Digital TV. Sigh. Just do it, already.
Morning, faithful readers. If I could make you all a pair of alapaca mittens for frigid days like today's up in Boston, I totally would. As a replacement, wrap your hands around a scalding cup of black coffee and sip away your shivers...
I'm not believing it, but venture capitalists have reportedly valued Twitter -- the 140-character miniblog -- at $250 M. That's a lot of money. I've never tried it, so I won't give you my opinion. If you have, please inform me: Do you think that's fair or ridiculous?
Still looking to get your tech fingers on Microsoft's new OS that it debuted at CES? According to the company's blog, the Windows 7 beta will be available for download until Feb. 10.
Best Buy will expand it's electronic recycling program nationwide on Feb. 15. For $10, you can bring in a small gadget and turn it in, but be aware of this hitch: Anything with a screen, Best Buy will charge you $10 to recycle. Of course, you get a $10 Best Buy giftcard at the same time, so the cost -- as long as you frequently shop at Best Buy -- is a wash. Well, I should say (being a former employee and well aware of that store's insane mark-ups), it's a wash for the consumer. But, they are trying.
So, June 12 is likely the new date for the digital TV conversion. Sigh. Unless someone decides that isn't enough time, in which case it'll keep getting pushed out and the hillbillies of the world who are resisting what I used to be able to call 'the inevitable changeover' keep getting extra chances.
... Let's take a break from our headlines to talk about this a little. As I've already posted on this ad nauseum, why waste more words when previous ones will do? Here is a re-broadcast of one of my previous post on the matter. I hope this helps clear up any confusion and the debacle...
My dear grandma has had the same TV for at least the past 25 years -- as long ago as I can remember -- and it is so blurry that it hurts my eyes to look at it. She tapes her soaps everyday on a VCR, and scoffs at the idea of a new TV and a Tivo. She rarely uses her cell phone, which she has only for emergencies, and doesn't know how to change the ringtone (which I used to my great amusement a few years back by uploading 'SexyBack' by JT onto it).
She, I suppose, is the target audience for the federal govt's $1.5B campaign letting folks know their TVs won't work as of Feb. 2009 unless they upgrade to a new TV (gasp) or buy a fancy new converter box for good ol' bunny ears due to the switch from analog to digital TV signals.
Leave it to the gov't to waste billions of dollars overcomplicating a simple idea. I mean, perhaps it's that I don't fully understand the technical concept that, much like the switch from black-and-white to color programming nearly 50 years ago, older TVs that use an antenna to pull down and translate TV signals will no longer function when that over-air method of transmitting the signals is turned off and replaced by a wired digital signal that more efficiently transmits the same information using 1s and 0s to streamline the industry and improve picture clarity and viewer experience.
No... no, I think I understand the concept fine. It's the idea that $1.5 B needs to be spent to inform the public of the switch. Now, granted, some of that money is going into a discount program in the form of gov't issued coupons to help these analog folks buy a special converter to plug into the ol' TV boxes so they can still tune into Nick at Nite.
But that still seems like a lot of money, doesn't it, to simply tell people, 'Hey, before you get your bunny ears in a twist, better upgrade the TV, k?' So, in the interest of saving the gov't a bit of money, let's all do the feds a favor and inform everyone we know with analog TVs older than dust of the Feb. 2009 switch -- it's your duty as a geek to help out the technologically impaired.
I'll take the first step and ring up my grams... 'I'm bringing sexy back... you other boys don't know how to act... '
I'm not believing it, but venture capitalists have reportedly valued Twitter -- the 140-character miniblog -- at $250 M. That's a lot of money. I've never tried it, so I won't give you my opinion. If you have, please inform me: Do you think that's fair or ridiculous?
Still looking to get your tech fingers on Microsoft's new OS that it debuted at CES? According to the company's blog, the Windows 7 beta will be available for download until Feb. 10.
Best Buy will expand it's electronic recycling program nationwide on Feb. 15. For $10, you can bring in a small gadget and turn it in, but be aware of this hitch: Anything with a screen, Best Buy will charge you $10 to recycle. Of course, you get a $10 Best Buy giftcard at the same time, so the cost -- as long as you frequently shop at Best Buy -- is a wash. Well, I should say (being a former employee and well aware of that store's insane mark-ups), it's a wash for the consumer. But, they are trying.
So, June 12 is likely the new date for the digital TV conversion. Sigh. Unless someone decides that isn't enough time, in which case it'll keep getting pushed out and the hillbillies of the world who are resisting what I used to be able to call 'the inevitable changeover' keep getting extra chances.
... Let's take a break from our headlines to talk about this a little. As I've already posted on this ad nauseum, why waste more words when previous ones will do? Here is a re-broadcast of one of my previous post on the matter. I hope this helps clear up any confusion and the debacle...
My dear grandma has had the same TV for at least the past 25 years -- as long ago as I can remember -- and it is so blurry that it hurts my eyes to look at it. She tapes her soaps everyday on a VCR, and scoffs at the idea of a new TV and a Tivo. She rarely uses her cell phone, which she has only for emergencies, and doesn't know how to change the ringtone (which I used to my great amusement a few years back by uploading 'SexyBack' by JT onto it).
She, I suppose, is the target audience for the federal govt's $1.5B campaign letting folks know their TVs won't work as of Feb. 2009 unless they upgrade to a new TV (gasp) or buy a fancy new converter box for good ol' bunny ears due to the switch from analog to digital TV signals.
Leave it to the gov't to waste billions of dollars overcomplicating a simple idea. I mean, perhaps it's that I don't fully understand the technical concept that, much like the switch from black-and-white to color programming nearly 50 years ago, older TVs that use an antenna to pull down and translate TV signals will no longer function when that over-air method of transmitting the signals is turned off and replaced by a wired digital signal that more efficiently transmits the same information using 1s and 0s to streamline the industry and improve picture clarity and viewer experience.
No... no, I think I understand the concept fine. It's the idea that $1.5 B needs to be spent to inform the public of the switch. Now, granted, some of that money is going into a discount program in the form of gov't issued coupons to help these analog folks buy a special converter to plug into the ol' TV boxes so they can still tune into Nick at Nite.
But that still seems like a lot of money, doesn't it, to simply tell people, 'Hey, before you get your bunny ears in a twist, better upgrade the TV, k?' So, in the interest of saving the gov't a bit of money, let's all do the feds a favor and inform everyone we know with analog TVs older than dust of the Feb. 2009 switch -- it's your duty as a geek to help out the technologically impaired.
I'll take the first step and ring up my grams... 'I'm bringing sexy back... you other boys don't know how to act... '
Labels: Best Buy recycling, Digital TV conversion, Microsoft, Twitter, Windows 7 beta
This entry was posted by Amber, on Monday, January 26, 2009. You can
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