My Single Mom Life

It absolutely amazes me just how many people still are not ready for the DTV switch, they've had over 2 years to get ready for it.
There's an article in Business Week magazine about the millions left behind, and the many reasons *cough excuses cough* that they did not get ready.
The elderly I can understand, a lot of them don't even know how to set the clock on a VCR, so setting up a converter box and getting the right antenna is a bit more confusing for them, and the cable companies know that so they wasted no time in convincing the elderly that they had to get cable or they would not be able to watch their shows.

But other people?
People like the Ortez family mentioned in the article?
Sorry, but I have no sympathy for them.
They are both on unemployment and receiving some help benefits, and they watch Law & Order, so I know because I'm a fan of the show myself, that the DTV commercials aired a minimum of 5 times per broadcast of the show.

They (the Ortez family) thought they needed to pay for cable to get digital service. "We are on public assistance and we really can't afford to get cable," says Ortez. "I didn't know, until I saw last week in the newspaper, that I could get one of those boxes."

Sorry Mr. Ortez, I'm not buying that excuse.
Not only did the DTV switch commercials air during L&O, but so did the converter box coupon program commercials.
That's how I learned about it.
The sign-up for the coupons began on January 1st 2008, so the Ortez family had plenty of time to sign up and get 1.
The Ortezs' are just full of excuses, or just plain stupid.

The couple was also confused by the delay in the transition. They thought the government decision to postpone meant they didn't need to take action. "We had heard that the whole thing got canceled back in January," says Ortez. "We didn't realize they were still going to do it until last week."

Sorry, but if they were still watching L&O last week as the article says, then they were still seeing the commercials multiple times during L&O, as well as during any other show they watched on any other channel for the last 2.5 years, and those commercials very clearly stated that the switch was being moved from February 2009 to June 2009.
And since when does postpone mean cancel?
It doesn't, they just have an excuse for everything regarding this switch, and they are claiming poverty as the main reason for not being prepared.
And maybe it's a good thing that the Ortez family can't watch tv right now.
They appear to be a bit addicted to the brain-jello box. emphasis mine.

Ortez says he hopes not to be without TV for long. He's trying to get his hands on a converter box so that he and his wife can start watching shows again soon. "Being that we are unemployed and at home so much it keeps us entertained and up with current events," said Ortez. "TV is such a big part of our lives. It's always been there for us. Now we can't even watch TV, it's really crazy."

I knew about it (the switch) for 2.5 years because I was watching tv and saw the commercials, I signed up for the coupon, got it, tried it with my antenna, realized that I needed a better antenna, and bought one.
I bought a Philips MANT950 Amplified HDTV Indoor/Outdoor Urban/Suburban Antenna, and it works perfectly now that the switch is in full swing.
Up until the switch happened, some channels worked better than others, I didn't have some channels for a long time, but now I have all of the missing channels and then some.
And they are telling us to keep re-scanning our converter boxes because approximately 10 new channels are supposed to be added in the coming months.
I paid $65.99 for it on sale, it's normally $75.99, and it's currently out of stock at every online retailer I've checked because people are realizing they are needing a much more powerful antenna than their old rabbit ears, but if you need 1 of these, and I highly recommend it if you have a converter box and not getting great reception, you can sign up to be notified when Buy.com gets them back in stock and puts them on sale.
I had a Terk low profile antenna before the switch, but it just wouldn't work well through the concrete walls we have here, so I had to get a new antenna.

We tried hooking it up inside the house first, but again, it just would not pull the digital signals through the concrete, so my sister hooked it up outside, and now it works perfect.
We do get some sun spot issues in the afternoon, but we had that with the analog too.
Other than that, I am really pleased with digital tv.
It's a very clear and crisp quality image, and the sound is great too.
When friends come over, they think that we have cable because of how perfect the picture and sound are.
I get approximately 35 channels with the antenna and converter box, so really, why pay an arm and a leg for Comcast cable when it's this good?
The coupon was for $40, so I paid $9.99 + tax for the converter box, and the antenna was $65.99, so I paid less than $100 in total to be able to watch digital tv on 35 + channels, instead of paying Comcast anywhere from $9.99 per month (only for the 1st 6 months then it goes to $19.99 per month) for their lowest basic cable package, which is nothing but the local broadcast channels, up to $199.99 per month for their cable, internet, and phone premier package.
I pay $20 per month for phone, and $19.99 for DSL, and I'm still paying less than any of Comcast's bundle packages.
I never have to pay anything for my tv again, just phone and internet, so paying about $80.00 up front for the box and antenna is a much better deal than getting cable, and the biggie, I don't have to deal with their super crappy customer service either.