The race to get your DTV converter box has been a futile one, so far, for the simple fact that the conversion has been put on stand by for a few more months due to budget cuts.
There isn’t a comparison when you watch digital cable compared to an old antenna method. Most people prefer digital for the clearer picture and more channels, but now the cable companies are trying to make money of this ploy.
The commercials centered on this even stated that after Feb. 17, you will no longer be able to use your rabbit ears. Well, it is well over that date, and people can still use the old faithful because the deadline has been pushed back.
My personal belief is that, obviously, if you cannot afford cable to begin with, why would you want to pay for the converter so that you can get digital channels? Yeah, they gave out coupons to low-income participants, but they didn’t print enough and are already out of them.
So what are the people who didn’t receive coupons supposed to do? Pay for it. Well, some people can’t afford it, like myself. The only big difference between the old rabbit ears and digital is that it’s a clearer picture and easier to see, but this rush seems to be coming at a bad time.
The economy is at an all-time low, and the last thing on people’s minds is whether or not they can watch TV. Cable companies are in the same crunch, and that’s why they wanted to push it back.
Right now is not the right time to have to be handling this. We, as a country, need to step back and actually prioritize what problems need to come first.
We actually shouldn’t even be thinking about this problem yet, since the deadline has been pushed back to June 12. Even Barack Obama said that it was the wrong time for the conversion, and it needed to be extended because people couldn’t afford the boxes or new TVs.
There really isn’t any point in having this conversion either. It’s mostly just about comfort and not necessity.
I think it’s ridiculous that this should even be a problem. We have better things to worry about. Like maybe terrorism and poverty would be a nice start, but no, instead we’re worrying about television sets and cable.