The "Big Switch"
Greetings from The Land of the Lost
So....Did we see this one coming, or what? I came back from Minnesota to find that the "Big Switch" had switched me right into the Twilight Zone. I hadn't been in that grey world since the 1950's. It's all snow at my house, and I understand that I'm a part of a large number of viewers who are unable to get the signal from KFVS.
In fact,the Nielsen Company said that 2.5 million households remained without a digital signal as of June 14, more than a day after stations across the United States were required to stop their analog signals and broadcast solely in digital form.
I can't say I'm surprised. By now, I have an unhealthy contempt for most changes in life - old age, technological "improvements," "new and improved" products, the metric system, "No Child Left Behind," no-repair car parts, and - above all - digital television.
It can't be natural for all those images to come apart in tiny pieces before our very eyes. The characters look as if they're being beamed up from the planet by the Starship Enterprise.
And you can't tell me that all this "improvement" is for our benefit. Since when does anyone care if the American public has a clear, high-quality picture on the boob tube? There has to be a darker, more sinister motive behind all these changes. Perhaps aliens are trying to take possession of the airwaves for their own evil purposes.
Since I'm almost totally cut off from the outside world (except for my computer), I'm curious as to what's going on out there.
What about it, folks? How has the Great Digital Revolution of the 21st Century affected your lives?
Please share! Surely I'm not the only one stuck in the 20th Century! I did what I was told: I bought a converter box, and my handy son Matthew set it up for me; I've followed Paul Corbin's instructions and re-scanned my system. I made a trip to Cape yesterday and bought an "enhanced digital amplified antenna," and I plan to read the instructions any day now.
How can technologically-challenged members of the population make it through the 21st Century without experiencing the creeping madness associated with sensory deprivation???? Translation: I NEED THE NEWS!!!
From the ever more backward hills of remote Tillman, Missouri, this is your very frustrated, no-longer roving reporter Madeline, crying into the wilderness for answers!
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I still don't have signals from anyone, but my son's coming out today to help me with two of them, which he says I should be getting.
He's done some checking, and there are still a significant number of television sets in the area (especially south of here) which are not receiving Channel 12. I gather that KFVS is doing a song and dance routine to explain the situation. The phrase I hear the most is that they "dropped the ball" on this issue and were caught flat-footed with the digital switch.
As with the current economic recession, we're venturing into areas never experienced before - so we have no historical wisdom to guide us!
My son came out yesterday and was able to engineer the retrieval of about three channels for me - KBSI Channel 6, Channel 6 weather, and Channel 59. There is a spot for KFVS Channel 12, our local station, but I still don't get it.
I can't remember if Channel 6 is ABC or NBC, but I rarely got it before the switch, so I'm not hooked on any of the programming, and their "local" news (Is that Paducah, KY?) will be largely irrelevant for me.
The few channels I get are very clear, but who really cares??
My only satisfaction will be if 6 is the channel that can get "Lost" when the new season comes back on. I'm on season 3 of the DVD's now.
Next, they'll tell us to stand on one leg like a crane and rub our bellies in a clockwise motion...