The Digital TV Divide
October 20th, 2008 | 7 comments
I’m deciding whether or not to buy one of those digital TV converter boxes. You know, the ones that people who don’t subscribe to cable or satellite will need once digital TV goes into effect on February 17 of next year.
If it wasn’t for LOST, I’d probably just let my TV reception turn to static in February and get rid of the set altogether considering how little I or anyone at our home watches it. The only time I really spend watching anything is one or two movies on the weekend that come in the mail from Netflix. And even then Marathon Girl and I are more inclined to watch them on a laptop or portable DVD player instead of the television since the two of us watch movies in bed after the kids are asleep.
I don’t think our kids would miss the TV much either. Yes, they watch the occasional kid TV show but would be just as happy watching one of their Thomas the Train DVDs or 20 minutes of an animated Pixar movie.
Besides, with shows being broadcast over the Internet the next day and (usually) being available on DVD before the next season begins, I’m seeing less and less of a need for regular broadcast television. Were I to ditch the TV altogether, the only thing I might miss is watching is the occasional professional football/baseball/basketball game or presidential conventions and debates though (thankfully!) the latter only comes around once every four years.
Which brings me back to the one reason I’m seriously leaning toward buying a digital converter box: LOST. Sure, I could watch it the next day on abc.com or wait until it comes out on DVD and go on a 2-day LOST bender, but there’s something about anticipating the next episodes twists and turns every week and being able to blog about it and talk about the latest LOST theories with Marathon Girl, friends, and co-workers that makes watching it every week fun.
So I’ll probably end up buying a digital TV converter box sometime this winter. But only because of LOST. However, there’s a good chance once that LOST comes to a conclusion next year, our TV will have outlived its usefulness and come to an end too.
Never got into Lost myself, and I don’t watch all that much broadcast TV either, but I’ve had one of the converter boxes for a few months. The difference between analog and digital broadcast is fairly large. It is like the difference between watching an old worn out VHS tape and a DVD. The picture is very clear, though on some shows it seems there is some compression going on. And while the digital box does pick up a few more channels, to me it is the same situation as cable — more channels just means more useless shows (such as Qubo, which is young kids shows 24 hours).
If you’re going to get one, try to get the $40 coupon towards one (https://www.dtv2009.gov/). And all you need for an antenna is a UHF loop. No more rabbit ears.
This makes me a little bit sad. And I think it has something to do with the fact that I like the idea of a sense of community when it comes to broadcast television — and radio for that matter. I like the idea of everyone watching something at the same time as I am. Whether it is finding something out on the news, or a season premiere of a popular show. There’s a unity that I think is lost when everyone is doing everything on their own time rather than with the rest of humankind.
Those days of calling someone and saying “Hey, are you listening to the radio? Did you hear ______?” Chances are they are not. Because if they’re listening to anything, it’s their customized playlist.
I can’t believe I’m talking about television and radio as an essential part of humankind, but I am.
I consider myself a light TV watcher (5-10 hours a week) and believe that excessive TV watchign can be bad for you. However, I detect an anti-TV element to your post. I guess what I’m getting at is whether or not you’d like to watch more TV but are just too busy to do so or think the world would be better off without it?
I thought Lost had two seasons left.
Regardless, trust me when I tell you that you do not want to wing it on Lost. Watch it as it happens. Some of the experience is lost when you watch it even the next day. With the gov’t freebie, it’s pretty inexpensive.
Jim,
Thanks for the link. If the governments going to mandate it, they might as well pay for it.
Laura,
I find it somewhat liberating that we have more control over when we watch programs or what we choose to listen to. However, it does seem that this control has isolated us more from the larger community.
Eric,
I’ll get back to you. Look for a future post in answer to your questions.
Trumwill,
You’re right. LOST has two seasons left, not one. My mistake.
Abel
You can watch all the episodes online for free – and with less commercials. That’s how I watched the first two seasons of LOST and all of HEROES. And its great, because you only watch what you want, instead of getting sucked into a three hour TV coma. New blog layout looks good, by the way…
[...] Back in October I was deciding whether or not to get a digital TV converter boxes. The main reason for wanting one was so I could watch season five of LOST without having to wait until the next day to watch it online. Then Congress, in their infinite wisdom, decided to push the digital TV date back from February 17 to June 12. My problem was solved – at least for four months. I ended up watching LOST and forgot about the entire digital television switch until Friday when Marathon Girl called and mentioned that the kids couldn’t find the one afternoon TV show they watch because of the switch. [...]