Senate Nears Deal To Delay Digital TV

[doctorhardware]

I wonder where that lady got the digital tuner coupons at then.

[drfsupercenter]

Did you try the terminators Doc talked about in post #3?

No, but don't those get rid of *ALL* coaxial signals? I just need to display my cable's signal but not have antenna interference. And really, I want something cheap as after TV goes digital the problem will go away.

I still don;t get why you are so bothered by this.
You have cable, so you won;t even see a difference when the switch is made.
This is the right thing to do. The economy took a serious dive and we are in the process of trying to repair it, but until we do, many/most folks are note buying more than needed, and some are not even able to buy what is needed.
Sure, your ghosting problem will go away, but it is also easily corrected with a little know-how.

So please, focus your energies on correcting that issue and less on complaining about others that are less fortunate than yourself.

It's just more the issue that our government is now rewarding laziness. I mean, they approved me for two coupons and I answered the thing honestly when it asked if any of my TVs had cable or satellite. Who's fault is it that they ran out? But whatever. I'm just saying, in June, I'd be willing to bet any amount of money that we still won't have 100% of people ready. (Not to mention this whole thing is a huge marketing scam! I've seen TONS of ads going "Your only two choices are to buy a converter box or sign up for DirecTV!" etc... which is 100% wrong and quite frankly, false advertising. I wish someone filed suit against the cable/satellite companies... they're misleading people!)

[Budreaux]

(Not to mention this whole thing is a huge marketing scam! I've seen TONS of ads going "Your only two choices are to buy a converter box or sign up for DirecTV!" etc... which is 100% wrong and quite frankly, false advertising. I wish someone filed suit against the cable/satellite companies... they're misleading people!)

I'm curious as to your basis on this statement. What are their other options?

[drfsupercenter]

One, if they already have cable or satellite they don't need to do anything. And I've seen this ad on CABLE CHANNELS like Nickelodeon... telling me I need to switch to DirecTV!

The other option is to buy a new LCD/Plasma TV with a built-in digital tuner.

Luckily WideOpenWest, the ISP/cable company we use, actually had an ad saying "WOW customers need to do a lot of what this guy's doing" and shows someone sitting on a couch for 20 seconds. But I've never seen a satellite company like Dish or DirecTV do honest marking promotions. (For that matter, I've actually had relatives and friends ask me if they should be worrying about the DTV transition, and they all have cable or satellite... because of these stupid ads saying you have to switch to a digital cable/satellite service)

[Budreaux]

One, if they already have cable or satellite they don't need to do anything. And I've seen this ad on CABLE CHANNELS like Nickelodeon... telling me I need to switch to DirecTV!

The other option is to buy a new LCD/Plasma TV with a built-in digital tuner.

Luckily WideOpenWest, the ISP/cable company we use, actually had an ad saying "WOW customers need to do a lot of what this guy's doing" and shows someone sitting on a couch for 20 seconds. But I've never seen a satellite company like Dish or DirecTV do honest marking promotions. (For that matter, I've actually had relatives and friends ask me if they should be worrying about the DTV transition, and they all have cable or satellite... because of these stupid ads saying you have to switch to a digital cable/satellite service)

You're leaving off some important details of the commercials.
In other words, these commercials are directed at people that don't own a suitable tv to decode digital itself. So, in that respect, the commercials are correct.
Now, you suggest that buying a new LCD/Plasma is an alternative that they don't advertise.
First off:
They do pay for those ads and are marketing a product, just like any other product advertisement. So I can;t hold that against them.
Buying a more expensive tv is a solution, but buying basic cable/sat. service is not, unless you want to add up their monthly bill over a year or two to argue the point. (viable argument, but doesn't fit in with the reasoning behind this particular discussion)

The fact is, many americans are spoiled, spoiled rotten, by the amenaties we have available to us. As soon as one of those amenities is taken away, people start complaining and using every illogical reasoning to argue their point.

My point here is.... Stop acting like a spoilt american and understand that most of the people that will effected adversly are the elderly that just don't understand the situation and when they do finally get it, the goverment is trying to insure the resources are availble to help them with as little burden as possible.

I don't mean to be disrecpectful, but your stance is one selfishness and narrow-sightness. You refuse to see or acknowledge that the average Joe isn't of concern here, it is our elderly folks that just don't get it, but once they see it, they will do what needs to be done.

