18Z")
> [@](#): > > **Broomstick** said: > Right. I planned to be unemployed for 15 months. Right. Tell me, are YOU able to live primarily off savings for that long, as I have done I could live entirely off of the money I already have put away for two years with my current lifestyle. I could probably stretch it if I got real frugal. > [@](#): > > As I said, I’d be happy to delay the switch over because that would benefit me and mine. And I’m perfectly happy with it going on as planned. It’s been in the works so long that the A in ATSC might as well stand for Ancient. > [@](#): > > So, to answer your question - I buy food before airplane time. I pay the rent before airplane time. I buy my husband’s medication before airplane time. In fact, I do everything else before airplane you judgmental jerk. I’m not about to apologize for questioning the wisdom of someone who thinks a driver’s license should be as expensive and time consuming to obtain as a pilot’s license, and then in the next breath whines that TV is too expensive. Excuse me, lady, but your priorities need a lot of work. > [@](#): > > I, like hundreds of thousands of other people, was laid off and have not found steady employment since. Considering that you manage to surf your way here every day, but haven’t figured out that newspapers have classified ads online, including job postings, I’m not surprised you haven’t found work. After reading the other thread, I’m rather sick of your constant whine that the reason you have been unemployed so long has nothing whatever to do with your own incompetence at finding a job. > [@](#): > > So, in fact, I could (and have) lived quite well without a car. And yet you were just posting recently in a pit thread about your unemployment that you couldn’t afford to buy newspapers because you have to pay for gas to get to the unemployment office. So, which line of ‘woe is me’ are we supposed to be buying here? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/113 "2009-01-10T02:55:17Z")
Just be thankful that the private sector runs the music industry. If the government were in charge, we would still be listening to 78RPM vinyl records with a target date of Dec. 11, 2014 to convert to these new-fangled “Long Play Records” or “LPs”. A protest would be raised by those who only own the single speed turntables. Look, for those of you in financial troubles, I feel for you, but 40 dollars? Come on. You can’t tell me you can’t scrape together 40 bucks for a box. And if you can’t, I’m with Uma. Progress can’t wait because a handful of people can’t keep up with new technology… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/114 "2009-01-10T03:26:57Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > I could live entirely off of the money I already have put away for two years with my current lifestyle. I could probably stretch it if I got real frugal. Bravo for you. You are, however, a definite exception to the rule. > [@](#): > > And I’m perfectly happy with it going on as planned. It’s been in the works so long that the A in ATSC might as well stand for Ancient. And, as I said, if it goes through as planned and I’m not ready I’ll just live with the situation. Is that a problem for you? _Of course_ I’d prefer to keep receiving TV without spending as much on a box as I do on groceries for a week, but I realize that the world doesn’t have to accommodate me. It would be NICE if it would accommodate me, but it doesn’t have to. > [@](#): > > I’m not about to apologize for questioning the wisdom of someone who thinks a driver’s license should be as expensive and time consuming to obtain as a pilot’s license, and then in the next breath whines that TV is too expensive. Actually, I did not say a driver’s license should be AS expensive and time consuming as a pilot’s license, I say it should be _more like_ the process for a pilot’s license. Not _exactly_ like, but certainly more rigorous training and regular testing would be preferable to the current, laughable “requirements”. Is TV too expensive? Right now, _for me_, if I had to replace my TV yes, it would be too expensive. Right now, _for me_, buying a converter box without assistance is too expensive. More expensive meaning “exceeds my budget” and “there are higher priority items to spend money on”, _not_ “it costs too much in an objective sense”. In the larger context of the average income of the average American the coverter boxes aren’t too expensive. Unfortunately, I no longer have that average American income. > [@](#): > > After reading the other thread, I’m rather sick of your constant whine that the reason you have been unemployed so long has nothing whatever to do with your own incompetence at finding a job. Strictly speaking, I have NOT been entirely unemployed. I have found temporary work off and on, which has been a good thing and enabled me such outrageous luxuries as one new pair of shoes this year and two new loaf pans for baking bread. Oh, how extravagant! In fact, I worked today and yesterday at gainful, money making employment. If I could work that many hours at that rate of pay I would be able to make all my bills and put a little away each week and be able to just go drive down to the mall and purchase and goddamned converter box even if it cost $100. The problem is not finding work, it’s finding STEADY, PERMANENT work. I realize some self-righteous assholes have trouble believing that the economy sucks right now and there really are people sincerely looking for work who can not get hired on a permanent basis. Constant whine? It’s a fucking shitty reality I deal with _every single day_ but _god forbid_ I express my frustration at the situation. Worse yet, how dare a poor person “surf in” to the Straight Dope and muddy up the pristine forum with her poverty cooties! > [@](#): > > And yet you were just posting recently in a pit thread about your unemployment that you couldn’t afford to buy newspapers because you have to pay for gas to get to the unemployment office. It wasn’t MY idea to locate the unemployment office where it could not be reached by bus. Pretty fucking _stupid_ if you ask me, it would seem logical to put the unemployment office in a location easily accessible to bus or commuter train but when has anything in the world been done logically? > [@](#): > > So, which line of ‘woe is me’ are we supposed to be buying here? If you don’t like my posts why do you read them? ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/115 "2009-01-10T03:36:59Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I actually would rather make it easier to get to work without a car, that is, fund mass transit. As it happens, I live in an area that _does_ have mass transit. When I lived actually IN Chicago I never needed a car to get to work for over 20 years. As it is, when I have been able to find work (temporary) over the past year about half the time I have not needed a car to get to work then, either. So, in fact, I could (and have) lived quite well without a car. Well, sure, better mass transit would be great. But it’s totally unworkable in most rural areas, and those people need to get to work too. And we are a long way from having decent mass transit in most suburban areas as well. Chicago is a huge city, and they have enough problems with mass transit…how do you expect people who DON’T live in urban areas to get to work? You said in your reply to **catsix** that you can’t take the bus to the unemployment office. How would you get there if you couldn’t afford the cost or renewing your driver’s license? > [@](#): > > Do I think the government is obliged to make TV watching easier/cheaper? Not in an absolute sense, no. However, in this instance promises were made in regards to subsidizing adapters that have not been kept. Truthfully, would have been better to not subsidize at all than to make and break promises. I would not be bitching half so much if my coupons had shown up. But now I’m told that if they don’t show up, tough cookies. I don’t even have the option of getting on a waiting list - I had my chance apparently and since the post office didn’t get them to me, too bad. That’s a little screw up, too. Imagine…the government screwing up a program like this. Color me shocked. The government can’t run the mass transit you would like to see…what makes you think they are capable of ensuring people have luxuries like a working televison? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/116 "2009-01-10T03:37:39Z")
Would a few months ( or a year or two) delay have a negative impact in any way on all those companies excited about all the new bandwidth? Seems like more people than I imagined are not ready for the switch (even if it’s their own “fault”) In fact, there are more people on this thread than I would have thought there were in most states not ready. Some people want a delay, no one else seems to be in any rush. Let’s compromise. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/117 "2009-01-10T03:45:50Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > You said in your reply to **catsix** that you can’t take the bus to the unemployment office. How would you get there if you couldn’t afford the cost or renewing your driver’s license? 1. Loooooooong walk from nearest bus stop 2. Bicycle (a little impractical this time of year with all the snow) 3. Taxi 4. Friend with license. > [@](#): > > Imagine…the government screwing up a program like this. Color me shocked. The government can’t run the mass transit you would like to see…what makes you think they are capable of ensuring people have luxuries like a working televison? Actually, when I lived in Chicago mass transit was reliable enough that I very seldom was late to work when I relied on it. Certainly, I was late no more often than people who drove their cars in to work. People like to bitch about mass transit, but being in a traffic clusterfuck on the Dan Ryan freeway is also something to bitch about (and people do). So I don’t see where you can say “government can’t run the mass transit” because, at least in some places, it _does_ run mass transit. But, like I said - better not to make the promise than to make it and break it. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/118 "2009-01-10T06:09:50Z")
Why does every thread turn into “the Broomstick channel”? Geez almighty. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/119 "2009-01-10T07:24:12Z")
I have written to Obama to offer my advice. I have a simple solution to the problem that will provide an equitable solution for **all** Americans. Since those people whose reception is not compromised are so keen to point out “it’s not food or water it’s only TV” to those without set top boxes, simply stop all TV broadcasts until everyone has one. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448/120 "2009-01-10T10:31:36Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Then I guess we get back to my original question from Page 1, which is quite simply where is the new deadline set, and how is that new deadline defended from criticism. Since no one will agree on this and folks think I’m just trying to kick poor people while they’re down, rather than argue the academic technology policy issue, I guess there’s not much point in discussing it on the SDMB. I don’t think you’re just trying to kick poor people when they’re down (and, btw, if you ever do, you want to go for the belly), but I just don’t know that I have a good answer to your question. I do know, though, that according to Nielsen, as of last month, about 7 million households (6.8%) were unready for the switchover. > **[Nexttv | Programming| Busines | Multichannel Broadcasting + Cable |...](https://www.nexttv.com/)** > > Nexttv | Programming| Busines | Multichannel Broadcasting + Cable | www.nexttv.com What I would have liked to see happen was a phased rollover. Rather than one date for the whole country, you say “State X will switchover on date Y” and so on. That both minimizes the strain of resources at any one time, and by studying how the early switches go, lets the Commission know what issues need to be focused on going forward. They’re doing that to some extent with Wilmington, NC, and Hawaii, but I would have liked to see them do it with the whole country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-i-loves-ya-but-stfu-about-dtv/480448.md?page=7)