2009 digital TV conversion

I'm not sure what I think of the required FCC conversion to all digital coming in February 2009. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Once upon a time I thought it was a great idea, but the more I think about it and the closer the supposed deadline gets, I'm not so sure anymore.

Recently, I listened to a radio show (on a great listener-supported, free radio station) and they were talking about just this topic. They didn't talk long about it, nor did they really delve into what could and would possibly happen, but they did all seem to think that the whole thing would be a train wreck. The discussion focused primarily on the fact that there a lot of people that still depend on antenna to pick up their local stations. Many of those same people live in areas that are quite far from the originating towers, and sit on the very edge of analog transmitting distance. I can speak first hand to this fact; when my family moved to the Ozarks in Arkansas, we were no less than 150 miles away from the TV station towers in Little Rock. On a really good day, in the winter with absolutely no humidity and no weather to speak of, with the leaves off the trees, we could pick up the big three affiliates. Most days, however, the channels were down right terrible. Now, take this problem and apply it to digital transmissions. Not only do digital transmissions not travel as far, but if they don't arrive completely intact, you get absolutely nothing. At least with an analog signal you got something -- it might be a bit snowy, but you could make it out.

My biggest worry, however, is not with the technical difficulties but with the environmental and social problems that arise. What about all the old analog equipment? Where will it go? Most likely to the land fill and that really bothers me. Our country is not near where it needs to be for electronics recycling. Some communities do well, I can't argue with that, but I'm pretty confident in saying that most don't go nearly far enough.

What happens to the people that don't want or are unable to afford to upgrade? Seems they will be SOL. Sure, there is a assistance program, but does it go far enough? On the other hand, why is the government encouraging people to watch TV anyway?

What about the soon to be available spectrum that will be freed up by the no longer used analog TV signals? The 700 Mhz radio spectrum that analog TV uses is going up for auction. Ideally, it should remain open and public -- it would be nice if a free and non-commercial TV community would pop up, one with actual decent and worthwhile programming on it. In this country though, as long as there is a buck to be made, we know that some company will shove aside the greater good in the name of profit. It seems our only chance for a somewhat open use of the spectrum is with the help of Google. They are using their immense capital to "force" the adoption of open use on the spectrum by basically threatening to buy up the entire C-block. Doing so would shut out the big telcos entirely from a very lucrative market. At this point, we can only wait to see what the results of the auction will be.

So, good or bad? Only you can decide how you feel about it. I just seem to have more questions now than when I started regarding how people will be affected, our society's fixation with TV and media, and the free and open access of communication (or lack thereof).