Goodbye Analog!

posted 9:58:26 AM on 6/12/2009

After much procrastination, today is the day that the final analog television transmissions will be broadcast in the US. It's also the first day I will enjoy listening to news reports about all the elderly people who've refused to pay attention to the numerous warnings broadcast over the past year or so.

I could go on to explain what this means, why we're doing it, and all that, but since you're reading this on an obscure blog that you dug up from the bowels of the internet, I'm assuming you already know.

What I will discuss, however, is the part of this process that has confused me. With all the bombardment of PSA's that we've been getting lately, the powers that be never seemed to explain a couple things really well.

First of all,.. never once did I hear them make light of the fact that all TVs purchased in the last 2 years or so are ALREADY equipped with digital tuners.

Second, they've talked a lot how a fuzzy analog signal might translate to an unwatchable digital one, but never mentioned that if you do manage to pick up a channel, that the picture quality is essentially perfect. There's no grey area when it comes to a digital signal. It's either on or off. In my case, I pick up far more digital channels than I did analog ones. In fact, digital tv was one of the catalysts that prompted me to ditch my expensive cable service a few months back. I've never looked back and never regretted it for a moment.

So,.. rest in peace analog. You've been a good friend, but it's time for us to move on to better things.