Digital Transition Could be Pushed Back Until June 12

Alright. Is there a single person out there who didn’t realize that a “digital transition” was coming? You didn’t have to be a tech-head to know what changes were on the horizon, thanks to the incredible amount of publicity on all of the popular US channels. So, color me surprised when I read today that the Senate unanimously voted for an extension on the changeover.

One report notes that more than 6.5 million US households could be without their television if the previous deadline (Feb 17) holds intact. I still have to ask, “Why?!”. As I mentioned, there have been constant reminders, and even though I don’t watch that much television, I’ve seen these warnings on pretty-much every channel I watch. Also, what will extending the deadline by four months really accomplish?

I might sound like a pessimist, but these warnings have been going on for almost two years now (I remember first hearing about this change at CES 2007), so there’s really little excuse to not have taken the necessary precautions by now. I’m probably in the minority with this thinking, though. But, that aside, this issue hasn’t been fully passed yet, as the House has the final say, but we’ll know for sure soon.

President Barack Obama earlier this month called for the transition date to be postponed after the Commerce Department hit a $1.34 billion funding limit for government coupons that consumers may use to help pay for digital TV converter boxes. The boxes, which generally cost between $40 and $80 each and can be purchased without a coupon, translate digital signals back into analog ones for older TVs.