Bye Bye Cable?

Upfront, I’ll admit I use cable for my internet and telephone services. And I’m generally pretty happy with the service, although I wouldn’t mind trimming the cost a bit. Also of note: I don’t have cable television – just don’t want to watch TV that badly.

Now, I seem to be in the minority for a couple of reasons. First, I just don’t watch television. Alright, sometimes I do – if I am traveling, or at someone’s home. But the only TV shows we watch are Sunday kids programming (before we head to church). Secondly, as mentioned, my experience with the cable company has been positive. From what I can tell, that is unusual.

Here’s an article that caught my interest because it suggests that cable television could be a thing of the past, if Apple has any success at all with a subscription TV concept they’ve been shopping around.

Now, I don’t know if Apple will ever get any traction in this space, but being an Apple fan, I hope the company does have a win in the television space. There could be better service, cheaper prices and, oh, I don’t know, a new piece of Apple hardware?

You KNOW Digital TV Is Here

In less than 24 hours digital broadcast television, as mandated by our government, is a reality. And you’re prepared, right? You have a newer TV set with a built-in digital tuner, or you bought one of those converter boxes for your old analog television?

If not, maybe you have cable or a satellite TV service.

If “none of the above” applies to you, maybe you’ve decided that there’s not much to watch so you don’t care. Although I fall into this group philosophically, I’ll admit that we have a converter, but I’m not really sure why.

When I read reports that 2.5 million households aren’t prepared for this transition, I’m not surprised. Nor am I alarmed…perhaps those folks don’t want broadcast TV. I’m certain they don’t NEED broadcast TV.

Regardless, the timer is in its final hours. This has been one long and expensive conversion. Better be worth all the time and trouble!

DTV in Less Than A Month

If, like me, you have an old television, and if, like me, you don’t have cable or satellite service, you need to know that “change is a comin.’” From a government site:

You will need to take action before February 17, 2009 if you currently watch TV on an analog TV set that is not connected to cable, satellite or other pay TV service.

At midnight on February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to 100% digital broadcasting. Digital broadcasting promises to provide a clearer picture and more programming options and will free up airwaves for use by emergency responders.

My experience: We don’t watch much TV, but I decided to buy a converter so we could have the option in the future. I’m pleased with the ease of installation, and the resulting picture quality is significantly improved. We also now have a few more channels we can access. All in all, this was a pretty simple move. Check out that above website for more details.