No Beeeep! More Beeeep! Chef Beeeep! Ramsey Beeeep!

12/21
2007

Or the annoying scientist from Bones.  Or -- praise God! -- House.

For me, in 2009, that is.  I belong to the 17% of U.S. households that don't have cable or satellite TV.  So when the U.S. switches over to digital television, we'll be in the dark snow.

Why am I mentioning this now?  Yesterday the NY Times' Bits blog mentioned a poll by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing in which less than half the people interviewed knew about the cut-over to digital TV and less than 20% knew when it would happen. And more than 30% of the people who said they had neither cable nor satellite had any idea that they would soon be spending their free time playing Uno.

Not me.  I'll have YouTube.

Comments

Just got this in the mail

Just got this in the mail from Circuit City: http://tinyurl.com/2aukdg . Obviously there is a sales pitch, but it's useful information if you're wondering what you might have to buy.

For those of us with older

For those of us with older TVs, the government is subsidizing the cost of purchasing converter boxes so that we can still get digital signals. I can get two $40 coupons:

http://www.news.com/Feds-unveil-digital-TV-subsidy-details/2100-1028_3-6...

The question, will I want them ...

Don't worry too much, this

Don't worry too much, this excitement is somewhat overhyped. You do not need to buy cable or sattelite tv. All you need is an HDTV and a pair of rabbit ears. If you are in a metorpolitan area you can get digital tv signals free over the air. You just need a television with a tuner to read the signal.

http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108854-1.html?tag=lnav
http://www.hdtvpub.com/

It is definitely a chick

It is definitely a chick thing and let's not forget about Simon. But who cares about Bones?

I will keep my cable service.

I'm pretty indifferent to TV

I'm pretty indifferent to TV unless I'm horribly sick and can't get out of bed. As long as bigger networks provide online content and I can get a Netflix account it doesn't really matter to me.

[...] bothers me - I’m all

[...] bothers me - I’m all digital at home (DVR included) - but this may be a shock to people like Dan and others I know who don’t have digital [...]

I had no idea about this

I had no idea about this either! And I totally agree with RayAna - I'm a big House and Ramsey fan (guess it is a chick thing).

Guess I better share this news with the other 80% of America - or at least my family.

i love House AND Chef Ramsey!

i love House AND Chef Ramsey! "I'm not sad, I'm complicated, chicks dig that." -House, M.D.

but why in the world is this happening?! what's next, switching to digital radio as well? bah.

ps - i enjoyed that Youtube clip :) classic Ramsey.