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The artifacts are a compression issue, and are due to Comcast trying to squeeze too much data into one channel. It's a periodic thing with most digital cable providers, since bandwidth requirements vary by program, but it happens more often with some providers than others.
I'm sorry to hear that your experience was sub-par.
Digital television is either the emerging standard or a transitory technology, depending on who you talk to. I see IPTV as being the way of the future, but unfortunately it's not available in all areas yet. Aside from that, in it's current format it requires a bit of setup and tinkering, and not everyone is able or willing to go through it.
Here's hoping the tech can resolve your issue. Even the worst companies have a few good ones; it's law of averages.
To address Lasereth, with current technology true digital cable isn't usually possible without a set-top box. New tv's are coming out now with digital receivers built-in, but anything that isn't high def won't have one, and is therefore only capable of receiving analog signals. For that reason, the best a cableco can do is to convert a digital signal to analog upstream, which is likely to result in signal degradation, and won't allow the interactive features.
Even if your television has a digital receiver, all cablecos I'm aware of encrypt their signals. That means that at the very least you need a cableCARD to receive them.
OTA digital is another matter, but if it's coming through a coaxial cable (all cable signals in the home do; FIOS and the like are by definition not cable in the traditional sense), then you'll need some hardware from the provider.
__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said
- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame
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