16.6.09

An Aside: The Digital Switch

At the request of my parents back in Pennsyltucky, I'm sharing their digital transition story:

As anticipated, after the switch Friday, they're without TV service. The house is situated in a hollow at the base of a mountain, and as the digital signals coming from Harrisburg (on the other side of the mountain) don't bend (and probably don't go through trees), the magical waves don't make it to their antenna on top of the property's highest hill. Their location is too rural for the cable companies to run a line, and the cheapest dish service doesn't even include PBS (my parents' favorite channel), so they refuse to bite. They've called the FCC to complain, but of course, nothing will be done.

Curious, yesterday they decided to run an extension cord from the garage to see if they could pick up a signal elsewhere in the yard. Apparently, if they hold the rabbit ears up in the middle of the driveway, five stations appear. So, my parents decided they'd celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary in white trash fashion: lunch watching TV in the yard.

I bet thousands of others lost reception after the switch--even with the converter boxes. Do I smell class action lawsuit?

1 comment:

Irma said...

Oh my gosh, I laughed out loud seeing your parents in the yard watching television. The digital divide ... who benefits from eliminating analog? Not the public, that's for sure.

52nd wedding anniversary .. now that's amazing. Mazeltov to them.