Shouldn't Obama ask the high tech AV geeks to help their neighbors switch to DTV?
 

I think this would have been the quickest way to get the people who haven't upgraded up to date. Instead of sending out more coupons, just give a large number of boxes to the local TV stations (give the retailers the money and have them deliver the boxes to the stations), or tell people if they buy a new HDTV that a volunteer from the TV station will set it up for them. It doesn't have to be just the PBS station either, it could be Best Buy organizing some of their Geek Squad people to go out and help, it could be churches that match people that have the tech skills with the people that need help, or any other TV station in the area.

I would have no problem volunteering on Feb 17 and the weekend or two afterwards hooking up TVs and antennas and programming the local stations in for people. Even programming their remote control wouldn't be a problem.

Isn't this the service/community organization that can solve problems better than the government? I think this could get it done well before June, probably by the end of February.

What? They're already getting coupons. Systems change over time. Nothing can prevent that. Not everything can be done for everyone. IMHO, we shouldn't ask for more freebies.

are you willing to volunteer? I'm capable to do such things and i live in a 1600+ unit apartment bloc... how much of my free time should I volunteer?

I really dont see what the big deal is of postponing the transition for 4 months because of the poor manner in which the Commerce Dept administered the transition program....particularly if stations can voluntarily proceed on the transition if they choose.

I must be dumb as a brick here because this whole TeeVee switch thing seems like trivial bullshit. Don't we have an "economic crisis?"

Is television really such a huge problem for everybody that they can't live without it and will freak out if they don't get a magic decoder box for free?

Seeing as how I don't own a television, I'm at a loss as to what it is so very important about broadcast TeeVee that people gotta have it now-now-now.

Jerry Spring and Judge Judy?

Cable and dish TeeVee are what most lower and middle class types have anyway, right?

Isn't the extension optional anyway? If it is optional the only people who lose out or the people that want the frequencies the analog signals are taking up.

people need to see their stories!

HAHAHA... you mean like As The World Turns and that kinda garbage?

Haha... "watch my stories" makes me think of old ladies with little yappy dogs.

The masses need their opiate. The government knows what happens when people can't get their fix.

Right... they'll pick up a book or a magazine... oh what a horrid outcome.

Or they'll bitch and whine as though it were something important, and vote people out of office over it.

My answer remains the same, No, I don't think a mass roundup of volunteers need be organized for folks who buy the new HDTV's. That's just encouraging a different type of spending.

My question though it may be misplaced is, what about radio? I know for a fact that radio is and will forever remain the most important means of news broadcasting and for that reason we must keep it as simple as possible. Will they change the frequencies of radio?? I hope they don't.

Me too! I just got the design of my anti-gummint aluminum foil helmet down pat.

I say make the switch now. If you don't have a digital set, that's just a valid excuse to get out of the house and do....something

I agree this seems like such a pointless topic considering the real problems at hand. TV just seems like a brainwashing tool to me.

Don't forget one big point here: this switch will affect the elderly much more than most other groups. You know what the elderly tend to affect much more than other groups? Voting in local and national elections.

This is going to happen very soon; most stations can start turning them off at the original deadline if they want. And you really don't think that this could be exploited by some group as no one looking out for the elderly (and the poor, who are affected as well)?

If the government can't organize themselves over something as comparatively small as implementing a new form of technology nationally that they have had several years to do (and even this congressional majority has had two years to deal with), what is there to suggest that they can do anything against something of exponentially-more size and complexity: the forces of the national economy?

Damn...I dont know how you can hold the Democratic Congress of the last two years accountable for this one. This was a Dept of Commerce/NTA fuck-up.

Congress legislates...the Executive Branch implements (Commerce/NTA) ... and then Congress oversees. They held several oversight hearings in 07 and 08 and found numerous problems with the administration of the program that the NTA was expected to correct. Not much more Congress could do.

I imagine whomever was running the show was doing a heckuva job.

I'm talking more in a general "government-fuck-up" way. That specific part about Congress is more of a head-off on them trying to duck out from any blame.

And there is always SOMETHING Congress can do. I believe they passed a law that started the process; they could have passed one that ended it well before two weeks before the deadline.

This wasn't supposed to be a thread about whether people need TV, or who to blame for this mess*. (*possible mess, it is yet to be seen how bad it will actually be)

Too many people criticize every action of the government as proof they don't know what they are doing. And they are missing some things on this one. But the question is how would you fix it? If it is a problem of not having enough converter boxes at the store (because people bought two when they only needed one to sell the other one on eBay) the government should of done something to prevent it from happening. My idea would be for them to instead buy the converters and give them to the TV stations, then have a bunch of volunteers help their neighbors, friends, and family out.

How would you get an estimated 6.3 million people (nobody knows how many want to upgrade) to be ready for the switch in 8 days?

The full switch wont be in eight days. The House passed the Senate extension bill last week and Obama will sign it later this week

It doesn't have to be in 8 days, but my TV stations are going down in 8 days. I would assume that the large majority of TV stations will go down on Feb 17 as they had planned.

Right. The masses will become...informed. <shudder>
The last thing the government wants is an informed populace.

Bill, you're alive! I was afraid that you'd been consumed by the evil Bill. O'Reilly, that is.