[drfsupercenter]

They do pay for those ads and are marketing a product, just like any other product advertisement. So I can;t hold that against them.
Buying a more expensive tv is a solution, but buying basic cable/sat. service is not, unless you want to add up their monthly bill over a year or two to argue the point. (viable argument, but doesn't fit in with the reasoning behind this particular discussion)

Now, if the commercials said "You can either buy a converter box or sign up for a cable/satellite service," I would be absolutely fine with it. But they don't. Every cable or satellite company advertises it like THEIR company is the only way to keep watching TV without buying a converter box. So much so that people I know *with cable* have asked me if they really have to switch services... and it pisses me off how much it's misleading the public.

My point here is.... Stop acting like a spoilt american and understand that most of the people that will effected adversly are the elderly that just don't understand the situation and when they do finally get it, the goverment is trying to insure the resources are availble to help them with as little burden as possible.

See, what I'm saying is... if the elderly just don't get the whole thing, why would they get it now? All broadcast stations have been advertising it for well over a year, and unlike the cable stations... they've actually done a pretty good/honest job of the whole thing. Our local PBS even had segments once a week or so demonstrating what a converter box is and how to set one up and use it.
All this bill means is that it will take until June for the elderly to see their TVs go fuzzy. Nothing more, nothing less. If they don't get it now, they won't get it then.

Unless, of course, you or somebody plans on calling up all these elderly people and informing them?

[doctorhardware]

Welcome to the greed of the cable and satellite companies.

[drfsupercenter]

LOL, I know.
But technically isn't that FALSE ADVERTISING? They're saying something that obviously isn't true (if you know anything about the DTV transition outside of the ads on TV)... and yes it's perfectly legal.

But really, we've had cable as long as I can remember... it's bundled with our Internet through our ISP, and it's not even that expensive as an addition. And the nice thing about my ISP is they upgrade us for free, where Comcrap and other companies do the reverse (keep your service the same and charge you more)

[Budreaux]

All I know is the commercials in my area and Time Warner are quite clear about the whole process and what needs to be or doesn't need to be done.
If anyone around here doesn't know, then it is because they are not listening to the commercials.

[drfsupercenter]

I think it depends what channels you're watching.

I'll see if I can't record one of those misleading ads (though they might be toned down now that most people already know about the DTV transition)...

It seems DirecTV is the worst when it comes to misleading. WideOpenWest is very clear that all their customers will be fine, and Comcast does their usual trollish ads like always, with no mention of DTV at all. We don't have Time Warner Cable in our area, just those two.
I haven't seen any Dish Network ads, but that could be because 99% of the time I change channels during commercials. But DirecTV, ugh. I've even heard their BS on FM radio.

[doctorhardware]

I do too hate the commercials.

[Budreaux]

You're missing my point.
I honestly don't care about the advertisements. Companies will continue to advertise in ways to sell their product, this is absolutely no different.

Let me ask you a question......What make of car did your parents last buy?
Why did they buy that particular car?

Why did you purchase a PS3, when most all of us here literally despise how $ony operates.

Did you get upset over their marketing ads?

If so, why did you still buy from them?

Now, these questions are all superficial and I really don't need to know the answers. The point is people buy products based off of advertisements. Advertisements that are usually not 100% accurate.

[drfsupercenter]

I was just saying that if anyone is responsible for misleading people, it's the cable and satellite companies.

The over-the-air channels actually did quite a nice job of explaining it. At least from what I could see. About either needing a converter box if you fail the "DTV test", a new TV, or any pay-service.

I guess I just don't get how anybody who actually uses their TV and watches antenna channels can not know about the DTV transition. It's been advertised at least once per half-hour block for the past... year?

[doctorhardware]

Comcast here has been doing the same deceptive commercials here too. It is like they are preying on the elderly.

[Budreaux]

I was just saying that if anyone is responsible for misleading people, it's the cable and satellite companies.

Isn't that the purpose of commercial advertisements. To make you feel good about a purchase you don't really need?
Just think about it.

If you are talking about ethics, then that is another discussion. When have these types of commercials ever been ethical. They want to get as many folks to buy their product/service as possible in order to make money. To do so, they need us to feel good about the purchase. This usually requires a little misrepresentation of the facts....it's basic advertising. Why get all bent out of shape over it now when they've been doing it for years and years and years.