http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/obamas-balancing-act-on-digital-tv/
The date that television is supposed to switch from analog to digital is February 17th, 2009. This date wasn’t chosen for any specific reason or purpose so I don’t see why it would be a problem to push the date back. Giving citizens an extra four months will ensure that no one is left without television to watch. Although it doesn’t seem like it should be so essential for everyone to be able to watch reruns of Friends, there are many elderly people who only know what’s going on outside their house except for what they see on the television.
This is a fairly safe early legislation for Obama to pass. Instead of starting with a controversial issue like gay marriage or the death penalty, choosing a technology issue is a good bridge into the presidential position. No one will probably feel too strongly about this legislation to speak out against it. I personally don’t see a reason to be in any hurry to switch from analog to digital. The longer we wait to make the change, the more time people will have to get the converter boxes. I don’t really understand what the difference in the picture quality between the two types is, but most TV’s are already equipped with HD by now and are very clear.
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I think one of the issues is that the analog frequencies that television used to use is going to be bought up by phone companies, and some of them have been impatient for the switch to happen.
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